The Memoirs of Sorella Kelsey Hatch: Weel 3. Time flies!

Buona Serra! wow life at the MTC is busy and awesome!. Hope everyone had an amazing thanksgiving. I definitely did. Also, thank you to all who have sent me mail of any sorts. You are amazing. It literally has made my day many times to get a letter or a card. Please keep em coming.

So some awesome experiences from this past week have been:

This Sunday was awesome as always. We watched the Music and the Spoken word but it was teh Christmas special. What an amazing experience it was to feel the spirit of Christmas and listen to the beautiful carols. For Relief Society sister Neill F. Marriot who is the Second Counselor in the Young Women's General Presidency. She talked about becoming meek and allowing the Spirit to direct our lives. She talked about how when she prays to Heavenly Father, she imagines him standing next to her, smiling and listening to her prayers. During the prayer she tells her Heavenly Father what she knows about him and bears her testimony to him. I challenge you all to do that. When she spoke of doing this, it really struck my heart and confirmed my testimony that we can have a private, strong, personal relationship with our Heavenly Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. They are there and want to listen to our prayers.
During Sacrament meeting, my companion sis Jackman sang a solo of How Great Thou Art with Elder Smith accompanying her. She has a voice like Carrie Underwood. It was beautiful and the Spirit was so strong. So how Sacrament meeting works is we prepare 5 minute talks but we don't know if we will be called up. Earlier that morning I had a feeling I would give the talk so I prepped. I'm glad I did because I was called up to speak. Luckily I was able to do it in English since we run Sacrament meetings in English. I talked about how Faith is a principle of action. We demonstrate faith when we: Believe Christ is the Son of God, Accept him as our Savior, trust Him, are confident that He loves us, and bring good to our lives and the lives of others. I bore my testimony that when we have faith, we are able to receive blessings and miracles in our lives. I bear that testimony now.

We had one of the most spiritual district meetings ever! We talked about the miracles in our lives and the experiences that have confirmed our testimonies. The Spirit was so strong and we really got to know each other. I love everyone in my district so much and will be so sad when we have to leave the MTC.

We walked around the temple and it was awesome. Some missionaries have never seen snow before so they were picking it up, throwing it in the air, eating it and squealing in delight and awe. Me, sorella Warncke and the entire German missionary zone all threw snowballs at an elder going to Germany. He was covered and it was hilarious. We ran through the snow and everyone was frolicking like little 5 year olds.

So last night, we had a devotional. Drumroll please...... it was Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the 12. So guess who said the closing prayer.... that's right.... ME! Yes I got to sit on the stand, in front of the entire MTC with my companion about 10 feet away from Elder Cook. I didn't get to meet him or shake his hand but it was a humbling experience to pray on behalf of and in front of 3,000 + people (they were broadcasting it to other MTC's worldwide). The meeting was awesome. Elder Cook talked about how the apostles assign mission calls and it reconfirmed my testimony that my call is inspired of the Lord. There is a reason I'm going to Italy and I cannot wait to discover it.

So today was awesome. Me, sorella Taylor, and Elders Fabiano, Di Donato, Hansen, Gardiner, Ferrin, Cameron, all went to Salt Lake City. We needed to make a personal appearance at the Italian Consulate to apply for our visas. We took front runner to Salt Lake and everyone slept on the way there. We took trax into down town and a travel agent met us there. We went to the consulate and sat in a very fancy conference room. We signed papers and then waited for them to be processed. We got to know the agent and the wife of the consul. They were really nice and explained the process to us. After the appointment, we went to Toasters; a small sandwich place. I had the best salmon spinach wrap ever and a lemon bar! Eating real food after 3 weeks of nothing but cafeteria... let's just say I was in heaven for about half an hour. On the train back we all talked to different passengers and got to know them and talked about being missionaries. It was such a great experience. It was great to get out of the MTC for a while and to get to know people. It was a great training opportunity for us to learn how to just start conversations out of the blue.

So during class we teach investigators aka our teachers. My teacher Fratello Knutson is being Luca. We had a lesson with him and it was one of the best we've ever had. I went into the lesson feeling discouraged, burdened, emotional and weak. I'd had a hard week and didn't feel like I could measure up to be a good missionary. I was praying my heart out that it would go well. Well, when I heard Jackman invite him to be baptized, I got chills and the Spirit was so strong. I cannot wait to actually invite a real investigator to baptism. It was a miracle lesson because I was in a mood where the whole thing should've gone down hill. Our Heavenly Father is so merciful.

One thing that has been really fun is that the whole zone has turned to singing as a stress release. Monday night we all gathered in a classroom and harmonized while singing Christmas songs acapella. Sometimes while walking to class or in the lunch room we'll all start singing. It's brought us all together and helped us keep the Spirit with us while we are learning. We have amazing talented singers in our zone so it sounds like a chorus of angels.

So in my last email I said it had been the hardest week. No, last week was the hardest week. It is really hard for me because 8 hours of sleep is just not enough. My body hasn't adjusted. So 4 pm rolls around and I am doing everything I can to stay awake during class. Also, ask any missionary and they will tell you that weaknesses are magnified while on a mission. There have been so many times where I have felt completely inadequate, unprepared, stupid, weak, and that I lack in spirituality, faith, strength and knowledge. But I am learning so much about applying the atonement in my life. I bear my testimony to you guys that the atonement is real. when we allow the hand of the Lord in our lives we can do so much more than we ever could do by ourselves. It is hard to trust Him but when we do, He leads us to what we need and brings bountiful blessings to our lives. Love you all!