Six weeks down and 3 to go!  Sounds like she and her companions may be getting a little stir crazy as evidenced by the cereal antics you will read about.  Thanks for writing to her and keep the letters coming!

Danielle

¡Hola!

 

So, this week was just another week at the MTC.  Not too much to report, actually.  Maybe I will give you all a little glimpse into my life at the MTC, day-by-day.

 

Tuesdays are our favorite day!  (For you Likin´ Hikin´ Ladies, I have been insired by you to celebrate P-days with an MTC rendition of the "Friday" song!)  We have P-Day, then devotional, then District Meeting where we re-cap the devotional.  Last Tuesday´s devotional was another great one from Shayne M. Bowen of the 70 (spoke in Conference about losing a child).  I always love Tuesday devotionals!  Another thing we love about Tuesday is that, since it´s P-day, if we have extra time between dinner and devotional we get to watch Mormon Messages.  We also change our sheets, take long showers, go to the TEMPLE, visit the bookstore, and write as many letters as we possibly can!  (I am very slow at writing letters, so my companions usually get at least twice as many done as I do each P-day.)  Sometimes we eat at the temple, or take a little nap, or find other diverting activities (which are appropriate and all within MTC rules, of course).  TODAY was a VERY SPECIAL P-Day, because we finally acquired all the ingredients we needed for making Rice Krispies treats, and so this afternoon we were able to make them!  It was a very exciting moment.  I can't even tell you how many miracles have occurred which have allowed for us to pull this off.  Like, Hermana Frandsen's mom sending us a stick of butter in the mail without us even asking for it (she also sent bread, but I mean, she couldn't have known that we were really wondering how we were going to get butter for this project)!  And Anna's package of marshmallows arriving on a day when I really just needed a win.  People may have written US on their lists of "Things That Are Weird About the MTC" (we are even going to write ourselves on the list - we've gotten a little weird, here) when they saw us carrying several paper bowls of Rice Krispies out of the cafeteria, but that didn't matter to us because we had a VISION and we saw it through!  And the final miracle - we found a Gladware in the free box right before we started to make them, so we had something the perfect size for mixing and storing them. (Don't worry, we washed it first!)  Heavenly Father really loves me.

 

Wednesdays are one of our least favorite days for a couple of reasons:  1. It's the furthest day from P-day, and 2. All the new people come and even though we love new people, watching them getting dropped off at the curb kind of breaks our hearts a little.  We try not to watch, but it's actually "real hard" (an Hermana Frandsen saying) to avoid.  But tomorrow WE are going to be HOSTS, which means we will meet new sisters and take their bags to their room and take them to the Bookstore to get all their supplies and show them their classroom, etc., etc.  It means we will get out of class for a few hours.  I need to be sure I pray really hard to be able to be positive and excited for them, because they are probably scared silly and likely having one of the worst days of their lives.  But being hosts also means we are old, and that we will be leaving soon - AAAAH!

 

Thursdays we have a morning class and gym in the afternoon.  This Thursday my companions and I are going on a field trip to my follow-up appointment with the Dermatologist.  It's going to be really exciting.  We'll leave morning additional study a little early in order to eat lunch, then catch the shuttle to the doctor, and who knows how long we'll be gone.  It's gonna be great.  Then we'll have class again in the evening,

 

Fridays are great because they are almost the weekend and that means it's almost Sunday, which is almost P-Day!  We have personal study at 7, then breakfast, then gym.  Then we go to the TALL lab and learn Spanish using the MTC's language learning software.  Then we have more study time, then lunch at 12:30.  Then we have more study, class from 2:30 - 5:30, dinner, and class from 6:30-9:30.  Mondays and Wednesdays follow this schedule as well.

 

Saturdays are great because we have workshop in the afternoons and there we get to practice teaching in English.  We have morning class and afternoon gym again on Saturdays, and then the week is almost over!

 

Sundays we love.  We get to watch Music and the Spoken Word, have Relief Society (this week it was Sister Ann M. Dibb - 2nd Counselor in the General Young Women and President Monson's daughter), and then go on a walk to the temple.  Then we have District Meeting (Sunday School), and then Sacrament at 3 PM.  Sacrament is in Spanglish - Spanish hymns and prayers, and two short talks in Spanish from missionaries who are called from the congregation with no warning (though we are expected to write a talk each week on that week's assigned topic).  This week I sang a musical number - Dear to the Heart of the Shepherd, in Spanish - and Hermana Frandsen got called on to give a talk.  She did great!  Then at night we have Fireside (This week it was awesome because this MTC District President and his wife stood at the pulpit and taught together.  They were so sweet and it was a really effective way to teach.), and then we watch Church movies or old devotional talks until it's time to go back to our rooms.  We watched The Testaments again this week.  It's just too good to pass up!

 

Mondays are also awesome because they are almost P-Days!  Nothing too special about them except for that.

 

Anyway, that is my week.  This week was another hard and good one.  I cried a lot and prayed a lot and learned a lot.  I need to work harder on speaking Spanish ALL THE TIME (new rule in our district on Mon, Wed, Fri) and on being more humble and teachable.  I am not sick anymore, so no worrying.  I love you all.  Please write to me and know that I love you and that the gospel is true!

 

Lovelovelove,

 

Hermana Burgess