Hello everyone!!
What an amazing week it has been! And I can't believe it has only been a week, it feels like I have been here forever, which is a good thing. I'm really loving it here! I have learned so so much it's super overwhelming with all of the things I have learned haha but it's awesome!! So I have two companions... Sister Hurley from California and Sister Brunty from Ogden. They are both so awesome and we all get along great. Having two companions is very difficult but we have lots of fun! There are two other sets of elders in our district and we are all going to Richmond, Virginia. There were three other sets of elders but unfortunately one Elder went home which hit me really hard but I know he did the right thing and that he will be back out here in no time! Out district is super close! We all get along so good! I've learned so much from each of them and it has been so fun watching each other grow in the gospel! The elders take very good care of us... when they aren't around we feel very lost without them. Haha it's awesome and so fun getting to know them. I can't even imagine having to say goodbye to my companions and district in less than a week. It will be hard but it will be good. So anyway, one cool experience I had this week was with the Book of Mormon. In class we all split up into partners and read the first chapter of the book of mormon together and as we were reading we were supposed to follow the spirit and share what we thought that other person needed to hear or learn from a certain verse. My dang heck... it was the coolest thing ever. I was working with one of the elders and we had like a 5 min discussion on just one verse. The spirit was so strong, we were both in tears because of what we learned from the spirit. I took something completely different from the verse than he did. It's just so amazing to see how the spirit works and it's just incredible how strong it is here! I feel like I could touch it. The MTC is such an amazing place to be, it's like no other place in the world. I just want to invite you all to really dissect the book of mormon.... no matter where you are reading cuz there is so much that can be taken from it and through the spirit you can learn something that you couldn't have even imagined from that verse or chapter. It was such a cool experience! On Tuesday night, Elder RIchard G. Scott came and spoke to us for a devotional. HOLLA. I was sooo excited and it was soo sweet to have an apostle of the Lord talk to us!! The spirit that he brought into the room was so amazing. He talked about prayer and I know that it was something every missionary in the room needed to hear! I learned so much. He talked about the importance of pouring our heart out to the Lord and just talking to Him! He knows EVERYTHING and just wants to hear from us. He said to pray even when you don't want to! And as you do this you will feel the desire to want to always pray! It's important that we have the desire to do His will and to be willing to act on whatever answer he gives us in our prayers! He knows what is best for us and we need to act in faith on the answers we receive from him! One other thing is that when we don't get answers, it is important to thank Heavenly Father for not answering us right away.We need to trust in his timing and trust in the plan that he has for us. It was so amazing having Elder Scott speak to us and I wish I could just type up all the notes that I wrote on his talk cuz I really learned so much and it really changed the way I pray. So on sunday for relief society mary edmunds came and spoke to us! Ha she is hilarious! She really gave a powerful talk and helped put many things into perspective for me. She has written a couple books that i would love to read if i could. So Grandma, mom, mel, suzanne, jil, etc. take care of that for me and let me know how they are! Haha only if you want. She was amazing though and I learned a lot from her! So my teachers are Bro Jensesn and Bro Schuaneveldt. They are very good teachers. Brother Spencer Jensen is actually from farmington and i went to jr high with him. During class our teachers act as investigators and we have been learning how to teach and best meet the needs of the individual. Well the person bro jensen is acting like is one of his friends that i acutally know. haha so even though he is just my teacher and not coulson it is pretty cool knowing who he is trying to act like. Bro schunaveldt is so aweseome. He has tremors and shakes really bad but holy cow can he bring the spirit into the room so strongly! I learn so much from him and the importance of teaching with the spirit. Our investigator we have been teaching is Michelle (ha just for you mom) but she is so awesome. She is super quiet and lonely but once she gets out of that shell she is so funny! We laugh with her all the time and i think she is really starting to feel comfortable around us. She has a hard time understanding the bom and never really had much religion in her life. She struggles believing the joseph smith story and that heavenly father really will answer our prayers and that he cares and loves her. so last night as we were talking to her she expressed her concern that she doesnt feel like she will get an answer to her prayers. and i had a scripture come into my head but i couldnt remember the reference. So i opened the topical guide or whatever and my eyes went straight to the scripture that i wanted and needed to share. It was totally the spirit... not me at all and after we shared that scripture with her you could tell that it really touched her heart. She kept looking down at it so see if it really said what it did! She was really caught off guard i think but in a good way! Haha it was so sweet. The spirit is so important to have when you teach! It is hard to recognize and act on but i know i will get it! There are so many things i need to work on and i'm getting so nervous to leave for virginia. But i know i'm supposed to be here! It's been already the best experience of my life and it has only been a week! I can't wait to bring the truth of the gospel to the people of virginia. I just can't wait to love the heck out of them and to bring them unto christ. I know my mission will bless me eternally, and what an amazing blessing that is!! I'm working hard and doing the very best i can!! Thanks sooo much for all the letters, emails, and support. I'm so blessed with amazing family and friends. I love you all so much and of course miss ya like crazy but this is where i'm supposed to be no doubt. i leave for virginia next wed on april 24. I leave the mtc at 4 am and my flight leaves at 7 am. i have a two hour layover in georgia so i'm not sure when i will be able to call. I'll most likely call from georgia but it could also be at like 5 or 6 am. i'm not sure i wish i knew i'm sorry! But I can't wait to talk to ya!! I'm loving it here everything is so amazing. I LOVE YOU ALL.
XOXO
Sister Roosendaal
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