Week 8  Thanksgiving with the "German Shepherd"

And just like that I only have one week left in the MTC.....which is crazy. This week was insane and also so fun. Wednesday we had a power outage from 3:30-8:30, so class was interesting. All the emergency lights went on in the hallways, therefore my class was in the hallways.  Along with everyone else's. Sister Reese set out a single desk in the middle of the hallway under one of the emergency lights so we could see....it was hilarious really. I didn’t have to teach either. Thursday was AMAZING! I think that was the best Thanksgiving I have ever had, no offense family. [Parent note: absolutely none taken] We had a special devotional by Elder Uchtdorf (aka: the "German Shepherd", if you recall he referred to himself as such in the last general conference) and oh my gosh it was so awesome!!! He was my third apostle that I have seen in the MTC, perks of being in the MTC so long. After the devotional he walked around and shook people’s hands. I sadly was not one of those who got to shake his hand, but I was ten feet from him so I will take that. I also shook someone else's hand who shook his hand and so through proxy I kind of did. The rest of the day we did service [Parent note: we read in the The Salt Lake Tribune that the missionaries from the Provo MTC packaged up 350,000 food boxes for the needy that day. All while listening to Christmas Hymns] and then we watched the "Other Side of Heaven". The other great part of Thanksgiving was we had another devotional but it was musical one. I cried through most of it because the spirit was so strong. If you have the chance listen to the song "I Heard Him Come" the words are so powerful. The guy that sang it was Tanner James and he was on the tv show The Voice, I believe season 6 I was told. They don't have a recording of him singing this song, but the song itself is on Youtube. Afterwards they turned on all the Christmas lights in the MTC and we got to walk around. Seriously, I am so truly blessed and that day made me realize that even more. Friday was good, I did a lot of studying. Saturday it snowed which was awesome. Nothing too interesting on Saturday, but for one of my role playing lessons I showed my “investigator” (my teacher) the Sacrament Room and explained it in Georgian. Sunday was sooooo nice. It was a nice spiritual uplifting day. What was funny though was that we watched "Mountain of the Lord"....and some of my elders had makes jokes about it. Let just say that during that movie our whole district was trying not to laugh cause there were just some parts of the movie...that were a little outdated let's just say and the acting wasn't impeccable. For our first district reunion we have already planned to watch that movie again. Monday wasn't too interesting, just the same stuff. Tuesday I had my last service work and TRC. My skype TRC was with the same return missionary, so looks like I won't meet a real Georgian until Georgia. What was so cool though was he showed me the editing of the Doctrine and Covenants in Georgian. He is part of the team working on the translation of the Doctrine of Covenants, so I got to see part of it and the process which was sooooo cool. I also got my real missionary badges all typed in Georgian on Tuesday which was AWESOME! I had a lot of lasts that Tuesday which was scary, but really exciting. 

Spiritual thought this week is something I have been thinking about a lot. The gospel of Jesus Christ is joy. I can truly testify of that, because I am seeing that first hand in my life. I don't think I have felt this happy ever. The people I am meeting are amazing, the spirit I am feeling is strong, and the knowledge I gaining is so life changing. This week I started contemplating a lot about my blessings, and oh gosh do I have a ton. I am not saying that I am constantly happy or not stressed, but the happiness I feel completely out ways those hard times. What is crazy is that I am super happy just in the MTC and I haven't even left for the real part of my mission. I can't wait until I am in Georgia and get to see firsthand how the gospel can change and bless your life. I can't wait to be able to spread this joy and testify of truth wherever I go. Georgia...here I come!

Not a lot to write about this week, but I have a lot to do and not a lot of time to write. I leave soon for the mission. My flight plans are from Salt Lake to Los Angeles to Moscow, Russia, then to Yerevan, Armenian for a day and then finally a long car ride to Georgia. It’s super exciting and I can't wait to leave. Sad to see my district go, but I have long awaited seeing Georgian Missionaries. Well till next time, and that next time I will be in the country😊

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