MTC Week 3: President Uchtdorf and Les Moins Actifs

Yet another crazy week at the MTC! First things first, I am no longer concussed and am now cleared to play 4 Square (I don't believe I will be playing volleyball for the duration of my stay at the MTC).

Sunday:
Because we have brand new buildings PRESIDENT UCHTDORF CAME TO TOUR
THEM!!!! We were studying and we found out he was on the floor above us. We ran upstairs, but everyone was being turned back. My companion and I knew we needed to get to dinner, so disappointed we headed down stairs. Only we were trampled by a herd of missionaries! We got
outside and president Uchtdorf was walking with his family across the courtyard. We all reverently swarmed (if that's possible) around him. A sister in our district is from Germany and her grandfather was
best friends with President Uchtdorf growing up! She introduced herself and Harriet gave her a hug! They were running late for dinner reservations, but they took the time to say hi! My companion and I got to shake his hand!!!

Even though everyone was so excited to meet him, once you approached him, there was a feeling of peace and reassurance. He was so kind, but he surprised me with how human he was; he introduced us to his grandchildren, and the rest of his family and thanked us for serving missions. I never thought I'd be personally thanked for being a missionary by an apostle of the Lord! Later that night I finally got to watch Elder Bednar's talk "Character of Christ"..... I know every missionary says this, but I highly recommend this talk! It's changed my whole perspective on missionary work and being truly converted.

Monday:

I did as Elder Bednar advised in his talk and bought a cheap copy of the Book of Mormon. I started reading it, and instead of just reading it, I highlighted and wrote notes in the margins as I read. I had always just read the Book of Mormon just to check a box, but as I found inspiration from the words and things that could help both me and my investigators... I found myself forgetting my problems and being happier. There's a reason that the Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion, it has amazing power. I would encourage each of you to make studying the Book of Mormon a daily habit, it has changed my life in just a few short days.

My companion decided to talk the same challenge and she bought a new paperback Book of Mormon as well. We decided to do our TRC (basically you go teach members who aren't your teachers in the language your studying, kind of like a glorified visiting teaching lesson) on “feasting upon the words of Christ ". One of the people we were teaching went on her mission to Tahiti. We were about to close and I felt prompted to ask about how the Book of Mormon influenced her mission. She told us that that morning a woman from her mission, who she had given a Book of Mormon to and never saw again, messaged her on Facebook. She told her that her and her son had just been baptized, and she thanked her for giving her the Book of Mormon.

It was such a powerful testimony of the power that the Book of Mormon can have on our lives.

Tuesday:

So since I'm in choir (semi against my will) we have choir practice every Sunday and Tuesday, and then we perform on Tuesday. Our choir director, Brother Egget, is hilarious and super spiritual at the same time!!! He has a way of motivating us, making us sound good, and having a devotional before the devotional all at the same time!

This practice we were singing "Be Still My Soul" and he was talking about the line "to guide the future as he has the past". I had been reading the Book of Mormon and I kept thinking, oh this happened to Nephi, but why would it happen to me? And he talked about how Elder Neilson told a story about two sister missionaries. They went into this house and a lot of bad men took them prisoner and put them in the back room. They kneeled down to pray and they opened their eyes and they were standing outside the building in the alleyway.

Later in our devotional Elder Nelson (of the 70) talked about the Tacloban Missionaries during the hurricane (really good story, I wish I could tell the whole thing) but basically it reminded me of a scripture I read in 1 Nephi 10:18-19. It taught me a lot about faith and the nature of God and how he views missionaries.

Wednesday:

We got to host again today!!!! I got to see so many friends from school and from back at home! Also, I finally have a better picture of my District.

Thursday:

Today our teacher (Soeur Wall) taught a unique lesson. She had us split into groups of 3 and teach 3 different Moins Actifs (less actives). She had us teach in front of the class, for about 20 minutes. Our moins actif was an older woman named Édithe (who was just really Soeur Call acting as Édithe who was her moins actif on her mission). We went in expecting to teach a lesson on keeping the Sabbath day holy....yikes were we so wrong. Édithe had had a cycle of missionaries for the past few months, come, teach a lesson, and leave.

She had a sickness and afterwards Soeur Wall told us her husband, who had appeared as a faithful Saint, had cheated on her so it was hard for her to go to the chapel. We just sat and listened. I told her it wasn’t our job to teach her a lesson, but to be there for her. We offered to get the elders to come give her a blessing, and secured another discussion next week. I don't know if Soeur Wall will let us "teach" Édithe again, but all of the lessons challenged my perceptions on missionary work and less actives.

Jesus is truly the greatest example of the Good Shepherd, he left the 99 and searched for the one. There are so many reasons people go inactive: they live far away, they are more dedicated to the missionaries than the ward or church (another moins Actifs we taught in class), they work, trails of faith, sickness, etc. It's unfair to lump people into one box. Members as well. Everyone is going through hard things. Our job is to always be kind and courteous to everyone, and not assume things because of labels like "less active", or "member".

There's a reason when we talk about teaching people not lessons. The gospel has so much to offer to everyone, but everyone's needs are different. The Savior never loved anyone with an agenda (to get them to come to church, to increase membership etc.) He loved people regardless of their choices. As Elder Dallin H. Oaks said: “We do not preach and teach in order to ‘bring people into the Church’ or to increase the membership of the Church. We do not preach and teach just to persuade people to live better lives. … We invite all to come unto Christ by repentance and baptism and confirmation in order to open the doors of the celestial kingdom to the sons and daughters of God. No one else can do this”

I've learned so much in such a short time here. I'm sorry if I have at all sounded preachy (if it is I'm preaching to myself), but one important lesson I learned is that you share things you love with people you love. I'm not perfect.... I'm really not a good missionary, yet, but I know that with the Lord's help we can be happy and grow to be the best version of ourselves.

I love you all!
Soeur Smith