Monday, December 15, 2014

2 General Authorities in One Week!!!

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Yes, you read that right. We all knew we would be getting a GA for Thanksgiving but we didn't expect one on Tuesday too. But I'll get to that in a bit. Sorry, I'm making you wait to hear who spoke. :) Anyways, I'm starting with SaturdaySaturday turned out being a really good day. Why? I honestly don't know. It was just a good day. It started out okay but ended great. It actually ended with a shower choir haha. I was in the shower when Sister Fuataga ran into the bathroom yelling my name. She had been looking for her shower supplies for a while because she had lost them. She then went on to tell me that after her and Sister Russell prayed about finding her shower supplies, she found them about five minutes later. Then she told everyone who was currently in the shower at that time that she had a testimony of prayer and that God answers your prayers even when they are silly. Pretty quickly, a whole conversation came up between me, Sister Fuataga (who, after finding her shower supplies, was finally able to get in the shower), and two other sisters that we have not yet formally met... because they were in the shower at that time too. (There's like 6 individual showers in our bathroom). Somehow the conversation turned into all of us singing church songs together. And let me just say... we killed it. We sounded like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Perfect harmonies and the bathroom acoustics were amazing. Every night since then, us four sisters who have never formally met, shower at the same time so that we can sing Christmas songs and sound like rockstars. It's like the best way to end the day ever haha. And it all started out with Sister Fuataga bearing her testimony in the shower... the MTC is great. :) Okay, so now that I've got you laughing (hopefully... or you think I'm just weird) I guess I can tell you which two General Authorities we got to hear from this week. So Tuesday, we got to hear from Elder Dallin H. Oaks. And it was a surprise, which made it even more exciting. We have devotionals every Tuesday night, but it's usually the MTC presidency or someone that isn't an apostle. As soon as we found out, those in our district that weren't in choir practice (Sister Fuataga, me, Elder Coleman, Elder Skinner, Elder Craven, and Elder Perks) booked it to dinner and ate in like five minutes. Seriously. And then we ran to the building that the devotional is in. We were pretty close to the front of the line. Missionaries go nuts when GA's come to speak. So if you want a good seat, you have to line up early. We were an hour early. So it was pretty good. The original seats we got were not on the floor, but on the first row of the bleachers. Which is like 20 ish rows back from the front. There's like 100 rows or something, so we had some decent spots. But right before it started, an usher came up to us and asked us how many were in our group. We said 6 and he said, "Great, can I ask you to follow me?" We were unsure of where he would take us, but, being good missionaries, we told him we would gladly sit where he wanted us to. Well... he took us to the SECOND ROW! We were so close that Elder Oaks smiled at us! How cool is that? Yeah, pretty neat. Tuesday... super good day. We definitely owed that usher a ton. I don't have my notes with me or I would tell you some cool quotes that he said. I'll do that next week. So today is Thanksgiving. HAPPY THANKSGIVING! We got to listen to none other than Elder David A. Bednar. Though our seats weren't nearly as good today, we still were pretty close. It was so exciting. He didn't give a normal talk. He actually passed out 100s of cell phones and asked us to text questions to him on his iPad. "This may be the only time you get to ask a General Authority questions," he said. Yeah whoa right? He only got to answer around 8 questions that I can think of before the hour and a half was up, but it was so neat. My favorite thing that he said was, "you will only be away from your family for a season. There is only one time your absence can bear witness of your faith in Christ." I really liked that, because even though I know that I am missing a lot right now, not being with my family at Thanksgiving and Christmas, the fact that I am gone can always remind you of Christ. When you start missing me, just remember Christ. I am an official representative of Jesus Christ. Cho nen Yesu Crisido eh depeoja imnida. That is the romanized Korean for "I am a representative of Jesus Christ." When you think of my absence, think of Christ. You'll remember Him a lot more this way. Elder Bednar also said that "This work is energizing." Somehow we drag ourselves out of bed at 6:00 or before, study all day, teach investigators, feel the Holy Ghost, get exhausted from all of this and then wake up the next day willing to do it again. I don't know how I keep continuing on, because my mind has never been challenged so much before. My motivation has never been challenged so much before. Trying to stay awake has never been so much of a challenge. This work is a challenge. But it is also energizing. And we continue moving forward every day, trying harder each day to be a better representative of Jesus Christ. It is a great time to be a missionary. I love it here. I have made more friends than I ever thought I could. I have felt more love from others, and more love towards others than I ever have before. Christ has placed an amazing amount of love in our hearts that is hard to understand, but is incredible. Without this love, I would be dying of homesickness right now. He knows what we need and how to help us. That is my testimony moment for today. :) Also, Sister Russell has had a nasty cold lately, and being her companion I thought I would get it pretty fast. But she has been strong through it and somehow I have not gotten it. God is always uplifting us and blessing us. Pray for her to get feeling better! :) Being healthy here is so important. Well, I better go. Thanksgiving dinner is in 15 minutes (though who knows if it is safe to eat... MTC food is so sketchy). I hope you all have an amazing Thanksgiving and don't forget to thank Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for all they do for us. Love you all! Saranghamnida! Annyeongicayseyo! :) (One day I'll figure out how to type in Korean on these computers for you!) :)

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