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Hey everyone! So this is officially the last MTC email! I found out where I'm going.... ready??.... SPAIN!! Two days before we got our reassignments 6 or the 7 Spanish missionaries in my district got their visas! I'm going to Spain! :D I'm just so excited! Then the last elder who didn't receive his visa got his reassignment to Long Beach California but then later that day received a notice saying he had his visa and will be flying out with us to Spain! What a miracle! I'm just so excited that our whole district gets to fly out together! Couldn't ask for anything more! Oh and so yesterday we had the meeting with the consulate to pick up the visas and about 25 of us were all sitting there and he just didn't show up! After about 30 minutes some people from the travel office came in and said that he didn't have the visas, they were still in the mail and he hadn't shown up! Crazy but thats okay cause he got them this morning and we get them here in about 5 hours. I'm so excited! 4 days from now and I'll be preaching the true word in the streets of Spain just a jump over the big puddle!
So this week was crazy! Started off really slow but then just kept getting better and better every single day.... kinda like this shape.... < .... good to amazing! If that makes sense :)
Monday night we were talking to our teacher Hno Ball about different experiences and lessons he learned on his mission. I don't think he realized but it had a HUGE effect on every single person in the room. After he left we couldn't even manage to talk or go to our language study on TALL. We got together and said a prayer then spent an hour writing down thoughts and praying and looking up scriptures. It was amazing. It was definitely a realization/ turn around for my mission thus far. For the past 6 weeks I've been enjoying the "concept" of being a missionary and learning the gospel and teaching lessons to people who were already members but when Hno. Ball was talking to us I really started to understand that I'm going on a mission as a representative of Jesus Christ and I'm going to be teaching people about the gospel. Changing lives, helping people come closer to God. It really sunk in that I have been SO incredibly blessed my entire life with the things that have happened and everything I have and have been thru. So so blessed. I was blessed with an amazing family. Not a perfect on but the perfect one for me and I am blessed to have the opportunity to got out to Spain and love the people as Christ would if he were here. Just a great night.
Then Tuesday we had a devotional from Eld. Neil L. Anderson of the quorum of the twelve. Crazy right?! 2 in a month?! We I got two big things from the devotional.
1 - The importance of a testimony. No matter what we have a testimony of it is our job to share what we know and our job to help other's testimonies grow. Eld. Anderson said, "... your testimony will touch the hearts of those you speak to. Some you will know of, some you will not. Some will admit it, some will not. But this is true." Going over to Spain I don't have good spanish and won't be able to express much but I do know how to express what I know and for now thats all I need. Just to testify of the truths that we have been blessed with in this day.
2 - LOVE! So everything i felt with Hno. Balls stories was just reinforced tonight. El. Anderson said "We sacrifice for the things we love and we love the things we sacrifice for." Simple we just need to love! There are so many people out there and we just need to show them love. Life is going to be hard but just keep trucking cause giving in isn't going to help anything! Love the everyone! Love everyone with all you heart, all the time. Then love them more!
So be happy! Stay positive! Smile :) Please please smile! The world could always use more smiles :) and nothing is better then a smile. Serve people, it will help you love them. Count your blessings and love!
It was a great devotional! Oh and I was on the big screen during choir because my companion next to me has an older brother that used to work media and one of his friends went thru the choir, found my campanion, did a close up shot of her (which i was in cause i was next to her) and then took a picture of it and sent it to her family. Only close up in the whole song infront of +4000 missionaries around the world's MTCs and all because of a great connection. Love it! After the devotional we were kept in the Marriot center because there was lots of lightning out side and then when we finally got let out it was still raining pretty hard! One of the pictures is from that crazy storm! It was madness trying to get back into the MTC (which took about 10 min out in the rain) scriptures and not books were getting soaked, new suit jackets were getting soaked and everyone was just running thru the parking lot. CRAZY but so much fun. :) I love the rain and hopes it rains a ton in Spain!
I got to host again (great the missionaries coming into the MTC) this week and it was so great!! Met a missionary from the Cyro Egypt branch. CRAZY! And I also had the great opportunity to meet a blessed sister who played basketball and attended SUU for 4 years and then turned around and was a coach for two years before deciding to go on a mission. How does that sound?! She was awesome and just so fun to talk to, she was coaching bball while I was at school there last year. Small world!
During scripture study I read something that was really neat! In Mosiah 15:5 it talks about Jesus Christ and all he went thru and it says. " [He] suffereth temptation and yieldeth not to the temptation" and then in John 13:15 it says simply "For I [Jesus Christ] have given you an example that ye should do as I have done." And it really hit me hard. Jesus suffered temptation during his life and didn't give in. We suffer a lot but nothing that is to much for us, we are NEVER given anything that we cant handle. The Lord is always there to help us. Just follow him :) follow his example.
Yesterday we had in-field training from 9:00AM - 5:30PM and it was awesome! They had great object lessons for missionaries going out into the field and then at the end had the cheesiest play/act type thing I've ever seen in my life! Girls camp skits were never as cheesy as this but I loved it! I can't wait to be a missionary and I'm so excited! Finally going to Spain! Perfect timing right?! Guess the Lord wanted me to spend my MTC in Provo and not Madrid but thats okay, I wouldn't have it any other way :)
Oh and last but not least! My family got a foreign exchange student!?!?!?! Freaking crazy right?! I'm so stoked! And the best part is he's a great young man from Madrid Spain! Right where I'm serving my mission! I guess all just fell into place and 12 hrs after I emailed my family about my visa arriving everything worked out and now they have an exchange student! I'm just excited :) and from Madrid, I'm not along! :D
Hope all is well! Love you all!
Hna. Whitney Adair
P.S. I love the Lord's tender mercies! Having certain people and close friends here at the MTC have helped me so much! Thank you to them and also I say my birthday twin Rylea Driscoll here and surprised her and well it was wonderful. I'm so thankful for all the small things. :)
P.S.S. To all you YW and YW leaders out there! I just found out that modesty and dressing modesty is included in the law of chastity. Modesty in your dress is part of the law of chastity. Think about that next time the bishop asks you in a temple interview about chastity. Modesty is VERY important no matter what anyone says. Don't over look it :)
P.S3 ( like the game :D ) - anyways if you get a chance watch mormon.org videos, mormons are AWESOME and go on to
www.lds.org and watch the wonderful mormon messages called "Enduring Love" and "Sanctify" Almost started crying when I watched them. There are so many great ones! :D