Hola Mis Amigos!
My first 5 days at the MTC have been very stressful, but very blessed. In the pictures, you see my newest friends. We are a very unified district. We are friends. I wish I could tell you every detail about them, but you'll never meet them, so you may get bored. After all, most of you will never meet them.
Hermana Hernandez Sanchez is my companion! Approaching the MTC, I was very nervous because I didn't know what to expect after I got my nametag, so let me settle the minds of my soon-to-be missionary friends. You get a host. They help you around. They carry your stuff, and you go into 3 ish buildings to collect your nametag and provided materials. I didn't have a choice whether to take a set of Spanish scriptures or not, so the ones the MTC gave me have been untouched in my bag. Then you drop your luggage off at your residence and go to meet your district(who, as I've said, are my close friends). You practice reciting and memorizing your purpose, and then you go to a huge meeting. Don't worry about what's after that. Communication here is very clear. You won't be lost.
Okay! Next, let's find some stories!
Hermana Hernandez and I have 2 investigators, Ernesto y Marcela. Tomorrow, we meet with a new one, Maribel.
Ernesto came from Mexico to the U.S. 15 years ago. His wife and kids are his life, and he works so hard for them that he's tired all the time. He wants to know more about the Gospel so that he can teach his kids about God. I think that's so admirable. We've met with him twice, and he's agreed to be baptized, and (we don't know yet because it's a little bit pretend) I think he brought his family to church with us yesterday. I love teaching Ernesto. I admire his hard work, and I hope that he can be a true convert.
Marcela is a precious woman. Her son and his wife joined the church, and she wants to know more. She loves to read the Bible and pray, but I worry that my spanish isn't getting through to her. Hermana Hernandez has already told me that saying the priesthood must be passed from "hand to hand" makes zero sense in spanish, so there's some time I wasted confusing Marcela.
I'll tell you about Maribel next week I guess!
We watched an excellent video yesterday of an old MTC devotional in which Elder Bednar spoke on recognizing the Spirit. I recommend it. The gist is this: Quit worrying about whether it's the Spirit or not! Just keep trying to be a good boy or good girl, keep your covenants, keep the commandments, and keep moving! The Spirit will guide you best if you are not sitting idly waiting for an answer to come. (But obviously pause after prayer and during scripture study to listen to the Spirit testify.)
People always told me that in the MTC, you sit with your district. My district was never told to do so, but we like to anyways. The MTC is at capacity right now though, so sometimes we can't find 8 spots together, and sometimes we do, but we can't find each other.
Oh yes! Starting Sunday, Hermana Hernandez and I have been assigned to be Sister Training Leaders! In the MTC, it's easy. We all live in the same residence, so all we have to do is love the other sisters in our zone. I love to do that! I love that I placed advanced and get to be around all of these Latino missionaries. Their testimonies are strong, and I love seeing people who have a testimony of the same doctrine as me, but learned it all in a different language.
The Gospel is True! It's all true!
