Hi everyone! I don't have too much to say - mostly I'm just anxious to get out of here and get to San Francisco! Today's my last normal P-day with my district - next Wednesday most of them will be gone and I'll be at Temple Square for the morning. It's weird because every day has been more or less the same for the past 7 weeks but things are starting to change fast. This Friday, we have in-field orientation all day where they prep us to go out into the field. Parker didn't rave about it too much, but I'm so excited - even though I'll still have a week and a half before I get to leave. I should get my travel plans tomorrow night and then it'll feel more real. Right now, I've already spent 2 months of my short mission here and sometimes I feel like this is where I'm going to be the whole time - but the real countdown to the field will start once I see those travel plans. Our whole district is really excited to go, and we've been speaking in Spanish almost constantly for the past few days in an effort to be better prepared. I know the Spanish well enough - I can't even count how many lessons I've given in Spanish at this point - 6 a week, plus all the random teaching practices we do during our classes: I've probably taught over 60 times in Spanish, even if some of them were short 5-minute blurbs. I can't wait to feel 100% comfortable with it, and sometimes I still hold back from saying certain things because I'm not sure exactly how to say it, but I've learned more Spanish in the past two months that most people learn in a couple years of high school. So....I think I'm ready to go.
But I'm really excited for Visitor Center Training - I have a few friends that did it last week, a couple more doing it this week, and they all say really great things. The one thing I am not so excited for is getting completely ready everyday. I've been told that Visitor Center sisters get a little extra time to get ready for the day because they have to look perfect. I'm already sick of getting dressed up everyday and doing my hair and putting on my makeup and all that jazz. I understand the importance - it's just going to be hard for me, even though it's such a little thing. At Temple Square, the sisters can't even put their hair in a bun or ponytail or anything like that - it has to be down and done. I'll just have to see what it's like at the Oakland Temple Visitor's Center......I'm also a little nervous for all the time we spend in the referral center during our week of training. My job at Vivint taught me how to talk on the phone to strangers - but that doesn't mean I like to do it. It's been so nice being at the MTC without a cell phone, or anything like that - using a phone again is going to be weird. There are some missionaries that serve their entire missions in the referral center, usually due to medical problems, so I can't complain - but it's going to be hard. I know how to do tech support over the phone, but I have NO IDEA how to talk about the gospel over the phone - especially in Spanish.
I'm almost out of time, but I want to share a quick thought. My companion and I were chosen to participate in the teaching experience for the new missionaries that come in today. Essentially, what we do is walk in, talk to the person, get to know them and their needs a little bit, and then a huge group of 30ish new missionaries finish teaching the person as a group. I'm a little nervous, but it's in English and it's what I've been doing for the past two months so it shouldn't be hard (even though I'm starting to think I can teach the gospel better in Spanish than in English now). We had a training Monday night, and after asking us all what our purpose was as missionaries, he said that our purpose is "to offer the Atonement to everyone." I had never thought of it in that way before, but that's what I'm doing as a missionary. Ever since then, I've been thinking of how I can relate all my lessons back to Christ and His Atonement. I haven't done it every time, but I've noticed a powerful change in the Spirit when I have. The thing I love so much about this gospel is the fact that it fully explains the Atonement. It's not just for huge sins; it's really for everyone as long as we come unto Christ. I think I wrote something about this last week so I won't say much more, but I know that if we truly understand the Atonement, we will want to follow Christ and do whatever He asks of us. President Hinckley said, "The church doesn't need anymore people. The people need the church." They need the church because they need to understand the Atonement - I don't believe that any other church explains the Atonement with more clarity because I don't think any book other than the Book of Mormon truly explains Christ's Atonement.
We had a devotional last night where the speaker, Bradley Foster of the Seventy, talked about consecration. I hadn't thought of my mission as living the law of consecration, but that's really what I'm doing. After the devotional, someone in my district said, "We are standing as proxy for Jesus Christ." I'm having fun, but this is also a very sacred obligation. It just made me think of my life before this; have I lived my life with that statement in mind? I don't think I have before now, and even now I know I can do better. It's just something to think about. We watched a movie as part of that devotional about John Tanner, a convert to the church that was the epitome of consecration. I don't know the name of the movie, but if you haven't seen it, you should. Neal A. Maxwell once said, "Consecration is the only surrender which is also a victory." Some people might say that being humble and serving the Lord - giving everything up to do His work - is crazy, but I know it's not. I've come to love Matthew 16:24-26 as I've been reading of the Savior's earthly ministry: "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For Whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it." I reread Holland's talk from Conference this morning, and it just reminded me that everything we do should be in response to our love for God. As we acknowledge His hand in our lives, there's no way we can continue to live our lives without consecrating them to the Lord and His work. I don't have the exact quote, but in the talk, Holland said something like "the true sign of love is loyalty."
Anyways, just a thought. My P-day next week is Friday so I'll write again then and let you know how the training is going.
Love you!!!
