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 Saturday. Saturday 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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