sister call's mission adventures: My first week in the Missionary Training Center

Week one is done and I love being on a mission! Seriously. Love it. I love it so much I get really spazzy excited some times.This week has been great! I can't even believe that I have only been here a week. It feels like forever. I have been learning so much it is almost overwhelming, but I love it. It is like EFY x 1000. So yeah. I love it.

My companion's name is Sister Ogletree. She is the perfect companion and we complement each other really well. She is from Dallas, Texas and went to BYU Idaho. She is going to Independence as well. She is super fun and funny and we have a good time. She is also really chill, which is helpful because I tend to spaz out a bit here sometimes. The other sisters in our district are also great. Sister Wilson is going to Independence with us and Sister Semones is going to Carlsbad, CA. All the elders in our district are going to Carlsbad. Their mission borders the Anaheim mission, which is really cool! We have an Elder Call in our district. He is this hilarious farm boy from Idaho. Sooo that always gets us a lot of funny comments.

The MTC has been super humbling, probably not too surprising because I wasn't super humble to begin with (look how humble I am admitting that!). Heavenly Father has really helped me understand my weaknesses and where I can improve in my teaching. I have been learning a lot because of that.

My teachers at the MTC are great and I am learning a lot. Mostly we have a lot of fake people that are looking into the church. We plan lessons for them and learn how to talk to people and meet their needs. It is actually really fun and great practice for getting to know people. We also study gospel topics and have a lot of personal study time to work on what we want. I have already learned so much about teaching and teaching by the spirit. I love it!

I was assigned to be coordinating sister for the zone. I was a little overwhelmed when they called me because it was our second day, but I am really excited now. Basically I am like the relief society president for our branch and I help look after all the sisters in the zone. I also help with zone trainings and such. I am really grateful for the calling because I think it will help me learn a lot. I have found that I tend to sit back sometimes in social situations here because we are with people all the time and that is my way of being independent. I know it will help me really think of the needs of others and will force me to get to know the sisters in my zone, which is a great thing. I know that Heavenly Father knew that I needed the extra help. We get three new sisters in the zone today, so today will be my first day! Its exciting!

Yesterday (Tuesday) was a really great day. It started out as my worst day here so far. I was getting homesick because we didn't get any mail on Sunday or Monday and was just feeling a little overwhelmed. We had a lesson in the morning and it was okay, but my perfectionist overachieving tendencies came out and it wasn't good enough. And then we had TRC appointment with an investigator that we had never met. I WAS A MUTE. Seriously. Luckily Sister Ogletree is a really great talker, but I said maybe four things and was freaking out because I felt dumb and didn't know what to say. It was pretty bad. And then I was pretty bummed. After that we went to gym. It was okay but I was getting really good at throwing myself a pity party. Then we had some study time and it was an answer to all my prayers. I was studying in Doctrine and Covenants about teaching by the spirit. I came across D&C 68:5 which basically says the Lord will give you what you need to say, and then I read verse 6 which says "wherefore be of good cheer and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, that I am the Son of God..." And I realized that I was being so fearful. I was lacking confidence in myself, which is the dumbest thing. This is the Lord's work and he will be there with me. I am not helping anyone by selling myself short and second guessing myself. I have learned already that this is His work. Heavenly Father loves all his children so much, so he won't let me fail and he will help me teach his children. Then we had this awesome devotional by Elder Kophishke and his cute wife. They just said everything I needed to hear. I went to bed so happy and so excited to be here that I almost couldn't sleep. I am so grateful for the scriptures and the peace and inspiration they give us. God is so good to us and blesses us so much more that we even deserve! I can't wait to see my testimony and the testimonies of others grow throughout my mission.