Thursday, October 6, 2016

Two Weeks Down, Four Days to go!

Hello! Just so you know, I am doing so good! The MTC is such a crazy place, but everyone is so nice. Everywhere you go people say, "Hello Sisters" haha. I am enjoying this now because I know that when I get out there it will be so different. I just have to tell you all that I LOVE TEACHING. Every time I have a great experience. I can't believe that I have been here for a whole two weeks! I feel like I just got here, but at the same time I feel like I have been here for years!

Thursday was a sad day because Elder Carter left. He had some things that he needed to go home and get fixed. It was rough for all of us, he was one of the happiest Elders I have ever met, but I know he will continue to do great things at home. Our zone studied our scriptures today for literally 6 hours. Did I say 6 hours? I meant 6 hours. In a row. I loved it, and I will never have that much time to study in real life, but at the same time it was so hard not to fall asleep. We didn't have any lessons with investigators today, but I did get to go to the referral center where we find people on mormon.org who want a free Bible or Book of Mormon and we call them to figure out if their address is correct and try and get them to let the missionaries bring it over. We also chat people who have questions. Today no one answered any of my calls but Sister Johnson and I had a great online chat with a girl named Sally who fell away from the church and wonders why our church is any different from any other church because they all think that their church is true too. We bore our testimonies to her about the church and why we are Mormons and things like that and she loved it which was such an awesome experience!

I woke up Friday morning to my companion telling me that her head hurts really bad. She sleep walks at night sometimes and has found herself waking up just standing in the bathroom sometimes. Anyway, in the night she slammed her head into the metal ladder. Yikes! So we got up to do our service and she was struggling , the light was hurting her eyes and her head hurt really bad, so we went to the clinical and she has a concussion!! It has gone away by now but we had to take it easy for a couple of days. Remember our investigator Kristin? Well today was our last lesson with her :( She is such an awesome person! But we asked her if she would be baptized and she said that she is working on not drinking tea and coffee and then she will. I share with her D&C 20:37 and she said that she wants to be baptized right now! It was such a cool experience. But we found out that she was just a member acting like an investigator. It was still super cool though! 

I LOVE CONFERENCE! It is such a different experience watching in the eyes of a missionary. I found myself not only watching for myself but for other people too! The only hard part was, sitting and eating and then sitting and then eating. I am spiritually and literally FULL. There were SO many talks that I loved! Sorry that I wasn't in the choir everybody! I REALLY wanted to be! They can only let so many and there are a couple thousand missionaries in the MTC right now. 700 missionaries are leaving on Wednesday for the field so this place is gonna be empty soon! Anyway, some things that I loved from conference,
Dieter F. Uchtdorf has always been a favorite of mine. But brothers and sisters, don't ever lose your awe in the Gospel. This Gospel has answers to the most complex questions in the whole world! Don't forget how you felt the first time you knew you were a child of God because that is truly amazing!
J. Devin Cornish, God believes in you, even when you don't believe in yourself. In reality, the only opinion that really matters is Heavenly Father's. Heavenly Father intends for us to succeed, He would never set us up for failure. You can never travel lower than Christ's divine love. 
David A. Bednar always has the best talks about Christ. We come to better know the Lord when we don't just believe in Him, be we believe Him. Don't just believe that the Atonement happened, but that it can change and work in YOUR life. 
Every Sunday night we have a devotional, and since we have been watching conference all day for the past two days, we had a very special devotional. VOCAL POINT came and sang to us! Oh my gosh It was amazing. I feel like I never really appreciated Hymns and music until I came here. Music can bring the spirit so strongly! Those of you who don't know Vocal Point should look them up. They are a group of boys who sing a capella and their voices are amazing!

Sunday Sister Johnson and I became the official Sister Training Leaders. We were given a PHONE. No before you ask, I can not call you and you can not call me. Oh how I wish I could. This is such a big temptation to carry around. But it is pretty cool to be a Sister Training Leader! We have a new district of missionaries coming in today and so we are doing an orientation tonight with all of them and we are in charge with the zone leaders! The other day the phone rang in class and everyone jumped because when is the last time we heard a phone ring? Two weeks ago!! 

Since we aren't teaching Kristen anymore, we got a new investigator named Jose. Except Sister Johnson and I are pretty sure that he is a real investigator. We got nervous to teach him. We heard some stories that he got mad at some missionaries and loves to argue. We didn't plan anything for the first lesson, just to get to know him and figure out his need. We were so ready for him to be mean to us but oh were we so wrong! He is the sweetest guy ever! I honestly feel so much love for this guy who is just trying to figure out who he is. He asked, how he can be truly happy, how he can see himself the way God sees him and how he can feel strengthened through the Lord. Just really good questions that I feel like everybody has looked for in their lives. Isn't it great that this Gospel has the answers? The next lesson, he brought his boxing gloves and let us try them out haha! Our lesson was supposed to be only 25 minutes but we stayed in there for 45 minutes! He started asking so many great questions. We told him to read the Book of Mormon and it will change his life. We asked him to read Mosiah 4 (guys I absolutely LOVE Mosiah 4). I also asked him to be baptized and he is going to think about it after he reads the Book of Mormon. But I know that he felt it. Did I mention that I LOVE teaching?! During this lesson I was bearing my testimony and he told me, "I believe you. When you smile your eyes get all big and they sparkle and I see that you really know that what you are saying is true and you really feel it. I want that. I know that what you are saying is true. I believe you. Don't ever stop smiling." When he said that it made me feel SO GOOD. I owe it all to the Spirit! It was so strong in there and it worked through me! There is nothing better than having the Holy Ghost in a lesson and the investigator feeling it and realize that it's there. 

Yesterday was cool because we had a real investigator come into the classroom and our whole class taught him. He is a golden investigator. He went to catholic school his whole life but his daughter joined the church and got married and his grandchildren served missions and he just wants to know more. He was so nice! He thanked us for sharing the message of Christ because without us no one would know about Him. He was so sweet! 

I am beyond excited to go to Virginia and teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I love my Savior with all of my heart. I know that the only way you can have true joy is with Him. Don't forget the spiritual experiences that you have! Read the Book of Mormon everyday and it will change your life! I know that Christ could easily spread His Gospel by Himself, but I am so thankful that he has given me this opportunity to help spread it for Him. I know that if we have faith, and we act on that faith, we will see miracles! Don't give up! Keep seeking for the answers you are looking for. God rewards those who seek Him and come unto Him. He knows the silent pleadings of your heart. Live in faith, and He will bless you as He has promised. 

All my love, 

Sister Ruffner



No comments:

Post a Comment