07 June 2013

Hola,

Wow I can not believe that I have been the MTC for 3 weeks. Time has really been flying now and I can't believe that I am over half way. Hermana Lemmon said, "like, we are in the teens of how many days we have left". The MTC is amazing. Everyone from the President to the custodians are just wonderful. I am so grateful for all that I am doing and learning. Mom has been asking me to write a little bit more about what it is like to be in"the wave" and I don't have a very good answer because I am in "the wave" and don't know what it is like to not be in it. All I know is that there are a lot of missionaries here at the MTC and it is just wonderful. The thing that is unlike the past is that the split of number of Sister and Elders is almost 50/50 which is a really big deal here at the MTC.

The big news this week is that I was made the SISTER TRAINING LEADER in my zone. They use to be known as Coordinating Sisters but now the name has changed. I told you last week that a district was leaving and there are no Sisters in the other district in the zone so all of us Sisters knew that it was going to come from the four of us. I was surprised that I was honored with such a calling. It has been the most amazing expereince. I have been given even more power from the Lord to help me in this new calling. It has been one of the most amazing weeks but I will get into the details a little as I talk about the week.

Mom has also asked that I am an little more specfic with my average days so here is a little more detail: 

Last FRIDAY I did initiatories with the other Hermanas in my district. It was so empowering to hear that ordinance. Every Friday morning we go to the temple first thing. It is our p-day but it is so nice to have the opportunity to go. Then we eat breakfast at the temple. The food is soooo good and it has become a fun little tradition. Then we come back do some missionary assessments and then write our families. Ta-da! Then we have a time slot to do laundry which is always needed every week. Then we have personal time and then dinner. After dinner we have our 3-hour class (all classes are 3 hours) and then have additional study time and then plan for the next day. After that we return to the residence and get ready for bed. Each night is exactly the same so I will not talk about it much more.

Then we have our SATURDAY schedule where we do personal study and then a service assignment which usually invovles cleaning showers and then we have gym. Gym is fun because it is full of so many activities. You can play a few indoor sports, run on the indoor track, use the machines or just do a personal work out. I like the variety and it is fun to interact with other missionaries as you do it. Then we have lunch and then we have back-to-back classes with dinner in between. Classes are amazing. Every time out teachers come I am so uplifted and strengthened. They are amazing and so dedicated to helping us be good missionaries.

SUNDAYS are also wonderful. We don't have scheduled class but we do have a lot of study time and somehow the day just flies by. We have church at 7:30 and then a break until we watch Music And The Spoken Word and have Relief Society. This past fast Sunday, and every fast sunday at the MTC, they do a Mission Conference with the MTC Presidency where they speak to us for 2 hours. It was fun to have that extra time to be taught. The coolest thing that the President told us was about the MTC missionaries who serve right here at the MTC. Most of them have disablilities and their call is to respond electronically to investigators of the Church. I have seen them here and been very curious about them. They are so sweet and kind and some bore there testimonies and it was so sweet. Man, Fast Sundays are very long here at the MTC, not that I will have anymore but it all turned out to be wonderful. Sunday is when I was called to be the Sister Training Leader. My objective is to love the Sisters and lead with a Christ-like attitude. It has been quite an experience to re-adjust to MTC life with a slightly new schedule, but it is just wonderful. The coolest thing was the Devotional on Sunday. Ted Gibbons portrayed the life of Joseph Smith through the life and eyes of Willard Richards. It was so powerful and interesting to hear him speak. I loved it because I love Joseph Smith so much.  It was a wonderful experince. Then after the Sunday Devotional we watch a spiritual "movie" of our choice. It is things like The Testaments, Legacy or old devotionals from the MTC. We watched one by Elder Holland and it was just wonderful. Then, I had my first leadership training meeting with all the other leaders in my zone. Of course I am the only Sister and it was so odd to be away from my companion even for a short time. In the meeting our Branch Presidency helped us to become better leaders.

MONDAYS are more of a regular day. After breakfast, right away we have class. It is nice to just start the day on a good note learning and progessing. These are the times were we teach investigators, who are our teachers. It is just a portion of class and if we don't teach them we have language study. This week I have really felt the Spanish coming and I love it. It is amazing to speak another lnaguage for the Lord. He helps you so much and this week I have just felt really good about it and it has seemed pretty easy. I understand amazingly well and I can basically talk back most of the time too. Again, our teachers are amazing, even the ZRTs, who are not our teachers, are amazing. They really have the best and the brightest here. The odd thing is that I went to school at BYU with all these people like 2 months ago! Then we have personal study time, lunch, gym and then companionship study. Our study times are so amazing. It is so great to just have so much dedicated time to study for yourself but mostly for your investigator lessons. I am learning so much about the gospel and every day just gives me more. Then, we have language training on TALL which is a computer program that helps us learn and practice grammar principles. Then we have dinner and then class at night which of course are always amazing.

TUESDAYS are a little bit different.They start with personal, physical exercise where you can workout in the residence or outside and it is nice to change it up occasionally. Then we have personal study, Tall lunch and companionship study. Then we have a block of classes. Tuesday are different because we go to the Training Resource Center. This is always the highlight of my week. The people we teach are members of the Church who speak Spanish and we just come and talk and teach with them for 20 mintues. Though I get really nervous before I always feel amazing after because we do it without a plan. We are able to just speak the language. It is amazing. My Spanish and teachings skills always grow in confidence on those days.Then we have dinner and have study time until the Tuesday devotional. This week we had Tad Callister and he was great. He talked about the Blueprint of the Church of Christ. Something I sure dad would have loved. It was very informational and nice. They did make one bigger announcement. If you have heard anything about the conference on the 23rd you probably know more than me. What they told us was that they needed missionaries for the choir for that meeting and so if you will be here til the 23rd which i will be you can sing in the choir. My companion and I are totally going to do it and we are very excited. The one downfall to my calling this week, which it really wasn't that bad, was my situation on Tuesday night. There was one Sister left from a District that was leaving.  I had to sleep in her room so that she wouldn't be alone. I had to wake up with her at 2 am to make her 3 am call time at the front desk of the MTC.  It was an odd expereince, but it is still nice to be able to serve.

Then on WEDNESDAYS we have the exact same schedule as Monday (so see that one for information). This last Wednesday was amazing because we got a batch of new missionaries in our Zone. The best part is that I got to welcome them their first night with the zone leaders as part of my new calling. There are 6 new Sisters and 4 new Elders. It is so fun to have new people coming into our Zone. The next big news is that we are getting two Districts next week and I will still have my calling, so I will be able to welcome them as well. The new Hermanas are so sweet and kind and ready to be missionaries.

THURSDAY is the same the as Saturday, but no service assignement (so see Saturday for that). It was a pretty average day this past Saturday, but then it the evening we had a big meeting with the Branch Presidency for the new District. The scary part about it all is that I had to bear my testimony in Spanish to the whole group. It wasn't to bad but I was a little worried about it. The sad thing was that I had to miss class. It all worked out for the best. It is so fun to be the little helper to these brand new Sisters. Even though I have only been in the MTC for 3 weeks it really makes a big difference in the long run.

So there is my average schedule. Everyday we learn and practice so much to help us be better teachers out in the field. The preparation for the work is awesome. Feel free to send off questions and anything really. I hope that this gave you a good idea of what life is like here at the MTC. These place is amazing and the Lord truly qualifies you for the work you are doing. The Lord loves all of you! Each and everyone of you, no matter what you have done in the past, or the mistakes you might be making now, no matter the size, Hhe Loves you so much - as do I as his servant. Thank you all so much for the love and support. You all are the reason why I am here. Thank you for your loving examples.

Love ya,

Hermana Cornwall 

P.S.

My mission advice this week is the read the Book of Mormon and preach my gospel everyday. They are amazing especially if you are preapring to serve a mission there is nothing better! The book of mrmon is the medicine we need everyday so don't forget to take it.