Today I Fell Asleep in the Temple and Almost Started Snoring... (MTC Week 4)

Ciao Famiglia!!

I miss you guys so much! And I'm going to apologize in advance for my spelling. Turns out learning a new language that spells things exactly how it's said, really ruins your spelling skills.

So lots of fun things happened this week! Scherzo! (jk) MTC is the same and I feel so bad not having very many exciting things to email about! So here's some of my random week...

My district is amazing!! And we have the most amazing insegne (teachers)! Fratello Taylor is our favorite though. He wrote all of the Italian material that we use every day and he knows like 3 languages. He also does a really great impression of a 15 year old Italian girl. hahaha anyway....he left us this week! :( we were so sad about it! But he's actually going to Italy to do an internship! So exciting for him! He showed us all the pictures from his mission and it got me SO excited!! I don't think I've been this excited since the day that I opened my call! I kinda have forgotten how awesome Italy is! I've been so focused on learning the language and studying the gospel. 14 days from today I will be in Italy!!

I love Sorella Stephens! We get along so well! 

(Kaeli's Mom:  I'm not sure what the deal is with the faces... lol.  Silly girls.)

In the cafeteria there are these huge....things....that hold cereal. Well my district decided to eat a whole thing of Eternal Life cereal....in one sitting. Pretty sure the milk was sour and I now will never eat Life in my whole life.... <--- ha.... but we did it!

One of the copie (companionships) in my district had commited our 'investigator' to be baptized and they needed to give him the Chastity talk. So before the lesson they were looking up the vocabulary in the dictionary and right as Sorella Matthew said 'sesso' (sex), one of the teachers walks in, looks at her with disgust, and awkwardly walks out of the room. Shoot....

The other day in our lesson I told Walter that the Holy Ghost is a donna (woman) from God. Donno = gift, donna = woman. Heaven bless my future investigators!!

I've seen both Anziano Nicoll and Anziano Udall! They are doing good and loving the MTC! We all met up to take a picture at the map....but Elder Udall ditched out on us. 

Kids from our stake:  Elder Mann, Elder Nicoll, Elder Snow, Sister Wiltbank

I can't wait until Blake gets here next week!!! Sometimes I stalk all of the Chinese missionaries and I already know where she's going to have class and probably even sleep.

My favorite part of being set apart as a missionary is truly being set apart from the world. Because I'm not so engulfed in the craziness of the world I hear the spirit so much more! I love it! But I've learned that even though I'm in the MTC and kind of in my own spiritual 'world', my mind and my heart can be in their own world. Meaning that my thoughts and feelings are so loud that I can't hear the spirit. This week I've been trying to be still and quiet enough to hear what the the Spirit has to tell me. In a devotional that Anziano Bednar gave to the MTC he said "Only speak when the spirit tells you what to say". That's a scary thought! My current vocabulary is limited and a lot of times I feel like I have to say what I have prepared or else the lesson is going to go bad. Anziano Bednar continues "Don't worry about it! Don't worry about not knowing what to say. If you're doing the things you're supposed to be doing, being a good girl, you will recieve the impression that you need when you need them. You will be taken to where you need to go and say the things you need to say, and most of the time you won't even know it".

I've had those moments where the spirit told me what I needed to say and it was amazing. I want that all.the.time. So I did some studying.

The word of God is... (D&C 11:2)
quick
powerful
sharp
leads men of Christ on the straight and narrow (Helaman 3:29)

The Holy Ghost isn't going to wait for me to be quiet when he needs to tell me something. He isn't going to repeat it, or rephrase it, or go a little slower. When He speaks through me it will be powerful, it will be sharp and "divide asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil" (Helaman 3:29). It will lead others to Christ. That is my purpose as a missionary. To lead others to Christ. The only way I can do that is to speak with the spirit, teach with the spirit, think with the spirit, feel with the spirit. So instead of studying the vocaublary one last time before my lesson, I sing a song, read a scripture, do something to invite the spirit into my heart. "Neither take ye thought before hand what ye shall say; but treasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man" (D&C 84:85). And when I've done that, the lesson goes so much better. The words come, the lesson flows, and I can see in the eyes of my investigator, that they can see a glimpse of Christ.

This principle can be applied in every situation of life! Take off those shells around your heart. Open up your mind and your spiritual ears, and I promise you that through the Holy Ghost, you will be lead to every place the Lord wants you to be.

I know that this church is true. The gospel is real. So real. And all we have to do is open our eyes to see it!

I love you!! Miss you every day! And I'll let you know next week when to expect a phone call from the airport! We should be getting our travel plans any day now!!!!!!!!! Forza Italia!!!! :)

Arrivederci!

Sorella Wiltbank

Kaeli's little brother sent her some of his artwork for her walls so she sent him some of her artwork.  :)

(You can click on the picture and it will open up bigger in another window.)