woohoo Week two!!

Hey hey hey!!

We need to stop meeting like this! Before I begin I would just like to thank everyone for the letters and emails! so so loved. it feels like forever since I last wrote! this week has been jam packed but at the same time the MTC time is flying by! one week until texas on monday :-) 

still brand spankin new at emailing so bear with me brothers and sisters! Before I get too far I wanted to do a run-down of the 39 C district, lovingly referred to by the elders as "The 39C Missionariezzz". (They were the 39C Boiz but me and sis johnson had a thing or two to say). buckle up because here we go! 

- Elder Kofford: Blonde, extremely quiet, lives and breathes rodeo. "I don't have a personality." - Elder Kofford

- Elder Strayer: We think he is low key 24 but not confirmed. Tolerates the teenage elders and like a cool dad, says all the cool dad things. Promises he's not sick but sneezes consistently 3 times in a row.

- Elder Hansen: My personal fav. He's like a big fluffy teddy bear.  is having a good time at the mtc, best part is the buffet. Catchphrase "Oh otay." Painfully clueless, always threatens to "drop an elbow" on someone. fav dance move: the worm. 

- Elder Hart: Tall and lanky, curly hair, extremely into film-making and uses good vocab. Pauses dramatically before he comments in class.

- Elder Baril: From Canada and won't let anyone forget it. Uses phrases none of us have ever heard of like "that's a meck of a hess" and "Ooh shore" and "thats a bunch of bunk" and blinks forcefully whenever someone does something questionable. 

- Elder Jorgensen: Leads the pack in meme culture, Testifies of the gospel like he's selling you a super good once in a lifetime deal and promises satisfaction guaranteed, always "I had the baptismal commitment in the bag"

- Elder Finch: Small and neat, BIG into taylor swift, knows more about vines than you do genius, wears lululemon slacks everyday. Entertaining facial expressions

- Elder Kokkola: The self-assigned Alpha Male. Tall and jock build, everybody's fav senior guy. Has plans to game after the mish. says things like "what that Book of Mormon do" and is working on dabbing less. Watches bible videos at night to get his fix of screentime. 

we love and pray for all of them :-) 

This week was really wonderful!! I am loving how much time I spend in the Book of Mormon and on my knees, honestly the best part of the MTC! I have already changed tons and happy are we!!!

firsts: our district made a goal to all sing together in the MTC choir and let me tell you there's nothing cooler!! There were over 1000 of us and we sang an arrangement of "I know my savior lives" called testimony. Look it up rn rn rn. So powerful to hear 1000 missionaries testifying about their savior!

we also had our first TRC lessons, which are investigators or members that we contact ourselves, plan lessons for, and teach a few lessons to! coolest experience because actual missionary work. Sis johnson and I pray before and after each of these lessons and are SO blessed to feel the most powerful love for these people! we taught Kristina this week and just contacted Nicole yesterday and we're going to teach her about the Book of Mormon on Monday!! AH! 

 

fitness: Sis Johnson and I are increasingly creative when it comes to exercise time. we did a stair workout the other day SPRINTING up the flights, we go to the downstairs gym and listen to talks while we run, then I run circles around the block and she does crunches inside the block. We still take the stairs to our 6th floor classroom everyday to the dismay of our elders, and yesterday we counted them. 148 stairs each way!!! We must all press on

food: Got hooked on sunflower butter. That stuff is dangerous friends! ah vegan joys haha but I'm going on 2 days sober and things are looking up

funny: Ah well the elders are just stuck on me being vegan and can't let it go. (Kind of like my cute dad and brothers????) They lovingly refer to me as Sister Soybean or Sister Sunflower seed and every meal is an opportunity to sneak a cookie or piece of chicken into my food. Fear not though the enemy deride!!!!

Also we do a TON of role play here, that is pretty much the gist of the MTC i've discovered. Anyways I was playing the investigator and had to make up where I worked on the spot, what I came up with was a night security guard at the museum of natural history. Wonder where I got that idea ??

friends: Said bye to some friends this week! Elder Wimmer and Elder Galvez and Sister Woods! Pray for them all they're all gonna rock the mission's socks off

faith: This morning we did an endowment session again and I'm growing to love it so much. I've only done 3 sessions but its becoming so much more peaceful and enlightening. learning so much!

this week I did a study on the nature of God and Jesus Christ. In the scriptures under prayer, it says that when we truly understand our relationship to Heavenly Father, that we are His children and He is our Father, prayer becomes natural and instinctive. Any challenges we have with getting on our knees stem from forgetting that relationship. Another thing about prayer is that it needs to be in the name of Jesus Christ, meaning it needs to be His will, His mind, His words. If we feel like our prayers aren't being answered we may need to align our will with His! This week has completely changed my view on Heavenly Father and the gospel and myself. And it's all true and it's all full of joy and it's all because God loves us. I'm my first convert :-) 

Well sister johnson and I need to go knock some elders heads in a kickball tournament but I love you all and I'll send some pictures in a bit! Love love love all my love

Sister Newman