12 Days of MTC Christmas!

Merry Christmas!! How as Christmas for everyone? I hope it was wonderful and great!

Christmas here was great. On Christmas Eve we had a fireside by the MTC presidency that was really neat about spiritual gifts. They also did a really cool thing with the 12 days of Christmas in the MTC. It's dorky, but it went something like this:
12 hours of class
11 loads of laundry
10 new commandments
9 outbound calls (RC)
8 hours of rest
7 lukewarm showers
6:30 wake up
5 hours of gym!
4 chocolate milks
3 new companions
2 haircuts free
and a rock solid testimony

Maybe you'd have to be in the MTC and be easily amused to think that was funny, but it was way fun. Then Christmas morning me and my companion opened our gifts! Thank you so much for your presents!! I didn't get everything before Christmas, but it's all awesome!! Thank you!

After that we set up our little stockings for the Elders and they were way surprised. It worked out awesome. Then we had a "morningside" with Elder Perry and his family. He talked about Christ and the Nativity Story. It was so cool! After the morningside, he ate in the nasty cafeteria with us! It was so cool of him. I sat 7 seats away from him. Haha. We had the rest of the day to write home (which I did, but never mailed the letters, bah, sorry). Then we had a talent show which was pretty fun. My favorites were: a kid techno dancing to the Primary song, "I like to look for Rainbows", an Elder playing the Ukelele and singing rubber ducky and some Elders impersonating bagpipes. It was fun...unfortunately some Elders took advantage of the music coordinator's innocence because a couple Elders sang some songs from "Babylon" like "Wonderwall" and a song by Sublime with slightly changed lyrics.
We had another fireside by Greg Olsen that night which was actually pretty special. I love it when people talk about the Savior. I didn't feel THAT close to Him before I left, but I feel as I study the New Testament and the Book of Mormon that I just can't get enough of reading about Him. I feel like He's become way more of a reality than anything else in my life. I feel so much love for Him, and have such a crazy impatient desire to see Him again. It's really neat what the MTC does to your testimony.

So remember that lady Roberta that I spoke with over the phone in the RC? The one who asked who the Brother of Jared was? Well, I've been talking with her on the phone and been so scared of sharing the gospel for the first time FOR REAL. BUT, things have been so special with her. I really feel like my companion and I are in her life right now for a reason. She likes the Book of Mormon but is struggling with cancer and she's divorcing her abusive husband and is really having such a hard time. She shut down the missionaries when they came to her door because her husband gave her such a hard time for it. But her husband hasn't stopped a phone call. She sobbed while I was on the phone with her today and I could just tell her to pray and know that God loved her and everything would be okay. Even if she never accepts the gospel, I know this poor woman just needs someone to listen to her and make her feel special. It is a neat thing to be able to do, despite my fears of "blowing it".
My biggest challenge recently and above all in the MTC has been alot of self-doubt. I find myself feeling so weighed down about it. But at the same time, I am learning so much about myself and God. My Patriarchal Blessing says that I'll teach others about the true nature of God not being a person who "persecutes those who missteps but rather a loving father who weeps with us through our challenges and rejoices in our triumphs. He loves and lifts and encourages and fortifies His children." I've realized that any feeling beyond that is NOT OF GOD. When you feel like God doesn't love you because you're just too flawed, too imperfect, that is NOT GOD. If you feel down because you aren't good enough, that is NOT GOD. It's easier said than done to just change the way you think of yourself and the Lord, but I'm learning and growing and I know the Lord is building me to be the person I need to be. And He's helping me know who He really is. So I guess that's my take home message today. Heavenly Father loves us and just wants us to be happy and do the best we can to obey. He loves us more than the best earthly parent could love their child. Just feel loved, because it's true.

Oh, so I got a letter from someone in the Eastdell Ward, but I have no idea who it was! It must have gotten caught in the post office conveyer belt because the only thing that made it to me was the front of the envelope with my name and address and the corner of the return address which said "...ily, ...andy, UT...84092." So whoever that was, thank you for your card! Brett and Yun, Grandma and Grandpa, the Wardles and few others also sent a Christmas card, which was really nice!

Well, I hope the family has been doing wonderfully!
Love you all! The Church is true!