Look Outward not Inward

2/25/2016

Hey everyone!

So it has been a really long and challenging week for me here at the MTC. When I first got here I met my companion who is also going to WICHITA KANSAS!!!! Her name is Sister Radford and she is from Jerome Idaho (right next to Twin Falls). After I met my companion we got all of our stuff and put our bags into our rooms and headed to class right away. It was in this class that we met the rest of our district which consists of two sister companions and two elder companions.

Sister Radford and Sister Magda

The first sister companion is me and Sister Radford, then it was Sister Adair and Sister Nerdin who are also going to Wichita Kansas.  Ahhhh it’s really COOL! Sister Adair is from Provo Utah and Sister Nerdin is from Santa Barbara, California. They are both super cool people and are in my room as well so it’s been cool. (Sister Nerdin's voice and some of the ways she moves her hands reminds me a lot of Rachel Folkman/Ferons. It’s kinda funny). For the elders there is Elder Morrison who is from Idaho Falls and Elder Johnson who is from Bluffdale, Utah (yes mom I have and Elder Johnson in my district hahah).  They are both really funny nice guys. Then there is Elder Endrizzi who is from Saint Paul, Minnesota (funny thing, he has a Hebrew first name an Italian last name a white dad and his mom is Japanese. We all think it’s really cool and funny). Mom side note—if you know the Magda’s and our “history” you will understand this political incorrectness and not be offended…. His companion is Elder Willyerd who is from Cheyanne, Wyoming. He is super funny and he and Elder Endrizzy crack me up all the time. 

So every day we are in class for like 10 hours and then some. It’s crazy long and I get really frustrated quickly. Then, when there is no class you are still in the class room but you have companion and personal study. Hahaha I get really restless and cannot do personal study for the life of me because by the time we get to it I’ve ether been in class for 6-9 hours or I have just woken up and it’s like 7:45 in the morning so it’s like nap time on my desk time haha. (I literally pass out all the time or just smack my head on my desk because I’m burned out.   Hahaha  just thinking about it makes me laugh.) 

We have breakfast at 7:20am and lunch around 12:00-1:10pm depending on the day and then dinner at 5:25-6:10pm. So you have all asked me how the food is here and as many of you know it’s all you can eat. I think of it as All You Can Keep Down. I do like the salads and salad wraps because they are fresher...ish. Mom, they do have soda which was a super plus for me even Coke.... Caffeine free coke though. Another Mom side note—to know the Magdas, you know we love the soda (pop).  Don’t hateJ.  

Anyways, my favorite part so far has been devotional and movie night. Movie night is where you get to choose from one of the four MTC talks given by one of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. My district decided to go to The Character of Christ by Elder Bednar. It was all about how we should not come to the natural man. Elder Bednar relates the natural man to the cookie monster "I Want Cookie Now" and that’s like us sometimes. When we are tired or sore or have a bad day we tend to think only about what we are entitled to like:  “I’ve been working all day long so I should get a break” or “I” this and” I” that. Christ is the opposite. He thinks of others when hard things happen to Him. "Turn outward not inwards" is what we should do when we are having it tough.  Put off the natural man. An example of Christ turning outwards in tough circumstances is right after He had atoned for our sins. The guards were coming after Him and to attempt to protect the Savior and in fear and anger, Peter sliced one of the guard’s ears off. Christ had been through so much pain and suffering. One little ear wouldn't have been that big of a deal (after all, the guard had another one) and most people would of said, "Well I’ve been through way worse than that!" but not Christ. He turned outwards and healed the guard’s ear and showed love and kindness. 

Devotional is on Sunday and Tuesday. Sunday’s devotional was all about church history on missionaries which was really good and really funny. But my favorite was Tuesday’s devotional.  We had the General Primary President, Rosemary M. Wixom speak to us and it was all about teaching the children of God. I loved it because the MTC choir sang “A Child's Prayer” and there were even some primary kids there as well. IT was SOOOOO cute. As they sang it was like the heavens were opened and the angels were speaking—you could feel the Spirit so strongly.

I'm sorry this letter seems rushed—I’m trying to finish my laundry hahaha.

 I love you all and will write to you next week with more info. 

 Sister Alisha Magda