Wow what a week. So Thanksgiving was
the best one I've ever had in my life. We started off the day with
breakfast and a devotional. Guess who came to visit us... That's
right... Russell M. Nelson from the quorum of the twelve apostle. When
he walked in the room, I started bawling. The Spirit was so strong. I
received a testimony that he is a prophet, seer, revelator and servant
of the Lord called to participate in the leadership of the church. The
entire audience stood when he entered the room and the Spirit he brought
with him was strong and we all felt it. For choir we sang Hope of
Israel. What an honor it was to sing for this apostle and feel the
power of such a magnificent hymn. His wife talked about how our
missions are an opportunity for us to grow up, put away the childish
habits we have and develop new, mature adult perspectives and habits.
That was an amazing talk and one we all needed. I'm currently working
on that with different aspects of my life but it is still challenging.
Elder Nelson talked about missionary work and asked for volunteers to
describe why they went on a mission. Usually I'll start to doze off
during firesides but in this one everyone, myself included, was wide
awake and listening intently. I will never forget that experience.
We took a walk to the temple before lunch and
what a treat it was to walk around and feel the spirit. we took
pictures of the zone and walked and prayed. I am so grateful for the
temple and the blessings of eternal families that it brings into our
lives. Unfortunately the Provo temple is closed and won't open until
after I leave the MTC so I won't go to the temple for a year and a
half... unless I go to the Rome temple dedication. But walking around
the Provo temple, I thought about the covenants and joy I feel there and
am so grateful for it.
After that was our Thanksgiving day meal. Because
the workers needed to be with their families, we had a Thanksgiving
lunch instead of dinner. It was the usual: Turkey with gravy and
cranberry sauce, greenbeans, broccoli, mashed potatoes, salad, fruit,
yams with marshmellows, rolls, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, apple pie, jello,
cookies, and a whole bunch more appetizer stuff. We all stuffed
ourselves. It was fun to watch and hear the reactions of the
international missionaries because for many of them it was their first
Thanksgiving. I missed the peas and sausage that we have on the Hatch
side but everything else was delicious.
Then we did our service project. the entire MTC
prepared over 350,000 meals for children in Utah. Wearing red hair
nets, we scooped lentils, rice, salt and spices, tied bags and boxed
them. I got to know some more missionaries at my table. It was hard
tiring work but it was the greatest way to spend Thanksgiving. After
the service project we had sack dinners because the cafeteria was
closed. Everyone was still in a turkey coma and we all ate way too much
sugar. We sat around in the Romanian classroom joking around and
getting to know each other more.
Then we watched Ephraims rescue. I bawled the
entire time; partially from exhaustion and build up emotions but also
because the spirit was so strong. Watch that movie and you'll
understand what I mean. All the Elders were crying as well and Elder
Houk and I joked that I forgot my waterproof mascara. But the best part
was after the movie.
We walked out of the building and heard Christmas
music. We rounded the corner and found the entire main campus flooded
with Christmas lights. All the trees, benches, archways and lawns were
covered. There was a small nativity set up. It looks like a mini
temple square. We all took pictures, smiled, walked around and enjoyed
the night. It is hard to describe the feelings of joy and love that I
felt with my zone. They are the most amazing people. Even though some
annoy us to death (Beaumont), some flirt to death (Hallulli), and some
almost never talk (Whittaker), I am learning so much from every single
one of them.
On Sunday I watched a talk given by Elder David A.
Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve. He talked about the Character of
Christ. Christ always turned outward. The natural man will always turn
inward. He compared the natural man to the cookie monster: "Me want
cookie, me want it now, me want only that cookie." Christ is the
opposite. The Bible is full of stories where in the midst of the
deepest anguish Christ was selfless. This talk hit me hard. I'm the
type of person where I'm not afraid to have someone give me constructive
criticism. Well Heavenly Father basically let me know where I'm
selfish in my life and where I'm not. It was a huge eye opener and I
became so discouraged that I started bawling almost uncontrollably. My
wonderful companion and I took a walk outside in the lights and she
encouraged me with comforting words. I am so grateful for her. I'm
fine now. I've identified those areas where I am selfish and am working
on them. It will take time, but I am slowly learning how to let go of
selfish habits and start developing new selfless ones.
But the best part of that night was while I was talking to my
companion, we heard this screaming from the other side of campus. We
walked over and all the New Zealand elders were doing the Haka. That
was a blessing. The energy, strength, confidence and power from the
elders was contagious. The fighter spirit in me recognized the energy
and I just soaked it in. It made me feel like I was back in the Krav
gym doing sprints. I know it sounds weird but it was awesome. A couple
days later I got one of the elders to write down the words to the Haka
and they promised to do it for us again when we leave the MTC. Those
elders are amazing. After they did the Haka, three of them whom I'm
friends with saw me standing there with tears still on my face. One
came over to me and sincerely asked if I was ok. I desperately wanted
to give them a hug. The two others came over and asked if I was ok and
if I wanted a blessing. So one thing I've missed so much are my guy
friends. But at that moment, I was so grateful to the Lord that he had
helped me become friends with these elders and that they were filling
that spot of friendship in my heart.
The language is coming but it so difficult. I thought I would be
able to learn it quickly. I'm learning but it's coming much slower than
I thought. I can form sentences but I don't know how to conjugate
them, put the words in the correct grammatical order and use the correct
word endings. Most of my sentences end up being noun, verb, verb,
verb, capisco? But it is a huge testimony of the gift of tongues. I
have had many experiences where the spirit has helped me remember the
Italian word right when I needed it. If all of you could please pray
and fast that me as well as the people in my zone will be able to learn
Italian I would be forever grateful. I'm not the only one struggling.
But it is a beautiful language and the day I discovered that I could
understand everything my teacher said was one of the best days of the
week. We are making progress. It is just very slow.
So one fun thing was my companion's mom sent her a
bunch of dove chocolates. We've been eating them and then saving the
wrappers. I have a huge collection now of dove wrappers in my journal.
So a couple fun things have been that a lot of
people have asked me questions about Krav. I've been able to share why I
practiced it and how it helped me prepare for a mission. I've been
able to teach a little here and there and that is helping me continue to
practice and progress. I've also met a ton of other missionaries who
did Muay Thai, Jiu Jitsu, Karate and Tae Kwon do. It's been so fun to
talk about MMA with these people and relate to them that way.
So this week has by far been the hardest week.
There's just been so many experiences where I have walked away feeling
discouraged, weak and exhausted. Not to mention lack of sleep and
annoying people. But I've also grown more this week than I ever did in a
year. I'm learning more on how to rely on the Lord and let him guide
the work. I'm learning more about loving others and being patient with
them... even if they deserve a smooth front kick. I've learned to be
patient with myself and I'm learning more about humility. But the Lord
will never give us things we can't handle. He has blessed me with a
very patient and wise companion and I've learned so much from her. Our
teachers are constantly encouraging us and helping us. The devotionals
provide a much needed break and are a source of enlightenment and
strength. Choir gives me a chance to hear beautiful music and sing.
During gym I get to run and shadow box and release the anxiety and
energy that builds up during the day. And our zone is a family. We are
all supporting each other and doing our best to help each other.
Well love you all and hope you are safe and happy. TTYL next week.
Sorella Hatch
 |
| Thanksgiving dinner |
 |
No comments:
Post a Comment