Mostly I Just Feel Happy

The MTC has been SO great! I've loved it. I live with 3 other sisters all going to Ogden. My companion, Sister Shreve is super sweet and has really great insights. We work really well together. My district is the BOMB I love them all so much.

So I was looking through my journal the other night and found my entry on the night of my mission call. All I wrote was, "Called to serve in the Utah Ogden Mission. Not super stoked about it." I laughed when I read it. It's so silly to think that I wasn't excited. I am now super stoked to serve the people of my mission. Cause to be real, it ain't about me. ;) 

There is sooo much I could write about. Every day I grow and learn and feel so much. The Spirit here is so incredible. There have been moments where I have felt a little inadequate or overwhelmed (or really sleepy ;) ), but mostly I just feel happy. 

Yesterday was an especially wonderful day. So just to kind of preface, there have been a few nights that I wake up in the middle of the night and get really sick so yesterday I asked the Elders in my district for a blessing. It was such a simple blessing, but it was so powerful. I was blessed with health, energy, and a clarity of mind so that I can learn and teach. The whole clarity of mind thing was like "Boom! Yes, I need that." We all know I struggle with focusing and organizing my brain so that was just perfect for me. Since the blessing everything has just been clear and I can really feel it even more. So great.

Early in the day Sister Shreve and I went to teach an 'investigator' in the TRC (these investigators are people hired by the MTC to be legit with us, sometimes they are converts using their real story and other times they are just really good actors or even nonmembers). We had prepared for Hely Meza a woman from Guatemala who recently moved to Orem with her husband and he is taking the lessons. We had decided to just focus on God's love, the Atonement, and then challenge her to prayer. We walk up to her "front door" and no one answers so I just opened the door and no one was there. So we went to the TRC director and he was like "oh sorry, she's gone this week...you can teach Gabriel in ten minutes?" Really bro? You couldn't have told us this before we invested our efforts into a totally different person. Whatevs. 

So Gabriel is a strong Catholic. A.K.A. he knows all about God's love, the Atonement, and Prayer. A.K.A. our lesson plan flew out the window. His 8 year old son Justin was also there. He was super cute. ANYWAY, the Spirit just told me to talk about how we are literal sons and daughters of God and He has a plan for us. Then I talked about how a part of that plan is for us to draw closer to our Savior. I said it was obvious that Gabriel had a love for the Savior but would he like to be even closer to Him? He said well duh. So then I just testified of the Book of Mormon and how it can REALLY bring us close to Christ and so did Sister Shreve and then I kinda gave little background on it and challenged him to read it and....HE SAID YES. Even though we weren't perfectly prepared and a little scatter brained, the Spirit was still there and I know we all felt it. 

Right after Gabriel we had to teach "Anthony" (our teacher being an investigator). Now this was our third time meeting with Anthony. We committed him to baptism in the first lesson cause we thought we had to. LOL. But I mean he said yes so that's awesome. We gave him the Book of Mormon in the 2nd lesson and this time we more fully explained some background on the Book of Mormon. I had the chance to tell him the first vision, you know "I saw a pillar of light.." (Which I had memorized all thanks to mom ;) ) And let me tell you it was POWERFUL. We all started getting teary-eyed. I just felt my testimony of the first vision, Jospeh Smith, and The Book of Mormon swell inside me. Oooooh it was so good. 

After that, Brother Burgin/Anthony felt inspired for us to study 3 Nephi 17. Go read it when you get a chance. Christ's love heals everything! Then he said a prayer for our district that had all the sisters bawling. So great! After more classes and dinner, we had the privilege of a devotional with Elder Richard G. Scott. He is a wonderful man. I felt everything he said to us but something that particularly touched me was that our service as Sister Missionaries would help make us wonderful wives and mothers. You know that this summer I struggled with fear about being a good missionary, and a good wife, and a good mother, and really just thought I would be terrible at all of them. But there have been so many things every single day that have showed me how completely wrong that thought is. It has been a great blessing and comfort. 

Speaking of not having fear, Isaiah 12:2 and John 14:27 are some good ones. Look em up if you can. I just want you to know I am happy and I love you and miss you and every time I feel the Spirit I just think how much I love my family. I hope you're all doing fantastic and I hope you can write me when you get a chance. Real letters would rock! Or Dear Elder cause I can see it like the day after you write it. 

LOVE YOU SO SO SO MUCH! Y'all are the best. Give the baby boys some lovin' for me.

Love,

Sister Kingsford