We Have Hit Negative Temperatures!

It’s true, we have finally hit the negatives for Celisus temperatures. I don’t know exactly how cold it is, but Äldste Hills was having fun ice-skating on the roads last night on our way out of a dinner appointment last night. Syster McCollaum continues to inform me that we haven’t hit real Swedish winter yet, but it’s also consistently sitting around 0° C. It’s not completely frozen yet, but weäll get there.

We’re finally getting to get more appointments and lessons in. One thing I’m starting to learn very quickly out here is not to judge. Everyone has their own set of problems, and everyone comes from different backgrounds. I’ve met people from just about everywhere, including China, India, Kenya, Ghana, Colombia, Uzbekistan, Canada, Chile, and SO MANY OTHERS, and from every walk of life too. It’s fantastically amazing who I’ll get to meet every day.
 

So, just a fun tidbit, the Stockholm temple is actually in my zone. It used to be in my district, but due to a complicated set of transfers, it’s now only in my zone. However, last week for District meeting, we met in Västerhaninge (the town where the temple is), and I walked straight by the temple. There are NOT many missionaries in Sweden who can say they saw the temple in their first week in the country.



District meeting last week was also my first chance to try kladkaka, which is the Swedish equivalent to brownies, and completely delicious, as well as kebab.

Let me explain kebab in Sweden- it is NOTHING like shish-kabobs in the states. There is no resemblance whatsoever. Kebab is fried lamb meat cut in very thin slices and put on pizza with sauce, peppers, and french-fries. The kebab I had last week also had tomatoes and lettuce, which Syster McCollaum tells me isn’t how it usually is (and I had kebab last night that would agree with that statement). It sounds bizarre, but it is SO GOOD. I think I’m in love with kebab and kladkaka, and it’s a good thing it doesn’t fit in the missionary budget to have both all the time, or I would be coming home as a very fat missionary at the end of my mission.

 

Another weird thing about Sweden, everyone here has a dog, a baby, or smokes, or sometimes a combination of all three. I think I have seen more pregnant women here than I did walking around BYU campus, which is a statement in and of itself. I’m also fairly certain that if I develop lung-cancer later in life, I will blame that on the Swedes. I love them to pieces, but sometimes, I wish the bus-station didn’t smell like tobacco.

Lessons are going great, and they’re always interesting, as is contacting. We do a lot more contacting than anything, and that’s mostly because we’re building up our area. For those who’ve been wondering, we do contacting, and not tracting, and that’s mostly because almost every apartment building in Sweden has a passcode on the doors. Unless you have the code, you can’t get in to ring the doorbell, and so, usually we just end up walking up and down the streets in Flemingsberg and Älvsjö looking for people to talk to.

It actually led to an amazing experience last week. We hadn’t been having much success in our contacting after District meeting last week, so we went to the side of the road and said a quick prayer. We went back to the road, and within seconds, we met this guy who was just out for a walk. We started talking to him, and he told us he had time to sit down and talk, so we sat on a bench, and taught him the entire first lesson. He had so many questions, and we could feel the Spirit so strongly as we taught him. It was freezing, and the rain was coming down, and we were pretty well soaked by the time we were done, but it was worth it! Seriously, it was the most amazing lesson I’ve been to yet. 

 

We still have not had any real snow; so far, it’s just been these frustrating little flakes that are almost more like a mist that is just cold enough to freeze and stick to you. I’m still waiting for some real snow to come, but Syster McCollaum says to be patient, because soon we’ll have so much snow we won’t know what to do with it.

Oh well, I haven’t frozen yet, for which I’m grateful!

Love, Syster Maxwell

Ursäkta

So, first and foremost, I'm still alive in frozen Sweden!

Actually, from what I hear, it's about as warm here in Sweden as it is at home. I'm actually not sure what the temperature has been here because I'm still not sure where a thermometer is, but itäs been about 5 degrees Celsius on average, if not a little less.

President and Syster Newell are amazing, as are all of the Senior Couples. We were welcomed in right away, and I can't say that things are uncomfortable right now, aside from going from sitting in a desk all day to walking around Stockholm for hours at a time.

I've been assigned to an area just south of Stockholm. We're lucky; our apartment belonged to senior couples before us, so it's HUGE, and really nice. It's a little different, because they shower is not at all seperated from the rest of the bathroom ( really, we have to hang the rug over the shower curtain every morning so it can dry out), but considering that that's the only strange thing I can find about it, I'd say we've got it made.

Speaking of 'we,' I have an amazing new companion, Syster McCollaum, who is a Doctor Who fan! We've both been celebrating our mutual nerdiness all week. She is from Delta, Utah, and only has a few more months out here on her mission. She's been great so far, and an amazing help with learning the language.

I got out of the MTC, and I quickly realized, I don't know the language half so well as I thought I did. Everyone speaks so fast here, and they fluctuate their words in spots Americans would never think to. I'm at least able to seperate different words, but Syster McCollaum does most of the talking when we're out contacting since I'm still trying to figure out what in the world people are saying to me.

It's definitely been different here; it's usually dark by about 4:30 p.m., and we stay out contacting until about 7 or 8. The phrase I'm working to master right now is 'ursäkta' or 'excuse me.' Contacting is harder than expected. I'm still not entirely sure what people are saying when they talk to me, so I'm a little more cautious when I approach them, just to be certain I'm not somehow saying something ridiculous or offensive.

I have done more running for Tunnelbanan and Pendeltåget than I have ever run for any form of transportation in my life in the past week. I'm pretty sure I'm getting just as much exercise walking around Sweden as when I exercise in the morning. We've yet to get an actual lesson in; we keep scheduling them, and people keep cancelling or not being home. Hopefully that changes in the next week, especially since we have a good number lined up.

We've also done an amazing amount of singing in the past few days. We had some Elders from the next zone over have us come and sing with them at a mall, which attracted a fair number of contacts. We also went to the Stockholm Stake conference to sing there. I was actually briefly able to see President Nyman, but due to time and language barriers, I didn't get to talk to him much. We've also been asked by the ward to sing 'If the Savior Stood Beside Me' as part of the Primary Program next Sunday. Also musically connected, my district leader is a violinist! He was playing yesterday after church, and I kind of did a little happy dance out in the hallway to hear strings played again.

The members are awesome, or at least, I think they are from how much I can understand when they talk (we're still working on that). They also love the missionaries. They had me get up to bear my testimony på svenska on Sunday in Sakrament, which was terrifying, and kept very short so I didn't have too much room to mess up, but great. They've also already had me pray in meetings. My hope is that I'll be forced to speak the language so much that it'll just start coming as I need words.

Oh, and one last thing: Sweden has been perfect for my diabetes so far. I do work hard, and once or twice, that's brought my sugars down, but never to an actual low. The food has SO much less sugar than the MTC or just American food in general. My sugars have been AMAZINGLY on track in the past week, which has been an enormous blessing as I've been out working all day to meet people interested in the gospel. It's been an answer to so many prayers from the MTC, especially given how hard it was to focus and progress there with out of whack blood-sugars.

Love,

   Syster Maxwell

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Hejsan, hej då!

So, we have officially entered my last week at the MTC! It's so strange, but it's finally here! I'm leaving in a week! I had my last trip to the temple today, and it was gorgeous. It was a little bittersweet, because, although there is a temple in Stockholm, I have no idea how often I'll actually get to attend the temple, so this is going to be my last temple visit for a while.

 

This week has otherwise been great. Yesterday, we had a minor adventure early in the morning. We woke up and had a bat outside our door, just laying on the ground. At first we thought it was fake, but Syster Stewart decided to touch it with a fork, and it twitched. I thought I reacted pretty well to a bat in our Residence, but Syster Stewart disagrees. Apparently shrieking, running into our room, and refusing to come out until the bat was gone is not a positive response- although for anyone who's ever seen me react to any sort of rodent or animal I'm expected to touch, you will know this was a huge step forward from me. I successfully avoided the urge to climb on my bed and scream for about 1/2 an hour, which is pretty big for me. 

 

So, things are a little different this week at the MTC. Usually, a new district arrives the 

Wednesday after the last one leaves, however, since that means that the New Swedes would be leaving the week of Christmas, this means that they're arriving today and tomorrow. Our teachers have been telling us we're not allowed to confuse them by refusing to speak English to them, but I'm pretty sure we'll still be speaking whatever Swedish we can to them.

Oh, and the fantastic news: I'M FLYING OUT A DAY EARLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We got our flight plans last Friday, and we'll be flying our from SLC INT early Monday morning, and arriving in Sweden early the morning of the 12th. And even more fantastic news: I HAVE MY VISA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So, if all goes according to plan, at this time next week, I'll have been in Sweden for a few hours! Oh, goodness, I'm so excited to finally get out to the field! I've loved the MTC, but I want to get out into the field. The idea both terrifies and thrills me, because I've talked to native Swedes in the last few weeks, and I fully realize I'm far from fluent in the language, and I know I'm a less than perfect servant, but I also have faith that the Lord qualifies who he calls and that I'll be fine so long as I'm doing all I can to serve Him. Okay, one more little moment of freak-out.......... I'M GOING TO SWEDEN IN A WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M GOING TO FREEZE TO DEATH BUT I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!.

 

They tell us to be quietly dignified. Technically, nothing audible happened there, so I think we can choose to overlook it. The only downside to this is that it means I most likely will not be allowed to email next week, so it may be a while before the world will enjoy another of my lovely updates. There's a slim chance I'll get to email when I first arrive, but I wouldn't say to count on it.

Anyways, I  think I'll tell you about my experience with native Swedes so far. For TRC every week, people come in and we teach them lessons on the gospel. So far, we've taught a fair number of native Swedes, including a family from Göteborg last week, who were amazing to teach. There was an amazingly strong spirit there, even though we'd only known them for about 20 minutes, and they were so excited to learn we'd be in Sweden in just a few weeks. We've also been having fun getting to know Syster Bussman. She's a sister from the northern part of Sweden going to Russia. We've had fun getting to practice our Swedish with her, and while she's shared swedish candy with us (it's VERY different from American candy), she nearly started crying when I told her she could have some of the knäckebröd I have in the residence. She's been absolutely adorable to get to know, and has only fed into my excitement to get over to Sweden. 

I love the fact that I'm a missionary. It's a struggle; it's not easy, but it's so amazing. I know I'm where I need to be, and I'm excited that in a few days, that means I'll finally be in Sweden! 

Med kärlek,

Syster Maxwell

Revelation through Cake

 

Emily Maxwell	Hallå min familj och vänner! Hur går det med du? Life in the MTC continues. T...	Oct 29 (1 day ago)
Hallå min familj och vänner! Hur går det med du? Life in the MTC continues. T...

Hallå min familj och vänner! Hur går det med du?

Life in the MTC continues. This past week has presented some interesting challenges. I caught the cold at the MTC, and my insulin decided to start going bad- meaning it still worked, but only when it wanted to. Between that and the MTC food, my blood-sugar has been fun- fun enough for me to write in my planner "Revelation through Cake." I'm pretty sure I meant "Revelation through Church," however, the concept of good food is so foreign at this point, and essentially miraculous, so maybe i was being smarter than I thought when I wrote that. Not that I think I'll actually be receiving revelation anytime soon by eating cake. Oh well, only two more weeks of MTC food, and then I'm off to eat potatoes and pickled herring for 18 months! Yum!

Life outside of food and blood-sugar has been great. Syster Stewart and I are still having fun walking the MTC singing Disney songs. The new dutchies thought we were kidding when we told them they'd hear us coming- they now have to admit they were wrong. We have fun as a district and zone. What started as a rivalry with the Norwegians has calmed down a lot now. We still tease each other mercilessly, but we're all amazing friends now. We still enjoy our Eldste Edwards-isms. He says and does the most interesting things. Apparently cream cheese is the nastiest thing he's ever eaten, but the MTC did an okay job with fish and chips- he looked like a kid at christmas when he sat down with two plates, and didn't talk to any of us until both plates were clear. Oh, and he was about a tenth of a second away from a spit-take the other day when I did my impression of Wallace and Gromit- "Cheese, Gromit!"

All of the Sisters are great; we have Disney parties in the showers, and eat ridiculous amounts of food- seriously, I have an entire shelf on my desk which is just food. How I'll finish it before leaving the MTC, I don't know, but I'm not gonna let that go to waste anytime soon.

So, Syster Stewart and I had a rather unexpectedly awesome experience with one of our investigators, Alex, last week. We've felt a lot like we've been struggling to get through to him in the last few lessons. So we planned this lesson less to teach a new doctrine, and more to gauge what he's learned, what he's hoping to gain by continuing to meet with the missionaries, and how we can help him build a testimony of the gospel through questions. We were expecting a lesson a lot like the others, with a lot of "Um's" and "Ja vet inte's." However, we were only a few minutes into the lesson when we started feeling the spirit so strongly as he bore testimony of the things he had learned with us. At the end of the lesson, we asked him why he hadn't decided to be baptized, and were shocked when he answered, "Because you haven't asked me!" Oops! However, it was a good reminder on our parts that even if we're not always on top of what's going on, the Lord is, and He can turn a situation into something far better than we ever had planned.

One of my favorite words that I've learned på svenska is 'omvändelse'. It literally means 'an about turn' or 'to turn around,' but in a gospel context, it means both "to repent" and "to be converted." I'm not sure if I'm using the verb form right there, but no matter how you use it, it means the same. I've been thinking about that a lot lately, and honestly, I kind of wish it worked the same way in English. Atonement literally means "an at one-ness" with the Lord. As we repent we become more in sync, or at one, with the Lord. I think it's an interesting concept, that our conversion, and the degree to which choose to repent are in many ways the same thing- choosing to put behind you old wrongs, and to turn back to the Lord. Anyways.

Oh, another interesting tidbit- both Brother Bush and Brother Jorgenson (two of my teachers) were Adam Webster's mission companions. It's a small world. And admittedly, it was a little strange to have Brother Jorgenson explain he's been to the Webster's new house and old house, and to figure out that means he's seen my house. It's a VERY small world.

One last note- thank you so much to my beautiful soul sister, Miss Oakleigh Yost. I got her belatedly birthday present yesterday, and I was a VERY happy missionary! I'm now the proud owner of my own sonic screwdriver, some doctor who pins, and doctor who post-its. Dalek post-its will soon be invading the MTC. :D

 

this is said happy missionary!

Anyways, I love you all, I miss you, and pray for you! I love getting letters from everyone and hearing how things are going with y'all (it's amazing how using that word på svenska makes me want to use it more på engelska).

Med kärlek,

Syster Maxwell

Hejsan!

 

So, life continues here at the MTC. Seriously (the food aside) this is the coolest place! After the last group of Dutchies left last Monday, another set came in last Wednesday. They are so much fun, especially the new sister, Sister Jones. She's so amazingly talented, and funny.

So, my zone actually has about 35 missionaries. There are only 5 Swedes, but we also have the Norwegians, the Danes, and the Dutch. There is one Dutch Elder who arrived on the same day as me (2 weeks ahead of the other Dutchies) who's going to the West Indies, so he's our "lone Dutchie" in one of the Norwegian Districts.

 

The MTC is awesome; I've got three fantastic teachers, all returned missionaries from Sweden.  Bro. Jorgensen is the youngest and was the one who told me about Pres. Nyman, but Bro. Bush and Bro. Dunn are where to go for vocab and grammar questions

My dorm room is actually pretty great. Although there are 6 beds, it's just Syster Stewart and me. We're right next door to the other 5 sisters in my zone. I have a fridge, and it's been great for keeping my insulin cool. Oh, and it's insane, but from my room, I can see Heritage Halls and BYU printing. I keep an eye out for Doug's car, but I haven't seen it yet.

Syster Stewart is fantastic. She's from a farm in Spokane Washington. She's the second of 8 kids, and she talks about her family all the time. She'll be 20 in December, but we have sisters in our zone who are almost 21. She, Sister Buhler, and I have fun being nerds together.

The Swedish is coming slowly but surely. It's interesting, because every time we teach, it's pa svenska, but truthfully, we don't really use our language aids as much as we used to. We teach at least one investigator every day, and we had two yesterday. Investigators tend to be our teachers taking on the role of an investigator they taught in their missions. One of our teachers, Brother Jorgenson, is playing a 10-year old, and he's freakishly good at it. We love getting to teach him, because he's very quick to catch on, and very driven- the kid read the Book of Mormon twice in 10 days! Teaching him is so cool, especially because he's so enthusiastic about the gospel. Our other investigator, Alex, is coming along well too. Not quite as fast as Adam, but he's becoming more and more receptive to our message.

So, just as an overview, a day at the MTC goes roughly like this:

6:15 Wake up and shower

7:00 Go to the gym and play volleyball and foursquare for an hour

8:00 Personal Study

8:45 Breakfast

9:15 Classtime and teaching

1:50 Lunch

2:30 More classtime and teaching

5:45 Language study

6:45 Dinner

7:30 More study time

9:00 Planning

10:30 Bed!!!!!!

The schedule doesn't go exactly like that every day, but all of that is fit in there somehow or other, and we are busy every minute of every day. Maybe I don't have as many different activities going on as the high school and college kids do, but I promise, I'm working so hard I essentially fall into my bed every night. Well, technically, I don't fall since I have the top bunk, but I look like a zombie stumbling up the ladder.

We have a lot of fun, singing disney songs, and making up our own parts to hymns (Syster Stewart takes soprano, I take alto. All together, it works out well). We quote movies like no one's business, and over-all just love life as misisonaries.

I love being a missionary. I really do. I'll be honest, it's hard, and I miss my family, and there are times I wish I could be there with them, but I know I'm exactly where I need to be. I have so much fun here and I've seen my testimony grow and my understanding of the gospel has expanded so much already. One of the best quotes I've heard here at the MTC is "The atonement isn't part of the gospel; the atonement is the gospel." It's a different perspective than I had before on the Atonement, and it has reshaped my testimony so much as I've thought about it in the last few weeks. None of the gospel matters without the atonement, and because of the atonement, we have an amazing, bright hope that something better is always going to come, because we have a Savior and a gracious Heavenly Father who loves us more than we can possibly begin to imagine.

Just as a note, to date, I have seen Elder Dexter Murray, Elder Chandler Young, Elder Jaik Brown, Elder Jake Jenson, Elder Nick Elg, Elder Nathan Ricks, Elder Danny David Dawson, Elder Riley McEwan, and Elder Ben Van de Graaf. Sister Victoria Violette, Sister Rachel Page, and Sister Melanie Hunter. I also was able to talk to Elder Adam Isaac a few times before he finally left for Kobe, Japan, which was amazing. I thought I'd said goodbye to him back in August when we all were hanging out at the Bell's one last time before he and Elder Mike Vance went to the MTC, but I was able to shake his hand (because that's the only contact Sisters and Elders can have) just hours before he boarded a plane to fly out to Japan. I haven't heard anything since, but I know that he's going to be an amazing missionary in Japan.

Being a missionary isn't easy. Last week after Devotional, Syster Stewart had a minor break-down. She's had her faith tried much harder in the last few months than ever before, and as a missionary, she wants to be exactly obedient, and know that what's she's teaching is absolutely true. And I can definitely understand that; it's terrifying, in a way, to contemplate that I'm going to tell people for the next 18 months how they should change their lives and why. We've been working together to help her overcome that, and I do think that she's doing better now, but it has made me reflect a lot on why I'm here.

I'm here because the gospel is light in my life, and I want to share it with others. I love the promise of the restored gospel, and I think that promise should be made available to everyone. Someone is out there, waiting for what I have to offer as a missionary. I don't know who they are, or when I'll meet them. I might not even know until after this life, but I do know the Lord has a purpose for me out in Stockholm, and I want to get out there and fulfill that purpose.

Week 2

So, the MTC remains amazing. It's both sad and awesome, we sent off our Dutchies along with Elders Bodine and Reber, and Sister Frampton in the past two days. The Dutchies are off to serve in the Belgium-Netherlands Mission. Elder Bodine had a broken foot, but since it's healed, he went off to Sweden on Monday morning. Elder Reber and Sister Frampton were both supposed to go to the Norway Oslo Mission, but they're visas didn't come in, so they were reassigned last week and are now serving in Nampa, Idaho, and Raleigh, North Carolina repectively. It's seriously been so amazing to get to know these elders and Sister Frampton, and I know that they're going to be just as amazing out in the field.

Last Friday, Syster Stewart and I had prepared an amazing lesson for our investigator, Johan. We'd been waiting upstairs for several minutes when he came in and shirt and tie, and asked us what we were doing there. Apparently he's our new teacher. As a district, we've affectionately named him Faux-han. It's still a little bizarre to hear him speaking in perfect english, but he's an amazing teacher. We now have two investigators; Adam, who is a 10-year old chinese boy who speaks swedish (played by our teacher, Broder Jorgenson) and Alex, played by Broder Dunn.

It continues to get colder down here, and I'm really starting to appreciate my scarves and fleece-lined tights. Apparently BYU controls our heating, so we still get the air-conditioner blowing in our class-rooms, even though it's only 40 degrees out when we get there.

And they made us move classrooms! I'm still not entirely sure why, but yesterday they announced to us that we were moving classrooms. I'm not complaining; we used to be in the basement, where all we could see was the tunnels. Now we're on the top floor, and we have a lovely view of a tree, which is a great reminder that the world still exits. The only downside is that now we have desks that don't have room for our books, and the desk is attached to the chair. Gone are the days of padded, wheeled seats, gone are the days of chair-races down the hallway. Oh well, now we have a tree, and it's beautiful. Oh, and now we have a second British Elder across the hallway in addition to Eldste Edwards. I'm getting a lot of practice on my British accent.

So, Syster Stewart and I have officially joined the MTC choir. It's insane what they manage to pull off; we walked in to rehearsal on Sunday night and sight-read a Mack Wilberg piece we're supposed to perform tonight in devotional. It's absolutely amazing to hear; it's a version of 'Praise to the Man,' and of course, since it's Mack Wilberg, the chords are gorgeous and full, and the transitions are amazing. And amazingly enough, even though we're an enormous group of teenagers, we are managing to somehow pull it off.

Really, it's amazing to see how the Lord quickens our understanding as missionaries, musically, and in our lessons. I've learned more Swedish in the past few weeks than I know what to do with, and I would not have believed that we could learn a Mack Wilberg piece in so little time. Again and again though, I'm reminded that the Lord DOES watch over His missionaries, and He will help us as we work to serve him.

Love, Syster Maxwell

Hello from the MTC! I hope everything's going well at home!
 

The MTC has been amazing; I'm so relieved to finally be out working! After all that waiting and trying to find something to keep myself busy (except for when I was suddenly slammed with getting ready in the last two weeks), it's been fantastic to be here and to be actively engaged in something every minute of the day. I go to sleep exhausted, and I wake up exhausted, but at the same time, I'm thrilled to be on the Lord's errand.
 

I have the most amazing companion; I love Syster Stewart! I don't know why everyone seem so concerned I'd annoy my companion to death. Okay, that's a lie, I do know, but for all of you who were concerned, things couldn't have turned out better! She's a music geek like me; she has a ridiculous knowledge of musicals, Disney movies, and hymns. She actually brought a binder of vocal pieces with her, and later we're going to try through one with a violin obligato, for which I am immensely excited. She also has the most amazing testimony and concern for others, which is a trait I should probably work to develop more in myself.
 

It is hard work here. We're up every morning by 6:30, and it's a crunch to make it to bed by 10:30. Every minute is spent either learning the language, or preparing for our next lesson with our investigator.
 

Oh, I suppose I should mention that we've already had two discussions with our investigator. His name is Johan. We first met him on Friday, which was absolutely terrifying. We'd only been studying the language for two days, and we were lucky to be able to understand what he was saying to us! Yesterday's lesson went better; we weren't as freaked out going in, and we (technically, Aldste Allen) had the brilliant idea to take a white board in with us so when we came to a word we didn't know, Johan could write it down so we could understand him. There was a moment as I was talking that I could feel the spirit so strongly- it was awesome, and exactly what I needed at the moment. I hope that my Swedish continues to improve so that we can have even better discussions.
 

I have an amazing district and zone; besides Syster Stewart and myself, we have three elders in our district, and our zone includes the Norwegians and our lone Dutchman. I think it's awesome; the Norwegians have a British elder, Eldste Edwards. It is the best thing to hear him talk. So far, we've heard such novelties as "no malarky back there," "good golly," and my favorite, "don't throw your teddy out of the pram." Syster Stewarts usually gets in trouble for imitating his accent, usually without her realizing that she's done it.
 

And the Norwegian sisters are amazing! I love Sister Buhler! We have very deep and moving discussions about Disney movies (usually after Syster Stewart or I make a Disney reference. Cuz that's what we do. A lot.) and other geekly things. She's also taught me a new way to Donald Duck.
 

It's insane, actually; it's the MTC, and you can always feel the spirit here, but I laugh so much, because the people are so amazingly funny and nice. My first morning here, as I was walking to breakfast, Syster Stewart and I heard some elders imitating wookies-something which has actually been repeated upon several occasions.
 

General Conference was amazing from the MTC. It seemed like a lot of the talks focused on missionaries and members helping us out, as well as on being accepted for whatever level of faith you have and family history work. I was kind of surprised by Elder Hollands talk; it didn't seem to have all of his usual fire, and it was an interesting (but still amazing) topic for him, and I LOVED President Uchtdorf's talk on Saturday morning.
 

Something amazing from this week, I'm not sure if anyone from home remembers, but as we were eating lunch at Zupa's before dropping me off last wednesday, there was another sister eating there who we recongnized as a diabetic. I honestly didn't think I would run into her again, but as it turns out, she is four doors down the hall from me. I had forgetten about her until Friday night, when I ran into her brushing her teeth in the bathroom. I saw her tubing hanging out of her shirt, and I decided to strike up a conversation-weird for me, but I'm glad I did.
 

Apparently, she was only diagnosed back in July. She was supposed to have come to the MTC back then, but they pushed her date back so that she could have some time to learn to deal with the disease. She's already on a pump (actually, I'm a little jealous, because she has a t-slim- something to look into when I get home), but she's still trying to emotionally come to terms with her diagnosis. She had been feeling angry and alone here at the MTC, and struggling to understand why God would give her this trial at this time when she was already sacrificing so much for Him.
 

She seemed so relieved to know there was someone else there who understood what was going on, and to know that although it's hard to come to terms with the fact your life will never be the same, that doesn't mean it has to be terrible. I've seen her a few times since then, and she always says hello with a smile on her face. I hope that she's able to continue to control her diabetes so well, because she makes my blood-sugars look awful, and Doctor Lindsay was always ready to serenade me as his best patient for my hA1C.
 

And there's my week! I hope everything's still going well for everyone back home! Love and miss you tons!
 

Love, Em