So I've been in the MTC a week and 2 days now!!! It was crazy to think, as all the new missionaries came in on Wednesday, that I was in their shoes only a week ago. It's felt a lot longer than that, as they all say, here the days are long and the weeks fly-by! I leave in 3 shorts days to Santiago, Chile, and as I look back at my experiences here I have grown and learned so much. The MTC has been so fun, it's pretty much like EFY only there's ZERO free time and no dances, (haha) I have grown to loooove my district, there are 6 girls and 4 boys, everyone comes from and is going to different places, but we all get along so well and have so much fun, maybe too much fun! The youngest in our group is Elder Henriquez (the chubby one with glasses in the pic of my district at the temple) and he is very immature at times and always very hyper and has a hard time focusing on anything and can be kinda distracting during study time, but he brings a lot of much needed comedic relief after long hours of being inside the classroom. He is one of the funniest kids I've met, and constantly quotes a scripture in 1 Corinthians 13:11 when he's a little out of control to help himself. I've grown to love this scripture a lot as I've tried to adjust to missionary life and behavior. There's a lot of old habits we must now change in order to fit the image of being representatives of Jesus Christ and the Church, saying dude, bro, & guys to other missionaries and "what the crap" are among some of the things I'm trying to stop doing and it's so hard because it was just a part of my everyday vocabulary in my "past life". But I'm getting better and am sure it'll be easier once I'm in Chile speaking spanish full-time.
Something I thought I'd never say is the fact that gym time is my favorite time of the day at the MTC! Who am I?! haha, but it's really great for many reasons #1 I get to wear pants- as a sister missionary there are few times you can put pants on, gym time, bed time & p-day and I've come to cherish and appreciate the moments I don't have to be in a skirt. #2 We can't be competitive when playing any sports cause missionaries get hurt so no one takes the game seriously and it's actually fun! #3 None of the other girls are that good at sports either so I feel right at home :) On Tuesday we had to clean our residence halls for our service that week. Glad it's the last time I'll be doing that! Me & Hermana Brewster had to clean the girls showers...it was worse than any horror movie you've ever seen. I think we cleaned up about a head full of hair at each shower, I pretty much wanted to gag the entire time. But then I thought about how sister's must also clean the showers on my floor and how much I appreciate showering in a hairless bathroom, bless their hearts...lol.
Sunday was probably the most spiritual day of the week. The sisters get to watch "Music & the Spoken Word" first thing in the morning (cause the Elders wouldn't appreciate it and would probably just fall asleep ha) and then we went to Relief Society. It's just one GIANT relief society meeting in the gym for all the sisters at the MTC and we had the privilege of hearing one of the Relief Society Counselors in the general presidency. As we all sang as Sisters in Zion & Called to Serve as a congregation the spirit was incredibly overwhelming. Although the age change didn't effect my decision on serving a mission, it has had a great effect on my mission as I serve side by side with so many amazing girls!!! Apparently President Uchtdorf came to the MTC sunday, I didn't actually see him, our Branch President's wife did, but it was still so cool to think I was in the same building as one of the greats! My favorite part about sunday was Temple Walk. It's the only time we're allowed to leave the walls of the MTC (besides attending the temple on p-day) and we just get to go and take pictures and walk around the temple grounds. It was crazy cold and cars were honking at us and people were shouting with excitement, who knew you could have so much fun just crossing the street! Hahaha!
Another cool thing that happened was that yesterday we had In-Field Orientation. It was the longest day of my life, 8 hours straight of different orientations on how to use our planners, work with members in the ward, paperwork for ward council and a ton of other things that we'll have to use and do once we're out in the field. But they made it really fun! There was a big poster of my friend Sergio Mendoza which I took a pic of (Katie please show him the pic and tell him that they hang it up every week for In-Field Orientation at the MTC to teach us about how to talk to people in public settings) I also got to meet some of the Korean missionaries who are here, one of them kept offering me eye-drops, I kindly denied him like 5 times LOL And we even got to see one of the Elders from "The district 2" movies, Elder Christiansen! I think the biggest thing I've learned at the MTC is how to teach lessons that touch peoples hearts and not just straight up facts and doctrine. One of our "investigators" from the TRC his name is Jose, he's from Guatemala and has a wife and 5 kids. He said his parents were divorced and his step-dad was abusive and that because of all the horrible things he went through he didn't think God loved him. I Shared D&C 29:39 with him and that bad things happen to good people so we can learn from these experiences and cherish the happy moments in our life, not because God is trying to punish him or hates him. I assured him of God's love for him, and this brought him to tears. Hermana Brewster and I invited him to be baptized last week and he was very emotional as he said he was ready to turn a new page in his life. Even though these investigators are payed actors, a lot of them tell their true life stories as they work with us at the TRC and it was very touching.
Today we got to go to the temple and it was so cool to go with people actually my age that aren't snoring mid session or have white hair. haha. It was our only and probably last time for a while since the temple in Chile is not in my mission are.Well next time I e-mail you'll be hearing about my adventures halfway around the world! Love you all and please write me some Dear Elders up until Saturday the 23rd. Love you Familia & Friends!!!
Something I thought I'd never say is the fact that gym time is my favorite time of the day at the MTC! Who am I?! haha, but it's really great for many reasons #1 I get to wear pants- as a sister missionary there are few times you can put pants on, gym time, bed time & p-day and I've come to cherish and appreciate the moments I don't have to be in a skirt. #2 We can't be competitive when playing any sports cause missionaries get hurt so no one takes the game seriously and it's actually fun! #3 None of the other girls are that good at sports either so I feel right at home :) On Tuesday we had to clean our residence halls for our service that week. Glad it's the last time I'll be doing that! Me & Hermana Brewster had to clean the girls showers...it was worse than any horror movie you've ever seen. I think we cleaned up about a head full of hair at each shower, I pretty much wanted to gag the entire time. But then I thought about how sister's must also clean the showers on my floor and how much I appreciate showering in a hairless bathroom, bless their hearts...lol.
Sunday was probably the most spiritual day of the week. The sisters get to watch "Music & the Spoken Word" first thing in the morning (cause the Elders wouldn't appreciate it and would probably just fall asleep ha) and then we went to Relief Society. It's just one GIANT relief society meeting in the gym for all the sisters at the MTC and we had the privilege of hearing one of the Relief Society Counselors in the general presidency. As we all sang as Sisters in Zion & Called to Serve as a congregation the spirit was incredibly overwhelming. Although the age change didn't effect my decision on serving a mission, it has had a great effect on my mission as I serve side by side with so many amazing girls!!! Apparently President Uchtdorf came to the MTC sunday, I didn't actually see him, our Branch President's wife did, but it was still so cool to think I was in the same building as one of the greats! My favorite part about sunday was Temple Walk. It's the only time we're allowed to leave the walls of the MTC (besides attending the temple on p-day) and we just get to go and take pictures and walk around the temple grounds. It was crazy cold and cars were honking at us and people were shouting with excitement, who knew you could have so much fun just crossing the street! Hahaha!
Another cool thing that happened was that yesterday we had In-Field Orientation. It was the longest day of my life, 8 hours straight of different orientations on how to use our planners, work with members in the ward, paperwork for ward council and a ton of other things that we'll have to use and do once we're out in the field. But they made it really fun! There was a big poster of my friend Sergio Mendoza which I took a pic of (Katie please show him the pic and tell him that they hang it up every week for In-Field Orientation at the MTC to teach us about how to talk to people in public settings) I also got to meet some of the Korean missionaries who are here, one of them kept offering me eye-drops, I kindly denied him like 5 times LOL And we even got to see one of the Elders from "The district 2" movies, Elder Christiansen! I think the biggest thing I've learned at the MTC is how to teach lessons that touch peoples hearts and not just straight up facts and doctrine. One of our "investigators" from the TRC his name is Jose, he's from Guatemala and has a wife and 5 kids. He said his parents were divorced and his step-dad was abusive and that because of all the horrible things he went through he didn't think God loved him. I Shared D&C 29:39 with him and that bad things happen to good people so we can learn from these experiences and cherish the happy moments in our life, not because God is trying to punish him or hates him. I assured him of God's love for him, and this brought him to tears. Hermana Brewster and I invited him to be baptized last week and he was very emotional as he said he was ready to turn a new page in his life. Even though these investigators are payed actors, a lot of them tell their true life stories as they work with us at the TRC and it was very touching.
Today we got to go to the temple and it was so cool to go with people actually my age that aren't snoring mid session or have white hair. haha. It was our only and probably last time for a while since the temple in Chile is not in my mission are.Well next time I e-mail you'll be hearing about my adventures halfway around the world! Love you all and please write me some Dear Elders up until Saturday the 23rd. Love you Familia & Friends!!!
Con amor,
Hermana Ibarra
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