Week Two

Buon Girono! 

I can't believe I have been in the MTC for two weeks already! The time here is flying by and they keep us very busy here.

Happy Mother's Day a little bit late mom! I love you so much and I want you to know I was thinking of you on Mother's Day. Also happy anniversary mom and dad! I hope that you had a great day together. I love you both sooo much and I am so grateful to have you as my parents.

P-Day

So today I was walking to the temple with my sorelle and I see someone that looks like Kelly and she is holding a little baby girl. I squint my eyes a little bit and I realize that is is Kelly!! I introduced her to my companion and to the other sorelle in my district. I was so grateful to see her and cute little Gracie! I got a picture of the three of us in front of the temple. I am so grateful I could see you kelly! I love you and your cute little family!

 District Quotes:

"We're going to take a picture at the temple. Sisters, you can be in it as long as you don't touch me!"

"Sometimes Fratello Cena speaks in English and I think I have the gift of tongues, but then I just realize he is speaking english with an Italian accent"

BYU-I Friends

I see one of my old roommates Coney Zeally from college almost everyday. I think she leaves next week though! I also saw Matthew Blocker last Wednesday on his first day. When I saw him I screamed," MATT BLOCKER....I mean Elder Blocker" as I shook his hand. I see him every once in a while. I also see another one of my friends from Byu-I named Preston Patten. I see him every once in a while. It is so nice to see people you know!

Companion Change:

I am back to a companionship of two sorelle which is very nice. Trios can be very challenging especially when teaching or planning a lesson. My new companion is Sorella Walch. She is from Cresent City, California which is right by the Oregon border. I am seriously soo grateful to have her as my new collega (companion). She reminds me of Rachel with all of her accents. She is hilarious which is good to have after a long day of studying Italian and teaching investigators. It is going to be challenging because we both don't know much Italian but I know it is going to make us worker harder than we were before

Patrizia

So we found out that Patrizia (our investigator) is one of our teachers named Sorella Fairbanks. She is really sweet! She is from Orem, Utah. She talks really fast but when she tells a joke she talks slower. Our district walked outside one day last week and while walking we had to bear our testimony to eachother, which was a nice break from staying in the classroom all day long. I like her as a teacher because I don't feel intimidated to asks question like I do with Fratello Cena. It nice to have two very different teachers because they both have something different to give to us.

SYL-Speak Your Language

My companion and I made a goal to bare our testimonies at least two times a day. The first people we did it to were going somewhere portugese speaking which was embarassing because they could actualy understand what we were saying to them. Note to self.. Look at the nametag before..ha

So Sorella Walch and I were walking into class and she accidentally tripped me as I entered the room. Needless to say I made an unforgettable entrance.

TALL

Tall is a computer program that we use to learn phrases, words, and sounds in Italian. You can record yourself to hear if you are saying things correctly. Sorella Walch and I were needing a luagh so we decided to record a line from a "Quando, Quando, Quando" because that means "when" in Italian. It seriously brought a well needed smile to both of us. It's really weird how the little things here are hilarious.

A little bit of sin-Temptation

So during one of our little breaks the sorelle in my district and I wrote a rap/song called temptation. The weirdest things are funny in the MTC. It's the little things that seem to be the most funny here. It's probably because we are in class all day so anything makes us laugh. But I am grateful for those little moments to break the intensity of learning Italian. WHo knows if our song will be a hit...but it sure gsave us a great laugh

Janice Kapp Perry

So on Sunday for Relief Society it is combined with all of the sisters. Janice Kapp Perry spoke!!!! Which was AMAZING!! She only wrote some of the best primary songs! She told us about her mission with her husband and how they taught someone who was inactive for over 15 years and they sang her favorite song "I know that my Reedemer lives" and after they sang that with the person they remember their testimony of the gospel. She also told a story how she was in an accident and had to get a body scan but it was so painful for her to lie down. She said four words came into her mind "Pray he is there" from the song a child's prayer.

I am so grateful for the power of music and the influence it has had on my life. It truly strengthens my testimony.

Also we sang "As sisters in Zion" and a primary song medley. The best part was that we sang another song called "The Sister's of Zion". Which is the same tune to "As sister's in zion" except it's specifically talking about sister missionaries in the song. She told us we were the first people to sing the song. That song will always have a special place in my heart now. The words were so incredible! She said they are making a sister missionary CD! Yay!

I WANT THE LYRICS TO THIS SONG IF IT COMES OUT SOON!

Seriously after that song there was not one dry eye in the whole auditorium. Ahh! I love music so much and the power you feel from it!

District Meeting

So I spoke in my district meeting about having faith in learning the language, which I feel by preparing for this lesson helped me more than anyone else. I talked about Matthew 9:29, which is when the Savior healed two blind men and said, "According to your faith be it unto you". Also in 1 Nephi 7:12-13, 17-18 Nephi prays and asks to be able to break the bands his family has put on him. He said, "According to my faith.."So I used both of those and said that we must have faith in ourselves and in the Lord. The Lord gives us all different weaknesses that we can turn into strengths through time.

Missions are forever

 We watched a movie on a talk by Elder Jeffrey R. holland. He is amazing! He tells you what you need to do in a constructive way. He was saying how we won't ever have this chance again and that we will have to give all that we can so we will have no regrets. He talked about how salvation is not a cheap experience and this is why missions are so hard.

Choir

MTC Choir was seriously was one of my best decisions. The choir director is hilarious and it is a well needed break for the week plus we have guaranteed seats for devotionals!

Fiorella First Lesson

Fiorella is our new investigator and has no religious beliefs but her miother is qa member. It was my first time teaching with sorella walch. WE taught her about prayer and actually did an ok joh. There would be times when Fiorella would ask a question and I would have no idea what she said and Sorella Walch would reply. Also there were times Sorella walch wouldn't understand and I would answer. Even though there were awkward pauses we have improved so much.

TRC

TRC is where we teach members who volunteer and we basically give them a spiritual though. We taught two different people for 20 mins each we sang families can be together forever in Italian and shared a few scriptures from D&C. We did alright but we totally forgot to ask them their names when we introduced ourselves! Whoops! Better luck next time. They wrote a review of how we did and one said that our lesson was an answer to his prayers which was sweet to hear. They both said they fgelt a sweet peaceful Spirit as we spoke even though our Italian was very broken. I am grateful that I can at least bear my testimony and share what I know to be true!

THE BIG SECRET

So all the sorelle and I guessed that our Fratello Cena had to be a dancer because his posture is too perfect!! So one of the other Italian teachers told us that he is a hip hop dancer! He is in a crew!! WHAT IS THIS? haha we thought he would be a ballroom dancer but I guess not...so that is the big secret for today.

TUESDAY'S SURPRISE GUEST

Tuesdays are devotional at the MTC and the speaker is always a surprise for us missionaries.During choir the director said someone very special was coming to speak. We all knew it meant and apostle. I saw Elder Russel M Nelson walk out! I almost started to cry I was so excited.

His wife Sis Nelson spoke first and gave an amazing talk. She asked us to do something I had never thought before she said 'pray to be lead to those who's ancestors are praying for you." which was a coo thought to think about.

She also said 'your ancestors on the other side of the veil will be praying for you' I truly know this to be true. I know that my ancestors will be praying for me. She said specifically pray to have certain people help you (using their specific names) who are behind the veil. Elder Nelson's talk was similar to Sister Nelson's. He gave so great advice. He told us to smile when we are meeting someone also to ask for their name and the history of that name. He told us that by asking where their name comes from, it will open doors to sharing the gospel through the topic of family/genealogy. Genealogy is a big topic/hobby around the world ()mom you would have loved their talks because it was about genealogy and the spirit of Elijah). Elder Nelson said to look into the eyes of people and look for clues so you can know how to touch their hearts. He said we are the link to the Lord Jesus Christ and the link to what they are and what they can become.

One story he mentioned that I loved was when a nurse asked him one day 'what makes you different than other surgeons I have operated with?' he told the woman "I'm different because I know the Book of Mormon is true." So he gave her his only copy of the Book of Mormon. The woman's husband said 'Thanks a lot' Elder Nelson said 'you didn't read it...did you? You read it and then I want my book back." They were both baptized and recently Elder Nelson met his extended family. Her ancestors told him, "Thank you for sharing the gospel with our family".

Elder Nelson told us that we will effect generations of people. Which made me even more excited to teach the people of Italy. I hope I can effect many families and their ancestors waiting to receive the gospel.

Blessings

one of the biggest blessings for me personally has been the ability to wake up on time. Not only do I wake up on time, but i am always the first one awake. YAY! Miracles happen.. hahah

Thank you for all the dear elders and letters! They are truly appreciated and they make my day after a long day of studying.

Love you all,

Sorella Carter