Week 2 at MTC

Guten Tag!! Well first off I must apologize for the awful grammar and capitalization on my last letter. Not only was the shift bar broken on my last computer but this whole time crunch makes it impossible for me to be able to proofread! So I also apologize for all future problems as well :).

Here I am a little German in the making! This week was also....crazy! That is the major theme to the MTC I think haha.

Monday we has to say goodbye to our "older sisters" which are the girls that are going to Germany but leave before we do, aka the zone before us.We were all way sad to see them go because they were so good to us. We decided to stay up that night and help them pack up and just have fun with them, yep...I'm a rebel. Not only that but they surprised us by glow sticking the room.....SO COOL. It's a German tradition I guess. Yes that is also breaking the rules.....sorry! After getting to bed way late we woke up at 3:30am on Tuesday to help them get all their luggage to the travel office. They were way surprised and all started crying haha. Out of the 4, I will have the joy of serving with 2 of the older sisters. I cant wait to see them again in less than a month!

Tuesday- We had our 3rd lesson with Benny. Wow, this was such a neat experience!! I even sang......all of you who know me, know how big of a deal this is. Not only that I had to sing half of the song by MYSELF! Ah, I lived through it and so did our investigator thank goodness!! I was able to speak German like never before. The spirit was seriously so strong. It was my first really powerful missionary experience...and one I know I will remember forever. To top it off we got him to pray finally! The elders who are all nearly fluent weren't able to get him to but the awful German speaking sisters did! So awesome. We also got to switch rooms on Tuesday, yay!! No more snoring monster! We went in the room that our older sisters left. I am now with two of the other sisters in my branch. We are super close and the 4 of us are always together so it worked out perfectly! The night ended with a fireside from none other than Dallin H. Oaks. He talked about letting the spirit guide you. That is the best thing about the MTC, pretty amazing people come and often :).

Wed.- I have nothing written down for some reason haha. I am sure it was good though haha.

Thursday- This day was not the greatest. While at gym and playing volleyball.....I fractured my thumb. Yep, who does that?! Within 4 minutes I was in an 18 passenger  van getting taking to Urgent Care haha. I must admit it was quite refreshing being in"the real world" seeing people without name tags. Not everyone grinning. Ya know, real people things haha. Because of the mass amount of time spent in the doctors, we were left with zero time for us to prepare for our 4th lesson with Benny. It didn't go bad but it wasn't great. It seemed to be almost pointless and no progress was made.

Friday- Well on our 5th lesson with Benny we found out he wasn't a real investigator. Now we knew this, because who honestly lives in Provo and speaks no English that is investigating the church that they would trust with some fresh missionaries.....exactly no one. But there is a twist.....He is our second teacher!! We have been waiting for our 2csd  teacher to come in and it is him! So crazy! The first thing I said, "I just got punk'd." Oh the MTC!

Sat- We got our new investigator! His name is Aundreus. He is Russian, and very difficult. Our lesson was frustrating. And my comp is frustrating. That is part of the MTC I have learned. The goods are really good, and the frustrating parts are really frustrating. But there is a purpose for all things and it keeps us humble here. If everything went peachy than they wouldn't be properly preparing us for the field.

Sun- oh the glory of Sundays here! The day you get to relax and just listen instead of talk! My comp just left me in the cafeteria this day though. It was pretty funny/scary/weirdest thing ever. I freaked. I didn't know what to do. After looking for her frantically for 10 minutes, I made a run for it to the classroom. There she was all worried. Yeah I never thought the day that I would be dogging anywhere that look over 23 would be because I didn't have my companion on my way to my class! haha. We also had to prepare a talk in sacramenting on the Faith in Jesus Christ.....in German!! Teaching a lesson is one thing, a talk is a whole other! He randomly selects a few missionaries each week so you have to come prepared. I didn't get called this week, but its coming! We ended the night with the Joesph Smith movie. It was such a treat! haha. I loved it though!

Well Lauren Spencer leaves tomorrow. I am not stoked for that at all! Seeing her keeps me sane! I know she is so ready though and is going to do an amazing job! Quick shout out to Lexi Damron....sorry I haven't been able to write you but I will look for you on Wednesday! Get ready for the adventure of your li9fe home girl! Cant wait to see you!! Well April 24th is the magic day I leave here. This fast track program is no joke! But life is good. I cant thank all you enough for your love and support! If you haven't written me yet than get on that!! Use dear elder, mailbox #156. Love you!!!

sister linford!

First week at the MTC!

I'm alive!! This whole thing has been quite the whirlwind! It has been a roller coaster ride....a good one though! My first day was surreal. Walking away from the fam isnt the funnest but i got to see a familiar face right away and that was soooo great! Natalie Allen saw my name and fought of the German sisters to be host. She showed me the ropes and got me settled in my room. She left yesterday to Bolivia though which I was sad to see her go. After that I got to meet up with my companion, Sister Bohne, and the other 4 elders that are in my district. I absolutely LOVE my district and branch! It really is crazy how they are already on the family level. We all watch out for each other, they seriously are amazing. My district is unique too because 2 of the elders are 21 so 4 out of the 6 in my district are 21. Me and my companion get along pretty good. We are very different though. I feel like her mom a lot of the time. She is always running and jumping and sliding down railings. She literally has lived in the mountains the last 3 years and being inside nearly all day is killing her....which in return is killing me haha. But, she works hard and that is the most important thing got me. The language is....hard. Everyone in my district has had at least 4 years experience and my branch everyone has at least 2....this makes life difficult for me and S. Bohne have absolutely none. Its coming though. Slowly, but surely:). I am picking it up a lot faster than my companion though, she is getting frustrated.
Well lets take a walk though my time so far....
Day 1- told you a lot about it already but it was a crazy day! I think I felt every emotion possible! I didnt sleep that night at all either. Sir-snores-a-lot sleeps under me. No there is not really a 'sir' under my bed but she snores like one. Sister Katoa is a 250lb poly who shakes the bed, literally, with every snore. Ear plugs were a day 2 purchase
Day 2- After having a rough night, I woke not exactly excited to be there. My morning personal study couldnt have fixed it better. I read Mosiah either 7 or 8 I cant remember now :/. Anyways it talks about what ever we reap we sow. Now I have heard that many times but the way it states it, it is more in the way of what you focus on. So by me focusing on what I dont like about the MTC I am just setting myself up to hate it. In verse 33 it ends perfect. It talks about how we need to trust int he lord, and work hard, and fill our hearts. This was exactly what I needed because day 2 was definitely a hard day. A day has never felt so long. Language lesson was the most frustrating 6 hours of my life. My teacher was going at the pace of the elders who are all very good at German. Plus I had to get ANOTHER shot. Why? I have no idea....I thought 8 in November would be sufficient.
Day 3- This day got better. i got to have gym for the first time which was SO nice! Being cooped up all day long wears on you. I also had my first investigator this day. Yep, they waste not time here at the mtc. A man named Benny who speaks NO english was our Friday morning. Boy that served as a great humbling experience. Having to communicate thought a major language barrier is frustrating. You learn to resort to charades....a lot haha. It was good though to see what we needed to do and to see how crucial our time here to learn German is. I was able to bear my testimony in German too, that was pretty sweet:) After my appointment we had another German lesson. I learn so much every class! I love it! My companion had a bread down that night though. She is frustrated and misses her boyfriend. It's hard to see your comp go through that.
Day 4- we started the day out by doing our service for the week at 6am! We got assigned a very easy job and just went and dusted things for an hour and fifteen minutes. Oh and thank you sooo much for the package mom!! We got to work on the TALL program which is a computer program here. It helped me so much to be able to replay how to pronounce things!! I also got to play basketball with all the sisters from the German district. Had my second lesson with Benny which went much better than the first. I taught him about prayer. It was frustrating a little though because my comp just stares at me a lot and didnt help because she was so frustrated with her German abilities. It will come though. It was a great day though.
Day 5- Everyone says just make it to sunday and you will be fine....well I made it!! Everyday I have been here honestly just keeps getting better and better. Sundays in the mtc are so nice, you finally get to relax a little bit! It was crazy cool to hear church in German. A tad intimidating since I didnt understand 75% of it but very cool!
Day 6- P-Day!! Lovin me some Pday!! Went to the temple today and now just doing laundry and typing!
Okay time for answering some questions....The food here is not the best, but it isnt awful. I live off of fruit and salad. Sleep....yeah you dont really get any here. Language....its kicking my butt, but its coming! District, SO SO SO SO close to them. Those 4 elders are my brothers, seriously I lucked out big time! Branch, also love my branch. Everyone is so...normal haha. Which as you know was a big fear of mine. Well the German district just in front of us leaves tomorrow. We are all way sad. We have gotten VERY close to them in the last 6 days. Those 4 sisters have been the best example to us. They are going to do amazing plus they are hilarious so they will at least be loved by the other missionaries haha. 
Well that is all I have time for, but I love you all!! Letters are the best things ever, unless a package comes of course :).
Thanks for all the love and support.
Sister Linford