Emili Goes to FINLAND: A Week Without Sleep

A Week Without Sleep

Moi Everyone!

So holy cow definitely my busiest week so far here at the MTC! But also the most rewarding!

This week started out last Friday with Sisar Adams and I teaching our investigator Kariina with "members". Actually it was just Vanhin Bowden and Vanhin Vennerholm. That was honestly the coolest thing ever. The spirit was so strong and definitely there. We left that lesson feeling better than ever!

Saturday was General Conference! OH MY GOSH. Conference on a mission is the coolest thing I've ever experienced. My parents will be pleased to know that I stayed awake for ALL sessions of conference. We also finally got to watch the General Women's Meeting and it was amazing. I finally understand what everyone was talking about when they said President Uchtdorf's talk was life changing. I loved it all.

Sunday was more General Conference. I think I speak for everyone when I say that my heart was breaking when we all saw President Monson struggle to stay up there. We talked about it with our Branch Presidency and they made a wonderful point. Do we all ever appreciate how much the prophets do for us until they are in times of struggle? It really made me think about how much we take President Monson's health for granted. But all in all it was an amazing conference. Sunday night we had a "Special Devotional". Special was the most perfect word. BYU Vocal Point were the Guests of Honor that night. Granted I'm not the biggest Vocal Point fan, but they did a pretty good job and they definitely brought the Spirit.

Monday we had to say farewell to our AMAZING Hungarians! They helped me so much with getting used to the MTC and feeling comfortable. They left at 3 am and they were our roommates so needless to say I didn't sleep much that night. Once they left the Finns were the only ones in our entire zone! Ha Sisar Adams and I got a phone call (because yes we have a cell phone that only calls the front desk) saying we were having a sister come in from Serbia and that she would be coming sometime during the night. So me being the worrier I am, woke up every half hour to make sure we hadn't missed the call that she was here.. Again no sleep.

Tuesday the Serbian Sister finally came in the afternoon and then we had a devotional from Sister Linda K. Burton, General Relief Society President. She gave a wonderful talk about appreciating the prophets.

Wednesday we were on Traffic Hosting Duty! So much fun! We got to direct all the cars to drop their missionaries off. It also made me sad because I saw hundreds of parents driving away crying. I really didn't need a visual of what it was like for my family to drop me off, but it was pretty fun all in all. So hosting was during our study time so we didn't have anytime to prepare a lesson and we were teaching Plan of Salvation. There is so much new vocab that goes along with Plan of Salvation and we didn't know any of it. So instead of gym time we took our stuff outside and planned our lesson. We had dinner and then it was right to teaching we went. Let me tell you, God blesses those who follow his commandments. Granted Hosting and planning STL stuff isn't a commandment but its our assignment and we felt His blessings during that lesson. Somehow we were able to get through pre-Earth and Adam and Eve. We are so insanely grateful for all the blessings God poured out during that lesson. Later that night we ended up welcoming 11 new sisters! We are also the Sister Training Leaders for another zone because they didn't have any sisters. They are so cute and seem to be adjusting really well.

Anyway, obviously it's been an insane week! But so rewarding! I'm so grateful for all the support and love from you all! I miss you and love you!

Moika!

Sisar Jones