Week Five: Last P-Day in the MTC!

Our zone. The last P-Day that we will all be together!

Area: Mexico MTC

Companion: Hermana Neeleman

Sister Neeleman's Blog: Happy Valentine's Day!

I can't believe that this is the last time that I will be writing to you from Mexico. I feel like the time has been flying by in a strangely slow way. Every day, I feel like I will never get out of class, but next thing I know, four days have passed. I really only have four more real days in the MTC. While I don't think that I am anywhere near ready to actually be out speaking Spanish and teaching real people, but I am so excited to leave.

One of the elders in our district said that the MTC experience is like the movie Groundhog Day. We do the same thing over and over and over again, getting a little better each time, until we are ready to move on. I think that this is the most accurate description of anything that I have ever heard in my life. It is not a bad thing, but every day is starting to feel like I am living the same weird dream over again.

I know that I told you that a couple of weeks ago we started to go a little crazy in here, but I think that we really have hit the pinnacle. Last night, everyone in the district wrote down their names and put them in a bag. Then we all pulled each other's names from the bag. Then we laughed about who everyone got, put the names back into the bag, and did it over again. This went on for (I'm not kidding) thirty minutes. Even sadder is that we would have kept playing except for the fact that we had to go home. Once we got home, Hermana Leslie put on her mumu sleeping gown and stuffed her dirty clothes underneath to make her look like an old grandma. We laughed at that for another thirty minutes, then we went to bed early. Nothing I would rather do on a Monday night!

This week, I experienced the happiest moment of my entire life. When we first arrived at the MTC, they told us that the wives of the presidency would be coming around periodically to check our casas and make sure that they were kept clean. Then they told us that if our beds were made during the check that we would get chocolate. I never forgot this as I made my bed every morning, but I started to believe that the day would never come. This week, however, we came home and found that there was chocolates on our beds. What was even better was that this morning, I was considering not making my bed because the check had happened earlier that week. I decided to make my bed and when I came back I found chocolate on the bed again! I guess that it just goes to show that we don't know the day or the hour and must be constantly prepared. 

Our zone with the brownies Sis. Neeleman's mother sent to her. They were
super good, but everyone's parents have been sending treats through the
package service.

Last week there was a day where we literally received three dozen donuts.
I feel like I eat so much sugar here!

This week was Fast Sunday at the MTC and it was a really strange experience. The entire campus fasted from after lunch on Saturday to lunch on Sunday. During that time the cafeteria was closed. That meant that instead of dinner that night, we just stayed in our room and continued to study. It was one of the longest nights of my life. I realized that day that I don't even really like meals for the food; they offer a welcome respite from the constant studying and classes. During sacrament meeting, all of the testimonies that were shared were so good. I think that everyone was able to share such powerful testimonies because we are all going through a really difficult time and everyone is struggling, but everyone is also becoming so much closer to the Savior. 

I am sorry that I don't have more to write about. I'm not kidding when I say that every day here feels exactly the same. I am sure that when I get to the field, I will have more stories, but for now, I am content.

I love being here and training for my mission, but I am really excited for the time when I will be able to go out and help real people. I get a little nervous when I think about how much I still have to learn and the fact that I only have a week to learn it, but then I think about how far I have come and what I have been able to learn with the help of the Lord. I think that this whole MTC experience has really taught me about the power of the Atonement. I have almost finished Jesus the Christ and the entire time I have just thought about why the Savior did what he did and how much it is helping me in my immediate and every day life. I love the gospel!

Hermana Blau