Second MTC Letter

Hello family! 

Time has flown by! They have a saying in the MTC that days feel like years, but weeks go by like seconds. Don't worry about me. I am still happy and healthy and having a great time in the MTC.

Now Leanna wanted to know more about the MTC, the schedule, the dorms, etc. I'll answer those questions. 

The MTC: I enjoy the MTC. Everyone is super nice and says hi to everyone. Elders always open the door for sisters, etc. It feels more like you're living away at boarding school than at college though because they don't treat you like an adult. They're super strict about what you're wearing, the curfew, etc. However, the rules are there for a reason and giving up some of your independence is part of it. 

Typical schedule: Leanna wanted to know more about our daily routine. The days are always different but here is our Monday schedule: 

6:30 am wake up 

7:00 am The district meets in the classroom for morning song and prayer 

7:10  breakfast in cafeteria 

7:10-10:50 class with our teacher Sister Mackley. We also teach one of our investigators during this time block. 

11: 00 gym 

12:20 lunch 

1:10-4:10 afternoon class with our other teacher Brother Chappell. 

4:30 teach our second investigator 

5: 30 pm dinner 

6:15-9:15 pm personal and companion study 

9:30 pm we can head back to the residence hall 

So there's our schedule in a nutshell. Tuesdays are p-days and Thursdays we do a service project in the morning. Last Thursday Sister Brennan and I cleaned the showers in another sister missionary dorm building. These were the really old dorms where like the original sister missionaries lived. I'm glad we live in the newer dorm. 

The food: The food in the MTC is surprisingly good. It's operated by BYU Dining and sadly their food is better than the Marketplace at USU. Aggie ice cream, however, blows BYU Creamery out of the water. 

The dorms: The dorms are pretty nice. I do not like the communal showers, but it's fine. The beds and sheets are surprisingly nice and like I mentioned before, we live in the newer dorm. 

Our teaching: Sister Brennan and I got new investigators this week. One of the greatest things I've learned when it comes to teaching the Gospel is to teach people, not lessons. Sister Brennan and I have been teaching a 19 year old young man from Tonga for the past 2 weeks. He's been really angry at his father for abandoning their family and abusing his mother and siblings. Sister Brennan and I talked a lot about the Atonement and forgiveness with him. We discussed that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, he can be wiped clean from his anger and forgive his father and become a new person. He then accepted our invitation to be baptized! It was such a powerful moment and reminded me that that is what missionary work is all about. 

My testimony has been strengthened so much these past two weeks. Our classes focus solely on inviting others to come unto Christ through Faith in Jesus Christ and the Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.  Brother Chappell had us write a letter to Jesus Christ our second day in the MTC and he challenged us to write another letter to him at the end of our missions and see how it changed. I have truly learned that by coming unto Christ and following his example, we will truly be healed from all of our afflictions and become the people we're supposed to be. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is truly what the Book of Mormon and being a Latter-Day Saint is all about. 

We watched a talk that Elder Holland gave at the MTC on Sunday night. He talked about how if we put in the proper work, we will always have at least one convert on our missions. He said that the greatest convert on our missions is ourselves.  

Nothing much else to report on. Send me more DearElders. I'm already sick of all of my clothes. Mom, please just send me entirely new clothes to the Kentucky mission office lol. 

I love you all and I'll see you in Kentucky! 

Sister Cressall