Thursday, May 22, 2014

Last few days in the MTC

Hello everyone! So it turns out I have another P-day today to get everything packed and cleaned to prepare to leave tomorrow morning, so I get to share with you how my last couple of days have been here at the MTC! I seriously cannot believe I'm already leaving this place...I'm super excited but super nervous at the same time. I'm going out in the real world now with real people who I need to teach and bring to Christ...it's so nerve wracking!! Time really is going by so quickly. Anyways, Wednesday we started our VC training and got to go to Temple Square! It was so beautiful! We got a tour with some sisters serving there and took some pictures with the Christus (don't know how to spell that) and stuff. There were 3 other sisters with us that are serving at the Hill Cumorah VC. Then we came back here into a different classroom and sat in a desk and basically learned all that we've gone over already just more specifically for a VC. So we've gone over the "How to Begin Teaching" again and just applied it to a VC. Then we had TRC and had some "investigators" come in so we could practice "How to Begin Teaching" and share a little scripture with them or whatever we wanted to do. It's been interesting because before I thought that VCs were just to give tours in and share history...but I've really come to realize that our purpose in serving in a VC is exactly the same as a proselyting area. We still have to teach to the needs of the visitors and help EVERYONE come unto Christ whether they are members or not. It's been very cool! So after dinner, we went to what is called the "Referral Center" where we set up our accounts to chat with people online! AHH! It was really scary at first because I didn't know what I was doing, but it's so neat because people come to us who have questions and we sit and chat with them and answer their questions. We still chat as a companionship because we still need that second witness, and it's great when you don't know how to answer the question so we work together and come up with something. Some people just get on to Bible bash or argue, or ask inappropriate questions about oral sex and stuff which isn't the purpose of this online chat system, so sometimes we have to say that the purpose for it is to answer simple questions about our church. And sometimes they take it, or sometimes they're just rude. It's been a very interesting experience. We'll be getting on to chat with people a couple hours every day at the VC, so we had to get started and have some practice before we leave. We've also learned to take calls from people as well. People who are wanting a free Book of Mormon or mormon video... or if they just have some questions. We use headphones to talk to them on the computer. We'll be doing that at the VC as well. It's stinkin awesome! Yesterday started out pretty slow and frustrating, but then it ended so wonderfully! My companion and all the other sisters doing the VC training have been very negative lately. They think that role playing is pointless, and they're tired of sitting at a desk for hours and hours, and they feel like they're just learning the same stuff over again. I've had some of those feelings as well, but not nearly as much where I've wanted to complain and get angry with our teachers. I realize that what we've learned will really benefit us, so I've been trying to stay positive and just enjoy the time I have here... but their negative attitudes have been very difficult to deal with and it's been dragging me down. My companion since she's been so frustrated, hasn't wanted to study and she hasn't had any motivation to do much lately...so it's been like pulling teeth trying to have a good companion study. Yesterday we learned and talked about how to prepare a lesson for someone who we haven't met before because that's how it will be at the VC...we won't have any idea who's coming to the VC, so we have to prepare for people we've never met before and try and receive revelation for them. We then were told to prepare a lesson for our TRC investigator who we were going to be teaching later that night, so I said a prayer and started reading in Enos...I had the thought and inspiration to study and read about praying with faith and receiving personal revelation. I wasn't positive that that's what our lesson should be about, but I felt very confident that's what I needed to study and prepare for......

We then went to 1M which is the main building where the cafeteria is and there's a ton of beautiful pictures there, so we had to basically prepare a tour for our companion and share a scripture with them that went along with the paintings that we showed them and such...it went well and then our TRC investigators came to 1M and we had to kind of give them a lesson and a tour for a half an hour each. They each played as themselves which made it better so it didn't feel like we were just acting again. Our first TRC investigator was a 20 year old girl going to school at BYU and we started out by talking about our trials and how we don't have to stand alone and I shared Helaman 5:12 one of my favorite scriptures where it talks about how we can withstand all the storms that we face if we center our lives on the rock of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. She then asked why Sister Hodges and I decided to serve a mission...and she shared with us that she has been debating whether she should serve a mission herself or not...she suffers from depression and anxiety, so I shared a story about my friend who also suffers from the same thing and who had to postpone for a long time before he could leave on his mission. We discussed some other things, and then I had the thought to ask her when the last time was that she sincerely asked her Heavenly Father if she should serve a mission. She said it had been a while, so I invited her to do so...and basically long story short, I don't remember all that I had told her, but I know it wasn't all me. My Heavenly Father put words in my mouth and helped me say what this girl needed to hear. And what I had studied about prayer and personal revelation was just what she needed to hear about. It was such an amazing experience...and afterwards, this girl gave us this big hug and thanked us a million times and told us that she felt like we were best friends! It was such a neat experience! It was probably the best experience I've had since being here at the MTC. 
I'm so anxious to get started and really experience this at the Winter Quarters VC! I know this is where I'm supposed to be and this is the best decision I have ever made...Yes, I still feel very inadequate at time, but everyone should. We are all inadequate without the Lord's help...but with the Lord's help we can do anything! I love you all so much and hope you are doing well! Thank you so much for all your love and support! The next time you'll hear from me I will be in Nebraska! Woohoo! Take care!

Sister Ferrara :)



in the chat room - these headphones were how we received calls


at the Temple Square Visitor's Center

with our teacher


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