Brothers and Sisters,
I'm officially out of the MTC. My last week in the MTC was incredible and I want to fill you all in on everything that happened before I jump into telling you about Oldham.
A lot of things have happened since the last time I wrote, but I'm going to narrow it down to my top 3 favorite things that happened the last week in the MTC.
First, we were able to listen to a talk that Elder Bednar gave awhile back in the MTC and the title of the talk is The Character of Christ. My friend Brice who is serving in Italy told me that this talk changed his life and perspective of the gospel, and I have to agree with him. Elder Bednar talked about Christ in a way that I've never thought of before. He examined the way Christ lived His life, and how everything He ever did was reaching out, while everything the "natural man" does is turning inward. When He came out of the garden after suffering for our sins, He was reaching out to His apostles that fell asleep on Him, and He was reaching out when He was on the cross and felt compassion for the people who crucified Him. Elder Bednar talked about the importance of conversion. He said we all can have a testimony, and that's great. But there will be many people who have testimonies and leave the church. It is only through Jesus Christ and His Atonement, and developing the attributes and following in His footsteps that we can be converted. This is the goal.
My second favorite experience of last week in the MTC, was testimony meeting. Like I said before, the MTC here is very small and so everyone in the MTC had the opportunity to bear testimony. It was incredible to see how different everyone's situation is and how the gospel has been able to fit into their lives and strengthen them. I was particularly touched by a certain Elder's testimony. He's 23, from Austrailia and a recent convert to the church. Right before he left on his mission he gave his best friend since kindergarten a blessing before his friend entered prison. When he gave him the blessing he said that the spirit guided him through every word, and his friend could feel it. It's cool to see how the gospel changed this Elder into the confident and worthy priesthood leader he is today.
Lastly, the night before we left the MTC we had a little devotional where the MTC Presidency spoke to us. Everything they said was perfect. After that we went into our district room and the Elders gave each of us a comfort blessing. Each blessing they gave expressed specific concerns we personally had that we hadn't told anyone. Seriously. Everything they said was coming straight from the Lord. Man, I miss my district.
But I'm in the field now, and despite the fact that I'm extremely nervous, I'm excited. My companion Sister Steinagel is from Kansas and has only been out 12 weeks, but she's hardcore. She's pulling out rules for me that I didn't even know existed. She wants to work extremely hard, and I'm grateful for that. Yesterday was my first day in the field, and I had my first bus contacting... Be aware that this is something that I have been fearing since the day I found out that that was a big part of our "finding" process. I prayed really hard and I opened my Book of Mormon and read 1 Nephi 4:6 which says "And I was led by the spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do." I took a deep breath, and started talking to the person next to me. I talked to a lot of people on the bus, and I know that it was a tender mercy from God that people were so kind and gracious. I didn't have any bad interactions like people at home said I would.
Yesterday was hard, but it was good. Today is my second day in the field and we're going to teach an investigator tonight. My favorite part of this day so far has been the opening song my companion and I sang before our studies. I asked her if we could sing Nearer, My God To Thee and Sister Steinagel has the voice of an angel. I almost lost it after we finished, but I'm an emotional rock (unless I'm around you, Mom and Dad). I love you all, and I'm excited to see how this next week goes. My P-day is now Monday, and I'll write to you then.
Love,
Sister Katarina Dushku
This is Katarina with the Mission President and his wife.
Katarina and her first companion in the field.
We will be at bear Lake next week enjoying the family reunion without you but we will all be together in our prayers for you to be guided and safe. I would love to be on the bus in which you are contacting.
ReplyDeleteOld ham is a better place with you there!