MTC Week 7

Hola, everyone!

This week has been so good! We got our travel plans today and we leave the morning of Nov 3 for Argentina. Our whole district is flying down to Buenos Aires together on the same plane. I'm looking forward to it, but also aware of how much I still need to learn before I get down there. I don't know how much I'll get done before I leave, but ready or not, I leave on the third. I'm sure experience will be a very frustrating, but very great teacher for me. I definitely need to speak more Spanish this week and get used to hearing it rather than English.

We have been so blessed here! We had another apostle come and speak to us on Tuesday, Elder Richard G. Scott. I learned so much and the love he had for all the missionaries was felt so strongly. Charity is the pure love of Christ, which I knew, but what I didn't know or realize was that when we have charity for others, others feel Christ's love for them through us. He also talked about receiving personal revelation. He advised us to never go anywhere without the ability to write down impressions we receive from the Holy Ghost. If we show God that we will make a point to remember and follow the promptings we receive, we will be blessed with more. He used the scriptures to illustrate and teach us different principles. It gave me a stronger testimony of the scriptures and a stronger desire to use them in my teaching.

He shared the scripture D&C 50:26 with us. It says: "He that is ordained of God and sent forth, the same is appointed to be the greatest, notwithstanding he is the least and the servant of all." It was confusing at first, but then I made a connection. This is the type of missionary I want to be. Jesus Christ was the greatest of all, but descended below all things and served all men. Everyone else was and is more important to Him than himself. I thought about those I perceive to be the most Christlike. They have time for everyone who needs them and know each of them well. They sincerely care about them and they are more important than their To Do list or schedule. I thought about my relationship with the Savior before we came to the earth. He is our brother and knows each of us. I imagine He took the time to talk, play, and help each of us. He is the older brother each of us admires and wishes we could be like someday. If he was that kind of friend to me then, and always, why would I estrange Him here?

It was also interesting that Elder Scott talked about marraige. Most of the talks we hear are about being obedient and "locking" our hearts. He stressed that after our missions, we need to make it a firm decision to be on the path and moving towards a temple sealing. He urged us to seriously consider the future and having an eternal family. He told us to not go back to hanging out, that it is "idleness in flocks." It made me want to be the best missionary I could and be worthy of that blessing when I get home. Like Sister Beck said last week, "Everything in this church is done with the temple in mind."

Thank you all for your prayers and support. I feel them all, especially when times are hard. Have faith and never lose hope. Jesus Christ is our Savior and we can do all things if we put our trust in Him.

Buena Suerte! (Good Luck!)

Hermana Erin Litster

MTC Week 6

It's so hard to believe that I've been here for six weeks already. I feel like I've learned so much and am so unprepared at the same time. I am learning, though, that whom the Lord calls, the Lord qualifies. As long as I do my part in preparing as well as I can, He will take care of the rest. I'm also learning that doing my part entails a lot more than I thought it did. It's amazing how much I've already changed and learned. There's a scripture that says the Lord prolonged the days of the people and I really feel like He's done that for me. The days seem so long and the weeks are so short. I've never done so much in one day in my entire life. I love having every day be dedicated to learning and sharing the Gospel.

I've learned also that "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass." The small things this week are what have brought me the most joy. I've realized how aware of each of us God really is and how He listens to and answers our prayers. Every day I'm reminded of how much I love the scriptures and my love for them grows more the more I read and study them. I'm learning to read them with a different point of view - through new eyes, as if I've never read it before. I wish I could convince the whole world to read them and learn what I have learned and know what I know. The scriptures really are the words of Christ and the words of Christ really do "tell you all things what ye should do."

We've been so blessed here with devotional speakers. I got to sing in the choir this last Tuesday. We sang a beautiful arrangement of my favorite hymn, "Where Can I Turn for Peace?" We got to hear from Sister Julie B. Beck and her husband. She talked about how everything in this church and gospel is done with the temple in mind. Everything we do is based on the goal of bringing those we teach to the temple to receive the ordinances of salvation and make the covenants that will allow them to live with God again in eternal families. It was beautiful. Today at the temple I read section 109 of the Doctrine and Covenants and was reminded so much of the blessings of the temple and what I need to do to better keep my covenants and prepare those I teach to make their own covenants in the temple.

I am so grateful for this Gospel and for my opportunity to share it with the people of Argentina. I hope we never take for granted what we have that the world has no idea it's missing. Never be afraid to share it. If it blesses your life, it will bless the lives of everyone else, too. I love you all and wish you the best.

Hermana Erin Litster

MTC Week 5

Hola Everyone!

I don't have much time to write today, but I'll say what I can. It's so weird to think that I've been here for exactly one month today and I have less than a month left in the MTC. I really hope I learn everything I need to before I head off to Argentina. As that time gets closer and closer I feel more and more excited and more and more apprehensive. In just a little while I'll be teaching real people and helping them come unto Christ. It's a pretty mind-blowing idea. I'm working hard and trying to learn as much as I can.

Spanish is coming along pretty well. I have the concept down, but the application is a little less mastered. My district decided to go on an English fast for the day on Thursday. I really didn't think it would be that hard since I can usually communicate pretty well (it's a little cave-man like, but understandable). We did this challenge where we each had five tabs on our name tags and every time we spoke English we had to take one off. We decided we could speak English during mealtimes and ask permission to say something in English, but if you ran out before a meal you had to speak only Spanish. It was so hard! I ran out of all five before lunch! I would just forget to speak Spanish or ask permission. It was very frustrating, but I learned a lot - mainly that I know a lot more than I thought I did. We're doing it again tomorrow. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how that goes.

Our teaching is going well. We're learning so much about teaching and that it's not about the teacher or lesson at all. It's about the investigator and what they need to hear and feel. There really is a difference between teaching people and teaching lessons.

General Conference was great! It was so nice to just sit and watch it, then go eat, sit and watch, and then go eat again. The sisters watched the Relief Society General Broadcast while the elders watched the Priesthood Session on Saturday and we had a fireside on Sunday night. It was probably one of the best weekends I've ever had and was a really good break half-way through my time here. It really helped me to re-focus and get back into everything with a new point of view.

I've learned a lot about the kind of missionary and person I want to be while I've been here. I wrote in my journal on Monday: "I want to be the type of person who everyone automatically loves. I want people to want to be their best around me and never want to disappoint me. Hermano Zivic (a teacher here from Argentina) is like that. He has so much love and so much confidence in each of us. He makes me want to work harder, better, and love and care more. He truly is an example of a Christlike person." I hope I can learn to be more like that during the next 17 months.

God bless you all. I love you and feel your prayers for me. They are so appreciated.

Hermana Erin Litster

Under Construction

Hello, Friends.

This is Tina, Erin's mom, and she's given me the job of updating her blog while she's on her mission. This is completely foreign to me, so I hope you'll be patient while I experiment and try to get this technology to work for me.

Thanks for being Erin's friend. Your love strengthens and sustains her. I know she'd love to hear from you (Dear Elder has become one of my favorite tools, for obvious reasons). The information you need to send a letter to her is on the blog under "Mission Contact Information"