Emily Week 1 MTC

January 21, 2008



Well I wasn't sure if I wanted to write you guys today because I haven't gotten any mail from home. Jess and Sarah dropped off letters and that was awesome. But everyday my district leader hands out letters to everyone and I'm the only one that hasn't gotten a letter yet. One Elder that has like ten brothers and sisters gets like 15 letters at every meal. I decided to just make up stories about you guys and so I didn't look like an idiot for not getting any mail. So just so you guys know you aren't members of the church and you are mad at me for going on a misison.

I don't even know where to start to tell you what has been going on in my life for the last couple of days. It feels like I have been here for a couple months. Every time I get mad at myself for not speaking Spanish fluently I have to remind myself that I've only been here for a couple of days. So far we have learned how to pray and testify in Spanish. My comp. is awesome. She is from CA and she was an art major at BYU. We are suppose to have four girls in our room but we only have two which I love! It is always really quiet and we have plenty of room. The first day we got here we just talked and talked and we are still talking all the time. We have a great time togethet and she reminds me of me in a lot of ways.

I don't know if this is true but I think we are the only sisters going to Spain. There are 400 sisters here right now and I've asked a lot of them where they are going and none of them have said Spain. I have also been told not to plan on leaving in three weeks. There are two elders in my branch right now that have been here for 7 and 1/2 weeks waiting for their visas. My comp and I are going to fast together on Sunday for our visas to get here on time. I think I'm going to be ready to leave on the day I am suppose to. Not that the MTC isn't an amazing place, I just like change.

My first night here I prayed for a really long time I was feeling pretty overwhelmed. I realized that because I don't have mom and dad to talk to every night that I will learn how to better rely on Heavenly Father. My way of praying has changed a lot very quickly. The power of prayer is amazing. He really does listen to all of His children and He listens to prays in a lot of different languages. I've heard so many different languages its insane. When walking past other missionaries I always say Hola como esta and then I hear something random and just assume that they said something similar back to me.

Last night we had a fireside that was really good and it was amazing to sing with so many Elders. I couldn't even hear my own voice. Chills went through my entire body as we sang Lead, Kindly Light. There is a part in that song that says something like, I am far from home but its okay because I have Heavenly Father with me. I almost started balling but I couldn't because there were to many boys around me.

The Elders in my district are awesome. We have so much fun together and they make my laugh all the time. I actually have had to pray multiple times for help in controlling my laughter because I was getting some pretty mean looks from my teacher. It is so funny to hear what 19 year old missionaries have to say. They really do lift me up and make me feel better. They look out for us in every way. They stand when we enter the room and they take our trays after we are done eating. We have already become so close. Sometimes I feel like we are having too much fun. But I just remind myself that its okay to laugh and have fun. I don't even know what word to use to describe the MTC. This is really hard work but its awesome. Yesterday on Sunday I had like seven meetings!

Well my time is almost up I only have six minutes left. I want to bear my testimony to you that I know Jesus Christ came to the earth and that He will return. I know that after the Great Apostasy, Joseph Smith really did see God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. The atonement is real and we all can be forgiven of our sins and return to live with God. We are so blessed to have the truth.

I love you guys so much and I think about you a lot. On Sunday when we came back to our room I tried to check my cell phone to see if you had called. Guess what I couldn't find it. Sarah has probably already made a 100 phone calls on it. I hope that you guys are doing well. Jess rub your tummy for me and tell the baby that I said Hi and I love him, maybe we still don't know right? Ok its flasing at me that I only have two minutes left. Sarah I hope your doing well in St. George. Tell Grandma and Grandpa hi and I love them.Brother Im excited for you to have this experience. I love you guys so much! Love,Hermana Gogarty