I saw the Prophet!

June 29, 2013 Provo MTC Companion: Sister Snow Ano po ang pinagkakaabalahan EVERYONE!!!! (Google translate says this means “What is busy”) Ahh I cannot believe that my second P-day has already rolled around. It is soo true what they say about the MTC. Days feel like weeks and weeks feel like days. I can't even process everything that has happened this week, I have learned and experienced so much. I feel like this is the most I have ever learned in my entire life, and the most productive I have ever been. I feel like such a slacker on P-days because all I do is laundry, 5 hours of studying, work out, and go to the temple. But at home, that would be considered a successful day! So funny. Well, this week has been an amazing one, last Saturday I was able to go through the temple with my entire zone which was such an incredible experience. I could feel my kasama and I growing so much closer spiritually. It felt so good to have a couple hours to just clear my head from all the business that a normal day here entails and just focus on lumapit sa Diyos. (coming closer to God). On Sunday, we had the opportunity to attend the Worldwide Broadcast which was absolutely incredible. We have had the first presidency and the apostles on campus all week long along with all of the new mission presidents. The spirit that has been present is unlike anything I have ever experienced. Sunday before the broadcast I was walking up the stairwell to my classroom when I noticed a few missionaries crowded around the window, President Thomas S. Monson had walked out of the cafeteria and was being escorted to his car by security, I was able to catch a quick glance of our sweet prophet only 20 feet away, what an awesome experience. I was pretty much star struck the rest of the day, haha. I was sad that he didn't show up to the broadcast, but expected it at the same time. His sweet wife passed away not too long ago and I think he is having a really hard time still dealing with all of the emotional stress from that. However, when the apostles walked in to the Marriott Center Sunday night, all 10,000 plus people in the arena stood up all at once in respect for them. It was dead quiet in the room and the Spirit took over, I had the chills running all through me and tears came to my eyes. What an honor to be in the presence of Apostles of the Lord. I enjoyed all of the speakers, but my favorite was Elder Neil L. Anderson. I loved how the entire theme was missionary work since that is so relevant to me. He talked about how our work begins on our knees as we seek guidance from our Heavenly Father. What a blessing it is to know that if we do our best as missionaries (whether we are in the field or not), that he will not let us fail. "When we are on the Lord's errand, we are entitled to his help. Help is always there when we act in faith." What a blessing it is to know that when we are in tune with the Spirit, and doing what we know is right, that our Heavenly Father will bless us in time of need. There is no way that I could ever deny the Spirit that I felt that night, it was truly incredible. Our Branch President came into our classrooms after the broadcast and had each of us stand up and share what we enjoyed most about the broadcast and then bare our testimonies. I love hearing all of the different testimonies that the Sisters and Elders in my District have. They are so strong and inspiring, and they build me up and make me want to be a better missionary everyday. I am so lucky and blessed to have them. My kasama and I taught our last lesson with our investigator Isabelita. We had taught her all about the Restoration, the Atonement, that Heavenly Father loves her and is aware of her, and we felt that she was ready to be baptized. We extended the invitation to her, and she ACCEPTED! We were so excited, I immediately got up and hugged her. I am soo happy, it is such a neat experience to see her progress and accept and follow through with all of the commitments that we have given her. There have been all kinds of viruses going around the MTC which is never exciting. A few girls in my zone got the stomach flu and I was so worried that I would get it as well, luckily for me I only got a bad cold. I take medicine around the clock and have been getting to bed on time to try to get 8 hours of sleep so that I can get better. I prayed that I would find the time to rest and get better so that it doesn't get worse and I don't have to miss class. My prayers were answered! Here at the MTC you rarely will find a time that you can just relax, but on Wednesday (the day I prayed) our service project got cancelled, giving me TWO HOURS to have a nap! I was soo grateful, I am almost completely better now. What a blessing :) I can truly testify that our Heavenly Father is aware of us, he loves us, and he hears our prayers. The biggest challenge here at the MTC is trying to find the balance between studying both the language and the Doctrine. I find myself trying to study the language all of the time because I'm so anxious to learn everything that I possibly can. But in order to be a good missionary, not only do I need to know the language, but I need to know the material that I need to teach. So my kasama and I have been working on that more this week. I LOVE all of my teachers and mentors, they are so awesome. My main teacher is Brother Cook, he is thee greatest. He has such a good sense of humor, and whenever we make mistakes he just laughs at us. He takes things seriously, and wants us to be successful, but he also knows how to make things fun, and he likes to goof off every once in a while which is perfect, because I do too! I have never been so tired in my life, but it is a good tired. At the end of every day I can easily fall asleep because of a long day of work. Mom and dad I got your package, thank you! I needed those clothes, it is so cold in the MTC, definitely didn't prepare for that! Bradley, thank you for the journal and Philippines flag pin, I LOVE IT! Thank you to everyone that have sent me Dear Elders, that is literally the best part of any missionaries day, we get mail twice a day, and it is always soo exciting to get mail! So PLEASE keep it coming! Even if you're just rambling about your life, I LOVE IT! I want to know what's going on in your lives, I know nothing! On Tuesday we had the best devotional in THE WORLD! Sister Janice Kapp Perry spoke-she has written the classic Primary songs (I love to see the Temple, Child's Prayer, I belong to the Church, I'm trying to be like Jesus, EFY Medley, Love is Spoken Here, and many more). The devotional was a musical devotional, we sang all of her songs with her and she bore testimony on missionary work. She told the story of how she and her sweet husband met, the story is priceless. They were in a music class together at BYU Provo. One day she was warming up her clarinet (the reed of it) and the first words he ever spoke to her were, "Those lips look like they were made for something more than playing the clarinet!" As she said this, her husband walks up to the pulpit and lays a big kiss on her. It was the greatest thing I have ever seen. (They are in their 80's, and they are more in love than ever!) All of the Sister missionaries were like, awhhh, and all the Elders were so proud, we gave them a standing ovation. They are the cutest ever. She wrote a song for all of her family that they all sang and recorded together. They each had their own part, she played it for us and sang along with it, she is so talented. She closed with her testimony in song, it was absolutely gorgeous. The Spirit was so strong, I always feel it so strongly through music. The best thing I have heard this week was from my teacher Brother Cook. He said, "The first step to being a great missionary, is to know that you are weak." I just love that quote. We are the farthest thing from perfect, and the sooner that we can accept that, the better missionaries we will be. My favorite scripture is in Alma 26:12 and it reads: "Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever." As missionaries we must remember that it is not us that are doing the teaching, it is our Heavenly Father through the Spirit. I am grateful for this knowledge, and I am grateful that my Heavenly Father is there to lift me and guide me through the times that I would not have been able to do on my own. I absolutely love being on a mission. It is the best decision I have ever made, if any of you are trying to decide whether to go on a mission or not, DO IT! You and your families will be blessed so much for your decision to faithfully serve the Lord. I am so grateful for this opportunity, I am so excited for my journey to come. Thank you for all of your love and support on this journey, for it has just begun! Have a great week everyone, and PLEASE, email me, send pictures, or send Dear Elders! I love hearing from all of you! Mahal Kita, (I love you) Sister Pilkington XOXO.