March 9, 2010

Hello, hello. The MTC is just as much fun as ever and we're learning tons. Don't be afraid to send me dearelders during the week. It's not against the rules or anything. I am actually sending you some pictures this week in a letter so I'm sure you will enjoy those. They are just full of those good old fashioned Kasidy faces and the famous Seegmiller smile. I don't want to lay any guilt trips here, but I'm just saying that I haven't heard from two of my dearest sisters at all and I'm going on three weeks here, people. I also lack mail from a certain younger redheaded brother and a black kid who lives at my house (I think you know who you are). Just saying... Jordy has already written me and he's on a mission so I think you can step it up. I want to hear from you because I love you! Also, you should tell Najee to start perfecting his typing skills because you only get half an hour to read and type your email so you can get a lot more in if you have excellent typing skills. So this week has been really good for learning about the Holy Ghost. We watched a talk from Elder Bednar that he gave at the MTC in July about the Holy Ghost and he said he was going to answer the question that every Mormon has about if they are really feeling the Holy Ghost or if it's just you. He said the answer was to "quit worrying about it" because it really doesn't matter. He says that as long as we are obeying all the commandments, keeping our covenants, and trying hard to do what is right, it doesn't matter whether it's an impression from the Holy Ghost or not because we will be guided and the Holy Ghost won't let us do something totally apostate or harmful to us. That was really comforting to hear because I have been wondering lately how to be guided by the Holy Ghost in a lesson. Should I just not say anything until the Holy Ghost prompts me to? I think I would not be a very good teacher if I took that approach because I might not say anything at all. He also said that he has asked new members of the church what he thought about the missionaries' teaching and he said that most of them said that they didn't have a clue what the missionaries were talking about, but they could feel the spirit so they kept listening. So that means that as long as I teach simply so that the Spirit can testify them and bear my testimony with everything I have, they'll be able to feel that what I am saying is true and it won't matter if I decided to use the scripture in 2 Nephi or Alma (definitely Alma..) Besides that, I do have some ridiculous stories from my favorite district, my own. This week, we practiced contacting people at their doors in Spanish so we practiced on each other. I knocked on Elder Shawhan and Elder Keeling's door with Hermana LaPray. We talked to Elder Shawhan for a while, but Elder Keeling never said anything so I asked him if his brother was a mute (no, I don't know how to say that in Spanish). He then told me that his brother had been kicked in the head by a large gato when he was young so he's not very smart now. I don't know where E. Shawhan gets this stuff, but it made me practically die laughing. When we actually did the door contact in the TRC, it went really well. That might have been because it was our teacher's wife and she practically invited herself to learn more and go to church and get baptized. Wouldn't it be nice if it really worked like that? There is also this elder in our zone that we call the "Napoleon Dynamite elder" because he has blond, curly hair, no clue what's going on ever, and is a really awkward guy. He wandered into our classroom the other day and read Elder Keeling's nametag and said," Keeling. Looks like Killing." And Elder Keeling gave him a death look and said," No, it's Keeling." "Oh, well, it looks like Killing." Elder Keeling didn't even smile and he was so angry. He really hates that elder now because other elders on our floor have now started calling him Elder Murder. Maybe it's only funny if you know Elder Keeling, but he doesn't think things like that are funny and his eyes just tell you that he thinks you're an idiot. He cracks me up. We started teaching the 2nd lesson this week about the Plan of Salvation. That is intense stuff, but I think we got it down pretty well. At the TRC, we taught a guy named "jose" who had a small family and we taught everything up until the Atonement. We kinda ran out of time to teach the rest, but we testified powerfully of the Atonement and you could definitely feel that it is so true. My companion invited him to church on Sunday with his family and he said he'll come! He probably did go to church the next day, but I'm pretty sure he's a single BYU student. I also talked to a lady named Synthia the other day in the RC making phone calls. I talked to her in Spanish about Christ coming to the Americas and the BOM. She asked for a Joy to the World video so I resent that to her. I testified about the BOM and how the church can change your life and she said I could send her a BOM. So exciting! She said that she had to go because she was cooking dinner, so I said," Buena suerte con su cena!" and she said," Oh, que amable!" I also talked to this hilarious guy named Stuart who was more interested in knowing what the boat was made out of that took Nephi and Lehi to the America's than hearing my testimony, but he was really fun to talk to. Maybe someday, Stuart... So everything is going really well in the MTC. We are starting Spanish Wednesdays, where we only speak in Spanish so that should be really fun. Oh, also, Elder Shawhan never gets letters except one a week from his dad so if anyone wants to write him, he would probably get angry and call himself pathetic, but he might appreciate it deep down. I don't know... I actually need you to send me some stuff. I left my black skirt with the belt loops at home and I really need it because my other black skirt is kinda ugly. I did get another one out of the give away box on my floor that's pretty nice, but I still want to get mine. I also need some makeup brush cleaner (pink stuff in the bottom drawer in my bathroom) and that purple shade shirt that's probably in the drawer with all the tanktops that I need in order to wear my purple shirt. Also, last week at laundry, I accidentally sat on a chair with bleach on it so my pants have a big white bleach stain on the butt (which some elders thought was pretty entertaining) and I think I would appreciate having some jeans at the MTC and then I could send them home later. My district would really appreciate some Carmel Delites... just saying. And I know Easter is a month away, but I'm really excited because I'll get candy! I need more nude nylons too... the knee highs only work for some skirts. They look really ghetto when you can see where they end. Hermana Tingey and I went to toning and stretching on Saturday morning at the sisters' exercise class and it turned out to be rough. My legs still hurt when I walk up stairs. The MTC is great. I only have six weeks left. I love it so I will be sad to leave. I love the choir and the food that is usually better than it looks and Spanish and my district and playing volleyball in gym and going to the temple and feeling the spirit all the time and getting letters from my favorite people (who is anyone that writes me), and laughing until I cry and being a servant of the Lord and writing totally cliche and huge emails to my family, who probably didn't even make it this far. :) Well, I love you all so much. I'm excited for the letters that I'll get this week from every one of my family members. Tell Jordy I say hi and can you send me a dearelder of his email home. I don't have time to read emails when I'm writing mine. Have a lovely week! I miss you all! Hermana Seegmiller