Letter #1

Halllo!!!!!!!!

 

How is everyone? I am HERE at the MTC and loving it! I honestly do not know how to begin. So I will begin with the most important...Sunday was perhaps one of the most spiritual days of my life. It was not only fast Sunday, but my first Sunday as a missionary of the Lord. It's hard to describe how sacred the day was, how humbled I was, and how strong I felt the Spirit. Everyday here at the MTC we are studying the Gospel. We are reading the scriptures, reading the missionary handbook, studying Preach My Gospel, all while trying to learn German. Since everyday we are focused on the work, improving our testimony, and bringing others to Christ I did not think Sunday would be any different. I was wrong!

After three long days of trying to learn German and having minimal success (I only understood about 30% of what my teacher said haha) I was frustrated. I was frustrated with myself and I did not know how to handle it. School has always been relatively easy for me and so it was really hard. Knowing it was hard for all of the new Elders and Sisters gave me temporary relief, but I was still not satisfied. I thought I am here trying to learn German in order for me to share the Gospel and bless the lives of others so WHY is this not clicking? Why can't I do it. Well this is where Sunday came in. I had been praying to the Lord and pleading with Him to help me...and He did! Through several wonderful talks on gratitude, obedience, the Holy Ghost, and our roles as missionarires I realized that I can't do this work. I can't learn German on my own in this fast pace environment. I can't be a perfect teacher. BUT HE CAN. This is the Lord's work not mine and He is in charge. Because I am His servant He can take my life and abilities and make them more than I can. The Lord is literally with me 24/7 here because He has invested interets in me because I will be serving Hi children in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. How cool is that?

This realization is not unique to Missionary work. The Lord loves each of us. We are His children and our aspirations and desires are important to Him because they are important to us. He wants us to be happy in this life. All we have to do is to do our best to live a good life, turn our hearts and wills to Him, and then run to the Savior when (not if) we fall short. The Gospel is so great, isn't it? The constant companionship of the Holy Ghost is what each of us must seek. All my efforts are useless unless I have the Holy Ghost with me. I love you all so much and am grateful for this Gospel. It is through living the principles of the Gospel that we can be truly happy. I'll write more next week!

 

XoXo

 

Sister Jaynes

 

Read: Helaman 3:35