Hey everyone!
I miss you all!! It's my first preparation day at the MTC and by tomorrow afternoon I will have been here for a week. It feels like an eternity...in a good way :)The first day was a whirlwind. No one knew where to go or what to do but there were super helpful cute ladies every step of the way! I got my name tag and books and everything I needed, quickly put my suitcases in my room, and went to my class. You get one classroom during your time at the MTC and you basically spend all day there. We did some orientation stuff and I met my companions! I have three companions - Sister Smith, Sister Mullins, and the Holy Ghost. Seriously though, the Spirit is so strong here and I wouldn't be able to teach or do anything without the Holy Ghost. Like nothing. I am so inadequate without it haha. My companions are great. Sister Smith is from Texas and is 20 years old. Sister Mullins is from Florida. She is 22. We get along super well and haven't had a single problem so that's really nice! I don't know what I would do without them because half the time I'm lost or confused or overwhelmed. I cry a lot. But not in a bad way! The MTC is basically the Lord's Disneyland and I'm on one giant emotional rollercoaster and it is CRAZY.
Wednesday continued with classes and a lot of orientations. One thing that really stuck out in our main orientation with the MTC presidency was that this is not MY mission...it's the LORD's mission. I wear the Savior's name on my badge over my heart and I am a representative of HIM. I love it so much :) I'm constantly trying to think of what the Savior would do and then acting on it. It has already brought so many blessings to me, but really it's not about me at all. The blessings are just a bonus!
One thing that is really weird about the MTC is that dinner is at like 4:30. And I'm from Washington which is an hour behind so it's really like 3:30. And then that's it! That's the last food for the day!! I've gotten used to it now though, surprisingly.
Oh my District is great as well. It consists of me and my companions, and then 3 Elders. Elder Sofele is awesome but quiet. He's tongan but is from LA, and he really misses his family's culture. Elder Legler is from Mesa Arizona and he is pretty cool. And Elder Gunnerson is from Texas and has a funny accent and he thinks he doesn't have one, which makes it even funnier. My whole district is going to Denver South with me, so that's really nice! A lot of times a district will have people going to all different places.
My district at the Provo Temple
Also on Wednesday evening we had a "Teaching Experience" where all the new missionaries went into different classrooms in groups of like 30-40 and we group taught "investigators." Looking back on that....we were soooo bad hahaha. But we've learned a ton in less than a week! It's really weird to look back and see
how far each of us has come. Bedtime is at 10:30 each night and it is such a relief to hit my pillow. I'm always so exhausted!! Our days are sooo packed and it's hard to focus for 16 hours on Spiritual stuff. But amazing and I love it. Thursday was my birthday which was not super exciting. I didn't get any of the letters or packages that people sent until the next day, so I only got two cards from my district and my teachers wished me a happy birthday haha. It was totally fine though. I was grateful for the opportunity to just lose myself in the work. So far 20 is pretty great! Not as traumatic as I thought it would be haha.
I have my weekly planner in front of me to try to remember what we did each day...so here is what Thursday looked like. We woke up at 6 and got ready for the day. Breakfast was at 7 and we literally rush everywhere. There is never enough time. We had Personal Study and a workshop from 8:15-9:30. The spirit was soooo strong at the workshop!!! I loved it. It was all about loving individual people and remembering that they are all children of God and learning our purpose to help bring them closer to Christ. Then we had an "MTC Overview" and more personal study time from 9:30-11:30, and then lunch. My district sits together which is lovely. We all get along and laugh constantly...but we can be reverent when we need to be!
After lunch we had doctrinal study from 12:15-12:45 and then class for 3 hours from 12:45-3:45. You heard that right. 3 hours of class. And Thursday we only did that once...usually we have two blocks of 3 hour class! And the teachers are so great. My main teachers are Sister McManama and Brother Monson, but there are tons of teachers and lots of them spend a ton of time in our classroom. They are all so smart and knowledgeable and I learn so much each MINUTE of the day.
After class we had companionship study which is where we prepare our lessons for our "investigators." So our teachers all have an investigator that they taught on their own missions that they portray. We have to teach them. My main Progressing Investigator is Kathryn. There are also paid actors who work at the MTC who are "investigators" that we have to teach. Most of them are members but they portray themselves before they were baptized. They act like they did before they heard the wonderful message of the restored gospel. And it seems so real! They never break character. And some of them actually aren't members, which is cool, and no one tells you if they are or not, so you kind of have to assume that they aren't. If you
take those teaching experiences seriously, it can be soooo powerful.
After companionship study we had dinner at 4:30. The food at the MTC is good but a lot of people gain weight because it's like buffet style. I usually eat a salad or a wrap.
Then we had Zone Teaching from 5:15 to 6:15. My Zone is two districts. Mine, and another one that has 7 people. But they all flew out to Florida today! I miss them already. They were wonderful. And now I'm a Sister Training Leader in charge of the sisters of my zone when we get newcomers tomorrow afternoon. It's weird to think that not even a week ago we were the newcomers...whoa.
Then we had a meeting with the Branch President from 6:30 to 9. It actually wasn't my branch president, it was one of his counselors, and the counselor's wife. She is from England and has a super cute accent and is very dignified and I love her! That's brother and Sister Hall. My Branch President was out of state but I met him and his wife yesterday at church. My Branch consists of just my zone, so we are really tiny! There are only like 18 people when you include all the missionaries and the branch presidency and their wives. I loved it though. They had all of us prepare talks for sunday just in case we were called on. I was not, but I probably will be next sunday.
Then we had Daily Planning Session which we have every night from 9-9:30. You do that with your companion(s) and you plan out the next day and plan all of your lessons for your investigators. And then you go back to your residence halls and do everything you need to do for the night and the next time, and then have Quiet Time at 10:15 which is your personal time with the Lord where you read scriptures or pray or something like that, and then at 10:30 it's lights out. I don't think we've had a single day where our lights have been out at 10:30 haha. We try though! There is just SOOOO much to do and never enough time to get it all done. But it's great and I love it.
In front of the Provo Temple
Anyway, that's what a day in the MTC looks like! Each day is different, obviously, and usually we have way more class time and 45 minutes of gym time. I love this place and I love the gospel and I love my Heavenly Father! If you don't know who your Father in Heaven is, or you have neglected Him for a while, I challenge you to pray to him. Express your needs, and your desires, and your wants! He listens, and He loves you and wants to hear from you!! You are His child! Of course He wants the best things for you, and I testify that coming closer to Him and to Christ will make you so much happier.
That's about all the time I have, but next week I will be emailing from COLORADO!!!!!
Love you all soooo much,
Sister Koenig
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