On Jun 18, 2014, at 3:43 PM, Cassidy Wood <cassidyw@myldsmail.net> wrote:
Hola!
This week has been amazing! Overwhelming and crazy, but amazing. The first day I got there everyone just kept saying, "You've just got to make it to Sunday, everything will get better after Sunday." It was SO TRUE. The first couple of days were insane and super hard but somewhere during that sabbath day everything got a million times better. It was a sacrament meeting miracle! (It wasn't that they days were bad until Sunday, there was just so much new stuff to take in). Ever since Sunday, life has sure been looking up. People keep saying that the first couple days are the hardest ones, I don't know if that's true (and I don't really think it is) but if it is, then I am going to rock the next year and a half! :)
I am in a trio and have two of the most wonderful companions on earth. Hermana Riches and Hermana Grenfell. Hermana Riches is from California and is actually the girl we had take our picture at the Provo temple! How funny is that! She is such a cheerful person and is such a good example of opening your mouth, she just talks to everyone. It's awesome. Then there is Hermana Grenfell who is from Kentucky. I don't think she has a single flaw, she is seriously probably one of my favorite people I have ever met. Ever. She is SO funny without ever being crude or mean and I basically just spend all day laughing. (We aren't light-minded, only light-hearted :) ) And she is also a super genius. She was originally put in Advanced (the two-week Spanish program) but got switched to Intermediate so that's why we're in a trio. And I am so glad she did get switched to Intermediate because I'm so glad I got to meet her! I just love them both. I got so blessed to have such amazing companions.
My District is also great. There are four elders and five hermanas. Elder Price (from Montana going to GUADALAJARA!) He is also the District Pres., Elder Sheffield (from Logan going to San Antonio) He is 25 so basically he's a grandpa. Elder Taylor (from Idaho going to Satio Mexico?) and Elder Peterson (from Sandy going to GUADALAJARA!) He plays soccer for Westminster. They're all awesome people. LOVE IT.
Remember Gabby Cavo from Minnesota?? Well, I met her the other day in the MTC. She's going to the Texas McAllen mission!
We have an investigator named Josue. He is really awesome and really shy. It is such a great experience to teach him. We first taught him about prayer and how he is God's son. It was a good lesson for our first try. Then we taught him about the restoration. And then the atonement yesterday. So, the second lesson we gave him we got locked out of our room so we gave it in the middle of the street basically haha. It was a really cool experience though to "teach them in the streets" like that one scripture says haha. The first two lessons I was SO stressed. I really don't understand much Spanish and I can speak even less. It is quite frustrating to not be able to communicate your ideas to people. I left the first two feeling like an awful missionary. But right before my third lesson I was studying about the language of God or the language of the Holy Spirit. I realized how silly I was being that I thought I would be able to teach Josue more with my broken Spanish than the Holy Ghost would. So basically I just went in there with the whole focus on inviting the Spirit. Spanish-wise the lesson was awful, but the spirit was so strong. One of my hermanas started crying and I could tell Josue felt the spirit. It was such an incredible experience. I still wish I could speak better Spanish though. :)
On Sunday we got to listen to Sheri Dew speak! It was amazing!! She talked about the grace of God. And how grace is the power to do something you can not do on your own. Whether that means being cleansed from your sins or overcoming your weaknesses, grace and the atonement of Christ helps us with all of it. Christ suffered for our sins and iniquities as well as our weaknesses and shortcomings. Grace is an enabling power that has no mortal substitute. One direct quote she said that I loved was "The Lord rarely moves the mountains in front of you, but he will always help you to climb them." I don't think that paragraph did her talk justice, but it was just really great.
Also on Sunday we sang a song in Relief Society. It was just "As Sisters in Zion" but the words were changed. I guess a year ago Siser Janice Kapp Perry (the author of that song) came to the MTC and was so inspired she wrote some new verses. I can't remember them, but I remember really liking them. You should try to see if you can google them. :)
And then guess who spoke on Tuesday?? Elder M Russell Ballard!!! His talk was great although I personally liked Sheri Dew's talk better. But the thing that I loved was just being in Elder Ballard's presence. His spirit is so strong you can totally tell he has a direct line to God. I just couldn't help but think about what a great experience this was for me to be able to share it with my investigators someday. He talked on not being ashamed of the doctrine of Christ. One quote I liked was "Today's headlines will become history's footnotes, but the gospel of Christ will always be good news." How lucky am I to get to devote a year and a half of my life to learning, living and sharing that good news with people!
Spanish is still really hard and I am really grateful that I am not learning something harder haha. I would appreciate any prayers that would help me have the gift of tongues. I love my teacher and everyone here and I love being at the MTC. I am so lucky to get to represent this wonderful and true church.
I love you! Have a great week :)
Hermana Wood
Hola!
This week has been amazing! Overwhelming and crazy, but amazing. The first day I got there everyone just kept saying, "You've just got to make it to Sunday, everything will get better after Sunday." It was SO TRUE. The first couple of days were insane and super hard but somewhere during that sabbath day everything got a million times better. It was a sacrament meeting miracle! (It wasn't that they days were bad until Sunday, there was just so much new stuff to take in). Ever since Sunday, life has sure been looking up. People keep saying that the first couple days are the hardest ones, I don't know if that's true (and I don't really think it is) but if it is, then I am going to rock the next year and a half! :)
I am in a trio and have two of the most wonderful companions on earth. Hermana Riches and Hermana Grenfell. Hermana Riches is from California and is actually the girl we had take our picture at the Provo temple! How funny is that! She is such a cheerful person and is such a good example of opening your mouth, she just talks to everyone. It's awesome. Then there is Hermana Grenfell who is from Kentucky. I don't think she has a single flaw, she is seriously probably one of my favorite people I have ever met. Ever. She is SO funny without ever being crude or mean and I basically just spend all day laughing. (We aren't light-minded, only light-hearted :) ) And she is also a super genius. She was originally put in Advanced (the two-week Spanish program) but got switched to Intermediate so that's why we're in a trio. And I am so glad she did get switched to Intermediate because I'm so glad I got to meet her! I just love them both. I got so blessed to have such amazing companions.
My District is also great. There are four elders and five hermanas. Elder Price (from Montana going to GUADALAJARA!) He is also the District Pres., Elder Sheffield (from Logan going to San Antonio) He is 25 so basically he's a grandpa. Elder Taylor (from Idaho going to Satio Mexico?) and Elder Peterson (from Sandy going to GUADALAJARA!) He plays soccer for Westminster. They're all awesome people. LOVE IT.
Remember Gabby Cavo from Minnesota?? Well, I met her the other day in the MTC. She's going to the Texas McAllen mission!
We have an investigator named Josue. He is really awesome and really shy. It is such a great experience to teach him. We first taught him about prayer and how he is God's son. It was a good lesson for our first try. Then we taught him about the restoration. And then the atonement yesterday. So, the second lesson we gave him we got locked out of our room so we gave it in the middle of the street basically haha. It was a really cool experience though to "teach them in the streets" like that one scripture says haha. The first two lessons I was SO stressed. I really don't understand much Spanish and I can speak even less. It is quite frustrating to not be able to communicate your ideas to people. I left the first two feeling like an awful missionary. But right before my third lesson I was studying about the language of God or the language of the Holy Spirit. I realized how silly I was being that I thought I would be able to teach Josue more with my broken Spanish than the Holy Ghost would. So basically I just went in there with the whole focus on inviting the Spirit. Spanish-wise the lesson was awful, but the spirit was so strong. One of my hermanas started crying and I could tell Josue felt the spirit. It was such an incredible experience. I still wish I could speak better Spanish though. :)
On Sunday we got to listen to Sheri Dew speak! It was amazing!! She talked about the grace of God. And how grace is the power to do something you can not do on your own. Whether that means being cleansed from your sins or overcoming your weaknesses, grace and the atonement of Christ helps us with all of it. Christ suffered for our sins and iniquities as well as our weaknesses and shortcomings. Grace is an enabling power that has no mortal substitute. One direct quote she said that I loved was "The Lord rarely moves the mountains in front of you, but he will always help you to climb them." I don't think that paragraph did her talk justice, but it was just really great.
Also on Sunday we sang a song in Relief Society. It was just "As Sisters in Zion" but the words were changed. I guess a year ago Siser Janice Kapp Perry (the author of that song) came to the MTC and was so inspired she wrote some new verses. I can't remember them, but I remember really liking them. You should try to see if you can google them. :)
And then guess who spoke on Tuesday?? Elder M Russell Ballard!!! His talk was great although I personally liked Sheri Dew's talk better. But the thing that I loved was just being in Elder Ballard's presence. His spirit is so strong you can totally tell he has a direct line to God. I just couldn't help but think about what a great experience this was for me to be able to share it with my investigators someday. He talked on not being ashamed of the doctrine of Christ. One quote I liked was "Today's headlines will become history's footnotes, but the gospel of Christ will always be good news." How lucky am I to get to devote a year and a half of my life to learning, living and sharing that good news with people!
Spanish is still really hard and I am really grateful that I am not learning something harder haha. I would appreciate any prayers that would help me have the gift of tongues. I love my teacher and everyone here and I love being at the MTC. I am so lucky to get to represent this wonderful and true church.
I love you! Have a great week :)
Hermana Wood
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