The one where I Made It Through My First Week as a Missionary!

Number 1. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and the gospel of Jesus Christ taught in the Book of Mormon is true.  

Number 2. The MTC is truly a spiritually set apart place from the world. The spirit here is incredibly strong and almost palpable. 

Number 3. The power of prayer is real and will never fail when done with a sincere desire and a faithful heart. 

Number 4. The food in the MTC is nothing like people say it is. Let's just say I came in expecting Texas Roadhouse and I got IHop. 

But I'm grateful I have food! 😁

My district is awesome. We have 8 Elders and 4 Sisters. Our teacher in the afternoons is Brother Smith (Super different name, I know.) And he's fantastic. He just got off his mission about 4 months ago and he's filled from his toes to his sweet baby angel head with knowledge. I wish I had a pocket-size version of him to come with me. I mean, he is kinda small so he'd probably fit. Hahaha 😂 but we really have been blessed to have him. 

Our morning teacher is Sister Jones. We've had her once the whole time We've been here because she's pregnant and has been so sick. So we've had a plethora of other teachers. But I love them all. We've had great experiences. :) 

My companion is Sister Chandler. She's from Nevada, about an hour away from Las Vegas. We're both going to the Bentonville Arkansas mission. We've grown a lot together through our experiences with our TRC's which is an actor who's pretending to be a person interested in the gospel. We have learned to work with each other and how to testify of the truth we know without word vomiting all over them. 

Conference was AMAZING in the MTC. Also, all of you who watched saw my Zone Leader! He was one of the first Elders they showed on the choir of missionaries. :) so that was really cool! My favorite talk was Elder Rasband. It almost felt like he spoke directly to me. It was so powerful and moving. I loved it! And being in the same room with almost 2000 missionaries standing and singing was overwhelming. I definitely cried as did a lot of others. :) It was wonderful. 

I love you all, and I'm growing every day. Heavenly Father loves everyone of us and is blessing us daily. I'm so grateful to be here and working to become a representative of Jesus Christ. Email me! I can get and read emails every day, all day! I'll reply on Thursday on my p-day. :) 

I love you! 💕

A note left by one of our subs. She said this is one of the "most spiritually profound and friendly districts" she has taught. So cool!

Sister Jensen, Sister Bunker, Sister Chandler, and me before the last session of conference. 

Sister Chandler and I love each other, early morning service projects, the snow-capped mountains and hugs!

Elder Thompson was having a selfie session with my phone. 

Back row: Sister Bunker, Elder Taylor (we pieced it together that we went to high school together at Madison my senior year!) Elder Thompson, Elder Randolf, Elder Adams, Elder Burlett, me (I promise I wasn't grumpy. I swear.)

Front row: Sister Jensen, Elder Armstrong, Elder Padgett(from Florida. He's got the best accent and is hilarious!) Elder Carman, and Sister Chandler. :) 

 Morning temple this morning! I look grumpy in both pictures but I PROMISE I wasn't!