MTC Week #2

CIAO!

first off i just need to say that the shift key on the keyboard that i am using doesn't work very well...so i apologize for the lack of capitalization. stick with me on this one.

also, once again i have to start out by saying that i have the greatest family! seriously i feel so blessed. thank you all so much for all your emails and dear elders! i absolutely love hearing from all of you. you guys are the best and i'm just the luckiest!

mom thank you so so much for my package! it's a little embarrassing how excited i was to get a whole box just filled with all of my favorite foods. you know me too well. i'm determined to get my district hooked on golden oreos. it's gonna happen.

today was a great day at the temple! i actually got to see the new film! it was so so great. i think the one we saw when i went through for the first time in draper is still my favorite...but still so neat. i love going to the temple. that is going to be a hard thing to give up in italy. fingers crossed the one over there gets finished soon!

it was another great week at the mtc! i feel like i have gotten much more used to the way things work here. we started off the week with a little field trip down to salt lake to go sign some paper work for our visas. we got to take the frontrunner up so that was a fun adventure. dont worry, i gave murray a little shout out as we went by! it was a little crazy to be out in the real world again. i forgot what it was like to be around people who aren't missionaries. i also forgot how to just be a normal person around other people. haha i'm in for a real shock when i get to italy. but on the bright side everything with my visa is all set! we should be getting them within the next week or so.

we were so blessed and for devotional on tuesday night we were able to have elder bednar come speak to us! it was so great. i sang in the choir for the devotional, and the song we sang was nearer my god to thee. one of my new favorites. at the devotional elder bednar answered some questions that missionaries had asked him when he was here on christmas. he addressed a lot of different subjects but one of my favorites was faith. he talked about the difference between belief and faith, and that difference is action. also he talked about how we often think that going through a "trial of our faith" means we have to go through a difficult time in order to gain a testimony. but that isn't how it works at all! going through a trial of our faith simply means putting our faith to the test by acting on our beliefs. then we will receive the evidence. so that was a neat thought, and something that felt very applicable to me as a missionary.

another thing that elder bednar talked about at the devotional was spiritual gifts. i think he was quoting elder hales when he said this but he told us to ask our families to pray for us every morning and every night to have the gift of tongues. i just wanted to ask you guys to do that for me! the italian is coming along, but i definitely need all the help i can get. i want so badly to be able to effectively teach and help the people in italy, and i need some help with the language if i'm going to be able to do that.

the rest of the week was more studying and learning! one neat story - when we were teaching "valeria" our last lesson with her we asked her if she would like to be baptised. she said that she was baptized in the catholic church. so we began talking about how baptisms in the catholic church and in our church are different. while we were talking i thought to myself "this would be the perfect time to show her my book with the picture of me and ricky on my baptism day!" i didn't actually have it with me, but it was just neat to see how applicable that will be in real life. so turn out the book was a brilliant idea! thanks again for doing that for me, i love that thing. it is always so great to be able to look back and read your testimonies and see how much support i have back home. your words are with me each and every day!

speaking of brilliant books...shout out to Allie. my outfit book is my saving grace out here! i absolutely love it. all the sisters in my room are jealous of it. so all ye who mocked and made fun...eat your words.

this week was also my first time doing my service cleaning time. i got to clean the stairs in our classroom building and restock the custodial closets. this sounds crazy...but i actually really enjoyed it. you know you are in the mtc when cleaning feels like a fun relaxing activity. 

It is so fun to have rachie as my teacher! she is absolutely incredible. all the elders and sisters in my district love her. at the mtc there is this thing called speak your language which just means we have to speak as much italian as we can as often as we can. i was speaking with the girls in my room one night and they were like oh my gosh... you just sounded exactly like sorella miles! greatest compliment i could have gotten. it's so great to have her as an example of the type of missionary and teacher i want to be. i am so blessed to have her as my teacher!

it was so fun to hear all the news from home! i cant believe the news about the new meadows ward bishopric! that is hard to lose bishop eyre but murray city is in good hands. and lets be honest... ster-dog, todd harris, and shane evertsen?! spiritual powerhouse! that is going to be the greatest.

Pappy i hope you have a great trip in Atlanta! thanks for all the hard work you do for our family! you are incredible. also i loved what you said about seeing your full time missionaries! i love that i can be associated with them now. tisha, thanks for thinking to email me! i cant wait to get the pictures that the boys drew. doug and kim, i hope you survived your week of being parents of five! im sure you were stellar. also...the mice. i died when i read that. that is the worst thing. i hope that has been resolved! dantzel and oliver i hope all is well in mont-ie! allie and mike i am happy to hear that madden is doing better! i hope you get a chance to make it to the mesa temple! and sonn, love ya bum. keep up all your hard work in school.

thank you all again for your love and support. i love you so much! being a missionary is hard work. there are a lot of ups and a lot of downs, but i know that it cant be easy because i am not working for something that is cheap. i am so grateful i have all of you supporting me back home. i am so grateful for all your prayers! you all are the best. thank you for everything. love you!

until next week!

Sorella Marsh

 and shout out to Jord! This is a German sister in my district. She is HILARIOUS. Turns out everything is funnier when you say it with an accent.

Shout out to big Linds! I live in the same residence hall as the Russians :)

Sister Lee! The sister who went through the temple with me.

 Field trip to salt lake!

Me and Elder Arnold in front of the temple! He was my co-worker at Papa's. He is off to Portugal tomorrow so i had to say goodbye to him today. I'm sad I wont see him around anymore but I'm glad I at least go to see him a few times!