Last week in the MTC

7-20-2017

                           

Hola!

Well it's my last pday at the mtc... :( I honestly don't understand how people don't like the MTC, I love it here! It's been so much fun! I'm definitely not wishing it away, BUT I'm very very excited to get to the field. It's going to be so different and I'm so excited! I can't believe it's so soon! I got am email from the mission president saying to pack an overnight bag because the first night we get there we will be given going a temporary companion and we are going proselyting and then we will sleep at their apartment! That's all I know about next week! I'm so glad we've had the opportunity to go the park and proselyte while we have been here in the MTC so I can know a little bit of what it's going to be like in the field.

Last Sunday I gave a talk in Spanish! It's awesome how they do it here, the mission president tells everyone to prepare a talk every Sunday and then he announces who is speaking in the meeting, so you don't know if you're going to talk until after the meeting starts, and then your companion translates it for you. So, our topic we spoke on was our purpose as missionaries and I was actually really excited to talk. (Probably because it only needed to be five minutes) but I used a quote by Elder Holland that I love! He said; "I am convinced that missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation was never easy. This is the church of Jesus Christ, it is the truth, he is our great eternal head. How could we believe it would be easy for us when it was never easy for him?" I love this quote because it brings me so much comfort and it makes me want to work so much harder. As I was preparing my talk I realized something; all missionaries have the same purpose, we recite it every morning, But each individual missionary also has their own purpose, God knows exactly where each of his missionaries need to be and he has prepared people specifically for them. I know there are people out there that he has prepared to hear a message specifically from me and that is why I need to work so hard to be prepared and to follow the spirit so I can share that message with them.

I finished the Book of Mormon! I've never read it so fast before, it was a whole new experience! The MTC president challenged us all to read it cover to cover while we were here. I actually loved reading so much every day because it helped me understand so much more. The Book of Mormon is amazing, I would always start reading with a question in my heart and I always read exactly what I need to hear. This week we have had to speak Spanish all day every day and wow my brain is fried at the end of the day. But I have seen such an improvement in just one week. I still have ALOT of work to do but I never thought I could learn so much Spanish in just 6 weeks. So many blessings!

Yo se que Dios es nuestro padre celestial y jesucristo es su hijo. Jesucristo sufrió por todos los personas individualmente. Jesucristo es nuestro hermano y él nos sabe individualmente. Yo se que dios oye y él contesta nuestro oraciones. Esta es la evangelio de jesucristo. Me amo esta evangelio y me amo trabajar de missionario!

Os amo con todo mi Corazon!

Hermana Bangerter

FUNNY STORY: In class the other day I had a bunch of candies that I was going to give our investigator, but I didn't have a bag so I made a makeshift bag out of tissues and tape. Well Hermana Fausett had this genius idea to use her water bottle to hit it when I threw it at her. Well, I thought it sounded fun so I threw my makeshift tissue thing full of candy at her and she hit it perfectly and... it EXPLODED. Literally, everywhere hahaha!  It was so loud and it was the greatest pinata of all time. Hahaha! Well, probably not that funny to you but we just didn't really think it through and it ended up being so hilarious.

PS. I got my residency card today! I'm officially a resident of Spain!!!! 

1. Selfie 

2. Catholic church we went to last week 

3. Selfie with PURPLE building aw yeah 

4. Hermana Aase and Hermana Warburton 

5. JIMENA AND I OUTSIDE THE MTC

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One month in the mission field

Hola Everyone,

Can you believe I've been here for a month?? It's absolutely crazy to me how fast time flies! And I have less than two weeks left at the MTC! I'm going to miss this place and the sisters here that's for sure! But I love being a missionary and I can't wait to get to the field!

Big news! I scored a goal in soccer!!! Hahaha HUGE accomplishment I know. I'm pretty much a pro futbol player now no big deal. Jk it's actually kind of rough but I love it. 

Funny Story:

In a lesson with our investigator a few days ago, we were teaching the plan of salvation and I was trying to tell Juan, our investigator, that Heavenly Father has a body of flesh and bones but instead of bones I said nuts.  I said, Heavenly Father has a body of flesh and nuts. How’s that for the worst Spanish mess up ever.

So, I haven't really talked about our contacting in the park too much; let me just say I love it. The first few weeks were rough, we start a conversation with someone and I would have no idea what they were saying back to me. It was hard because I just want to be able to talk to them about their lives and about the church but I am so restricted. Well, this week before I went to the park I prayed so hard that I would be blessed with the gift of tongues. And let me tell you, God answers prayers! My Spanish definitely isn’t perfect and I wasn't able to say all that I wanted to say, but I understood so much of what others were saying and I was able to say what others needed to hear. We handed out two Books of Mormons and it was amazing. I was able to talk to them about their lives and talk about the Book of Mormon and how it has helped me in my life, when I told them they could keep the Book of Mormon, their faces just lit up. It was incredible. Something else I prayed for as I went to the park was that I would feel the love that God has for his children, I know that prayer was answered. As I went to the park I was fearless, we approached everyone we saw without questioning it and had many amazing conversations with so many amazing people. Because I felt God’s love for the people it made it so much easier to start a conversation and ask about their life and bring the gospel into the conversation. Going to the park every Saturday has become such a blessing and I know these experiences will help me when I get into the field!

So the Elder I told you about, Elder Mendez, with cerebral palsy, collapsed last week and had to spend the night in the hospital. He ended up going home yesterday. It broke my heart. He was so sad to be going home. But, he was definitely meant to come to the MTC and touch the hearts of so many missionaries here. It's incredible, even though he was in so much pain he wanted so badly to stay on his mission and serve the Lord, what an amazing example to all of us. His testimony strengthened mine and I'm sure it strengthened many other testimonies here. 

Well, I know you are all curious about the language...I have big news. Duolingo tells me that I'm 40% fluent in Espanol. Hahaha! probably not accurate at all but that's the shortest explanation I can give you all. It's definitely hard but I just have faith that if I keep studying and doing the best I can the Lord will help me out. 

Los amo a todos!

Hermana Bangerter

1. About a year ago Jimena and I took a picture with those exact dresses in the picture, how cool is that?

2. My comp and I 

3. Selfie with a statue. (Potato pics are life) 

4. Another selfie with a statue with my dad people 

5. I WAS IN THAT SAME SPOT A YEAR AGO WITH JIMENA AND FAMILY HOW COOL IS THAT

6. My district minus hermana Fausett 

Half way done with the MTC

Hola mi familia y amigos!

Feliz cuatro de julio! Literally, everyone at the MTC was wearing red white and blue on the fourth! It made my heart happy. I'm doing just great here in Spain! The language is hard, I definitely have my good days and my bad days. Everyday we speak only Spanish from 8-3 and it is helping a lot. The Spanish honestly comes the easiest when I'm teaching our investigators! The gift of tongues is real! The food here is fabulous. Gaining weight everyday lol jk…kinda. They pretty much fry all the food at the MTC so I'm definitely excited to get out into the real world and hopefully have a little better of a diet. 
 
Ok funny story for you all!
One of the girls in our room sleep talks. Like a lot. (Hermana Warburton) and a few nights ago she started screaming in her sleep saying, "HELP ME" hahaha terrifying right. Well, it woke everyone up in our room except for me thank goodness. But apparently, I started talking back to her in my sleep saying "don't worry, it's ok" and I kept talking until she calmed down. Everyone was so freaked out because we were literally talking to each other in our sleep. It was pretty hilarious. 

This week we got two new investigators. I love them both so much. Maria is from China and she's here studying science at a University in Madrid. And Juan is from Madrid, he was Catholic and he loves to study. As we've been teaching them it's been amazing to realize how the gift of tongues is so real. Many times, they ask questions and the words just come to my head. I have loved learning how to follow the spirit. There have been many instances where a scripture came to my head that was a perfect answer for an investigator. It's amazing how the spirit can guide you as a missionary. 

So, we have a rule in our district that we can only speak 5 English words an hour. And if you go over 5 words you have to do 5 pushups for every word. It's not only making my Spanish better but Its making my biceps stronger. Ahh yeah! Hahah.  I’ve had to do so many push ups though it's rough.

So, at the MTC you're only a sister training leader for 3 weeks. As of Tuesday, I'm not a sister training leader anymore. But just to show how amazing my district is, the other companionship of sisters in our district are now the sister training leaders. It's crazy how it was only three weeks but I learned so much from being a STL. I just have so much love for everyone here! And for the rest of my mission (and life) I know the mindset I need to have. If you look outward in all you do it's amazing the blessings that come of it. 

I love the Book of Mormon! And I love being able to study it every day. It is amazing! There is so much that the Book of Mormon teaches us! Literally, every time I read it I find a verse that is exactly what I needed to hear or it has been an answer to my prayers. I know that if you diligently read and study the scriptures it can be an answer to your prayers and a guidance in your life! This week I have really focused on joy as I've been studying. There are so many examples when prophets literally gave up everything they had for God. That is a big sacrifice. But every time a prophet or anyone in the scriptures for that matter served God, they were always filled with JOY. Men are that they might have joy, as we strive to keep God’s commandments we are promised blessings and joy. I know this is true! I also read "Joy and spiritual survival" by elder nelson. It's amazing. I would highly recommend it. 

We went to the temple last week and we were in a Portuguese session but we were able to listen to it in English and it was amazing! Today, when we went to the temple, we listened to it all completely in Spanish and it was really cool. I could understand a lot more than I thought I would be able to but at the same time I was able to feel the spirit a lot because I couldn't understand it all. It was amazing!  

Well I love being a missionary! This I where I'm meant to be and what I'm supposed to be doing! Love you all!

Love, Hermana Bangerter

Katie's picture commentary:

We went to la plaza del sol hoy. 

1. Greatest selfie of all time 

2. My comp and I looking as touristy as ever. It was raining all day today and it was amazing. There was a huge lightning strike right in the middle of the plaza and it was so cool 

3. Mirror pic with the huge tablet lol, the background scenery is amazing though 

4. So i think I remember going to plaza de sol last year and I remember that street, you'll have to ask Nicolle if that's where we went! 

5. Chocolate and churros YUMMY 

6. Just tryin to be artsy ya know  

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