I hope you've all had a great week! I can't believe it's already P-day again. This week has been crazy and I've definitely been humbled a lot this week. To be honest, my companion and I are struggling to teach in the way we need to, but wow, I've learned a lot about how to bring the Spirit into a lesson.
Our TRC investigator is progressing really well. We had a very powerful lesson with her on Tuesday where we talked about how if she wants to receive answers to her prayers, she needs to have a real intent- to be willing to do whatever the Lord asks her to do. She asked us if she could pray with us right then, which shocked us; the very first lesson we had with her, she told us that she doesn't pray. She said a very earnest and humble prayer that touched all of us in that room. It's amazing how accepting of the Gospel she's become in the last week. Unfortunately tomorrow will be our last day teaching her, but Hma Woods and I are hoping to keep in contact with her after we leave the MTC.
Speaking of that, only a week and a half until I leave for Mexico! I actually got to meet my mission president on Monday. All of the new mission presidents who arrive in their fields next week were up here this week to receive training from the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and their missionaries got to meet with them on Monday night. I love President and Sister Ramos. They're tiny- I'm a few inches taller than Sister Ramos, and President Ramos might be about my same height, but I was wearing heels when I met him, so I was a little taller than he was. They are so humble and so kind. We saw them again on Tuesday night after the devotional and Sister Ramos was asking us what we want for breakfast on our first day in Mexico! They are going to take good care of us, and I am so excited to learn and grow with them. They both speak a little English, but not much. But President Ramos speaks Spanish really slowly, so it's pretty easy to understand them. Meeting with both of them made me so excited to get down to Mexico and meet the sweet people there.
We had some great devotionals this week. On Sunday Sister Janice Kapp Perry and her husband Douglas came and spoke to us, and it was one of the best devotionals I've ever been to. They were hilarious and it was so fun- we sang a lot of her songs during the meeting and they both spoke to us about missionary work. At one point, Sister Perry started telling us about how they met: they were in a clarinet class together at BYU, and she was sucking on her reed to get ready to play for the final when Brother Perry leaned over and said, "Those lips would be better for something else" or something like that. We all exploded in laughter, and then Brother Perry jumped out of his seat, walked as fast as his 80 year old legs would carry him, and went over and grabbed Sister Perry's face and kissed her hard. It was hilarious- I doubt many MTC devotionals have that happen! But the devotional was also exactly what I needed to hear. Something Sister Perry said comforted me and reassured me in exactly the right way, and was definitely a tender mercy from the Lord.
We also got to hear from Elder D. Todd Christofferson on Tuesday. And because the mission presidents were there, Elders Nelson, Oaks, Ballard, Bednar, and Andersen were also there. Literally half of the Quorum of the Twelve were at our devotional! It was awesome. Elder Christofferson spoke about the worth of souls, a topic very near to my heart. One thing I loved that he said was, (quoting a story told by Pres. Monson) "The worth of souls is the capacity to become like God." Wow. We have so much divine potential.
Well, should finish up. But I want to say that since coming on a mission I have realized how richly blessed I am, especially in having such wonderful and supportive family and friends. Thank you so much for all of your love- it's so much easier to serve a mission because of the support I feel from you all. Los quiero muchisimo, y nos vemos la proxima semana!
Hermana Southard
