It has been a crazy, fun and exciting week here at the MTC. My Soeurs got their flight plans to fly to France on Monday. About 90% of our zone flies out on Monday so it will just be my district and the new district that came in last week for a couple days until we get about 30 new missionaries in our zone.
The new district is awesome. There are four new sisters, (I will probably end up being companions with them) and my friend Elder Shumway from AF! All of them are going to Montreal French-speaking.
Last Wednesday I had an adventure when my district went to TRC. TRC is when you go teach a member in the language you are learning. We got called in earlier than expected so I wasn't very prepared. When we got there they realized there weren't as many of us as they had thought, so they split me up from the Elders I teach with and I had to teach solo. I was terrified, I hadn't fully prepared and I had to teach a French-speaking member. I taught two different sisters about prayer. Yes, I was praying during those lessons a lot. They went OK, but it definitely taught me the importance of preparation and why we have companions, to have two witnesses to testify of Christ and to help you when you can't find the words to say. When we were talking to our teacher the next day she was surprised that they made me teach by myself and she said she would talk to them and make sure it would never happen again, because that is not how missionaries teach.
I met a sister from Trinidad this week, Sister Rampasad. She was so excited that I'm going to the West Indies. She told me some food I need to try and that I need to say hello to Sister Mehr for her. She said it is a beautiful place and that I'll love the people.
The second counselor in our Branch Presidency is awesome! He used to be a makeup artist in Hollywood and he tells us bedtime stories every Tuesday after devotionals about his experiences. He worked on a lot of big films back in the 60s and 70s. He told us about a time when he was dying Robert Redford's eyelashes and he locked him in the hall as a joke because he couldn't open his eyes. He has a lot of cool stories. His wife was telling me that he did the makeup for the first temple film.
One thing I love at the MTC is being in the choir for Tuesday devotionals. The choir director Brother Eggat is amazing! He teaches us the music but he also teaches us the stories behind the songs so we can better understand the message we are portraying. This week we are singing Nearer My God to Thee. The song is about Jacob after he gets the birthright from Esaw and the blessing from his father. Esaw was planning to kill Jacob so he left. He wandered through the wilderness and that night he slept on a rock. While he was sleeping, angels came to him and taught him and gave him his endowment. There are more details to the story but I dont have time to tell it all, that was the basic outline of it. Go find the story and read the lyrics of Nearer My God to Thee and it will have so much more meaning the next time you sing it. MTC choir is the best! I will miss it so much once I'm gone.
Our teaching has been getting better and better. We are teaching with more unity and our language skills are getting better. We teach almost every day and have started practicing contacting. The elders I teach with are awesome.
I love the people I have met in the MTC. Knowing how much I love the people here just after 3 weeks, I cant imagine how much I'm going to love the people in the West Indies. I love you all, I appreciate you emails and letters. I'm so happy I'm in the MTC. I'm learning and growing and coming closer to my Savior. I know this is where I'm supposed to be and I'm grateful for your support and love for me. I love you lots and lots!
Soeur Banks
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| Me and the Elders I teach with, Elder Lund on the left and Elder Easton on the right. |
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| Soeur Baggs, Brimhall (new district), Olivio(new district), me, Holmes and Wallace |
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