The MTC Jun 25, 2010

Hello hello hello, from the MTC!

The first week here has been great! It's quite an adjustment, though, when I haven't been in a "school" setting for a long time. Our schedules here are very regimented. It's up at 6:30, as you know, then classes every minute of everyday, when we're not eating meals, which are WAY early for our district, by the way. We eat dinner at 4:30. Yikes! Then, we usually have a few hours for personal and companionship study in the evenings, but we're not allowed to do that in our rooms (they don't want us to "accidentally" fall asleep....) After that, it's back to the classroom for study time with our district. Finally, we're all spiritually and emotionally exhausted, and we get to go to sleep at 10:30. On friday night, Elder Kidman (one of the elders in my district) was commenting on how tired he was. He realized we only had about an hour before bedtime and got super excited. Then I said something like, "It's 10:30 on a friday night, and none of us can wait for bedtime..." It was testament to how much things have changed for all of us.. We all had a really great laugh.. I'm sorry that this is going to be one long paragraph, but the enter key doesn't seem to work on this keyboard. And the period key always puts in two periods.. Anyway. My companion's name is Sister Threlkeld, and you'll never guess, but she's from Kansas too. She was born and raised in Maize, just a few miles from where I used to work. Crazy huh? She's been going to school in Manhattan Kansas, though, and doesn't seem to like to claim Wichita as home, really.. She's a Psych major.. She's 21, and she has an interesting sense of humor.... We're going to be serving in the same mission, so it's possible we could end up as companions agian sometime in the future.. She and I had a struggle for a few days, mostly because of the culture shock of the MTC, I think, but things are getting much better. We're teaching several "investigators" and our teachers always mention how much better we're getting as a team. 99% of the studying we are doing is out of Preach My Gospel, which is really an incredible book. As we "teach" our teachers and the other volunteers that come here, we're learning more and more.. It's a testament to me about how personal the Gospel of Jesus Christ really is.. It's incredible.. That has been my biggest struggle, admitedly. Learning how to adjust the lessons to apply them to the individual we're teaching.. It's a learing experience everyday. Of course, I love it here. One of the members of our branch presidency mentioned something about the oil spill last night and it was like, oh yeah, there's a whole other world out there.. It's so sequestered here, I almost forget that there's anything going on out there.. Today, the new missionaries come in again, and it's going to be such a relief to not be the youngest anymore.. I'm very looking forward to it! Our district of elders and sisters has 10 missionaries in it, and all the "grown-ups" in the other districts of our zone keep mentioning to us that our district is so far the best behaved and most prepared. We've made it a goal to be the best here, and we're striving to keep it that way. Our elders are the greatest. In fact, all Elders around here are great! They hold doors open, stand when we enter a room, and force us to cut to the front of any line. They're so great! It's going to ruin men for me.... lol. The new Mission Presidents Seminar is this week.. We've all been told to be on our best behavior, becuase General Authorities will be walking around campus.. They've blocked off most of the main building, so that we can't even see down hallways or through doors.. Probably because they don't want missionaries gawking at President Monson, and the Twelve, while they're teaching the new Presidents.. We all get a big laugh about it.. On Friday, there's going to be a special devotional and there are rumors about several Apostles who will be speaking to us.. I'm very excited.. Well, I've got only a few minutes left, so I'd better wrap this up.. I love you all.. The MTC is changing me, just like it's supposed to, and I know that I'm becoming a better person.. I love learning more and more about the Gospe of Jesus Christ, every day, and I know that as I learn more, my excitement for teaching it will only grow.. I almost can't wait another two weeks.. I feel like I'm ready now! I keep all of you in my prayers, and I want you to know, that if you don't get a personal letter from me, It's just because there isn't enough time today.. I promise you mail sometime! I love you, miss you, and pray for you every day.. Love, Sister Reid.