Amy's Adventures in Argentina!: Week 3 - MTC

Hola Familia!!

This week has been so so good! I LOVE being at the MTC. There's so much to learn and so many opportunities to grow! It's the best. I honestly have no clue what I've told you and what I haven't so I think this week I'll just go day by day starting from last P-day and tell you what's been happening here...

So, last Thursday we went through the 12:40 session at the Provo Temple, (Dad, we always go through the same session) but they showed the old film. I'm not sure why because there was no one who needed a translation, but it was still cool to see the old film again. It was also really neat being there all together as a zone for the last time before our Elders left. For gym time we went to the gym in 2M and used the ellypticals(?) hahaa...I have no idea how to spell that...but it was really nice to do something active. Hermana Kuhn and I memorized flash cards and got to know the three new elders for a little while which is always fun.

On Friday for gym time some of the campus workers asked if we could help them for 10 minutes moving mattresses out of the buildings that they're tearing down to make the campus bigger. We of course agreed, but "10 minutes" shortly turned into our entire gym time. It was fun to be able to serve people and help them get their job done faster. The unfortunate thing about gym time is that we've only ever had two zones - ours and Mark Kruger's. Well, since Mark's zone left and half of our zone was leaving, we got three HUGE zones that have gym time with us. Instead of having 30 people in the gym, we now have close to 60. Yikes. It's packed. We were spoiled for the first few weeks for sure:) We had class with Hermano Martinez and Hermano Waddoups...who are still as amazing as ever. I learn so much from them. I just found out that Hermano Martinez just got back from his mission 3 months ago...MIND. BLOWN. He knows sooo much. Also, do you wanna know where he served? Mexico City East Mission. Do you wanna know who else is in that mission? Elder Aaron Lainhart. And do you wanna know who picked Elder Lainhart up from the airport? You guessed it, HERMANO MARTINEZ!! Isn't that the coolest thing? I thought so.

Saturday. This morning Hermana Kuhn and I got to take a field trip! She had to get some medicine for her acid reflex because her parents hadn't sent it in time so we got to ride in a van to the pharmacy! We went to the Rite-Aid in Provo right next to Macey's. It was the weirdest thing ever being outside the MTC. Everyone was super friendly to the Sister Missionaries though:) It was a fun break from our schedule for sure!! After lunch on Saturday Hermana Kuhn and I taught our newest investigator Angel (Hermano Martinez). Angel is a really hard investigator to teach because he doesn't believe in God. He doesn't believe in Jesus Christ or that he came to the earth and he only lets us come over because he thinks we're nice people. He's not really interested in our message, he just tries to confuse us. For example, Angel couldn't understand how a God could have feelings like anger and jealousy (which are human traits). Hermana Kuhn and I were stumped. I had no idea how I would answer that in English, let alone Spanish, but I just kinda started talking and managed to say something about how God gave us the gift of agency and when we misuse that agency there are consequences. As we learn in the scriptures, because he is God, our Heavenly Father can't look upon sin with the least degree of allowance; therefore, he hates the action, but continues to love the person. Angel seemed to accept that answer, but we still haven't been able to help him understand that the Gospel can help him individually and that it can bring him peace and joy in this life and the life to come. We'll keep trying!! He has kept his commitments to read in the Book of Mormon which is good. He still won't pray, but we're getting there!!

Sunday. Fast Sunday. Remember how we eat dinner at 4:30 here? Well, they didn't feed us on Sunday until 6:30PM. If I've done my math correctly, that's a whole 26 hours. It was a reallyyyy long day, but it was my favorite day at the MTC so far. For Sacrament Meeting we had the opportunity to bear our testimonies which was amazing. The spirit was so strong as each missionary stood up and testified of the Book of Mormon and the Gospel and our Savior, Jesus Christ. The missionaries that left on Sunday night bore especially powerful testimonies as they were down to hours until they were going to be "real missionaries." It was the best meeting of my life, and then the departing district sang, "Placentero nos es trabajar" for the closing song. It's a hymn we don't have in English which in my humble opinion is a sin. The song is about missionary work and it's the BEST. You can listen to it on LDS.org if you want. It's hymn #88 in the himnos. The Elders did such a good job and a few of them started tearing up in the third verse. It says "Oh Hermanos Adios, pues Adios. El momento de ir vino ya. Si guardamos la fe en el gran Dios, nos veremos aun mas alla." The verse talks about leaving brothers to go and preach the gospel and says that if we keep our faith in our great God we'll see each other again. It's such a pretty song. I got to say the closing prayer in Sacrament meeting which was awesome too! We had a two hour mission conference given by the MTC presidency which was great and then we went on our temple walk. We went as a zone and then talked and hung out mostly with the departing missionaries. They were all so excited to leave. They're gonna be incredible missionaries. Hermana Kuhn and I taught our district meeting which was on Faith in Jesus Christ. Easy Peasy. It was a 45 minutes discussion and President Ditmar observes. We went to the devotional which was great and then we said goodbye to the Elders that left on Sunday night and Hermana Kuhn and I went to watch The Restoration movie. Makes me cry every time.

Monday we had our cleaning assignment. We stocked the bathrooms which is not the most exciting job in the world, but it's way better than cleaning the showers. Count your blessings, right? For gym we threw a frisbee outside at the field since we're not allowed to play ultimate. We went to class. Amazing. Went to dinner...they tried to feed me fish. Cereal it was that night. After study time we had TRC which I don't think I've told you about yet. We basically meet with members and share a short message with them and talk and get to know them. 20 minutes tops. The first man we talked to was from Chile. He was converted just a year ago and was sealed to his family last week! He was so sweet and has one of the strongest testimonies I've heard. He taught us way more than we taught him! The second lady we taught was also from Chile and she was really sweet. I'm happy to report that I understood about 85% of everything they said. Unfortunately, Chilean Spanish is not even close to Argentine Spanish. Hermano Castro, one of the ZRT's, served in Argentina and he gave us a sample of what they speak like. They mumble, everything's all shhhshy, and it's like they're singing their words so all the words flow together. Yikes. I'm not gonna understand a thing when I get down there. If I get down there. The last missionaries going to Argentina got reassigned. Haven't heard anything about Visas except that the President of Argentina isn't very...open...toward the LDS church which is rather unfortunate for missionaries. I'm keeping my fingers crossed...

Tuesday. It's already October? How did that happen?! Hermana Ward and Hermana Kuhn and I are officially a trio again. It's no fun at all teaching with three people, but what can you do? For everything else, being a trio is the very best!! We taught Melvin again and he's working towards baptism on Oct 21. Oh, and I was really excited to hear about Justin Keener's baptismal date! That's so cool!!!! Tuesday was just a hard day for me and I was having a harder time speaking, I didn't feel great, and I was a little homesick. When class was over Hermano Martinez stopped me and asked if he could talk to me for a minute. He told me he noticed I seemed a little off and wanted to make sure I was doing alright. We talked for about 15 minutes and he shared lots of experiences from his mission with me. He then expressed his confidence in me and told me not to worry about anything and almost directly quoted a line from my patriarchal blessing. See what I mean when I say he's amazing? I felt so much better after talking to him. He always knows exactly what to say and he reminded me that Heavenly Father knows and focuses on my strengths, while Satan focuses on my weaknesses. It ended up being one of the best days here at the MTC so far. I love Hermano Martinez. He's amazing. That night during my personal devotional with Heavenly Father I read my patriarchal blessing again and prayed more sincerely than I have in my entire life and I just knew that everything would be alright:) God is good, people. He knows us perfectly and he knows exactly how to help us.

Wednesday. Yesterday was a super long day. We had the normal schedule, which is very demanding, and I was super tired, BUT! I finished the Book of Mormon again which is always a great feeling. I learned so much about the Savior's character as I read it this last time. Also...the first 4 chapters of Mosiah are AMAZING. Some of my favorites. Last night we welcomed the new district of 8 Elders and 2 Hermanas. They seem to be a good group and we're really excited to have them...especially the Sisters!! As much as we love our Elders, it's nice to have some Hermanas to talk to:) We now have 5 in our zone...and like 25 Elders. Hahaha:)

Well, that was my week! Sorry it's a little scattered. Like I said, it's been a great week!! I got tons of dear elders this week which always makes my day so much better! Letters from home are the best. Also, Dee wrote me again and Miriam continues to write me every week. Please thank them! I love hearing from them. It means so much that they take the time to write to me! Also, another connection that I discovered this week. Elder Tayvin Woodall in my district is from Cedar Hills, and he played club soccer with most of the boys soccer team at Timp. He knows Trent Blackman and Dominick. Weird. Hahaha...always fun connections though!! Mom, my orange blanket is my best friend at night. My companions like to turn the AC wayyy down so I'm almost always cold, but since I started using my blanket I'm nice and toasty every night:) I love being a missionary. Whenever I think about going to Argentina I just want to jump for joy. I'm so excited to go! Matthew, I hope school is going well and your internship too! What are you doing? Kimberly, thanks for the dear elder! It made my day and I shared some of what you wrote with my companions. They loved it. I hope you're still loving TDT and that Mr. Nagro isn't driving you completely nuts:) Em, thanks for all the dear elders and keeping me updated on you and Craig. I love getting them! Craig, good luck with hockey. I thought about you last night and was cheering you on silently in my head:) Mom, thanks for the dear elders and the packages. I love hearing about your days and how you're doing. I miss talking to you every night! Daddy, my neck misses you. I know of some people that get to go see a chiropractor before they leave...haha...maybe I'll try to swing that. Hahaa, but the rest of me misses you too! Thanks for keeping me updated. I always look forward to hearing from you! I miss you all and you're in my thoughts and prayers every single day! The church is true!!

I love you forever and always!!

Hermana Heath