The MTC Roomies
These are the fabulous girls that share a room at the MTC with Katie....from the left....Sister Zina McEwen from Edinburg, Scotland, Sister Maatta from Finland, Sister Aliisa Kervinen from Finland, our Kate, and Sister Packer from Lindon, Utah.
Dear Family, I have now been in the MTC for over five weeks! Almost
every day goes faster than the last. Class definitely goes faster and I think
it's mostly because I can understand what they're saying now! When I fly to
Germany in less than a week I will be back to understanding virtually nothing My
German is infinitely better than when I got here, but I still have a loooooong
ways to go. I feel like 6 weeks in the MTC is about right. I wanted this long but I
think in about a week I will have learned just about everything I can from the
MTC and it will be time for the next step
So
we have been working on the invitation to baptism in PMG, all of D&C 4,
unser ziel (our purpose), and the erste vision (first vision) auf Deutsch. So
the picture of me writing on the board is of me working on memorizing verse 4
of D&C 4.
Okay soooo . . . we have amazing experiences. We have the best devos (FYI – Devotionals – talks given by invited speakers) ! So on the 9th L. Lionel Kendrick
(an emeritus 70) gave our devo. So last Tuesday. All of the devos are so good
but at the end of this one he said he felt impressed to give us all a special
priesthood blessing. He blessed us that we might have the Spirit with us always
(which is what his talk was about). He also blessed us with understanding and
that our knowledge may be quickened. He blessed us that those of us who are
learning a language will be able to master the language quickly. He blessed us
that we might have fond remembrance of the truths we have learned, and instant
recall of these truths when we need them. Cool, huh?! That was so cool to me. We
also heard from Sister Susan Easton Black and her husband once.
FYI – Priesthood Blessings – In the LDS church,
the Priesthood refers to power bestowed on man to speak on behalf of the
Lord. A Priesthood blessing is a special
blessing where an individual who holds the Priesthood typically lays there hand
on the head of the individual being blessed and offers a special prayer. With the associated faith of the
individual(s) being blessed, a blessing can have a powerful impact. Someone might ask for a blessing when they
are facing illness, discouragement, a big decision, a life-changing event etc. Giving such a blessing is taken very
seriously by the individual speaking, because their desire is to understand
what the Lord would have them say, which is not always a match with what they
WISH they could bless someone with.
Yesterday
our devo was from Richard G. Hinckley. I sang in the choir again and we sang an
amazing arrangement of "Nearer my God to Thee." The MTC choir
director is incredible. Singing under his direction is so fun and spiritual.
That reminds me that I LOVE what Chase said about what Marcus told him.
Something like, "Have you ever been to Priesthood Session and NOT
laughed?" That really is what I think the gospel should be like. Anyway
did you know that the song "Nearer my God to Thee" is actually about Jacob?
And when he had to leave because Esau wanted to kill him because Jacob got the
birthright? He had a dream in which he received his endowment. "Steps unto
Heaven," get it? But if you look at the lyrics everything fits. He was
sleeping on a rock. You'll see that in the song. But he gave a wonderful talk
that was especially special to our branch because he talked a lot about one of
our own sisters, Sister Hilakari’s, older brother. He talked about an Elder
Hilakari who was in his Salt Lake City South mission (I think that's right)
when Elder Hinckley was the mission president. He told a story about this elder
working with the area book 10 years ago and about how when he met up with him
at the Helsinki temple dedication he asked him how he pulled it off. It was
really special for Sister Hilakari. After the devo she went up to him and told
him she was his little sister. After that he had us all sit back down again and
he said that Elder Hilakari's little sister was there and that she was going to
the Alpine German-Speaking Mission and that if she was half the missionary her
brother was she would be the best missionary ever. Or something like that.
Cool, huh?
These are the missionaries in her "district".
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| Katie and a friend from Orem High, Sister McNeil, who is going to Chili |
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| There's a lot of studying that goes on at the MTC! |
Hmmm.... girls will be girls.....they seem to have traded clothes.
Okay
quote of the week. "Oh mench." That's basically like "Oh
man." We say it all the time. Bruder Hill started it.
One of my funniest insights has been that two of Santa's reindeer are named Thunder and Lightning.
Who knew Donner and Blitzen were so menacing?
I love you all! Thank you for all of the support! The next time I email
you I'll be in Europe!! What?!
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