"Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also has become my salvation." 2 Nephi 22:2
Ole Familia y Amigos!
Como estan? I can't believe that another week has passed. Time is flying. Next p-day is my b-day (get it? It rhymes.) Well, this week was a good one, as they all are.
First off, I would like to say how crazy it is that they send missionaries- 19-year-old and 21-year-old young adults to preach the most important message of all time- the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is only through God that we are qualified to do his work. As we work hard and do our best, he will make us qualified for the challenges and tests we will face. He will make us qualified for the work. That's how it is with anything in life. How is a young married couple qualified to be parents? How can a new bishop be qualified? They haven't had any kind of previous training. But through putting our trust in the Lord: "I will trust, and not be afraid," we can be required to do whatsoever is asked of us. When we are on the Lord's errand, we are entitled to his help. Our loving Heavenly Father hasn't sent us here to fail and he will never give us a task too large for us to handle. BYU friends, try to remember that in two weeks when you have finals. =) "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of me, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he has commanded." 1 Nephi 3:7
So fast forward 11 days, and I will be flying to Paraguay. We should be receiving travel plans tomorrow. Whoa. To be honest, I can speak Spanish- in present tense and be understood, but if I am trying to conjugate past tense or future, it gets a little jumbled. But like our tutor Hno. Penalillo says being a missionary isn't about speaking Spanish. Spanish is a means to an end- a way for you to accomplish your purpose of inviting others to come unto Christ. So I'm just going to do my best and smile and talk to EVERYONE. Everyone should have the opportunity to know their Savior and if I am the person to be an instrument to bring that to them, whoa. How great shall be my joy.
I can't believe that I was debating whether to go on a mission or not. It is the greatest thing. Seriously, if you are thinking about going, you should just go. I know I sound like one of those missionaries who thinks everyone should go, but if you have had any desire at all, you should go. And if you already went on one, you should be a missionary now and then go on a senior mission. Okay I'm stepping off my soapbox now. =)
What has been new at the MTC? Well in my spare time, I have been schooling the elders at basketball. =) Well, let me tell you how it went: you probably know that I have never played basketball, except when I was 7. And yes, it doesn't make sense because I am 6 feet tall. Anyway, I was shooting and I asked Elder Wilkins to teach me how to shoot. So he did and then challenged me to a game of PIG, thinking it would be easy. I beat him twice and instantly got recognition among the elders. The next day I beat Elder Bigelow. The next day Elder Wilkins proceeded to beat me by shooting three's. Now Elder Anderson is teaching me how to shoot three's. It is very entertaining.
So today I walked out of the temple with my companions and they said to me, "Who will you see today?" Because everyday walking on the MTC campus and back and forth between the temple on Wednesdays, I see friends from BYU. My comps say I know 1 in 10 people. That may or may not be true. Today was no exception. I saw my friends Janet and Tracy from my last ward. So fun! I love it. I also saw my friend Nate Oswald in the cafeteria the other day. Oh and funny story: I was getting soup in the cafeteria and this girl says, “You look familiar? Did you go to BYU? Did you work at the candy counter?" I guess she was a regular who got Swedish fish and chocolate covered raisins, although I didn't recognize her. Maybe I would have if I saw her at the counter. My district says that I talk about EFY, BYU, the candy counter and dating all the time. That may or may not be true.
Our district has gotten increasingly close. They have memorized all my facial expressions and we have memorized all of each other's stories. I feel like they are my brothers and sisters and I love them for it. The elders said I have mellowed out a lot. Like I wasn’t used to being around elders/brothers- wonder why? Ha-ha but I said they have matured a lot as well. We made it a goal to eat lunch and dinner together and pray before eating. This has taught us the Christ-like attribute of patience as we have to wait for everyone to be seated. We are even more like a family because we just eat off of each other's plates if we want to try something and get drinks for each other. I love this! It shows that we are a family. I love it but at times, I feel like I am at the end of an 8 hour road trip sitting with them in the backseat, if you know what I mean. Sharing the MTC experience together, I know that we will have ties that will last a lifetime because we learned so much together and we’re together all day everyday for 8 weeks.
Kelli Brown- Happy 22nd birthday! I hope it is a GREAT one!
Becca and family- Have so much fun in Rexburg at your graduation! I wish I could be there but I know it will be great. Becca I am so proud of you! And so proud of you for getting on the Extreme Couponing Show. That will be awesome.
Katrina- I don't have your new home address so I can't send your letter! Can you send it to me?
I love you all!! Thanks for your love, support and letters! They mean so much to me!
Hermana Brittner
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