MTC No. 10

Nov. 19, 2010

So this week VC training has been .... wow. It's completely different--kinda--from what we're used to. Instead of sitting down with role-playing investigators, you're walking around a VC and using a lot of media to teach lessons. Last night we had what's called a TRC where the whole district goes and role plays with volunteers from the community. Super effective. In my last district we taught lessons first in English then in Spanish and contacted and we had different scenarios every week and different Spanish vocab to learn etc. This week, we set up our own VC with pictures and the Christus and gave them tours. Sounds kinda pansy-ish yeah? WRONG. It was the most powerful TRC I've been in yet. And it was crazy. I taught the first lesson in just 20 minutes without even consciously trying to. And the challenging thing about VC training is that it's not as linear as the normal lessons, but it's so powerful. You incorporate the 5th lesson and the 4th lesson with the first. And you can do that anyway, I know, but it's so much easier somehow in a VC setting. And there's no time for you to get to know them, leave, pray, make a lessons plan, and then come back like in usual missionary work. You REALLY have to rely on the Spirit and ask good questions in order to know what they need in the first, oh, 60 seconds.

Last night, I was teaching a non-member (alone) and the Spirit was very strong the whole time... but it was SO abundant when I bore testimony. I love being able to look someone in the eye and tell them that I know that Jesus is the Christ and that Joseph Smith was the prophet whom He restored His gospel through out of His love for us. I did not expect to do this, but when in front of the Book of Mormon/Joseph Smith display, I recited the First Vision to him and then bore testimony of it. It was amazing and I thank God for the Restoration. Without it, we haven't a church. My companion, Hna. Birch, also had quite an amazing experience. She was committing someone to pray with his family for missionary opportunities and he started to tear up because he said it was exactly what he'd been praying for. His family had been having a really rough time (this was when we taught members, not non-members) and they really needed family unity right now. He'd been praying and praying for something to bring them together and he felt that that was exactly the answer he'd been looking for. And I got a referral (yes, a real referral) for an Argentinian lady currently going to medical school in Michigan. Kind of a long story there too.

The other sisters in our VC district are awesome. I love working with them. I love learning with and from them. Our teacher said it was one of the best TRCs she's ever had based on what she heard and from the volunteer feedback. And I KNOW that the success we had last night was only because we all relied on the Spirit of the Lord. It was only our second day of VC training and believe me, we were all humbled and overwhelmed. We knew that any chance for success we had to hope for would be through He who knows all people and that we needed to be sufficiently humble enough to be the kind of instruments He needs to work through in order to really touch people the way He wants to touch them.

Also, yesterday in class we practiced studying our site history and then sharing that with someone and tying it to the gospel and a commitment, etc. I studied two stories. The one of when JS was held for about 2 weeks in a house in chains (when he says, "SILENCE ye fiends of the infernal pit!") and Liberty Jail. I made my outline for the Liberty jail story and mostly focused on that one. When it came time to share, however, and I was totally prepared to share something about Liberty Jail with the sister I was doing the activity with, I could not mentally focus on Liberty and the other story kept coming to my mind over and over so strongly. I stopped for a minute to try to gather my thoughts and see if I could change over and make sense of why that story was coming to mind even though I didn't know where I was going to go with it, and it still didn't make sense and the Liberty Jail one was clearly better in my mind because I knew where to take it.... but I swear to you I could not talk about Liberty. It felt like someone was blocking it and steering me very obviously toward the other story even though it didn't make sense to me at all. So finally I gave in and just shared the other story. I hadn't known where it would lead, but eventually it lead to my testifying of the ministering of angels, the literal, tangible assistance we receive from people on the other side of the veil. How when we are in the right and we seem outnumbered by the wrong, that we are never a minority because the angels are around us and make the right the majority. Not to fear those who may disagree or revile, etc. I somehow knew this is what that sister needed. Naturally I have no idea how or why, but it was so ..... I've just never had my thoughts so blatantly guided before. It was really ..... humbling. Because what she needed to hear was much more important than what I wanted to share and talk about.


Sorry for being slow in letter-writing. I'm seriously tryin'! But there's just no time and p days are the only days and they're chuck full!
But I still love y'all!!

Christ lives.
This is His Church.

Con amor,
Hna. Underlin

MTC letter No.9

Gracious! So much to write in so little time!

First of all, how is everybody..?

So this past week on Tuesday, Elder David A. Bednar came and spoke to us.... We have seriously been on a roll. Four of the Brethren in a row! He spoke on how we need to understand that teaching our investigators doctrine above all else will ensure long-lasting activity and a change of life-style--just like that quotation by Elder Packer, A study of true doctrine will change behavior more than a study of behavior will change behavior. And our teachers were amazed because that was what was on the lesson plan for the coming week--differentiating between doctrine, principle and application--and they were overwhelmed with teaching it to us adequately because it's soooooo important. Elder Bednar looked at the senior missionaries and asked, "Now think about it. For most of your life have you been more concerned with the doctrine or the application? Admit it. You've focused on the application..."
Doctrine - The Why
Principle - The What
Application - The How
This rang SO true with me because literally, when something gets hard or annoying or redundant or whatever in daily life and I need to motivate myself, I ALWAYS have to refer to the doctrine for it to actually motivate me and for my heart to be in the right place as I do it, whatever it is. I can't tell you how excited I am so apply this. To teach my investigators the doctrine. A good teacher enables her students to realize they don't need her to learn.... And now that I leave in just 1 week I'm getting more and more excited to get out there and find those people who've been prepared by the Lord to receive this Gospel. (Goodness, this email can never seem to convey HALF of what I actually feel. It always seems to rote or trite to read it back to myself, but I FEEL what I say so much more powerfully. I'm just just saying it, they aren't just words. There ARE people in the area of my mission that have literally been prepared by the Lord's hand to be taught and brought into the fold and back into the fold by me and my future companions. And I can't wait to find them. And heaven knows I'm determined not to stop until I am literally released as a missionary. I'm not going to stop even as I'm flying home or waiting in the airport. I'm not going to go back to the apartment early because I'm tired. I'm going to find ALL of them that I was sent there to find.)
The district meetings that we have after every Tuesday devotional were an inspired idea, that's all I can say. It's like you really learn a lot in the actual devotional, but the learning curve seems to be exponential because I learn that much more in the review meetings. The power of my district's testimonies are .... I'm not able to describe. Every time I hear them, I get to see a little more into these amazing people and the soul behind the face. And it's interesting to me. That's one of the times when I am the most happy. When I get a little peek into the deepest part of people....
Their testimonies have strengthened mine so much. And again, it sounds trite because we hear it all the time. But they literally have. I have quotations from every one of them and scriptures that remind me of them..... I love these elders. I honestly love them like my family. And they leave tomorrow for their fields. And last night we said bye to another district whom we grew very close to. It is SO hard to say goodbye to them because you get so close. But it's such a good goodbye too for so many reasons.....
But the best time of this entire week and one of the top three best experiences I've had since arriving at the MTC happened Sat. night. We had one last district testimony meeting during our last class with Hna. Scaife (one of our MTC teachers) and I. had. no. idea. how powerful that would turn out to be. I am honestly still on a cloud from it and it's Monday. I just sat there and soaked up the words, the testimonies, the feelings, the Spirit, and the genuine Love that completely filled that room that night. I get teary just talking about it. It was one of the most real, poignant meetings I have ever attended because it reached to the deepest part of everyone present, somehow. I don't exaggerate in saying that at all, either. It's too hard to describe.



In reply to you letter, Mom and Dad, the schedule changes every day here so I can't really reply in the way you set out in your little question answer sheet. They switch up the order, but every day we have...
person study time
companion study time
language study time
class
gym
meals
planning
And on certain days during the week we have
service
Devotional (Tuesday)
laundry (P day)
temple (P day)
And then Sundays are completely different.
But it's silly to tell you this now because our schedule completely changes again on Wednesday. That's when we begin Visitors Center training. And we actually completely change zones and branches when we do this, and then we leave on Monday, Nov 22. We don't travel together, though!! Hna. Vickers leaves at 5 am, Hna. Birch leaves at 6 am and I leave at 10 am. They meet up in Denver and fly to Independence together and then I don't have any layovers, I just fly straight to Missouri. Crazy! So we're really trying to brush up on our contacting skills so we're ready to take on the airport and the people we sit next to on the flight. Can't wait. But so scared haha.

Now it wouldn't be a real missionary email if I didn't end with a commitment. :)
Please go to the temple this week.
And when you're on the Celestial room read Rev. 1 - 4.
It is amazing how much we learn in the temple!!

I love you all!
Hna. Underlin

MTC No. 8

iiiFAMILIA!!!

How are you all doing??? I miss y'all so much and hope you're doing well and having wonderful experiences and growing--especially spiritually. <3

This week, as you might've guessed, was another GREAT one.
We got 2 new districts in our zone so that means I oriented them with the zone leaders. One of them, Elder Bell, looks JUST like Daniel. my cousin! So I'm naturally partial to him in a sisterly way. :) He's awesome. Same with all the rest of them. I also get released from being coordinating sister this week because next week we start visitors center training and apparently they don't want meetings to clash times with training so I have to be released. But it has been a very neat experience and I've learned a LOT about correct leadership. Thank Heaven for Section 121 of the D&C, right? If it weren't for that section I would've been lost as to how to handle certain situations that have come up. But the Lord takes care of His children. :) I know that to be true.
So this week I get to train Hna. Lambert as the next CS. She's a darling, wonderful, strong missionary and I have every confidence she'll do great and be a huge strength to those she serves.

On Tuesday, we were once again privileged to hear from one of the Brethren. Three times in a row! We heard from Elder Ballard that day and Hna. Birch was asked to give the benediction so we all sat on the stand..... and he was the first Apostle to turn around after the meeting and shake all of our hands. We were really surprised, but it was naturally really neat. I honestly never thought I'd shake an apostle's hand. His talk was very good. It was on being master teachers and master communicators. Y'all can read my notes later. ;)

During our study times this week, I'm happy to report we've made VERY good use of our time. We always, do fear not, because we know that after all, it's not our time, it's His. But we got even better this week and we plan to keep going at the same rate because if we do we'll be in goooood shape. :)
We're really starting to be better at simplifying lessons, making them powerful and direct, and SPEAKING IN COMPLETE SPANISH. That's definitely the challenge. But it's coming. Because God is Great. And the Gift of Tongues is real. You still have to work your tail off to qualify for that gift, however.

Last night, we heard from Sheri Dew! She is so funny. There were many times during that fireside that she reminded me of myself. At one point she goes, "My personality is not programmed to do well one hold... I don't do well on hold..." as she was talking about calling an airline hahaha. And she's really straightforward, doesn't beat around the bush. She's a neat lady. I didn't know she was like chief editor for Deseret Book and on some national committee for women... She spoke about the importance of
-knowing who we really are
-knowing just what Jesus Christ did for us
-realizing we can receive personal revelation

Before that, however, we had mission conference since it was Fast Sunday. VERY good conference. I loved it especially because the thing actually happened to me that the apostles always talk about, how they hope you're taking notes throughout their talk, but not on anything they say, just what the Holy Ghost is telling us individually. And it happened. I only took about half a page worth of notes on what was actually said over the pulpit. The other 2 pages were things that the Holy Ghost was communicating to me that I needed to remember or continue doing after the mission in order to fulfill my LIFE mission. Thank goodness for the Gift of the Holy Ghost.

Christ lives.
His Church is true.

Hna. Underlin

MTC No. 7

iHola mi querida familia!

How is everyone??

This week has been a week of miracles. Prayer absolutely without a doubt works. Fasting also absolutely without a doubt works. I already knew this.... but the Lord allowed me to actually witness the miracles of my and others' efforts this week very blatantly. This week I fasted for a few people... and it was just astonishing the results. It was also astonishing at how my faith grew BEFORE I saw the results. I remember praying the night I began the fast and pleading with the Lord to literally bind Satan in certain people's lives because I was so positive that if he was bound for a short period of time, if he wasn't allowed to destroy what little these people had, they could really use what they had been given and push through and that the result would be wonderful. This is only the third time I remember praying and really being so sure of what I was praying for and not having any idea why I knew it or why I was praying for it because half of the things you pray for when those promptings come are things beyond your capacity to know--you just don't have the background or familiarity with the situation... and yet somehow you hear yourself plead for things in others' behalf. . . . . . . and then a few days later. . . . . I learned that it had actually happened. And these situations that these people were in were honestly impossible. They were NOT easy fixes in the least. BUT
God is Great. He knows His children more than we comprehend. And when we live worthy and seek after opportunities to be instruments in His hands, He DOES pick us up and wield us in whatever way will benefit His other children most, whether we understand how we're being wielded or not.

Another miracle happened this past Tuesday. We were so privileged to hear from Elder Scott at our devotional. These special witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ always speak with such power and authority and love... He spoke to us very personally and individually. He gave us excerpts from his personal journal about how the Holy Ghost works. He talked to the sister missionaries a lot and pronounced apostolic blessings upon us in particular. Then he pronounced more apostolic blessings on all missionaries in attendance. Unbelievable blessings. Then, the most powerful portion of his talk of all, he bore solemn witness of Jesus as the Christ. He said how He is a Personage of Perfect Love. That he, Elder Scott, loves Him. And that he knows Him.
And I add my testimony to his, as I did in the district meeting on Tuesday, that Jesus IS the Christ. And that that truth alone holds more eternal significance for each and every one of us than we yet have the capacity to understand... but which we have an obligation to study and learn about "by study and also by faith". After that devotional, the power of his Special Witness hit me harder than I could've imagined. When he spoke of how the Redeemer is a Personage of Perfect Love, he was speaking from experience. I bear witness of modern-day prophets and apostles. Jesus Christ is at the head of this church and No One Else.

This week Hna. Birch had a tough Thursday. In the middle of class she said she received a very powerful prompting that a member of her family had been hurt and that she needed to fast. It's interesting trusting in someone else's prompting--particularly when you've never received one similar to it yourself. But we supported her and loved her. She also received a blessing. We are simply so blessed to have the Priesthood on the earth again.

There are soooooo many more things I want to tell you, but I'll have to close it up here soon. I'm chopping all my hair off!!!!!! In like 2 hours. So excited.
The Spanish is so hard but it's coming. And the Gift of Tongues is real.

I love you all so very much and am so thankful I have you for my family.
Our Savior lives.
This Church is His and it is true.

Hna. Underlin