Week 5 in the MTC

Hello all!

THURSDAY
Did I mention the temple waffles? They are enormous. I got one with blueberries and strawberries. It was even smiling like it was happy to see me.
FRIDAY
Brother Newman took us on a random walk today around all of the MTC grounds. It was really nice and even kind of sunshiny-ish. We also got to have "story time" which is a Friday tradition. In our class, we get to each tell a story to each other in Latvian. It involves lots of actions so it is pretty funny.
SATURDAY
We had our giant grammar review which actually wasn't too mind boggling. Sister Priddis taught us how to sing Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes in class today. Biggest MTC food surprise...They had TOFU. I know, unbelievable. And it was actually really good.
SUNDAY
Dun Dun Dun. So today I officially become the Coordinating Sister for the Branch. This is akin to Zone Leader. Except for there is one. And I don't really do anything except rat on the sisters in the meeting so the president knows what is going on. It also involves a lot of somewhat silly meetings. Oh boy! It definitely took up all of my Sunday. Luckily, it started out super well. For Music and The Spoken Word it was black-soul music themed because the next day was "Black Monday" as my elders decided to call it (aka Martin Luther King Jr. Day). It was great to hear some of the songs that Mark sang back in choir! Sister Madsen came and spoke to the sisters. She is another in the slew of people who have come to speak who used to serve in France. God enjoys mocking me. Sister Madsen was great though. She taught us about being charitable and how we shouldn't judge. A mote is a tiny splinter and a beam is huge- so fix yourself first! She told us how true charity is love in action. She had sisters come up and share experiences of acts of charity they had seen. One particularly impressed me. It was a senior missionary who, when she joined the church had her father estrange her. She continued to write him and tell him why she loved her father and after years of doing this he came and visited her and her family. They now have a relationship again because she never stopped loving him and trying to fix their relationship.
Gordon Brown is the new MTC mission president and he spoke in the devotional. He is older and has this cute lisp. He is also a very touchy person...he was hugging all the elders he was having come up to make comments during his devotional. President Brown talked to us about how we need to invite the spirit which converts. He also said that we should just be the best we can be. "Work without faith is just as dead" is a thought that impressed me a lot as well. Just think about that one.
Sunday there was this lovely rumor going around in the zone that we would be getting a solo sister that would be French speaking. Needless to say I was really excited to get a companion, nevermind one I could speak French to. But rumors are indeed, just rumors. No new sisters!
MONDAY
Monday was a really fun day. We got to clean 70s yellow showers which included using this crazy acidic spray and seeing how far we could slide in the bathroom. They then had us clean the floors. I don't blame them. Brother Newman taught us some really neat stuff today about Nephi and how he learned from the Holy Ghost. He wanted to know what his father Lehi saw and the Holy Ghost teaches him. This is a great example to how we should teach.
We had a good large group meeting about being missionaries and setting goals to achieve them. My favorite quote from this meeting was, "That black nametag comes with a price."
Today the sunset was beautiful. We got to see it because we had gym after dinner today.
More homework! Watch "Voice of the Spirit" on the Mormon Messages. I loved this one as well. One of my favorite things they said was, "You cannot travel through life on borrowed light." How true this statement is! We must grow our own testimony to make it through this life. It is our own faith in our Saviour Jesus Christ that will bring us through all the trials and tribulations that life will bring.
TUESDAY
I'm starting to bother Elder Lynch. He started it though. He decided he can burp all the time and I don't believe that fits under "quiet dignity" "acting like the Saviour" "being polite" "being a gentleman" or the 50 million other things we are supposed to live up to. Seeing as after asking him not to that there was a continuation of said bodily functions which are "normal" and therefore acceptable according to his knowledge, I've turned into Emily Anne. It makes me smile. Emily is my roommate who would always say, "Excuse me, I'm a pig!" If she ever burped. So I just say that to Elder Lynch, "Excuse you, you're a pig!" He has gotten rather flustered by this and asked me how he turned into a pig over night. Maybe he'll get it eventually. But until then his burps don't bother me nearly as much because it reminds me of happy roommate times at dear old USU.
For choir (did I mention that I am in the MTC choir?) today we sang "Ever Be Near Us" by David R. Naylor. I recommend looking this song up. I LOVED it and wrote down all the lyrics because it was just so inspiring.
Just as inspiring was cute little Garrit Gong of the 70. He is a genius and also terribly charming and witty as a speaker. His message was to be of good cheer! We can do this because: 1. We can be perfect in our Savior 2. The Book of Mormon 3. God's words are always fulfilled and 4. There is power and authority in our calling. He told us how QEDs (quintessential existential dilemmas) are really opportunities for eternal growth and that we can be perfect in some things.
WEDNESDAY
On Wednesday Brother Newman told us about this heart attack in a cake Lat cake. It sounded pretty good in its utter unhealthiness. In the Teaching Resource Center tonight I taught with Elder Burr. We taught two sisters who served in Latvia about the gospel of Jesus Christ. It went pretty well. It was nice to not have the pressure of last week and teaching all by myself. Elder Lynch taught by himself and did really well. And he didn't strangle anyone before hand which is always a plus.
I also learned that you shouldn't try to run really fast after dinner, it just doesn't agree with one's stomach.
THURSDAY
We woke up and went to the temple nice and early and then sat down for a lovely omelet in the cafeteria. Now I'm just typing away wishing the sisters weren't so lazy and that one of them would take me out to go running. Maybe in Latvia...I did buy some Yak Tracks for traction so I should be able to go running around on ice now!

Well my time is up. I love you all. Have a great week!

Bisous
Sister Lindstrom