Happenings at the MTC, Part 3

Hello friends, family, and any random strangers who might be reading this!

I'm finding that there's less and less to write because every day is pretty much the same at the MTC: food, class/teaching, food, studying, food, class/teaching. :D I do love it, but it doesn't make for terribly exciting reading. But I shall attempt to enthrall you all with tales of the wonderrifical, um, mysterious... happenings at the MTC.

Tuesday, Feb 4th -

Since it was a P-day, they let us missionaries outside of the MTC so we could go to the temple. I loved it. I love going to the temple because I feel such peace there and I know the Lord is watching over me and guiding me.

While we were waiting for our laundry to be done, Soeur Rasmussen dragged Soeur Ridd and I outside because it was snowing. Soeur Rasmussen is still excited by snow. She ran around in the snow, threw snowballs at us, and stomped her name out in the snow. I eventually joined in, building two more little missionary snowmen. Soeur Ridd didn't enjoy it as much. She does not like snow. :P

We went to choir practice after dinner and practiced singing "Be Still My Soul". The choir director is awesome. He always gives a little background or elaborates on the meaning of the song we're singing. He said that "Be Still My Soul" was the perfect song for missionaries, because it's basically us talking to ourselves, telling ourselves to be still and trust in the Lord because he's with us, that through every trial he is by our side.

Wednesday, Feb. 5th -

So, Wednesday didn't start out too well. I wasn't feeling great, I was really tired, and I was having a hard time keeping my thoughts straight. Then we found out that we needed to go teach some members a lesson in French, ten minutes before we had to do it. Apparently we were supposed to know about this beforehand, but no one had told us. So we had ten minutes to prepare a lesson in French to members who already knew a lot about the gospel. Our companionship decided to teach about the enabling power of the Atonement, about how Jesus Christ knows all of the trials and challenges we're having and he will give us the strength to do what he has asked us to do. We were so nervous that we were close to tears, but the lessons ended up going pretty well. We had a lot of good scriptures to share and we bore our testimonies a lot (because we bore our testimonies every time we didn't know what else to say). It was pretty great, because Soeur Ridd bore her testimony, and she's been having a hard time with French. She started crying during her testimony, and she says that that was the first time she'd really felt the Spirit while teaching in French.

A missionary in our Zone named Soeur Frost had to be with us from Wednesday until Sunday because she was leaving soon and her companion was doing training at Temple Square. Soeur  Frost is amazing. She's been a member of the church for a year and a half, and she has a really strong testimony. Every time she bears it and every time I get to hear her teach, I feel the Spirit so strongly.

I had a good discussion in class with Soeur Ridd about how prayer has such an important role in conversion. We talked about all the experiences we've had with prayer and how grateful we are for prayer. She had some really good insights, and I gained a lot more respect for her because of our conversation. (Not that I didn't respect her before. :D )

Thursday, Feb. 6th -

Our district went outside with the French district, and we had to go contacting, talking to the French-speaking people (in French) about the Book of Mormon and give out our Book of Mormon. It was really hard for me, because I didn't know what to say, in French or English. I didn't do very well, and the sister only took my Book of Mormon because she felt bad for me. I started being a little bit mopey after that, because I was disappointed in myself, but then I started thinking outside myself and realizing the reason I'm here is to  help people, and if I do my best to learn, the Lord will help me with the rest.

We had a meeting of all the sisters in our zone on Thursday night. We went around the room and everyone shared why they were on a mission. I felt the Spirit more with each sister that explained why she was on a mission. I found that the common reason was because we love our Heavenly Father, and that the gospel has brought so much joy to our lives that we want to help others find that joy.

I'd say the crowning point of the day, however, was dinner. You see, they were serving dirt cups (you know, the pudding stuff with Oreos and gummy worms), and Soeur Ridd, Elder Wallace, and I had wanted them last week, but they were gone before we could get to them. After we sat down at the table and commenced our consummage of much food-ness, we looked around and found that there were people walking around with dirt cups on their trays. We immediately leaped out of our seats and sprinted (in a dignified, missionary-like fashion, of course) to the line we thought was the source of this deliciousness. It was not, however, where the precious dirt cups were being kept. So we continued on our quest for the treasured dirt cups. Alas, when we got to the line that was serving them, someone took the last one. (The fiends!) We sat back down at our table, dejected and defeated, when all of a sudden Soeur Ridd pointed, barely able to speak as she gestured to an Elder carrying a dirt cup on his tray. We again journeyed in a dignified manner to procure our dirt cups, and this time we were successful. We returned to our table, victorious, and devoured our prize. And it was quite delicious. :D

Friday, Feb. 7th -

Not much happened on Friday. We did teach Shuang-Bai again, and I thought we did very well at teaching him simply and with the Spirit about prophets.

Saturday, Feb. 8th -

So, I haven't said much about either of my teachers, so I shall tell you about Frere Kellet. He is wonderfulamazingstupendous. At first he was really nervous, because this was his first time teaching at the MTC, but now that he's gotten used to it, he's hilarious. He cracks jokes all the time and likes to speak in French with a Southern accent. I'm not sure how, or why, exactly, but he does. He was tired on Saturday so we took out pictures of our families and described them. In imperfect tense. Yay for learning stuff, but not really learning at the same time. :D

We taught Siliane on Saturday, and it went really  well. I think it's been my favorite lesson that we've taught so far. The Spirit was present throughout our lesson, and I was able to share a personal experience that almost made me cry, but I was able to control myself. Soeur Chard says that if I'd just let there be a little silence after sharing my experience, Siliane would have opened up to me, because she'd had a similar problem. Anyway, awesome lesson, and at the end when Siliane prayed, the Spirit was a lot stronger than it's been in any other lesson before this.

Sunday, Feb 9th -

I was really scared I was going to have to give a talk in French during our zone sacrament meeting, because they give everyone a topic, then we have to prepare a talk according to that topic and during sacrament meeting they call on 2 or 3 random missionaries to speak. And I really wasn't prepared. Thankfully, I wasn't called on. That made it a really good sacrament meeting. :)

Soeur Frost left on Sunday. I shall miss her, but she's gonna convert everyone in New Caledonia where she's serving. Pretty sure that's a possibility. :D

I love Sundays. I felt the Spirit all day because we heard a lot of awesome talks and had hours to read and study the scriptures.

Stephen B. Allen spoke again. He gave another amazing talk, just like last time. He showed us Mormon Messages and then spoke about them, relating them to missionary work. As he gave the talk, I felt Heavenly Father's love, and I knew that he called me to France for a reason. Stephen B. Allen spoke a lot about how we need to be ourselves and not compare ourselves to others, because the Lord needs us, who we are with our strengths, different personalities and talents. I also felt strongly just a hint of the joy it will bring me to share the gospel with others, and the joy it will bring to their lives.

Monday, Feb 10th -

I learned lots of French tenses and verbs on Monday. It was painful. I will speak no more about it because it was a tragic, scarring experience. :P

Our teacher, Soeur Chard, made a little square out of tape on the floor of our classroom. That is the only area in the classroom that we're allowed to speak English. Stupid square. But... it is already helping us learn the language faster.

We taught Shuang-Bai again, and he's getting baptised. Whoo! I'm so excited! I was really nervous about this lesson, because this was the first time I taught without a script. I remembered everything, but I said "um" a lot. My companions did really well on this lesson. They each bore their testimonies and brought in the Spirit.

Soeur Rasmussen and Soeur Ridd are both having health problems, which stinks. Soeur Rasmussen is having a hard time sleeping and has a cold, and Soeur Ridd is having other more serious health problems, so we went to the clinic yesterday. Soer Rasmussen got drugs and Soeur Ridd is going back to the clinic on Wednesday. I feel really bad for them and I've been praying for them.

Extra stuff that I have no idea when they happened -

I saw cousin Erin and we took some magniflorious pictures! It was awesome to be able to see her.

While my companions and I were practicing a lesson, we put pens above our lips like mustaches

because we were pretty sure it would help us speak French better because we looked like Frenchmen.

I dominate at four square during gym. Except I accidentally keep hitting people on the head with the ball. That is all.

I love you all! Je vous aime beaucoup! I miss you (even you, random strangers)! Until next week...

Soeur Williams