Oh hayy!

Okay, so let's just put it out there, I will not be coming up with very creative titles for my emails each week.

Wow, I can't believe I’ve been here almost 2 weeks! This past Sunday, I was thinking how Sunday came so fast, but right now, I feel like it's been forever since I could email you guys. This week wasn't as fabulous as my first week, but it was still good. I still love my district, my companion, and all my roommates. But yesterday was just an off day, & apparently it was for my whole district. We had class last night at 5:15, & we were role playing & eventually our teacher just stopped us all & said that we all seem dead and we all got talking and seemed like we were all distracted, or like Sis Robbins & I are feeling sick and just wanted to sleep. But our teacher definitely put things into perspective and said how we can't have an "off day" ever 19 days, b/c that would add up to a month. & that made me feel awful and I have realized how hard this is going to be and how much help I need from the Spirit. I don’t think I realized until yesterday how much help I really have been getting from the Spirit. So yesterday was a wake up call, & our whole district agreed to help each other work extra hard this week. All the elders got their flight plans last week b/c they're leaving next Monday & it made me really sad that we're not all going to the same place. We have all become such good friends and I have learned so much from each one of them, I don't want them to leave! I can't believe I only have one more week of class, I was getting quite overwhelmed with everything they're teaching us to incorporate into our lessons to be more effective, and I have so much to work on and I'm not ready to go teach real investigators just yet!!

But anywho, on to the good stuff about last week. Saturday night we had class on recognizing the Spirit and it was just what I needed. I'm so thankful for my teachers and the Spirit they bring to our lessons. Sunday was amazing. We had mission conference b/c it was fast Sunday, so we heard from the MTC presidency, and then we had Testimony meeting in Sacrament Meeting and the Spirit was so strong. Everyone's testimony was so powerful. I felt at the beginning that I just needed to sit back and listen, but 10 min before it was over, my heart started POUNDING and I felt like my chest was going to explode. I can't pin point exactly how the Spirit talks to me in every situation, but I do know when my heart starts beating hard, I need to get up and bear my testimony. Despite the fact that my Bishop last year always told us that if the Spirit is prompting us to get up, He's telling us at the beginning at not 5 min before the end, but I really didn't feel it til then. As I bore my testimony, I felt my Savior's love so strongly for me and for everyone and I know that he knows us all by name and loves us so much more than we can comprehend.

Some funny stories: one time my teacher asked my comp  where I was & she said, "she's in the next room, I can hear her." & he said, "that's impressive that you guys have that bond that you can hear her voice." & she said, "no, she just has a really loud voice." haha, whoops! So my teacher who went to NZ, long story short, his mom met L. Tom Perry in a dr's office and she said she had a son in NZ, & Elder Perry said, "we were all talking about that & we decided that's not a mission...it's a tropical vacation!" Ha ha, I'm so excited, & hearing stories from my teacher is definitely getting me more excited. Even though I'm pretty sure I'm flying out there by myself. I'll find out this week, but I still haven't met anyone going to Auckland.

So the chapter I came across in the Book of Mormon this week that I loved was Mosiah 2. I love reading the chapters from King Benjamin! I've heard the verse all the time talking about how if we serve the Lord with all our might, we would still be unprofitable servants because has given us so much and continues to give us so much every day, including our daily breath and the opportunity to live a new day & that really hit me. We are so indebted to the Lord, but He loves us so much and made it easy on us and all he asks of us is to keep his commandments. Which takes me to v. 41. Definitely one of my favorite verses in the whole Book of Mormon, we will be happy if we keep the commandments!

Even though I'm starting to realize how hard this will be, I am so still so incredibly thankful and happy to be here. My testimony has grown so much and I feel my Savior's love so strong in my life. My testimony grows each time I'm teaching a new lessons and vocalizing what I know to be true. I know Jesus Christ lives and loves us so much!

Love you all! 2 weeks from now I'll be on a plane to NZ...crizazyy!!