Dear Family:
I am so excited to leave the MTC, but I had a really great experience here so I think I'll miss that a little. I learned so much about myself, other people, and the gospel, and I love it all. It was the perfect mix of fun and learning/spiritual growth. I'll just give a story of each to show you what I mean.
Fun:
The elders often ask me if I am really 4 years older than them...because I don't always (which means almost never) do I act like a little old lady. One day an elder was passing out these pokemon things that he had made and colored...I don't know how he had time to do that, but he did. So we all got a copy and before we went back to our dorms at night I insisted that we all pick which pokemon we were. I don't know anything about Pokemon, I only remember organizing tanner's cards when I was younger. But the reason I wanted us all to pick a pokemon is because it was so funny to see the Elders start talking about Pokemon. They could name all of them (there has got to be 100) and they could tell me there powers, too. I was just loving seeing how passionate they got about pokemon. Anyway, there was this wimpy pink one at the bottom and I asked who that was and they said "Mew. She is the mother of all Pokemon's. She has the most powers; she has all the other pokemons powers combined." As you can guess, that was me. I'm the mother of the district and the most powerful. (I make us start on time, walk quickly, and if Elder B forgets to call on someone to say the prayer, I do it : ). ) Anyway, we laughed about it. I'm not sure this is at all funny to you. But just imagine 19 year old boys in suits...being so excited about pokemon. It was really good.
Spiritual Growth/Learning:
We also had a cool experience this week with contacting. I love it when our teachers put their money where their mouths are and have us go out and do things right now. Sister L told us we were going to go and do this thing called specific finding. We prayed to know who we were looking for, where they would be, what time, what they looked like, what they needed to hear, why we needed to do it. So we did. My companion and I were looking for an Elder in a blue tie who had been here 4-5 weeks with dark hair. He was supposed to be outside the doors to the gym in the little courtyard. He needed a message about Heavenly Father taking care of his family. We wrote all this down and at 4:30, the time we decided, we went out to find him. It was pretty crazy. There was one Elder with a blue tie in the spot that we were looking (I bet there were about 20 overall in that area). He had dark hair. He was talking to someone, but we went up and asked him how long he had been in the MTC, he said 4 weeks. So I told him... We HAVE to talk to you when you are done. There is something really important we need to tell you. After he finished with the elders we told him what we were doing...we had prayed to know who to talk to and what to share, and maybe could we share a short message with him. So we shared our message and read a scripture. While we were doing it I thought, I bet this kid thinks we are freaks! But at the same time I had this feeling like, no, he really does need to hear what we have to say. When we were finished he asked if he could share something with us. He told us his mom and been diagnosed with cancer in December when he got his mission call and that she had just started chemo and that it sounded like things were pretty hard at home for her. He really felt like what we shared was just for him. And he added that he was grateful for the church and the comfort that it could bring. I'm sure this didn't change this Elder's life, but I think it made him feel better and comforted for at least the rest of that day. I felt so thankful that I could do that, and I am excited to do the same thing in Norway. I hope they choose to except the comfort for more than just a day, but even just a day makes it worth it to me. I feel so lucky that I could be on a mission. The biggest thing is that Heavenly Father loves us, and I am so thankful for that knowledge.
We also had Elder Oaks come and talk to us last night. I feel lucky that we go to hear from 2 apostles. It was really an awesome experience again. He talked a little about "becoming" which led me to read a talk he gave in conference called "A challenge to become." It was so good. I liked it because I have always known that actions have consequences ie punishment or blessings, but these are eternal things that effect who we become. I challenge you all to read it.
I love you all so much and I am so excited that I can call home on Monday. Please don't worry about me because I am doing so great and don't need a thing. Just know how much I love you.
Katie Bug
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