Journal entry 4.17.15
Friday: Pday in the morning! So we just ate breakfast in the morning, changed into our Pday clothes(never thought I would love putting on a pair of jeans so much), and did laundry! While we waited for our clothes, we emailed home! We only get 30 thirty minutes to email here at the MTC, but we get to use our iPads so it's pretty cool. My whole district sat together in a circle in the laundry room with our little iPads while other missionaries had to wait for their turns to use the computers. Not gonna lie, we feel pretty cool walking around with our iPads haha. So here in the MTC Pday is only half a day on your first Pday so we have to change back into our missionary clothes at 12. We got lunch, and then to the classroom! We had personal study first for the first hour and 20 minutes and then bro. Rockwood taught us good planning habits! We then had to plan for our first real lesson with an investigator! It was only a ten minute lesson for a guy named Adam and we got to choose what we thought he needed to hear. Sister Moore and I decided to teach him about prayer and coming to know for yourself is this gospel is true. The spirit was so strong when we were teaching! It's such an awesome experience to teach someone! After we taught, we ate dinner, and then back to the classroom again( I should mention that our classroom is on the fifth floor...so many stairs...). We learned more about the fundamentals of teaching and how we can become better teachers. Then we went over to the TRC( teaching resource center) where we were assigned an investigator that we will be teaching all next week! We just got a slip of paper explaining the background of the person. I already love her. Haha I haven't even met her yet, but I love her! Then back to the classroom again where we found out that we would be teaching another investigator over Skype in the morning so we needed to prepare! There's so much to prepare for, but I love being busy! Then as a district we had a mini devo in front of our apartment buildings, then got ready for bed! My district is amazing. Everyone has such a strong testimony and we each bring such a unique way of teaching and sharing the gospel! We were meant to all be together for a reason!
Journal entry 4.18.15
Saturday: Waking up at 6:30 is getting harder and harder everyday haha right now, the hardest thing for me on the mission is having enough energy throughout the day. Being a full time missionary is exhausting! But I know that the Lord will help me be able to push through! Today, we had breakfast and then straight to the classroom. Bro. Rockwood taught us door approaches and had us practice teaching the restoration in under 10 minutes to each other. Then my companion and I had our first lesson over Skype today with an investigator! Teaching over Skype is so cool! It's incredible how you can still feel and teach by the spirit even when the person isn't physically in the room with you! We taught a guy named Daniel and we planned to teach him about the atonement but the spirit directed us otherwise during the lesson! I LOVE THE SPIRIT! I also received a package today from the family! It was all food(you know me too well haha) and I shared the biscoff no bake cookies with my district and they're in love! Haha they said to tell my mom thank you! So THANK YOU MOM!!! Sis. Lyon(one of our teachers) taught us about revelation and how we can receive it ourselves and help investigators receive it. We practiced door approaches again and teaching at the first visit. Then dinner, and back to the classroom.( we spend A LOT of time in that one classroom) Bro. Holmquist(another teacher) helped us with daily planning then had us practice being investigators. It's good to know what it's like on the other side of teaching. Then he taught us the plan of salvation, missionary style. It is SO much easier to explain it and understand it the way he taught us! I can't wait to teach it to an investigator! After that we had to take some assessments to see how our first week at the mtc went. Then back to our dorms! I am growing and learning so much everyday here! I have never prayed and studied so much in my entire life, but I am growing to love it!
Journal entry 4.19.15
Sunday: For Sacrament mtg everyone had to prepare a five minute talk and they choose two people at random during sacrament meeting(since there's only 11 of us in our branch, the odds of getting picked are pretty big.). I didn't have to talk, but I did give the closing prayer. Next was relief society where I conducted and taught a short lesson and then had two sisters in our district teach about repentance. We ended up having a powerful discussion about the atonement. The spirit was so strong in the room! It's crazy how much more I recognize and feel the spirit in my life each day as a missionary. In just the five days I've been here I have been prompted by the spirit so much. I am learning how the spirit talks to me, and I realize now that it's very subtle for me. That it's often just a thought I have. But I've learned that now matter what, if a thought comes to you, and it's a good thought, act on it. All good things come from the Lord. Then dinner and Sunday night devotional. They talked to us about obedience. But after that was church film night. The sisters and I in my district decided to watch " The Character of Christ" a devotional by David N. Bednar. It was by far the most powerful talk I've ever heard in my entire life. It was like a spiritual punch in the face haha. I am forever changed because of what a Elder Bednar said. I highly recommend watching it. It's kinda long (like an hour and twenty minutes) but it is definitely worth the watch! Especially if anyone is planning on serving a mission soon! I am growing so much here at the mtc! More than I ever thought I would! And I've only been here five days!
Journal entry 4.20.15
Monday: Bro. Rockwood taught us how to use the Book of Mormon more effectively in our teaching. He also had us practice teaching a short lesson to our companions. He wanted us to pray and feel inspired on what to teach. It was crazy, what I was prompted to teach was exactly what sis. Moore needed to hear and what she said to me was something that I had been thinking about lately! Sis. Lyon taught us how to respond to someone if they say no to the invitation of prayer. We had a powerful discussion about the power of prayer. My district is so awesome. Each of them are going to make such great missionaries! Then dinner and back to the classroom. Bro. Holmquist taught us about repentance and how to teach it effectively. Bro. Holmquist has a way of making teaching really exciting! After he teaches us I am always so pumped to teach! Which is good because after that we had our first visit with our investigators at the TRC. Sis. Moore and I got a lady named Sydney. And I absolutely adore her. She's an older Christian lady that has been to many different churches. She's very confused on what one is right. So sis. Moore and I taught her the restoration and the plan of salvation to her and she's totally hooked. She committed to praying about and reading the Book of Mormon and agree to meet with us again on Wednesday! I LOVE TEACHING! It's amazing what the spirit can do during a lesson with an investigator! I can't wait to teach people about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ for the next 18 months!
Journal entry 4.21.15
Tuesday: our district went to breakfast and to class, but one of the sisters in my district, Sis. Lowe hasn't been feeling good the past couple of days, so I went with her to the health clinic while everyone else went to breakfast. Sis. Lowe and I have become really good friends, which is good because we're going to the same mission! They ended up prescribing her some antibiotics so we had to walk over the the byu student health center to pick it up. We felt so cool walking down the streets of Provo with our name tags on haha I was hoping that someone I knew would drive by as I walked, but I didn't see anyone. It was weird though being so close to byu, but knowing that I am a sister missionary in the mtc and not living in the dorms with all my friends. But right now, there's no place I'd rather be! Being a missionary is the best!That night Elder Anderson of the second quorum of the seventy talked to us! He taught us that in order to change the hearts of our investigators we need to be changed ourselves. After we went back to our classroom and talked with our new branch president and his wife! Pres. And Sis. Lords are their name and they are awesome! They were actually the mission presidents over in Nashville pretty recently! I'm not sure if they were right before the McGees or one more before that, but still! Small world! They even know the Hitchcock family! Which reminds me, I've been getting letters from friends and family everyday! Thank you all so much! You have no idea how happy it makes me to read a letter from you guys! I love it! Keep them coming!
Journal entry 4.22.15
Wednesday: Happy Earth Day! So we woke up, went to breakfast and then to the classroom! We practiced introducing the Book of Mormon to people we contact on the streets. Then sis. Lyon taught us how to invite someone to church. We got to walk over to a nearby chapel and practice giving a tour of the church! It was awesome! . At 8:45 sis. Moore and I went and taught Sydney, our TRC investigator, again! We just did a check up on her and how her reading and praying was coming along! I love just listening to her stories!
Journal entry 4.23.15
Thursday: Today...today is a day that I will never forget. Something happened today that will forever change the way I feel and recognize the spirit. So all day we had something called In-Field Orientation where they prepared us for entering the actual mission field. That went on from 8am to 5pm. But what happen after dinner was what made this day so special. We didn't have a teacher tonight, so our district decided to just prepare for teaching our investigators in our classroom. After we had all prepared a little bit, we started watching Mormon messages all together. We watched about 10 different videos, all on different topics, and each brought the spirit into the room. But after we watched the anti bullying one, Elder Svare said he had something he was prompted to share with us. He went on to tell us a very personal story about the many trials and difficulties he has had. He bore testimony of Jesus Christ and how he is with us through everything. By the end of his testimony, the spirit was so strong. Stronger than I have ever felt it in my entire life. More people started share their stories and testimonies. With each story, the spirit grew stronger and stronger. I can't even begin to describe the feeling in that room. We were all in tears, our hearts were so full, and our love for each other and of this gospel was stronger than ever before. Knowing that I have to leave my district Tuesday morning just breaks my heart. The spirit testified to each of us in that room that this is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. That each of us was put into this district for a reason. We were all meant to be here together, learning and growing. I truly believe that God lives and loves us. Jesus Christ lives and loves us. And that the Holy Ghost is so real and He testifies of truth. I will never forget the feelings I had with my district in that classroom. But the night only got better. We then went to the TRC to teach Sydney. The spirit that we all felt carried with us as we all taught that night. When sis. Moore and I went into the room with Sydney, we said a prayer, and then I was prompted to sing to her. So I sang I Stand All Amazed. Once again, the spirit was so strong in the room. We talked with her about the atonement, the sacrament, and baptismal covenants. We invited her to be baptized and she said she wanted to finish reading the Book of Mormon before she committed to baptism, but she said she will think about. She likes everything we have been teaching her, but she just needs to receive a witness of her own. I have so much love for her and I know that this gospel will make her so happy! After teaching, our district met up and it turns out each of us had such spiritual experiences with our investigators tonight.
I love being a representative of Jesus Christ!
Love, Sister Thompson
