Week 5

Hello,

So my new roommates are great. So total in my room are 6. Hermana Marshall and I. Hermana Smith (from Georgia going to Salt Lake Spanish) and Hermana Chevalier (from Montana going to Riverside, CA Spanish), and then Sora Komar (from Russia/Washington State (both her parents died in Russia she was in an orphanage for 3 years and then a family from Washington adopted her and brought her to the states, introduced her to the church-she got baptized went to BYU-I and is now on a mission) going to Romania!) and Sora Sam (from Sacramento area, CA going to Romania). They are great girls. And we love sharing clothes.

So on Saturday we do the TRC-Teaching Resource Center where people come and to the MTC and volunteer to be taught. Hermana Marshall and I taught this one lady from Peru. Her accent and Spanish was beautiful I could listen to her forever. We had the sweetest experience. We were talking to her about the importance of scriptures in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We told her about the opportunity we have to receive revelation through our scripture reading. Some things led to another and she shared with us a very special experience about how the missionaries found her family. How she wanted to be baptized for the longest time growing up. Her dad asked her what she wanted for her quincienera (15th bday-super huge celebration for the girls in Latino cultures) and she said the only thing she wanted was to be baptized into the Mormon church. Her dad finally let her. She then had a desire later in life to serve a mission. She approached her dad and he finally let her...she served in another part of Peru. She was in Utah at BYU. Her dad came and visited her, saw how happy she was. Finally accepted the discussions and got baptized!! She was crying when she was telling us. It was so precious and so incredible to hear about it.

So then we went into our next appointment and it was way good....this week's speakers were really good on Sunday and Tuesday night. The choir song on Tuesday night was great. We sang "Be Still My Soul." One of my favorite songs.

Yesterday we went to a workshop where we usually just sit in a bigger room and watch video clips of General Conference addresses and other things. But Hermana Marshall and I were pulled out of the classroom and were asked to teach an investigator the first lesson in Spanish.

Her name was Andrea. She was from Mexico.We were pretending we were in California. The Spirit was so strong. My companion and I were blessed with the gift of tongues...I honestly believe that....and the gift of interpretation of tongues. Andrea was speaking so fast....somehow those slurring of words meant something that I could understand. 45 minutes later we came out of the room overflowing with the Spirit and gratitude and excitement for our callings as missionaries of the Lord. When I recited the First Vision to Andrea...I struggled remembering it at first...but then the words of the account came easily out of my mouth. I paused at the right moments. My voice was shaking, my heart was pounding. I was sharing this beautiful experience in a different language other than my own. I was sharing it by memory. It was the MOST INCREDIBLE THING EVER.

I know with all my heart that this is where I am supposed to be and that the "Lord is always in the details" (from a devotional talk). I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that he restored Christ's true church on the earth today and that we have the fullness of his gospel. INCREDIBLE.

Love,

Hermana Laura Johnson