Today I officially can't walk because we had the
brilliant idea yesterday to do lunges from our apartment to the gym (about a
1/4 of a mile) and then do our 250 calves raises with the 30 pound
weight. To say my body no longer likes me would be the understatement
of the century! I'm pretty sure I've never been in better shape though.
Between our morning runs and our midday exercises we are officially on
the MTC track of getting swoll!! For today though I'm pretty sure our
workout will simply be walking which in itself is a struggle. At the
temple this morning when they asked if any elderly people needed to use
the elevator I almost raised my hand to inform him that the youthful
sisters on the second row might need assistance up the stairs.
I guess I'll just cover the biggest events of
this week: Our district's lessons with Ivett, Both of our teachers are
now engaged, and WE GOT OUR TRAVEL PLANS!!!!
So our teachers are engaged, not to each other, but holy cow
happiness! Hermano Rockwood got engaged a day before we arrived in the
MTC, but since my companion is obsessed with weddings we have heard every
detail about the proposal and how the wedding plans are going. We
actually ran into one of Hermano Rockwood's roommates who also works
here and we actually knew more about the wedding then he did which was
pretty hilarious. Our other teacher, Hermana Christenson, got engaged Friday! She left Wednesday for a family vacation where her boyfriend
surprised her at the hotel....i could probably go on for an hour over
how cute it was but I'll refrain. We found out early because our
substitute told us the news but then faked like we didn't know so she
could tell us everything. She was simply glowing and even showed us the
video after warning us that it wasn't allowed to disrupt our focus.
The best was after she told the whole story she bore her testimony
about three simple things she knows to be true. My favorite thing she
said was "As you are true and faithful to your calling, God will write
your story more beautifully then you could ever imagine it!" I love
that. I could not be more thankful for my teachers! I'm pretty sure I
was placed in the district with the best teachers and everyone who works
here always agrees. I feel bad because they have officially seen us on
both ends of the spectrum and everywhere in between from giddy out of
our minds to fast asleep and yet they do an amazing job. There lessons
are amazing and always invite the spirit in great abundance. I love the
days when Hermano Rockwood has write whatever questions we have on the
board and then goes through and talks about each one, literally opening
up the scriptures to the perfect verses to help explain what we are
asking. I hope to one day know the scriptures and Preach My Gospel as
well as he does...and to be as passionate about the gospel. I have an
entire page set aside in my journal where I write down one liners that
our teachers say that strike me to the core and I'd love to share a few
with all of you. In reality I wish you could have been there for the
entire experience but hopefully these quotes will inspire you as much as
they inspired me.
It's not about what we do or what we say but about
who we are that qualifies us for the work. The moment we recognize it's
not about us we can get past our fears and accomplish what we were
called to do. We don't want others to simply join our Church we want
them to join Christ! When we teach the doctrine of Christ we show a
person how much we truly love them. You can not love a person more then
bring them unto Christ! He [Christ] gave all so that we could give all
to them. (these came from all different lessons but magically tied in
together) -Hermano Rockwood
We don't knock on doors to find investigators, we
knock on doors to show our obedience and then the Lord places those
prepared individuals in our path!
I hope that
in some way showed how solid my teachers are and if not I wish you could
come here and experience the power of their words for yourself!
This week we also received our travel plans which is
the first moment in my life where I truly realized I was going to
Mexico. Like I said before, the MTC feels like my mission and I
sincerely feel as though I've been counting down the days till my
mission, that is MTC days are over. But the night we got our travel plans might have topped
the moment I opened my mission call in excitement. Us Hermanas were
strolling around trying to decide what we were going to eat for dinner
when we saw the leader of our district standing at the door of the
cafeteria and waving us over with purple papers. We instantly knew what
that meant and ran over to him. He made the smart decision of taking
us all outside before finally handing over the papers. I didn't even
read it, I just started jumping, spinning, and throwing up fist pumps of
victory because I already knew what it was. Sisters Chynoweth, Sturt, and I
all ran together and were high fiving and hugging like crazy....then we
felt terrible and ran back to Sister Metler and gave her a huge hug (saying
goodbye to her as she heads to Heromosillo and the rest of us go to
Cuernavaca is going to be absolutely terrible). Then we took a moment
to actually read our flight plans and the next thing I knew my companion
was in my arms, literally I was holding her, and she was screaming in
my ear, I'M GOING TO GEORGIA!!!!!" Explanation: our flight plans take us
all the way to Georgia, where we have a three hour lay over, and then
to Mexico. She's never been east of Utah so she's psyched out of her
mind to head to the south, as if the airport really counts as being
there. But she's so excited it's kind of like Olaf and summer and I
can't dash her hopes. There were tears, screams, and simply jubilant
faces. When we reentered the cafeteria everyone wanted to know what was
up and we basically went around to every table to show them our papers.
The west campus MTC is extremely tight knit and I love it!
Last but not least my district had the amazing
opportunity of teaching all together (yes all 8 of us) this week to a
lady who is investigating the church from New York City. She's been
atheist her entire life so it was a completely new experience for all of
us. We taught
her three days in a row and all the lessons ended up being in English
because she wanted us to truly be able to understand her questions and
actually be able to answer them. We sang to her every lesson and the
spirit was simply there. She couldn't recognize the spirit but she
always commented on how she loved when we came by because she could
always feel our love for her, which she thought was crazy cause we
really didn't even know her. We really tried to show her that we were
only emulating the love God has for her and wants her to recognize is
all around her. I can honestly tell you that as we taught her I saw
change. By the end of the third lesson she told us that she had finally
opened herself up to the idea of believing in God and I don't think
I've ever been so happy in my life. I really do love her and know how
much her Heavenly Father loves her. I want nothing more in the world
for her to realize this. I can't wait to share the same message with
all the people of Mexico. Oh sweet the joy this sentences gives, I KNOW
THAT MY REDEEMER LIVES!
Sorry this is so long, but I truly had a blessed week,
Hope all of your weeks were equally blessed,
In all you do focus on the good and then your day can be nothing but happy,
With tons of love,
Hermana Neuberger
Editor´s Note: This blog is literally being posted from Patagonia from a letter written in Provo, Utah about going on a mission to Mexico. It´s because of the Patagonia part of this that this week´s posting is so late. The pictures she sent will have to wait until next week.
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