Week 2

Hey everyone!

Week 2 has been even better than the first week! It's easier now because we know what we're doing and where everything is. We are still continuously working at getting better at teaching and serving others. Our lessons are still going pretty good. I'm amazed at how far we've come in this short period of time. It's really true what they say about the weeks seeming like days and the days seeming like weeks here. I can't believe we only have a week left. 

Me Studying

We leave the MTC for West Virginia next Tuesday at 3:50am. We have a short layover in Atlanta and then arrive in Charleston around 4:30pm. Last Tuesday we had a devotional by Bruce C. Hafen, an old member of the 70. As our closing song we sang Day by Day, a translated Swedish hymn, and it was beautiful and probably one of my favorite hymns now.

The Sisters in my Zone

Some fun news, my district gets to be hosts to the new missionaries coming in on Wednesday! That means we get to greet them when they get dropped off and help them get situated and find all of their materials and classroom. Last Wednesday we were able to watch the new missionaries getting dropped off from a window in the gym and I was tearing up just seeing them say goodbye to their families and I know I'll probably be crying with them tomorrow as I help them say goodbye. I'm pretty sure I've cried more in the past two weeks than I have in my entire life. I have felt the truth in every single meeting and lesson that we've had. Yesterday we taught a woman who had lost a daughter a year previous and we all started tearing up as we testified to her that she was going to see her daughter again. I love the joy that this gospel brings to people and cannot wait to give that to the people in my mission. 

Our District with our teacher Brother Craw in his last day teaching us

There are more missionaries at the MTC now then there have ever been apparently. After the new set came in on Wednesday the lines for everything got longer, especially the cafeteria so we have to wait a while to get our food. We also are over 400 people over capacity for the devotionals so some missionaries have to have it broadcast to them in a different room. Some left today for the field but we're supposed to get another 700 tomorrow. I think it's great that so many people are willing to serve the Lord but the even longer lines might test my patience. 

Outside before we played Spikeball

I was able to play soccer a little bit with some of the girls from our zone and that was pretty fun even though it was really hot and no one really wanted to run. It just felt good to hit a ball again. We went outside to play volleyball but the sand was so hot it was burning our feet so we just decided on Spikeball with the Elders from our district. It's so nice to be able to get outside and let some energy out after being in classrooms for most of the day. 

The tours of the MTC started yesterday. It's kinda weird because the tour goes through some of our study areas and it's almost like a zoo where you just have people watching you practice teaching and studying. The tour also goes through the hallway where our classroom is and so they moved all the classes that were in the classrooms across from us and put in classes that are in different stages of learning their language. So now we have 9th week Cantonese, 6th week Dutch, and some other languages next to us. It's pretty cool though that people have the opportunity to see what we do here and feel the spirit. The new buildings that our classrooms are in are amazing and have gorgeous artwork and murals everywhere. They built it like a temple where everything in it is to help you learn something. My favorite one is a vibrant and detailed mural of Moses parting the red see. I'll try to get a picture of some of them before I leave. The tour also goes through the cafeteria, gym, and one of the residence halls. 

Sister Maxfield and I in our West Virginia Mission T-Shirts

I've loved reading all of the emails everyone is sending me throughout the week and will miss that when I get into the field and don't have the iPad anymore. It will be missed but I know I'll get so much better at memorizing where scriptures are and using the resources I can use. 

Have a great week everyone!

-Sister de la Cruz

Week 1

Hey Everyone! 

I made it through almost my first week at the MTC! It has been such an amazing experience and I'm so happy I'm here! My companion's name is Sister Maxfield and she is from Logan, Utah. She's 25 and has already completed her bachelor's degree at Utah State. She is AMAZING! I can't believe how lucky I was to get her as my first companion here at the MTC. We get along so well and are very similar in our teaching styles so that has been great during our lessons. We started teaching our first "investigator" our second day here and I was really surprised how well it went! We've gotten three more investigators to teach since then and we teach them each day. Most of our lesson have went well but we're still trying to figure out how they are feeling during the lessons and if they really are feeling the spirit. We aren't told if they're real investigators or just members role playing with us but we treat them just the same. 

I love my district so much already. We have 4 Sisters and 10 Elders. Almost all of the Elders are 18 and just graduated and the other two Sisters, Sister Lucas and Sister Rawlings are 19 like me. The Sisters are going to West Virginia with us and the Elders are going to Cleveland, Ohio and Chicago. We have two great teachers who just got back from their missions to Arkansas and Tennessee a couple years ago. We have class twice a day for a couple hours and teach and study the rest of the time. Our exercise time is in the middle of the day which is kinda nice because we get a break but that also means we have to either be in the gym or fitness center because it's like a million degrees outside. Sister Maxfield and I usually workout upstairs for the first half and then go down into the gym to play basketball or 4 square with some other Sisters from our Zone. Today because it was P-day Sister Maxfield and I decided to do our exercising in the morning and could actually go outside and play beach volleyball without dying of heat. The Provo temple closed for cleaning the week we got here and reopens the day we leave which is really unfortunate. I was really looking forward to getting to see the inside of another temple and being able to be there with a bunch of other missionaries. We did walk to it today though to take some pictures. 

The first day here was just a ton of meetings getting us into the missionary spirit and letting us know how things worked around here. Over 720 missionaries came in the same day which is apparentyl a lot at once.They broke us off into a room of about 70 missionaries and had us all try teaching a couple investigators by passing a microphone around. It was pretty funny sometimes. One Elder was talking to one of the investigators who was a young woman and said, "I barely know you but I already have feelings for you". The room couldn't stop laughing for a while. The most powerful thing that happened that day though was when they had all the new missionaries in a devotional with the MTC presidency and we sung "We'll Bring the World His Truth". I felt the spirit so strong in that room and knew that that was exactly where we were all supposed to be. 

Sister Maxfield and I were called to be Online Coordinators in our branch. I'm not 100% what we'll be doing but they said we'll be helping new missionaries with their tablets and other technology. Oh yeah! We got Ipads!! Well, loner ones for the MTC that is. It has been a great helping finding scriptures and conference talks quickly and we don't have to carry around as many books because they're downloaded on it. We're also able to read our emails throughout the day any day but we can only respond to them on P-day. So send me lots of emails throughout the week if you want to let me know anything fun that's happening! 

Sunday was probably the most spiritual day I have ever had. We went to church in our branch of about 6 districts. We have to prepare a 5 minute talk each Sunday and then the Branch Presidency chooses a couple missionaries out of the congregation to give their's. Sister Maxfield wanted to go to the MTC chior practice so I went with her which is kinda funny because I can't sing at all. I am so thankful I did though because the spirit was so powerful as we sung "Where can I Turn For Peace" and it was amazing to hear the hundreds of missionaries voices come together. I love being surrounded by so many different people from all over the world and having so many different languages being spoke around me. Someone could be holding the door open for 10 different missionaries and each one would say thank you in a different language. There truly is no other place like this on earth. 

My testimony has grown so much while I have been here and I know that I'm only able to teach my investigator because the Spirit is really the one leading us and teaching the lesson. I know that this is where Heavenly Father wants me right now and even though I love it here I can't wait to head out to West Virginia and start testifying of Jesus Christ. 

Wow that was a long letter, thanks for reading it! I love all of you and hope everything is going well!

Love, 

Sister de la Cruz