Life as a Missionary: MTC = Boot Camp

Hello Dear Friends and Fam,

Well my world literally got rocked this week. This place is literally like boot camp. The first three nights here were some of the most miserable nights of my life. I was SO homesick and sitting in class for 12 hours a day is never easy. But I finally realized that I was the only one who could dictate how this whole mission thing would be, so I decided to just have a good attitude and look for ways to serve people so I could find distractions from homesickness! Everything changed instantly. Now I'm having an amazing time! We also listened to this talk (Elder Bednar Character of Christ - not sure if you can look it up because it was an MTC Devotional, but try) and it literally changed my life and taught me some powerful lessons. The Spirit that is in the MTC is undeniable. I literally cry every day. And not like the cute cry, the ugly kind of crying. No doubt my District thinks I have emotional problems, but what can you do.

I am in a triple companionship, so I have two companions. I got so lucky! They’re both AMAZING! The only complaint I have is that Sister Johnson literally has to pee every two seconds. The three of us are learning to love each other, unconditionally. They put up with my high maintenance so well. They even let my braid their hair sometimes! Sister Johnson and I are the worst at remembering to pray before we eat our food. Here you pray at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We're "those" missionaries. If you hear about two sister missionaries bursting into flames at the MTC suddenly, it’s probably us.

At night there's this computer voice that comes on the intercom in the dorms telling you when it is 10:15 and 10:30 because that's when you are supposed to be in bed. It’s literally the scariest voice ever. It makes you feel like you're in the Hunger Games.

Russian is pretty difficult. BUT I can pray, read, and bear my testimony in it now! And it has only been a week! Hopefully I'll be able to decently speak at the end of these short nine weeks.

The food here actually isn't too bad! I think I've actually lost weight because I just eat salad all the time. And probably because they don't have a Yogurtland here. But I'm not sure.

The hardest thing about being on a mission isn't the schedule or homesickness. It’s the pressure you put on yourself. You just want to be the best you can be, the most educated and best speaking. But I've learned that it takes time to develop skills like that. I'm learning patience (which is something I don't have a lot of) and how to truly trust in the Lord. It’s scary, but its new and exciting all at the same time. I'm learning that its okay to have weaknesses because it’s identifying those weaknesses and turning them into strengths is what makes you grow as a person! (Ether 12:27)