March 18th, 2013 - MTC Week 4

What a week, what a week! 
I didn't write last week because nothing out of the ordinary happened- so of course I was blessed this week with actual news to share. Last Tuesday I came down with something nasty, and my teacher made me go to the doctor on Wednesday. By this time, I'm like dying. Dr. Brown (same doctor who helped me with my finger a few weeks ago...we're pretty close friends now) tested me for the flu and strep throat. Both tests came back negative...and he wasn't really sure what was wrong with me, but since I had a fever of 103, he decided to stick me in quarantine. Haha, still not sure what to think of my experience in there. It was like MTC prison, but paradise at the same time. My companion was stuck with the other two sisters in my district..yup, that's right. I was alllllll alone. It got a little quiet as you can imagine. I do recall waking up at 6 one morning though to someone screaming at the top of their lungs. Ha, isolation. Interesting place. Dr. Brown came and checked up on me Thursday/Friday morning, and a nice security man brought me my meals. Other than that, I slept a lot - with a little studying on the side. According to the rules - they have to keep me 24 hours after my fever breaks. Luckily I had no fever Thursday morning and he was planning on letting me leave on Friday morning......but I had a crazy fast heart rate both mornings, and again, he wasn't sure why. So I spent all Friday afternoon at the BYU health center, where I had to get a chest x-ray (Skip, the x-ray tech, and I are pretty good friends now too)  and blood work done (Dr. Brown wanted to check my thyroid and a few other things). Unfortunately, I didn't have my mommy there to hold my hand. I was so scared - blood work is the WORST. And the nurse man took FOREVER to get my blood. I wanted to cry. Ha, my blood and x-rays all showed up good. Still unsure what was wrong with my heart. I like to think I was just excited to see the doctor every morning, because it meant I was closer to getting outta there. Anyway, I'm feeling a LITTLE better. Did I mention I also got pink eye while i was in isolation, and now I have a sinus infection? Don't be surprised if I just drop dead in this place. I'm essentially falling apart. 

I got a new companion today! Hermana Palu is her name. Her district all left today, but her travel plans got all messed up, so she's stuck for an extra two weeks. Love this sister. She's from Long-Beach and is headed to one of the NYC missions. She makes teaching a little easier...and it doesn't hurt that she knows a little more Spanish than the rest of us :) 

Okayyyy, glad all of that is outta the way. Besides all the sickness - the week was still pretty good! Jean Stevens, of the General Primary Presidency, came and spoke during Relief Society. That lady is pretty awesome! She mostly talked about love- which I appreciated. We could all use a little love. She told of Ammon and what an awesome missionary he was. Why was he such a powerhouse missionary? Love came first, (with service), and then came his message. We could all learn a lot from Ammon. Later on Sunday, the elders in my district taught about the atonement. They let us watch Bruce R McConkie's last talk, The Purifying Power of Gethsemane. Powerful stuff right there. Just as a little preface - prior to listening to this, when thinking about Christ dying for "everyone", for some reason I just imaged the good people. I guess mostly just people in the Church. But during the talk, it opened my eyes to how Christ really did die for everyone....those who wanted Him dead. Those who hated Him. Those who betrayed Him. And those who will never know Him, or ever want to know Him. It made me think of the things I'd do for my family and close friends in comparison to the things that I'd do for the haters.That's love right there. In my mind, it took charity, "the pure love of Christ", to a new level. There's no doubt in my mind that if I, or any of us, had just a small portion of that love for our fellowmen, then I would be able to be a "powerhouse missionary" like Ammon. With Easter right around the corner- I invite all to watch the talk! You'll love it :)



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