If every week goes as quickly as this one did then I'll be home in two shakes of a rabbit's tail! This was by far my busiest week at the MTC yet. On Sunday I was called to be the Coordinating Sister in our zone. Which means that I am basically third wheel to the zone leaders and I'm in charge of the physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being of all the sisters in our zone. There are 8 sisters in the zone right now and I interview them weekly, then I get to go to a bunch of leadership meetings and trainings to talk about how everything going on affects the sisters specifically. I'm also in charge of helping with new missionary orientation two nights a week. And my Sunday is dedicated to meetings basically all day long. It's a lot, and it's overwhelming because I have to give up a lot of class time and study time in order to get everything done. I'm nervous that I'm not going to learn everything I need to as fast as I'm expected to...but that's kind of selfish of me so I'm trying not to think that way. The sisters in my zone are great and it's an excited opportunity to get to know them each better and hopefully I'll be able to meet some of their needs while they're here at the MTC. I'm definitely learning a lot about service and charity and patience...and it's hasn't even been a full week yet. Probably the most fun part of my job is that I'm make sure all the elders know the definition of being a gentleman and act accordingly. Basically the Branch President said this is one instance where I'm allowed to be sassy and bossy. Thank you, I knew there was a place where those qualities would come in handy!
We just got a new sister in our zone this week. Sister Aquino, straight from Mexico. She is the cutest thing ever. She speaks hardly any English, she comes to my shoulder with heels on, and she has a gorgeous smile and fantastic attitude. Pretty much everything that could possibly go wrong in your first few days at the MTC has happened to her, and she's been a trooper through it all. Another sister stole her welcome packet, the airport took all her toiletries, she had to get a bunch of shots because they didn't recognize her vaccinations from Mexico, the MTC assigned her to the wrong room and gave her the wrong key twice, and she doesn't have a companion. Talk about rough. I spent a good part of the day with her yesterday running around and getting everything in order. It was great to get to know her better and to help her slowly work through all the stress that had built up. She lives in the same room as me and Hermana King now and I'm excited to continue working with her and learning from her. She is so passionate about missionary work, I love it!
I decided to participate in the chior for the first time this week. Best choice ever. We sang "Be Still My Soul" and it was exactly what I needed. As we were sining it was like a command from heaven straight to my heart. Be still, Jari. Calm down, Jari. I'm in control, Jari. I loved it. Sometimes tough love is the only way I get the message and that was one that I needed. I'm still learning the art of accepting that I can't be perfect right now. I want to be, and I get frustrated that I'm not and it's just a pointless and frustrating cycle. I'm expected to do my best, and it is assumed that I won't do everything exactly right...which is the whole point of repentance and improvement, right? I've learned that a couple of times this week. It's okay to be aware of my weaknesses, but only so far as I let them serve as motivation for improvement...not as an excuse to pout and be frustrated, which is what I had been doing. So slow and consistent betterment is my new goal. Is betterment a word? I don't really speak a language right now. Learning Spanish has robbed me of Portuguese and English is slowly on it's way out as well...I really don't know if I'm making a word of sense or not. Oh well.
What else? Oh! Yesterday in class our teacher had us ponder for a couple minutes on at least one good quality of each member of our district. He wanted us to take time to think and make sure we were sincere about it. We wrote them all down and then we took a minute to individually share our compliment with each member. I loved it! I loved watching as the elders came to realized strengths within themselves that they were blind to before. And gosh dang it I liked hearing compliments. I kind of take the mama bear role in the classroom and a get a lot of flack for it sometimes. I was sure all of the elders hated me, but not so. They told me things about myself that I had only heard from my family and dearest friends beforing coming to my mission, and haven't been reminded of since coming to the MTC. I'm not going to write down everything they said because it's special to me...but it was a really great afternoon. Especially after a week of feeling like a chicken with its head cut off.
As always, thank you so much for the letters and the support. It means a lot. You are all wonderful, and I hope all is going well in each of your lives.
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