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| The method by which I memorized 103 words in an hour. ( Yes, I promise there is a method to the madness) |
August 10, 2017
So last Thursday night I decided to memorize a few phrases in Swedish that I could use when I taught the Plan of Salvation. I was working on them up until the end of class which was about 9 o'clock and I was feeling pretty good about having memorized them in a fairly short period of time, until I went to bed. Those phrases seriously haunted me all night as they just kept running through my mind over and over, and Äldste Radford informed the next morning that I was even talking Swedish in my sleep... The good news is, I definitely had those phrases down and there was no forgetting them. The bad news is that I didn't even use them when we taught the plan of salvation because they never seemed to fit right. Because of this, I altered my memorization technique to focusing on words instead of phrases so the spirit can more fully guide me through the lessons and bring words to my remembrance.
The lessons are going well and they are getting better everyday. We are all getting really excited to go to Sweden but we have also been realizing that we are going to have no idea what we're doing when we get there... The amazing thing is though, as long as we rely on the Lord and put our faith in him, we will find ability far beyond our own.
This week our district found out that our moms apparently love us. Throughout the week our district has received an impressive stash of granola bars, trail mix, fruit snacks, goldfish, several cases of soda, all sorts of candy, etc. Half our district lives in one room while the rest of us live in the other. The district has decided to live the law of consecration, so we have piled all of the snacks in one of the rooms and it is open to all members of the district. I was already pretty impressed by how much food there was, and then there was yesterday. Out of the blue, our district received 60 doughnuts, 12 cinnamon rolls, and 4 giant cookies between all of us. I'm just glad I'm not living in the room where it's all being stashed because just the sight of it kinda makes me sick... The sad part is that I really want to still fit into my pants when I leave the MTC so I haven't been eating any of it. It really is quite impressive though and I guess it's good to know that we could probably survive the rest of our time here without the cafeteria, if something were to happen to it.
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| The food stash |
Sunday evening was definitely one to remember. For the devotional, Jenny Oaks Baker and her family came. She spoke to us and they performed several songs as a family throughout her talk which was pretty amazing. They are such a talented family and it was really cool to hear some of her experiences and then have time to ponder on them as they played a song and brought the spirit even more. Right after the devotional the whole MTC was asked to watch "The Character of Christ" by Elder Bednar even though we had already seen it. I was perfectly okay with this because that talk is one of my all time favorites and it was cool to hear it again and pull new things from it. While most of the missionaries were in the auditorium for the film, Äldste Radford and I were in the smaller overflow room in the new building where they were broadcasting to. As soon as the film ended, everybody just quietly stood up and stayed standing. We were towards the back so we couldn't tell why everyone was standing, but we were able to see President and Sister Martino walk in. It seemed a little strange and then all of a sudden Elder Bednar started speaking. He had decided to come by the MTC and surprise all of the missionaries and let's just say it definitely worked. He essentially held a Q&A session which was amazing. One of the things that stood out to me the most is when one sister asked him how he knew that God loved him. As an apostle of the Lord you might expect some grand reason or unusual circumstance as a special confirmation of God's love and existence, but he simply replied "Because the first first word God the Eternal father and His Son, Jesus Christ, said in this dispensation was Joseph". The way Elder Bednar knows that God is our loving Heavenly Father and knows each and every one of us is available to us all, it's not something reserved for an Apostle. He knows because he has chosen to believe the words of God through his prophet Joseph Smith. Elder Benar also talked about how prayer should be an ongoing process, not something we do just three times a day. We should be continually asking the Lord for help and then reporting on our efforts and striving to do all that we can.
Normally the film ends at 9 o'clock and they ask us to go straight to our residence halls, but on Sunday Elder Bednar talked to us until 10. I appreciate his willingness to take time out of his Sunday evening to come talk to us and I loved hearing the answers to questions that so many people here have. I know that Elder Bednar is truly an apostle called of the Lord. If the Lord were here on the Earth, He would have the same apostles, and the Church would run the same. This is His church. I know that President Monson is his prophet here on the Earth today and that he is the only person who holds and is authorized to use all the priesthood keys. Here on the mission there are many times were I feel inadequate, we all are. But I know that through the Lord we can not only be enough, we can do anything according to his will. I love my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ with all my heart and I know he lives. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Äldste Sirrine
