This week has been great so far!! I feel like every time I email, I don't have a whole lot of new things to say. The days are pretty much the same thing repeated over and over again, but I still absolutely love here! So, every week in Sacrament Meeting, our Branch President gets up and calls on two random missionaries (one elder and one sister) to give a talk on the subject of the day. This means that we have to prepare a talk (in Spanish) every week even though we have no idea who's going to be speaking. The subject this past week was Faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement. I got to give the talk on Sunday! It actually wasn't as bad as I though it would be, but it was still a little nerve wracking. I talked a lot about how our faith starts out as a little seed, but can grow into a wonderful powerful source that we can draw from at any time in our lives. On top of that, Hermana Morgan and I did a flute-piano duet in Sacrament Meeting! We played "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" and everyone told us that we did really well. Sister Johnson AND Sister Dowdle both told us that we should try out to play the special musical number at Relief Society or a Devotional. I didn't think we did THAT good, but overall I was pleased. I was just happy that I was able to check out a flute and play it for a little bit before leaving the MTC.
My district is still rockin' it and I'm pretty convinced that we're still the best one in the zone. Every day we get closer and closer to family that it's going to be even more difficult to leave them in two and a half weeks. I can't believe how fast time has gone by! Today, one of our teachers, Hermano Turner, went to the temple with us. He tells us everyday how much he loves us and I can tell that he's really trying to show us that love. The new district is settling in really well and they have a lot of unity, which is really good. At first they didn't, but now, it couldn't be better! We got a new district yesterday, but we haven't met them yet because they don't have any Hermanas in their district! It stinks! :( Oh well! We'll probably get another district next week too at the rate the missionaries are coming in. Every week there are just more and more and more!! There's finally missionaries at Wyview!! They moved some of the less common languages over there as well as some English speaking ones. It's crazy to think that there are missionaries living where I lived just over a month ago!
On Sunday for RS, we were supposed to have Carole Stephens, the first counselor in the General RS presidency, but she never showed! We're hoping that nothing too serious happened and that she's okay. Instead, the members of the MTC RS presidency talked to us about Joseph Smith and everything he's done for the church. For devotional on Sunday, we listened to Elder Allen (he has something to do with MTC media or church media or something to that effect). He talked about how we need to realize that All is Well in the grand scheme of things. He told us that "Come, Come Ye Saints" is our anthem as missionaries, which made me happy because I already absolutely love that song! After devotional, we watched Sister Monson's funeral. It's amazing how the church can make death seem so wonderful. I love knowing that we have a life after death and that we can live with Heavenly Father again. For devotional on Tuesday, Craig Zwick from the seventy talked to us. He created an analogy of Building Christlike Attributes in our lives to the construction of the Portland, OR temple. It was really neat! Apparently, Elder Ainge's previous YM leader is his son, so him and his companion, Elder Tanner, got front row seats! The rest of us were pretty jealous, but we still felt the spirit! ;)
Yesterday as we were walking to lunch, I ran into Chelsea Fisher! She was going up to her classroom for the first time with her host missionary! It was so nice to see her and think of home. Today, I talked to Alivia Jordan in the cafeteria as well. They're both doing great and are really excited to be here as well.
I forgot to mention this last week, but Hermana Morgan needed a blessing. It wasn't anything like life threatening or anything, but she was just struggling a little bit. We tried to hunt down our elders until we found them. Our whole district found a spot outside and we all got to listen to our elders give a blessing to her. It was a really neat experience being able to watch guys my own age administer a priesthood blessing. My testimony of the priesthood was strengthen so much. It helped confirm my desire for my future husband to hold the priesthood and be able to lead our home. Not that I'm thinking about that all the time :)!
This past week, I had a pretty bad cold and struggled a little bit with concentrating on what I needed to be concentrating on. I had some doubts about if I was being a good enough missionary, but when I prayed about it, I knew that I was and that the adversary was just getting to me. On top of that, Hermana Higgs and I taught the "Sunday School" lesson to our district on Sunday. It was, once again, all about faith. We focused on faith during hard times in our lives and how it can help improve whatever situation we're placed in. If any of you haven't seen the Mormon Message, "Mountains to Climb," I highly suggest watching it. We used it in our lesson to help support our point. Another good one is "Courage." Seriously two of my favorite. I'm all better now and ready to plow through whatever challenges are put in front of me!
Love and miss everyone bunches!!
Con amor,
Hermana Halliday
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