April 1st, 2013 - MTC Week 6

I'm a little disappointed that I said I was getting on tonight....and there's NOTHING in my box. I'm rockin my grumpy cat face, just in case you were wondering.Anyway. Best week ever. Let me tell you why!
I got an email on Monday from Melissa Prater, saying that her visa hasn't come yet - and that she'd be coming to the Provo MTC on Wednesday. Being excited as could be, me and the rest of my district signed up to be "host" missionaries. Essentially the Elder just greet at the curb, get their luggage, and we get them all set up. Tour guides of the MTC, really. Wednesday rolls around, (I'm dying at this point. And as silly or as selfish as it sounds, I was praying real hard all morning that I'd see Melissa at least once) and I'm doing my host thing. Melissa had mentioned that she would be there at 12:30. Did I see her at 12:30? No. I host all afternoon (it's about 2:30 at this point) and am really disappointed that I never saw her, thinking that she had already come and was probably sitting in class by this point. So I'm back in line, thinking i'd probably help one more sister. When I'm almost to the front of the line (there's two sisters in front of me), who do I see poke their little head outta the registration room? Sister Prater. I may have slightly pushed the other two sisters outta the way yelling, "she's mine!", in my excitement. Oops.  She started balling. I started balling. It was a tender moment, really. And then I got to show her around the MTC and spend a solid 30-45 mins with her. Seriously. That's all I needed, and Heavenly Father gave it to me. Anyway, she lives on the floor above me- and I LOVE seeing her around. Am I a little sad I have to leave her again ,come Monday? Yeah. But I know she'll do great here....and in Brazil also!

Besides that, this week was great!  Can't believe I leave on Monday. I feel like I'm kinda getting the hang of teaching in Spanish - and now they're going to ship me off to the real world?! #scared #butreally. 

Another highlight of the week - we had our last little "testimony meeting" as a district on Thursday night. Ah. So awesome. As usual, it wasn't abnormal for me, Hmna Ericson, and Hungate to cry...but to see a few of the Elders break down and cry? Lets just say we were all emotional wrecks.  It took girls camp fireside testimony meeting to a whole new level! Haha. I mostly just talked about mi familia, how I've been blessed with the BEST family ever (maybe I'm a little bias), and how I'm most excited to share what I know to be true, so that other people can have families just like mine. Really. The thought of that is what keeps me going. I love my family so much! More importantly though.....I love my Savior! None of this would be possible without Him.

Easter is tomorrow, as you all know, and I couldn't be more excited! We'll have that special MTC wide sacrament meeting with a General Authority, and then later in the afternoon, we'll have essentially just a testimony meeting with my ward. And as tradition goes, the leaving district gets to sing a special musical number. Most districts sing "Called to Serve", or something rather generic like that...but we decided as a district to sing, "I know that My Redeemer Lives"...in Spanish too, of course. Can't wait! We've been practicing all week. 

Also another Zone tradition I can't wait for....on Sunday nights, the whole zone goes outside in the open courtyard and we sing "God Be With you Till We Meet Again"...again, in Spanish  It's been awesome singing this to the past districts...but now it's my turn! My favorite thing about it is that people walking by, generally stop, stand outside our circle, and record us. We're essentially a big deal here at the MTC.  Okay, so maybe it's just the foreign kids, and they probably just think we're weird. No biggie.Okay. Real talk. I gotta go pack! Ah! Wish Mama Mortensen was here to pack for me. Ha, I'm defs not feeling it. Speaking of mama Mortensen...shout out to her, Haley, and Aunt Marj for the awesome packages this week. Made my week even better! Thanks for the goodies! Know that I love this wonderful gospel. Can't wait to share it with everyone in Chicago.  Pray my Spanish gets better.
Love you all!  Hmna Mortensen.