Leaving the MTC...

BILLINGS MONTANA! 

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. 

I am going with almost all the elders in our district, 2 elders from Sis. Evans and Sis. Mickelsens district, aaaaand two of the Sisters down the hall! So I won't be alone like almost everyone going everywhere else! Also we can all practice our Portuguese together! I leave the MTC on Monday morning, and my flight leaves at 3:13PM.  I am sooo incredibly stoked and I'm not even sure why? HA! My prayer last night was- God, I know if I get reassigned people need me wherever I am going. I promise I will work SO HARD, but please help me find them... in one transfer. One and done. HA! But I love this. I am so excited. I might need y'all to send me some more cardigans? I hear it is semi-chilly? 

Sister Cotton is going to Houston, Texas SOUTH. They are going to loooove her accent there! Sister Mickelsen is going to Nashville Tennessee! Sister White and Sister Evans got.... TUCSON ARIZONA! (Sister White opens hers and goes- Tuscan? <like Italy?> DYYYYING.) They are going to be in the heat while I'm in the cool Billings air. And they stop in PHX for an hour! I keep joking about you stopping by to see them! They are going to love Arizona so much! Sister Evans is obsessed with border wars and I've been filling their heads with exciting AZ facts! Their mission covers Safford! Sooooo if they get that area I've advised them to become besties with Aunt Connie!  Email me back and I'll check it later today! GET STOKED!!!!! The church in Billings is about to get HIT UPPPP! 

I may not get another P-Day until potentially the Monday after I arrive in BILLINGS MONTANA. Packing is maybe the worst thing in the world and after I get home from my mish I hope God blesses me for my service with a stable location for the rest of my life? tao bom.  Speaking of packing, this week has been straight CRAY. Alright bad transition I know, butttt one of our elders (Elder Turk) got released on Wednesday. It was sooo sad. He has had medical issues since day one and they had been deciding between reassigning him to the US permanently or sending him home. Well, his condition worsened this last week so they chose to send him home. It was a tragedy to see such an awesome missionary have to cut his time so short, but I know God has a plan for him and he'll have opportunities to serve in different capacities his entire life. 

Sister Hauet left this morning at 3:30AM and oh my goodness how did I ever stay up that late? Sister White needed a companion so one of us had to go with her. But then one of us couldn't stay in the residence alone. So we both had to go. THEN we gave in and woke up Sister Evans and Sister Mickelsen for hang out time. Moral here is... fiesta at 3:30 in the morning? AND Sis Evans, Mick, and White are all leaving Monday morning at 3:30AM again, so repeat? De novo? Plus crying? This'll be great.

Then when Sister Cotton drops me off Monday morning SHE'LL need a companion so we have to invite like half the floor to come say goodbye? It's like an extreme form of babysitting?  Oh, I totally forgot to tell you a hilarious story that happened on my first day. So the TSA checked my suitcase on the way to the MTC and when they shut it I guess they accidentally locked it? Well I had forgotten the code and it was 11PM and all I could remember was that it was the police code for if there is someone with a gun. So one of the sister training leaders took me to the front office where I watched helplessly an MTC staff member google it? Also, turns out there are different codes everywhere? So I sounded like a crazy? Awww first day memories.

I guess it is time to reflect on all my amazing times here. I will miss it so much. The things I've learned here have changed my life. I know more than ever that I am a daughter of God. That he loves me. That he wants me to return to live with him. I defended and fought for his plan in Heaven and I intend to do the same here. I am striving each day to become closer to Christ, and I know that we all have that same opportunity. I know Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus in a grove when he was 14. I know that he restored the true gospel to this earth. I know that he had a desire to know the truth and was answered, and if we sincerely desire to know the truth we can also receive an answer. We probably won't get a personal visitation, but we can receive a witness. I know this, and I am so thankful that I was blessed to be born into this gospel.