Loving the MTC

This week has been fantastic.  I have honestly been amazed by the level of happiness I feel as a missionary.  There are hard moments, but there is an amazing feeling of peace when doing the Lord's will.  Last Sunday, Sister Elaine Dalton spoke to the sister missionaries in Relief Society.  She encouraged us to pray and ask Heavenly Father how we personally receive revelation.  I was blown away that we could be instructed in the MTC by such a woman.  We had a devotional on Tuesday.  It was incredible as well.  The MTC is truly a special place because we missionaries are continuously taught by very inspired people.

In our Spanish lessons this week, we learned how to speak in different tenses.  I can speak in present tense okay, but I still have lots of work to learning conjugations for other tenses.  I really love learning Spanish.  I cannot wait to get to Peru because I believe my Spanish will improve exponentially then.

On to my travel news.  I will fly out of SLC next Wednesday morning at 6am.  I will fly to Texas, on to Miami, and then to Lima.  I am going to have some layovers.  They will not be long, but I want to call as many of you as I can.  Only one of my two companions will be coming to Peru too.  My companion who has her call to Bolivia has not received her visa, so she will complete her MTC training her in Utah.  I feel badly for her because I know she is anxious to learn Spanish, and it is challenging to be fully immersed in Spanish here in Utah.  My companion who is going to Peru is on a different flight than me, which is funny.  This means I will be flying by myself with a bunch of elders.  I'll just have to ask them who wants to adopt me for the trip.

Last night, we taught a pretend investigator.  We got to know him in Spanish, and then we taught him the first lesson in English.  It was a very good experience because he asked many questions based on the Bible.  I imagine the people of Cusco will be a little more simple minded than him so their questions will be different, but I am still glad for the experience.  What I loved about the lesson is that I literally felt my mouth being filled with words.  The investigator asked a question about Joseph Smith being so young when God appeared to him, and instantly Heavenly Father helped me to remember Samuel from the Bible.  I talked about how he was young when he received revelation from God.  One of my companions then talked about Moroni from the Book of Mormon and how he was only 10 years old when he was called to be a prophet.

Here is a funny story one of the elders in my district related to me about his teaching experience.  He was testifying about Joseph Smith, but he became confused so he started saying "Yo soy JesuCristo."  He was trying to say "I know that Joseph Smith..." but he was actually saying "I am Jesus Christ."  He said that when he said this his investigator looked at him increduously and asked, "You are Jesus Christ?"  This story made me laugh so hard last night.  One of my companions laughed so hard that she snorted and my teacher, who is Columbian, gave her the oddest facial expression.

The good news is that I laught a lot everyday.  My companions are wonderful.  They are having there challenges right now, but I am feeling at peace so I am able to listen to them and support them. 

I sure love you all!