Today was my first P day, & it was definitely needed. This week has been crazy. There are only 25 missionaries total at the MTC (Missionary Training Center), and 18 of them are going to either London North or London South. In the MTC itself, we split up into three districts for 12 days (until next Wednesday).
On Friday we found out who our companions are going to be while we are in the MTC (you must always buddy with a companion for safety sake, 24/7)! I was lucky enough to get two: Sister Fitts & Sister McLean! We also found out we are in the Jacob District. Our district leader is Elder Hernandez & the other elders in our district are Elder Mutariswa & Elder Laney.
May 30th Today was our first day of classes. We woke up, got ready, & headed down to breakfast. After that we studied for a bit & then went to the First Day Welcome, where President Preston talked to us about the MTC a little bit. From that point on we were in classes & workshops for the rest of the day. In the First Day Welcome we learned that we all needed to prepare a talk on obedience because he wasn't going to tell us who was speaking in church on Sunday until sacrament meeting actually started. hahahahahah
For lunch we had pizza. It's funny cuz all of us that were stuck in the airport (there were eight of us) told the President that the one thing we didn't want to eat was pizza because we had already eaten it for almost every meal.
May 31st Today was Sunday! We woke up, ate breakfast, & then had personal study. I'm 98% sure that every missionary was using their personal study time to write their talks for sacrament. After personal study we went to the main meeting room for church. You could tell that we were all nervous to go in because we were terrified anything we said or did would make President Preston pick us to talk. As soon as everyone had arrived, he announced who was going to give talks, & I wasn't one of them! I'm glad I didn't have to speak because the six missionaries that did had put together such powerful talks that mine would have been terrible in comparison lol.
After sacrament we met with our districts & we all introduced ourselves & told why we chose to serve a mission. It was interesting listening to everyone & hearing their stories, They definitely strengthened my testimony. After that we had Relief Society (church women's group) & then we got to watch the Joseph Smith Restoration movie. He was the first prophet who organized the church. Seriously, best movie ever. Watching it as a missionary was so powerful that it made me so anxious to share the gospel.
June 1st Today was another day of classes. I've loved loved loved learning how to teach. We've been doing role plays like crazy, but they seriously help so much. One of my favorite activities we've done in our district is read The Book Of Mormon together. it sounds really simple, but we read it slowly & talked about what we learned after every verse. Instead of reading it at 100 mph we try to read it at 10 mph. There is so much knowledge packed into scriptures & I've realized that in order to fully understand The Book Of Mormon & feel the spirit, you need to ponder everything you read. but seriously guys, try it!
We also taught our first investigator today! (one of us poses as an investigator) It didn't go quite as we planned, but the spirit was present in the lesson so I think it was still a successful meeting. In the middle of one of our evening classes, President Preston came and interrupted our class to tell us that RUSSELL M. NELSON WAS AT THE MTC & HE WANTED TO MEET ALL OF US!!! Soooooo crazy! I could not stop smiling the whole way up to the Kimball Room to meet him. I got to shake his hand & introduce myself to him & his wife. It was one of the neatest experiences & I'm never going to forget how incredible it was to shake the hand of an Apostle. After we all met him he shared a quick message with us. He told us that he was proud of us & that he could see the Light of Christ in all of our eyes.
June 2nd Today was filled with a roller coaster of emotions. I started off the day so excited to teach our second investigator today, to learn more in our classes & to eat more food (cuz the food at the England MTC is top notch). When we were teaching our new investigator today, everything started off good, & we were all feeling confident. but the lesson didn't go as planned (as usual lol). Even though the spirit was present & we taught Irene (that's our investigator) how to pray & the importance of prayer, we weren't feeling too great afterwards. There was a lot of tension between us three, & the teacher could definitely tell. One of the problems we all have is that we take everything personally, & because one of my companions was not communicating with the rest of us I figured it was my fault. I started to question why I was even serving a mission. I was holding back tears all through class & just wanted to be alone so I could cry. But it got better! We evaluated our lesson & realized that we taught a good lesson! I need to remind myself a lot that I've only been in the MTC a short while and can't expect to be a perfect teacher. I can't expect to ever be a perfect teacher.
June 3rd Today is p day, & so far we got to do an Endowment Session in the Preston Temple & then we got to go to the store! (An endowment is a gift. Anendowment might be a natural gift, say of a physical attribute or a talent. In the temple, it is sacred and is not talked about much outside the temple) It was so nice to be able to leave the MTC grounds. Even though I love it a lot, it kinda starts to feel a bit like I'm a prisoner. hahahah
On Friday we found out who our companions are going to be while we are in the MTC (you must always buddy with a companion for safety sake, 24/7)! I was lucky enough to get two: Sister Fitts & Sister McLean! We also found out we are in the Jacob District. Our district leader is Elder Hernandez & the other elders in our district are Elder Mutariswa & Elder Laney.
May 30th Today was our first day of classes. We woke up, got ready, & headed down to breakfast. After that we studied for a bit & then went to the First Day Welcome, where President Preston talked to us about the MTC a little bit. From that point on we were in classes & workshops for the rest of the day. In the First Day Welcome we learned that we all needed to prepare a talk on obedience because he wasn't going to tell us who was speaking in church on Sunday until sacrament meeting actually started. hahahahahah
For lunch we had pizza. It's funny cuz all of us that were stuck in the airport (there were eight of us) told the President that the one thing we didn't want to eat was pizza because we had already eaten it for almost every meal.
May 31st Today was Sunday! We woke up, ate breakfast, & then had personal study. I'm 98% sure that every missionary was using their personal study time to write their talks for sacrament. After personal study we went to the main meeting room for church. You could tell that we were all nervous to go in because we were terrified anything we said or did would make President Preston pick us to talk. As soon as everyone had arrived, he announced who was going to give talks, & I wasn't one of them! I'm glad I didn't have to speak because the six missionaries that did had put together such powerful talks that mine would have been terrible in comparison lol.
After sacrament we met with our districts & we all introduced ourselves & told why we chose to serve a mission. It was interesting listening to everyone & hearing their stories, They definitely strengthened my testimony. After that we had Relief Society (church women's group) & then we got to watch the Joseph Smith Restoration movie. He was the first prophet who organized the church. Seriously, best movie ever. Watching it as a missionary was so powerful that it made me so anxious to share the gospel.
June 1st Today was another day of classes. I've loved loved loved learning how to teach. We've been doing role plays like crazy, but they seriously help so much. One of my favorite activities we've done in our district is read The Book Of Mormon together. it sounds really simple, but we read it slowly & talked about what we learned after every verse. Instead of reading it at 100 mph we try to read it at 10 mph. There is so much knowledge packed into scriptures & I've realized that in order to fully understand The Book Of Mormon & feel the spirit, you need to ponder everything you read. but seriously guys, try it!
We also taught our first investigator today! (one of us poses as an investigator) It didn't go quite as we planned, but the spirit was present in the lesson so I think it was still a successful meeting. In the middle of one of our evening classes, President Preston came and interrupted our class to tell us that RUSSELL M. NELSON WAS AT THE MTC & HE WANTED TO MEET ALL OF US!!! Soooooo crazy! I could not stop smiling the whole way up to the Kimball Room to meet him. I got to shake his hand & introduce myself to him & his wife. It was one of the neatest experiences & I'm never going to forget how incredible it was to shake the hand of an Apostle. After we all met him he shared a quick message with us. He told us that he was proud of us & that he could see the Light of Christ in all of our eyes.
June 2nd Today was filled with a roller coaster of emotions. I started off the day so excited to teach our second investigator today, to learn more in our classes & to eat more food (cuz the food at the England MTC is top notch). When we were teaching our new investigator today, everything started off good, & we were all feeling confident. but the lesson didn't go as planned (as usual lol). Even though the spirit was present & we taught Irene (that's our investigator) how to pray & the importance of prayer, we weren't feeling too great afterwards. There was a lot of tension between us three, & the teacher could definitely tell. One of the problems we all have is that we take everything personally, & because one of my companions was not communicating with the rest of us I figured it was my fault. I started to question why I was even serving a mission. I was holding back tears all through class & just wanted to be alone so I could cry. But it got better! We evaluated our lesson & realized that we taught a good lesson! I need to remind myself a lot that I've only been in the MTC a short while and can't expect to be a perfect teacher. I can't expect to ever be a perfect teacher.
June 3rd Today is p day, & so far we got to do an Endowment Session in the Preston Temple & then we got to go to the store! (An endowment is a gift. An
Random Stuff
They have this weird sauce at the MTC called mint yogurt sauce. Don't try it. It tastes just like toothpaste. I still can't figure out anything it could be good on.
Everyone struggles to pronounce my last name, which is actually so weird to me. Elder Withers has decided that it sounds like Mohannah from the movie Johnny Lingo & now calls me Sister Johannah.
Pretty much every other elder calls me that as well hahahah. (Elders are the young men and Sisters are the young women)
I've also learned how to get ready really really fast hahaha!
...and Dad! We had sweet potato fries for lunch one day & I didn't like them at all. I don't understand your obsession with sweet potatoes.
I love the bread here! I don't know why, but it seems better than American bread. Seriously all I want to eat when I go to meals is rolls lol.
They have this weird sauce at the MTC called mint yogurt sauce. Don't try it. It tastes just like toothpaste. I still can't figure out anything it could be good on.
Everyone struggles to pronounce my last name, which is actually so weird to me. Elder Withers has decided that it sounds like Mohannah from the movie Johnny Lingo & now calls me Sister Johannah.
Pretty much every other elder calls me that as well hahahah. (Elders are the young men and Sisters are the young women)
I've also learned how to get ready really really fast hahaha!
...and Dad! We had sweet potato fries for lunch one day & I didn't like them at all. I don't understand your obsession with sweet potatoes.
I love the bread here! I don't know why, but it seems better than American bread. Seriously all I want to eat when I go to meals is rolls lol.
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| I FOUND YOUR NOTE IN MY BOOK, KRISTA. and I cried a lil in the lesson when I found it, so way to go! |
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| Preston Temple, Preston, England |
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| The sister missionaries currently at the MTC |
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| It is so pretty here |
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| Sister Johannes at the MTC again! |
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| My companions Sister McLean and Sister Fitts |
Love, Sister Sydney Johannes
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