MTC week 1

September 13, 2012

Como le va?! How are you all?! I am loving the MTC and learning SO much. My companions are awesome! Sister Lancaster is from Springville and is the girl I talked to over FB before we came. I was hoping we would be companions! My other companera, Hermana Peterson, is from North Ogden. We get along really well and are having lots of fun.

Spanish is HARD! One thing I have learned over the past week is how to rely on the Spirit. Its so important! The spirit here at the MTC is so strong. Each day we have 3 hours of class and our teacher is Hermana Wetzel, she served in Gautemala. She is so amazing! She teaches in a way that brings the spirit SO strongly. I wish you could all experience it! The first day of the MTC we went to class and she spoke only in spanish and of course we were all terrified because we thought we would never be able to learn! Thanks to the spirit though we have learned SO MUCH in a single week. Today we are having an English fast and are only speaking in Spanish. It's hard and my companeras and I are having a fun time doing sign language and playing charades to guess what each other is talking about. haha.

Last Friday we began to teach our "investigator", Hugo. We keep hearing that he is going to be our teacher after we are done teaching him. We were so scared on Friday because he spoke only in Spanish and we didn't know that much, but it went ok. We taught again on Saturday and it also went well. Then on Monday...we went in and failed -- horribly. We didn't understand him and we couldn't express what we wanted to say in Spanish. We left the room and all cried. It was a great learning experience though and we learned the importance of having a plan so that the spirit can help us. We just went in there with a few things and expected the spirit to help us with the rest. BUT, we learned the spirit can only help us as long as we are prepared. Yesterday we made sure we learned from our experience and had a plan! Our lesson with him was WONDERFUL! He committed to be baptized :) (Remember this is just a simulation with an MTC volunteer so that we can get lots of practice.) It was such a wonderful feeling to have been successful.

Another great experience we have had on Tuesday was when we had a workshop. Each Tuesday we have a workshop to help us realize our purpose as missionaries. We were separated into two rooms and in the room I went into we watched a Mormon message about this lady name Milna who lives in NY (in our mission!!) and she has had a really rough life. She was addicted to heroin which in turn led some of her children to addiction. Then she was in jail for a while. We were then asked to go into the next room where the other missionaries were pretending to be Milna. I sat across from an Elder and even though he was not Milna I just had this love for her and wanted to share some things with her that would help her feel peace. I shared 3 Ne 9 with her where it talks about the Atonement. The spirit was so strong and I was able to get my point across since I was teaching in English. The experience helped me to realize my purpose as a missionary. I am learning so much about how to be a good missionary and how to love people. It's amazing!!  On Sunday in RS we had a REALLY spiritual lesson. The spirit was so tangible I felt like I could touch it! By the end we were all crying. AHHH I LOVE THE MTC!

The elders in my district are great. Three are going to Columbia, one to Florida, and two to NY with us. They are good elders and try hard, and we try hard to be patient with them, even though sometimes it's hard...haha :)

Ahhh...so much I want to tell you but I don't have that much time left. Oh yeah! Hermana Lancaster got a letter from Sister Rogers who is serving in our mission. President Morgan, the new mission president, opened the boundaries in the mission so that the missionaries can go wherever they want on Pday as long as we are smart! That means Times Square and the Statue of Liberty and stuff! Sweeeet! :)

Anyways, know I am doing well and gaining weight (the food here is really good and really unhealthy) haha. I am being stretched to my limits everyday but I know I am becoming the person Heavenly Father wants me to be. I love you all so much and pray for you every day!

Yo se que Jesu Cristo es mi redentor.

Yo se que Jose Smith restaurado la iglesia mediante the sacerdocia de Dios.

Love, Hermana Richardson.