June 13, 2013

Family and Friends,

Thanks so much for all your emails and letters! I miss you all so much, but hearing from you guys often makes it a little easier. I hope everyone is doing well! Haha, Mom that's funny that you heard from Adam Day. I don't believe he came home early...what did he say that made you think that? First thinks first, I'll let you know the important information. I leave the MTC around 9:00 pm on Sunday, but our flight is around 1:00 am Monday morning. I'll get to call you guys at the Salt Lake airport, at around 10:30 or 11:00 I believe. Stay at the house so you don't miss my call! We do have a layover in Georgia, but I don't think we'll have time to make phone calls there. I can't wait to talk to you guys!

Well, so far the MTC has been wonderful! Days are long and they keep us super busy, but I love all the classes, firesides, etc. that we do. I feel like I am learning so much, and my teaching is really improving. I think the greatest highlight for me is the Spirit that I feel here all the time. Even though it can be hard, I am always happy and at peace, and having the Spirit with me I think is a big contributor. I know that I'm where I'm supposed to me, and Heavenly Father will give me the strength and comfort that I need to just be happy! What a wonderful blessing that is. My district is great, and we have all become really close in the past week. Three out of the four elders just graduated from high school, but they have done so much growing and maturing while they've been here. It's been a cool thing to witness. My companion is awesome! Sister Brown, from Florida, is super easy-going which has made our companionship pretty stress free. I think we teach well together also. We've also been blessed with great teachers. You'll be surprised to hear that I haven't had much of a problem waking up by 6:30. Another one of the Lord's miracles. Haha, it's actually harder for me to fall asleep than wake up because I'm constantly thinking about all the cool things that happened in the day and all the things I need to do. It's true what they say, days are long but weeks are short. Things that happened in the morning feel like they happened a week ago. I have seen a few people that I know! Mostly people from my freshman BYU ward. I got to see Jane a couple times before she left! I hadn't seen her the first couple days I was here, and I started to worry. I started praying that I would see her before she left, and what do you know, I saw her the next morning. She seemed to be doing great and was loving the MTC. Let's see...on Tuesday we got to go the first MTC devotional ever held at the Marriot Center. Did anyone hear about that? Apparently it was a pretty big deal because there was a lot of media coverage of it. It was weird walking to the Marriot, something I did so often when going to BYU basketball games and such. Another cool thing, the day I came into the MTC, over 900 missionaries had entered, which is record breaking I believe. I am just so grateful to be this age at this time, participating in this wonderful work.

Like I've mentioned in a couple of my letters, I love doing "progressing investigator" which is where our teachers take on roles of people they taught on their misisons, and we get to teach them! You know I was worried about doing role play type of activities, but now I absolutely love it. My teacher Brother Roberts has taken on the role of "Rob", and we have had some powerful lessons with him. It's weird, but I find myself thinking about Rob during my personal study and pondering ways I can help him. It's cool to see the love that develops for the people you teach! It just makes me so excited to get out in the field, to really try to help these people. Family, I mentioned in my letter the cool experience that we had with another investigator, "Rick", and that really has been a highlight for me. It was the first time that I felt totally guided by the Spirit in what to say. Something that I've realized, it's ok to be bold! I think sometimes missionaries worry too much about offending or making the lesson uncomfortable, that they forget what their puropose really is, to bring people to Christ. Of course the way we teach needs to convey to the investigator that we love them and only want to help them, but we can't be afraid to share what they need. We just need to have faith and open our mouths. The Spirit will help us know the things we need to say. We had another lesson with a woman named Sarah, and that was definitely a learning experience for my companion and I. From what we knew of her, she was totally content with her life and felt no desire to be close to God. We ended up teaching her the Plan of Salvation, which didn't go over super well. She just didn't seem to care. From that I learned that we really need to cater to the needs of the investigator, but in order to do that we must KNOW them first. As we listen, something they will say will highlight a principle of the gospel. (I think Elder Holland said that) We teach her later today, and hopefully that goes better!

I'm running out out of time...so that's the past week in a nutshell! I love it and I am learning so much. I knew I liked to teach, but I've come to realize that I find nothing more fulfilling than being able to teach someone of God's love for them and the happiness and peace they can have by following His plan for us. Pray for me, and pray for the people I'll be teaching! That's something I've been trying do, pray for them so they'll be prepared to hear and accept our message. Thanks so much for all your love and support. You're in my prayers. If you could write me through dear elder today or tomorrow that would be great. Just to confirm the plan for Sunday night when I'll be calling you guys. Talk to you soon! Love you guys!

Sister Denney