MTC Week 8

Well, this is the last email I'll be sending from the MTC. We had In-Field Orientation all day yesterday and so our Preparation Day got moved back a day.

This week has been so great! It went by so quickly, too! I just can't believe that the next P-Day I'll have will be in Argentina. This week we had to meet with the Argentina visa agents on Tuesday and with the Consul on Wednesday. The Consul was nice enough to send a representative to Provo so the Church didn't have to send every one of us to LA to sign the paperwork and present ourselves. It was good, but it took a long time. We haven't had a whole lot of class time this week, but I've still learned a lot. After our meeting with the consul we got to be hosts for the new incoming missionaries. I got to be Janiece Collins' host! It was great to see her and show her around on her first day. I also got to see Katie Curtis (Grandma Dahl's neighbor). She's going to Berlin and Hermana Pullan and I are friends with her Zone Leaders. I hope she has a good time here.

I've been singing in the choir here for devotionals every week and it's been such a great opportunity. We've sung "Consider the Lilies," "This is the Christ," "Where Can I Turn for Peace?," and a few others. This last Tuesday we got to sing an incredible arrangement of "Precious Savior, Dear Redeemer" and some members of my zone and I are singing "Come Thou Fount" in Sacrament meeting tomorrow. It's been so wonderful to be able to sing so much and build my testimony at the same time.

I learned a lot in this last devotional about my dedication to being a missionary. We talked afterwards in District Meeting about being fully invested in the work and making each of our decisions a part of who we are. I learned that I want to serve my mission with such dignity and power that everyone around me will know what my mission means to me. I have a long way to go before I think I'll get to that point, but I've got time and I know I can do it if I stay focused on my purpose.

Everything we do here goes back to our purpose as missionaries: To invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored Gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. We teach the doctrine of the lessons according to the needs of those we teach and begin our lesson planning with the end in mind. What do we want this investigator to do as a result of what they have learned? We evaluate each discussion by asking if the investigator's faith has been strengthened. It truly is an inspired process and I'm so blessed to be able to participate in it.

In In-Field Orientation yesterday we had a workshop about working with the members. The members are the missionaries greatest allies. As missionaries, we need to earn the members' trust and have them help in the teaching. Members are also our greatest tool for finding people to teach, too. Never be afraid to invite a person to meet with the full-time missionaries. Everyone I've ever talked to has said that, even if the person says no, he or she has never gotten offended by the invitation.

Thank you all for your examples of missionary work to me. They make me want to be a better missionary and give everything I have to the Lord. I'm on His time, and you all help me to remember that. Thank you. I love you all!