First Week in the MTC

Hey all! Happy Thanksgiving!!! 

The first week in the mission field has been so good. Just fyi, my P-day is Tuesday, not Monday. So that's when I can reply to emails and letters. We'll see if it changes when I actually go to Micronesia. (December 6th). I fly out with two other Sisters and 3 Elders, all who are in my district.

Wednesday was a little rough saying goodbye to my family... but to be perfectly honest (sorry fam), soon as I walked away and was walking into those doors, I was good. So good. I haven't even had homesickness hit in full force yet... but it's probably coming. 

Basically they cram so much into your day here that you hardly have time to stop and think and take it all in. So, for those of you who have heard its like drinking from a firehose... yeah... basically. I love it though. The Spirit is so strong here. 

I super love my companion, Sister Jones. She is so cool. I love my whole district, actually. The sisters in the district all have the same dorm. It's me and Sister Jones, Sisters Pokipala and Martin, and Sisters Petersen and Bullard. Then the Elders are: Elders Yamamoto (the district leader) and Hille, Elders Arnson and Robertsen, and Elders Roper and Lindeman. Elder Lindeman is actually from Lehi too, and he is in our stake. Pretty cool. 

Our district bonded so well pretty much from the start. We all joke around (maybe sometimes too much), but have had so many Spiritual moments too. I love it.

That's really the best way I can describe my experience here. Spiritual, and uplifting. There are so many moments, and so many stories I could tell, so maybe I will just sum up what I have learned here, and share a story or two. 

The first night, I got in bed a little later than I wanted. I was just opening up everyone's letters and stuff to read (thank you all for that, they were so sweet ^^) and the announcement came on that it was 10:30, lights out. I wanted to finish reading, but the awesome, obedient Sisters in my room were like, ok, lights out. They taught me the importance of obedience from the get go, and I have heard the word every day multiple times since. I still read everyone's letters.. just a day later =)

Lesson one: Obedience is key to everything out here!! If you don't obey, you don't have the Spirit, and you cannot teach.

Lesson two: be patient with yourself. You cannot run faster than you have strength.

Lesson three: Prayer is a real thing. Heavenly Father hears and answers. Maybe not in your time or the way you want, but He answers. 

Lesson four: Like, for real. God answers prayers. And the Spirit is the best.

             

           Ok this one needs a story. Kind of long, so bear with me. Sunday was AMAZING. Best Sunday of my life, no joke. So many good lessons were taught. 

Obedience: If you do not obey, you will not have the Spirit, and investigators can tell. 

Prayers: God always answers, but if you are looking for a specific answer and a certain way it will come, you will miss it. 

     A mission president got up in Sacrament and said this: "During the opening song, I was inspired to tell you all something. As King Benjamin says in Mosiah 3:4, he said he was speaking as a witness of Christ: Whatever we have been praying about, God has heard our prayers, judged them to be righteous, and asks we go and rejoice, and share that joy with others. The Spirit was SO strong. There was a total feeling of peace in the room, and love.

Sunday was seriously one Spiritual experience after another. We went on a temple walk as a district and bonded even more. Then we had another meeting. Another president taught, and he talked about developing the attributes of Christ. It is my goal to develop one attribute a week. This week I am working on Faith, and I challenge all of you to work on that also. I would love to hear what you learned. 

Finally, as if all of this wasn't enough, we watched the talk by Elder Bednar called Character of Christ. I was soooo sad when I heard you can only watch it in the MTC since it was an MTC address, because I wanted to share it with all of you. But, basically, Elder Bednar said we have to put off the natural man. The natural man is the one who is all about himself: he turns in, he wants this, and he wants it now (he compared it to the Cookie monster, it was hilarious). But the Character of Christ turns out when the rest of the world would turn in. When He was suffering for the sins of the world, when three of his friends let him down and another betrayed him, when they came to take him to be judged of the world and crucified, did he complain? Did he say, why me? No. He healed a guards ear. When he was suffering more than we can even imagine, he still turned out. Elder Bednar challenged us to go find other examples, but the message is clear. To have the character of Christ we need to turn out, and forget about ourselves. Only then will we find ourselves.

Lesson five: Like Moses, after great spiritual experiences--or good things in life--bad experiences and trials are pretty much to follow. But, God is still with you. Just press forward, and He will help you, one step at a time. And good experiences will again follow.

Lesson six: Love. If you truly love one another, if you have charity, the pure love of Christ, you will not worry about how other people view you.

Lesson 7, my favorite one of all: If you "turn outwards" and have the "Character of Christ", you will lose yourself in the service of others. And in the process, when you are not looking, you will find yourself.

I promise that as you forget about yourself, no matter what you personally are going through, no matter your struggles: as you forget yourself, and love those around you, no matter who they are, you will come to find yourself. And you will love life.

I am learning that my purpose here is not to improve myself. My purpose here is to invite others to Come unto Christ, by helping them receive the restored Gospel, through Faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, Repentance, Baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the end. (Sound familiar RM's?) My purpose is to bring others the same joy this Gospel has brought me. And in doing so, maybe, just maybe, I will find myself too. =)

'Til next week guys! 

Love ya,

Sister Springer