The Happenings of a Heather: MTC week 5

Oi familia!!

Yep. It is true...I am off to the GEORGIA MACON MISSION bright and early MondayMorning!! The fact that I am leaving the MTC in just a couple of days is all so surreal!! I am about to be talking to real people with real salvation!! Oh my goodness!! It's also so crazy that we just found out last night, and then we have a few days and we are gone! I'm excited though!! I am excited to go to Georgia! I know that is where I am supposed to be for now. Rumor has it...that Macon is a rough part of Georgia. Some Elders from Georgia said that the mission was closed for a little while and they just barely re-opened it. But I am sure they will keep the Sisters out of the rough areas. Also, the Elders said that people in the South LOVE the Sisters! So, that's good!! We will be fed really well, and most likely we will be getting cars because it is pretty spread out! So much for working off the MTC cookies and brownies...some good Southern cooking + cars = no hope. hahaha. YOMO!! I am a little nervous about being in the Bible Belt, because I don't feel like I know the Bible all that well! So, that will be interesting. I feel like you can tell what people's intentions are though. I might have some entertaining stories of people Bible bashing me. Woo!

This week has been fun and crazy. Because it was our last week, the monotony was more broken up!

Sunday we heard from a man that is over the Missionary Department of the Church. I can't remember his name. He really talked about how as a missionary, Satan will try to push every one of your buttons, because he doesn't want us to succeed. And as a missionary, you really can feel your "buttons" being pushed sometimes. But it is so important to recognize Satan working on you and push out the distractions and center our focus on serving. I really want to serve my mission giving my all to my Heavenly Father, so that when my mission is up, I can truly have no regrets.

Monday and Tuesday we taught our "investigators" for the last time. It's good. Because sometimes when you are so close to your teacher, it is hard to stay in the right mindset of them being an investigator. Our guy teacher sometimes helps us through the lesson, and we have had some pretty entertaining moments with him! Dad was asking about Portuguese, and I don't really feel all that confident with it. I can hold my own in a gospel conversation, but obviously my "investigators" are talking slower and using vocab that we are more familiar with. I am trying to get verb conjugations down, because that is definitely the hardest part, knowing how to conjugate, and not having to sit and think about it for a while before you speak. I am hoping that in Georgia, I will be able to figure out ways to keep my Portuguese up, so that I am not entirely incapable of speaking once I actually get to Brazil.

Tuesday we got to hear from Elder Anderson for our devotional. He talked about Sacrifice and Love. "We sacrifice the things we love, and we love the things that we sacrifice for." It was really good! Then, after the devotional, there was a thunderstorm going on outside, so they had us stay in the Marriott Center for a little bit while they waiting for the thunder and lightning to go down. So, we just sang songs and Elder Anderson walked around and went around shaking people's hands. When they gave us the clear...we entered the rain and kind of jogged back to the MTC! We were all soaked!! It was actually pretty fun!! I was just like, "save my notebook and my scriptures!!" hahaha. The valuables of a missionary!!

Wednesday was quite eventful. There is a sister from the district ahead of us that has had to stay behind because of foot problems, so I gained another companion. So, Wednesdaywe went to the Health Clinic with her, and she found out that she will have to have surgery next week and that she will be staying 3 more weeks after this week. So, a whole month extra!! I would die! They gave her the option of a medical release, but I think it would be harder to go home and come back out. But Wednesday was kind of rough for her!Wednesday I also got to host the new missionaries coming in! I was pretty excited!! Then, we were at the curb and a sister in my district stepped up to help host a sister, and I was tearing up just watching the sister say good bye to her parents. I was thinking, "Oh man, I don't know if I am going to be able to do this!" I was still standing there waiting to see a car to host, and they summoned me in a different direction, and I was asked to host a foreign sister. The foreign missionaries get here on Tuesday, so they were already getting used to the MTC, and I didn't have to watch them say goodbye to anyone! It ended up being good for me!! The first sister I hosted was from Germany, and she spoke fluent English, and she already loved the MTC!! She was so cute and everything went smoothly. Then, I was asked to host a sister from the Philippines, and it was an adventure. The poor sister had some type of surgery on her feet that morning...I think for like ingrown toenails. And her English was kind of rocky. But I took her to her temporary room, so that I could help her move her stuff to her permanent room, and she wasn't all packed yet. And her suitcase would not close, she was so persistent to get that thing to work, and tried for a good 15 minutes. And I was like, "Sister, I really don't think that is going to close. Maybe we should just try to carry it together." And she was just like, "I can't carry this thing." Oh boy. So, we went and recruited some sisters outside to help us carry her stuff to her new room. I felt so bad for the poor Sister. She was already so overwhelmed by being in the United States and speaking English all the time. But we finally got her all settled in her classroom.

Thursday we had in-field training, where you go to classes to prepare you for the field. We talked about "Finding" and how to "Use Members" and just talked about not putting yourself in the mindset of being a "planter," because Heavenly Father hasn't just called us to plant seeds. It was crazy because reality was setting in that we were leaving the MTC and that we were going to talk to real people with real needs and real salvation!! Ahhh!! It's crazy and overwhelming and exciting!!

Thursday we also had to go with my new companion, Sis. Spencer, to a doctor's appointment for pre-opp stuff. We left the MTC and went into the real world for a little bit!! It was weird to be driving around Provo. We only really went from the car, into the doctor's appointment, and back into the car. We were all excited to leave the MTC...and then we realized that it really wasn't all that exciting. hahaha. I saw some of Provo from the car. Woo!! hahaha. It has been really interesting to have a second companion. It is just different, because you are having to cater to more needs and be patient.

Then, last night, we got our re-assignments! We were expecting to get them today, so when we got them yesterday, it was so surprising!! In my district, we have 3 going to South Carolina; 3 going to Cincinnati, Ohio; 2 going to Georgia; 1 going to Las Vegas; 1 going to Salem, Oregon; 1 going to New Jersey; and 1 going to Jacksonville, Florida. So, we are all over the place!! I think there are 5 Brazil Sisters that have been re-assigned to my Georgia Mission, but I only know of my companion!! My companion and I are the only companionship that is staying together!!

But things are good!! I'm excited for the adventure that awaits, and I'm enjoying these last few days in the MTC!

Amo voces!!

Sister Van Wag