Last month here!

Well, more like three weeks. Time has slowed down a lot as we've all started our countdown to leaving the MTC, but I'm trying not to focus on that. I'm just taking one day at a time, and working as hard as I can. I started running in the mornings this week, so I've had a lot more energy and focus. We had a fireside on Sunday talking about the power of our nametags, and so I'm trying to focus on that every day. Every morning when I put it on, it reminds me to work as hard as I can because I am literally a representative of Christ. Just something I've had on my mind recently.

The one thing I don't like about my nametag is the fact that it doesn't have my first name. I'm getting used to being called "Hermana Hunsaker" but I must admit that I miss my first name a little bit. I never liked my first name growing up, but living without it makes me feel a little strange sometimes. Also, I talk to at least five new people a day because they see my nametag and ask me if I'm related to a Joe Hunsaker or a Karen Hunsaker or a Michelle Hunsaker. It might be a good tool on my mission, but right now it gets a little old. But there's always a chance. It's just funny to think that most people don't realize how common my last name is. I'm really excited for the next 16 months, but it'll be really nice to hear my name again when I get home. And this isn't about me or my first name anyways - the most important name on my tag is Christ's.

Anyways, news for the week - because of the faulty fire alarm last week, we had to move out of our room on Friday so they can fix it. Everyone on the fourth floor was relocated. Some people had to move to a completely different building, like my friend Hermana Willis, but we only had to move down to the 3rd floor. I just hung all my hangers of clothes on my arm and walked it down and put it right in the closet, so the move was a pretty easy one. But the craziest part of the story is that no one told the sisters on the 3rd floor that we were coming! We moved into a room with 4 other hermanas, and they were taking up five closets. I got the one empty closet, and my companion wasn't able to unpack until that night when they came back and moved everything out of the closet. So....I was a little negative because it wasn't very well-organized, but it's turned out great. Hermana Ivey and I are no longer in the same room as Hermana Riter and Hermana Johnson, the other two sisters in our district, but they're only two doors down so we usually hang out for a bit every night before bed - and we see them all day with class and everything. Our new roommates are native Spanish speakers, but they all grew up in the States so their English is perfect and they usually speak English. It's been nice having them around to help us say things right, but I'm a little self-conscious sometimes. They're all serving Spanish-speaking missions: two in San Diego, one in DC and the other in Chile. We don't see them very often, only at morning when we wake up and night when we go to bed, but we all get along great.

Teaching has been much better. Hermana Ivey and I have gotten much better at planning our lessons and our "investigators" are gaining testimonies - it's cool to be able to recognize that. I don't dread teaching anymore - my Spanish is good enough that I can get through a lesson with very few pauses, and our lessons have become much more effective as we've used the scriptures and asked good questions and really tried to recognize the needs of the people we teach. Just comparing myself to where I was seven weeks ago, I have learned more than I've ever learned in such a short space of time. I know the only way I've been able to do that is through the Lord. I wonder if I could learn this much in school if I just prayed 10+ times a day. My testimony of the power of prayer has grown tremendously.

I'm running out of time, but I want to share a few things I've learned this week. We had a workshop yesterday where we talked about how to increase our faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, and how we can help our investigators to do so. I've thought about this question a lot since General Conference, after listening to the talks from Elder Holland and Elder Hales. I gained a firm testimony of the Atonement during my freshman year of college when I was having a really rough time, and Jesus Christ is the center of my testimony. I used to think that the only reason Christ came to the world was to perform the Atonement, of which I am so grateful for, but he did more. He came to set an example - to show us exactly how to live our lives. I thought it was enough to take my burdens and my big sins to him - but it's not. If knowing Him and understanding that Atonement at the level that I do doesn't change me, I don't know Him at all. If I don't strive to be more like Him by following His example and His commandments, the Atonement really doesn't do much for me. I've read a lot of scriptures this week - none of them which I can find right now - that basically say that the Atonement is only for those who repent of all their sins and try to become more like Him. That doesn't mean it's not available to all people - it's available to everyone who takes advantage of it. But if we take it for granted and don't use the opportunity to repent everyday and become better, we aren't entitled to all the relief it can bring to our lives. We watched a Mormon Message during the workshop about a woman who was a single mom with four kids at the age of 27, and got into drugs and dealing and even went to prison. And it ruined 27 years of her life. But through the Atonement, she can hold her head high. The gift of the Atonement is really a miracle.

I love when Christ himself talks about the Atonement in His own words in the Doctrine and Covenants. In Section 19, verses 15-19, Christ says: "For behold, I God have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent. But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I. Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and Spirit." And then in Section 45, he tells our Heavenly Father, "Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed...Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name that they may come unto me and have everlasting life." That's how I think of Christ and His Atonement. I saw the Joseph Smith movie Sunday night and everything he went through, and I thought of all this woman has been through, and all I've been through, and all my family and friends have been through - and that's only a tiny fraction of the pain that Christ felt. I cannot even comprehend how he bore that pain.

I've always been grateful for all He has suffered, but I've failed to recognize just how in debt I am to him. He did so much for me - and all He asks is that I strive to become more like Him. It sounds so easy and simple when I put it that way, but it's taking me a long time to realize that. When you learn to put all your burdens on the Lord, He really does succor his people. No matter how many mistakes we've made, or how many we continue to make, He takes that upon Himself so we can feel relief and optimism and confidence in this life. And all He asks is that we come to Him. I don't always understand every commandment from the Lord, but I know that because the Lord loves us, He only gives us commandments for our happiness. Elder Zwick of the Seventy spoke last night at our devotional and quoted President David O. McKay - I didn't get the whole quote down, but the first part of it is "What you sincerely in your heart think of Christ will determine what you are". I want my character and my actions to reflect my love, admiration and respect for Christ. I want people to want to know Christ because they know me (I think that's a quote from somewhere too), because I know that knowing Christ can change the lives of everyone who turns to Him. And that's why I'm out here, doing what I'm doing.

Anyways, sorry for the novel. I'll try taking a lot of pictures this week since my district is all leaving soon. If you took the time to read this - thanks. I hope you enjoyed it.