This week has been a great week!! I've learned so much and
hope that I keep learning this much! There's been so many things that
have been spiritual, but also a lot that have just made my week socially.
On Sunday, we had our mission conference (whole MTC) because
it was Fast Sunday. There were so many great talks that were given, but
my favorite was probably Sister Roach's. She talked about the importance
of taking care and showing respect for the Book of Mormon. She even had a
shout out to President Clark! She was saying how her dear friend Scott
Clark, President of the Joliet Illinois Stake, went on his mission to Japan
where his mission president had all of the missionaries wrap their scriptures
in cloths that protected them from whatever harm could come. I loved the
idea and I loved that President Clark got a shout out! It made me feel really
cool that I knew personally who she was talking about.
For our devotional on Sunday, Ted Gibbons came.
Instead of giving a talk or lecturing us, he acted out the life of Willard
Richards all the way up to the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum. It was
probably one of the most amazing performances I've seen. It got me all
hyped up to learn more about the restorationa and about church history.
Right after his performance, we had the opportunity to watch Legacy for our
movie that night!! I absolutely love that movie and was pretty much quoting
along with it. I forgot how cheesy it was, but I still love it and had
the main song stuck in my head the rest of the night. When they showed
the Nauvoo temple being built, it made me miss home, but it got me that much
more excited to go back and visit it after I get home in 17 months. I
just love church history so much!!
On Sunday morning, I had an interview with Brother Dowdle,
the second counselor in our branch presidency and, by the way, famous guitar
player. He was telling me that the Book of Mormon isn't just Another
Testament of Jesus Christ, but is a physical manifestation that God is
real. If you think about how the Book of Mormon got here on earth,
there's no way that you can deny the reality of our Heavenly Father and Jesus
Christ. Joseph Smith was an uneducated farmboy who translated the gold plates
in about a month. There is no way he could have done that without the
help of God.
On Monday, we had a really spiritual lesson with Miguel, one
of our investigators. We talked about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and
the power that it can have in our lives. Lately, Hermana Higgs and I have
been struggling a little with trying to bring the spirit into lessons while
using spanish. Towards the end of the lesson, Hermana Higgs and I both
testified of the importance of the Atonement and had Miguel read an excerpt
from a General Conference talk. The spirit was so strong that we almost
started crying during the lesson. It was the first time that I truly felt
that we could do this and that I didn't need to worry about receiving the
Lord's help.
On Tuesday, we received two new investigators. This
time, instead of being our teachers, the investigators are two of the elders in
my district, Elder Ainge and Elder Tanner. They're impersonating two of
their friends from back home who aren't members. It's really neat to
teach them because we get to pretend to be investigators for them as
well. It's interesting to be on the side of the investigator because it
helps us realize what the investigators are feeling more.
Tuesday night, for devotional, Elder Tad R. Callister, from
the seventy talked to us. At first, his talk seemed like it was going to
be pretty factual and boring, but as it went on, it got more interesting.
He talked about how The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the only
church on earth that is exactly like the one in the New Testament during
Christ's ministry on earth. I'll send my notes later, but it's amazing
because all of the scripture references come from the New Testament.
It's crazy how fast time flies. I only have a week and
a half left in the MTC before I finally head out to California. Whenever
a district leaves in our zone, they have to perform a farewell song in
Sacrament Meeting. My district has already decided that we're going to
sing "I Stand All Amazed" in Spanish for our song. We've
practiced a few times this week, but still have a lot of practice left to
do. I'm really glad that the elders in my district are willing and
enthusiastic to do this because most guys my age wouldn't be. That's one
this that I really like about them. I'm surprised they still like talking
to us even though we shed our hair all over the classroom floor and they find
it in hairballs and have to throw it away! Everyday, though, the elders
find something hilarious to add to the collection they started when we got
here. This week, they started saying, "Le gusta Satanas?"
which means do you like Satan. This may not sound that funny, but the way
they say it is hilarious.
Last week, the older district in my zone created a zone
handshake that we've all learned. I feel like our zone has bonded a lot
this past week and it'll be sad to see the district leave this week. We
all joke about how in 2 years when we're all back from our missions, we're
going to see each other and first thing we'll do is do the handshake.
It's pretty complicated and took a while to learn, but I think I got it now! :)
Yesterday, I started reading Jesus the Christ. I'm not
that far into it yet, but I really enjoy it so far and encourage those of you
who haven't read it yet to read it. It's all about Christ and his purpose
and life and why He's important in our lives. Last week, Hermana Higgs
and I started memorizing the Articles of Faith in Spanish! I've got 1-8
and 13 down! Once I've finished with those, I'm going to start memorizing
the Family Proclamation in Spanish, which will be more of a challenge, but
totally worth it!
So the Hermanas that trained us, Hermana Boyd and Hermana
Lyons, were like the greatest people on earth and we used to call them "THE
Hermanas." When they left we were bummed, but we tried to be the
same way for the Hermanas that came in after us. Yesterday, they referred
to us as "THE Hermanas!" It made me feel like I had been
fulfilling my assignment as Sister Training Leader and becoming as great as the
other Hermanas that trained us.
This morning, we were able to go to the temple again!
Instead of actually doing an endowment session, we decided to do
initiatories. It was really neat because I haven't done them since I
first went through. As I was looking at the names that I was given, I
realized that all of the women were from St. Clair, Illinois! It was really
neat to be able to connect with these deceased women and make it more
personal. I mean, there aren't that many people from Illinois that I
meet. Which reminds me! The Busticker (sp?) girl is in my gym
time! I didn't realize who she was until I asked what her last name was
because she looked familiar.
I've ran into so many more people that I know this past week!!
I ran into Brother Dowd's daughter at the bookstore this morning and saw
Carmichael (Jacob Macmichael, the other temple coordinator in my ward) a few
times this past week. Best of all, I SAW NATALIE DURING LUNCH!!! I was so
excited to see her after a month!! It pretty much made my day!!
Also, Michael Murdock is in my zone! Crazy! For those of you who don't know who
that is, I met him first semester of college. My friends and I were
fake campaigning for Obama and ran into him and his roommates in Wyview.
Later, I realized that he was on drumline in marching band. I never
thought I'd know someone in one of the incoming districts!
I'm absolutely loving it here at the MTC and it'll be hard
to leave, but that doesn't mean that I'm not excited for California! I
love and miss everyone and you're all in my prayers!
Con Amor,
Hermana Halliday
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