Week 4 at the MTC

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Ali's MTC address is:

Sister Ali Royal

MTC Mailbox # 250

CHI-VDM 0315

Hola Familia Y Amigos!

Como le va? I have lost track of what number email this is. The MTC has some weird time zone or something. I SWEAR it was just last Monday, but I guess time flies when you are in a class room all day. How are you all? What is new? How is the weather? It has been SO bitter cold this last week. Hermana Ellsworth and I hadn't been wearing coats all week, (because we are indoors most of the time anyways) until some one told us it was 1 degree! We realized we were pretty crazy. That is probably the coldest weather I've ever been in! Mom I hope your garden survived the chilly (or Chile...) nights! Kevin, I am so impressed with your Spanish! Usten puede hablar como un nativo! Practica mucho Y cuando yo regreso a la casa, podemos hablar espanol juntos! Amy tambien! And Lisa, I loved hearing your Randolf stories. I think it must be so special to give love to these precious children of God, no matter what age they are at! Sounds like you all are doing Bien! Keep me updated porfavor!

My Spanish is coming along great! Hermana Ellsworth and I taught our FIRST LESSON IN SPANISH this week! It was so exciting! I was so surprised to see how well I was able to say what I wanted to say. I think it's finally starting to click for me. Every once in a while I catch myself thinking in Spanish. And now I can pray in Spanish without even having to think too hard about it. It is so exciting to think I am going to be in CHILE speaking Spanish in like 5 weeks. (I think its five weeks, I don't have a calender so I honestly don't know how much time I have left. Maybe that is why the time seems to go by so rapidamente!) Hermana Ellsworth is really picking up the language too! Even though she doesn't believe it. I am always impressed with her. Our district has goals to speak lots of Spanish this week so hopefully we just get better from here on out!

Yesterday was fast Sunday here in the MTC. They kind of make it impossible not to fast, and I ended up fasting for like 27 hours but it was a great experience! What did you guys fast for? I prayed that you would all get extra help from the big guy. I bore my testimony in our branch sacrament meeting. It was pretty cool to do that in the MTC. It was so silent and when I got up to speak, my shoes squeaked the whole way up and back. Everyone laughed, but at least Her. Ellsworth will always know where I am! Sometimes (actually ALOT of the time) I will be sitting there, eating or in class or something, and it hits me that I am actually in the MTC. I can't really believe it most of the time. I think it's because I decided to go so fast that I forget that I am really here, but I know its for the best!

A couple cool experiences from the week:

First, Hermana Ellsworth and I teach our teacher as if he is an investigator. The investigators name is Archimedes. He is a friendly guy who loves knows the church is true but can't give up drinking. Her. E. and I had been preparing and praying all week for lots of extra help and inspiration for how to best help him overcome his addiction. We both decided to make a 2 week calender, with daily scriptures for him to read. We also attached a picture of Christ so he could turn to the Savior whenever he feels tempted to drink. One day during personal study, I got the prompting that we needed to bring a "member" along who could help him overcome his addiction. Hermana Ellsworth and I prayed to know who we should ask to come along with us. We ended up asking one of the elders to come along. When we asked him if he could play a character of someone who overcame alcoholism, he seemed really surprised but gladly agreed. It turns out he struggled with alcohol addiction only a year ago in real life. He was touched that we asked him and brought so much love and spirit to our lesson. It was a cool experience.

Also, Hermana Ellsworth and I have set a pretty lofty goal here at the MTC. We both noticed that the Referral Center is a pretty under-utilized resource here at the MTC. Even at the MTC where everyone is thinking about their loved-ones and friends without the gospel, no one really uses it. Hermana Ellsworth and I have decided we want to change that. We want to get 50, yes 50 referrals of real people who will hear the gospel while we are here. We have already gotten 5 so we are well on our way... We have been praying for help with our goal because we know we can't do it ourselves. So, the other night, before a lesson, we asked two elders if they had any referrals for us. At first they didn't realize that we were asking for real referrals for real people, but once they figured it out, they were so excited and gave us 4 names and addresses. One of them said he had been praying for an opportunity to share the gospel with his brother-in law and that he was so grateful that we asked. I realized that this is real missionary work, all though I am locked away in the MTC bubble, we can do real missionary work! SO.... drumroll please... I have a challenge for you all! Will you please think about family members or friends who don't have the gospel? Pray about it, ask the Lord who he has prepared for the message. Then... send me their addresses and I will be happy to turn them into the referral center for you! I promise you all that the Lord has prepared people to hear the message, it's totally scary, but be confident and he will be with you along the way:)

Ok, I'm off my missionary soap box, how embarrassing... ha ha I really love you all! You guys make me laugh in your letters and help me to feel your love for me. I pray for all of you every night in my prayers! The Book of Mormon is SO true. That book has the power to change lives. If you haven't tried it's power, DO IT! You will learn for yourself how much the Lord loves his children! I am almost done reading it for my first time here at the MTC. I should finish it this week. It has always been hard for me to make a habit of reading, but now that I have, I just can't get enough of it. 3 Nephi 11

I love you all mucho mucho mucho. Keep the letters and prayers coming my way :) I hope you all have an awesome week!

Amor,

Hermana Royal