Cuán Asombrosa Es!

Hola a todas!! Feliz miercoles!!

 This past week I saw so much growth in my district!! They're like my family, so of course I just always feel so proud of them :). Everyone has been working hard and participating during classes, trying to use Spanish more and more, and I've loved seeing the dedication that's really brought us together! Me and mi companera have been more open with each other about how we tend to compare ourselves with each other, especially in our Spanish speaking. But because we learned to trust each other over this past week, I can only say that our companionship has just grown stronger, along with our studies. I'm so grateful every day to have been blessed with a companion like Hermana Harston, she makes me laugh all the time and her testimony is so strong. We got to go to the temple for the first time last Wednesday for an endowment session and we left feeling the Spirit and walking in a little snowstorm back to the MTC, which I was not dressed for at all, but we ended up just enjoying the snow and getting soaked. One of the traditions in my family is to stick your head in the river whenever we go on trips, and since it had just snowed, I told her that we were going to stick our heads in the snow after class. And she did it! She's as crazy as me, and I love that!!

On Friday, me and Hermana Harston had our second lesson with Maria (our first was over zoom), and we hadn't finished the Plan of Salvation with her yet, so we prepared a lesson specifically about the Spirit World, the Resurrection, Salvation, and Exaltation (and talked about temple experiences). We prayed hard before that lesson that we would have the gift of tongues with us, and even though we had written our lesson down on notecards, we both were able to bear our testimonies and say the words in our hearts. We receive a survey to fill out and compare to the survey that our investigator fills out after an appointment, and we received top marks from Maria in everything!! It was such a good feeling to know that God had answered our prayers and that the Spirit had been speaking to us throughout the lesson. I was able to bear my testimony about the hope of the Resurrection, and especially about one of my cousins who passed a little while back who hadn't been able to walk or talk for his entire life. I bore my testimony to her that I knew that our bodies would be perfected and glorified in heaven, that my cousin would receive a body that can run and play, that can speak and sing, and that knowledge gives me unspeakable joy. I can't wait to be able to have a conversation with my cousin in heaven, and I know that because of God's love for us, all of the sickness, diseases, disabilities in the world will be healed, completely gone, and that gift is free. God's mercy is so overwhelming to me. It's there even though I feel so undeserving of it, even though I can't understand it, but I do know that it's there, and I know it with all my heart.

On Saturday we worked on directions in our first class with Hermano Correa, and the activity was to go in pairs and have one person blindfolded and the other directing them en espanol. We were supposed to walk from the T4 building to this statue of Peter and the boat and then switch for the way back. Me and Elder Polson did pretty good, we got second, but I also got completely laid out when I ran into Elder Bowman who was also blindfolded, it was kind of like running into a brick wall, which, you know, feels real nice :). Hermana Harston loves basketball more than volleyball, which I will never understand, por que volleyball es mejor, but we decided we would switch off days when we would play either one. Today was basketball day, and we were already fasting for a friend, so we had to summon what energy we had and just play hard. Even though I was a little lightheaded, it was fun to try something new, even if I'm not real good at it. A funny moment that day was during our language studies when we were going through vocab and Hermana Harston said the verb "pagar," but I promise it sounded like she had just made a chicken sound, which made us have another spontaneous laughing session. Our last class was combined with another district because Hermana Franco was not there, and we learned how to talk about food, my favorite subject, and I swear I met the actual twin of my cousin, Justin Baker, so that was crazy.

Sunday morning me and my companion woke up really confused because we felt so exhausted! We'd checked our calendar the night before, but everything was an hour later except for church, so we weren't sure when our branch council meeting was. We decided to sleep a little longer, and when we finally got ready for the day, we messaged our branch president and his wife to check on the time. We decided to go at the regular time and ate a little breakfast before it was time to go. We eventually realized that it was Daylight Savings and that the meeting was supposed to be at the regular time, but thankfully we got there first. That Sunday was going to be our first time teaching and preparing music as STLs, and the Calderwoods, the MTC President and his wife, were going to be there! They came to our branch council meeting and I felt a lot less stressed about it once I got to talk with them. The branch council went really well, we were able to talk about how much we'd accomplished in our goals from last week. I was so proud of Elder Tauteoli and how much he'd stepped up this past week as a leader in our district. Our goal was to lead by example, and he did amazing! In sacrament meeting I played the first two hymns and Hermana Harston played a beautiful musical number and the last hymn. Elder Jensen from our district was the first speaker, and I loved his talk about the story of Jesus walking on the water in the fourth watch of the night. Many times in our lives we plead for the mercy and help of our Savior, and we feel completely alone. But whether it be in the first, second, third, or even the fourth watch of the night, He will always come, He will not ever abandon us, especially in our darkest moments. There was a fun little surprise at dinnertime when a group of Tongan elders and sisters were singing a song in their native language for someone's birthday, and a couple of them got up on chairs and the table! I love how passionate they are about their culture, they are so unashamed of singing as loud as they can, even in the middle of a cafeteria :). The Sunday devotional was given by the Mackies, members of the MTC presidency, who have the cutest little love story, but I realize how long this email is getting so I'll just bullet point a couple of the points I loved:

- "God doesn't need us to love Him, but we need to love God, for what we love determines what we seek, what we seek determines what we think and do, and what we think and do determines who we are and who we will become."

- "Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, God loves us perfectly."

- Be a friend first, then teach. (Yeah I came up with that one) :)

- "Every person here on Earth has heard the Plan of Salvation and the gospel of Jesus Christ in the premortal world, they accepted it, we need to reconnect them with heaven. They belong in this family, they are our brothers and sisters, they deserve to know that they are loved, that they are beloved children of Heavenly Parents."

I think Tuesday was one of my craziest days because of how rough it started and how amazing it ended. I'll skip over the rough parts because honestly the second half of the day is the only part worth talking about :). Our choir has been working on a beautiful piece called "Wonderful", an arrangement of I Stand All Amazed by our own pianist, Sister Shippen. Me and Hermana Harston got up the courage during our break to ask her for help in the accompaniment for a song we've been working on (once we've worked on it some more, maybe I'll send a recording). Sister Shippen was so sweet and gave us her email, so we're hoping to meet with her before we leave the MTC. The choir performs in every Tuesday devotional where a general authority comes to speak, and it was announced once everyone was seated that the speakers were going to be Elder Quentin L. Cook and his wife! The moment he walked in, everyone respectfully stood and went quiet, and I couldn't help but smile as I felt the Spirit fill the room. When the choir stood to sing, it felt like we weren't just singing the words, but really feeling them in our hearts, the depth of the Savior's mercy, how wonderful it is that He should care for me enough to die for me! I hope you all get the chance to just read through those verses and remember your older Brother, remember your Shepherd, Friend, and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. His love conquers, embraces, and saves each one of us. No matter how far gone we feel, He never gives up on us, never stops searching for the one who went astray, never stops loving each one of His brothers and sisters.

The theme of Elder Cook's message was the great urgency that we needed to feel in serving our missions, here's a couple thoughts from both Sister and Elder Cook:

Sister Cook:

- "You are embarking on the greatest work on the earth."

- "We must labor without ceasing, in diligence."

- "Be pure and prayerful."

Elder Cook:

- we were assigned to read the lyrics of the first song in the hymnbook, "The Morning Breaks," and pay attention to the urgency with which Parley P. Pratt wrote those words

- "For everybody you talk to and meet, that might be their only chance to be taught the gospel and be baptized, what could be more important or urgent than that?"

- "There are elect people everywhere that we can reach, touch, and can share the gospel with." (No matter where you are.)

- Showed video of two elders teaching the Restoration lesson to Elder and Sister Cook in only four minutes, and yet it was so powerful to listen to, sometimes the simplest testimonies will touch hearts

- Apostalic blessing: "At some point, you will come to understand that serving the Savior will bless everyone you love. They will be blessed because you are serving as His emissary."

I was so overcome by the Spirit throughout the devotional. Each thing he said, I knew I needed to hear. I can't tell you how much love and certainty I felt in that hour, because I knew I belonged, and that God was watching out for me. In our district devotional review, we shared the messages we felt prompted to share and how much we'd each been touched by the words of an Apostle. I'm so proud of my district, so, so proud. The tears I had in the devotional came flowing right back down my face during our devotional review. One of our elders, whose grandpa we'd been praying for every day and night, shared how after hearing his Grandpa had had a heart attack and died, he received a message from his dad that there had been one doctor who said they needed to try one last thing, and they brought his Grandpa back to life and now he's doing ok! Prayer can't ever be taken for granted, that communication with our Father in Heaven, that pleading for His mercies to be bestowed upon us, is powerful and real. We had a little council after the devotional review with the Branch president and his wife, one of the Zone leaders, and our district leader, and me and Hermana Harston stayed behind after so I could apologize about a little fountain incident. Just to provide a little context, we had had a meeting with just our district and decided to make it our goal to only speak Spanish when outside, and if you spoke English, I came up with the amazing idea that we had to stick our heads in the MTC fountain. Of course the next day me and Hermana Harston messed up first thing along with some of the other elders, so we followed through with the punishment, and that fountain is actually kinda freezing. The other elders had tried to do it before us and apparently were caught and got our district written down. Elder and Sister Hylton (the Branch president and his wife) brought it up during our district devotional review and they really didn't seem all that mad, we were all kind of laughing, but they reminded us that we don't need to punish ourselves for making mistakes. The whole putting heads in fountains was my fault so I wanted to make sure that I could apologize for instigating it. I also felt like I needed to get something off my chest that had been bothering me, and I was able to leave that meeting feeling like a burden had been lifted off my shoulders.

Later that night, me and Hermana Harston were about to enter the residence hall building and I felt like I was supposed to stay outside, but I didn't say anything and we went to our room. The thought didn't leave me though, so Hermana Harston said that we should go back. We went back outside and had a nice conversation about promptings with one of the other district's branch leaders. We went back inside, but I kept hearing "go outside" in my mind, so we turned around and went back again. Then we waited, and a man around our age walked by and asked if we were ok, and we said we were fine. As he left, I no longer felt like I needed to stay outside, so we got ready for bed. I don't know why I needed to go outside at that moment, whether it was to talk to that branch leader or say hi to that man, but I'm grateful to know that I can listen to the Spirit, and I want to learn to act immediately, to trust in the Lord and what He needs me to do. I hope I will continue to have experiences like that so I can become the missionary that my Heavenly Father knows I can become. He knows each of you and where you're at, and His mercy is overflowing for you, His children whom He loves so much. I hope you can all look for opportunities to share that love with those around you this week, seek to serve and bless their lives. That is our mission here on Earth, to become like Christ, and the more we do so, the more our relationship with Him will grow and our love for Him will deepen.

Dios nos ama, más que podemos entender. Él es nuestro Padre Celestial, y Su amor es perfecto. Estoy muy agradecido por nuestro Padre misericordioso, y yo se que a través de la expiación de Su Hijo, podemos recibir consuelo y venir más cerca de nuestro Salvador, Jesucristo.

I love you all!!

- Hermana Neil

Photos (hopefully in order):

- Our beautiful head imprints in the snow, because we're locas

- Soaking wet after the fountain

- Devotional night

- walking from the temple in our little snow storm

- going to the temple after waking up at 4:45am

- us being silly

- Elder Bowman and Elder Tauteoli are too cool for us