Waiting for my Dear John Letter...

hey y'all !! it's already my second p day in the mtc and i've already missed the first email so we will see how well 18 months go 

shockingly, the Online MTC has been AMAZING. I honestly considered postponing my mission or even cancelling it due to "missing out on the experience" but I am SO happy that I didnt !! Sometimes you just have to suck it up and do the hard things and the Lord will compensate for your efforts. But in my opinion, you still get the full experience. The spirit is still so strong through technology and zoom!! I am extremely busy with studies, workshops, TRCS, and spending every minute with my district. My district has 8 elders and 4 sisters and we are quite the group. We honestly have so much fun because there are so many different personalities. One of the elders took it upon themselves to give us all food names too. Mine is Sister Lays Chips because of 'finLAYSon' and I thought that was super creative hahaha! My companion is Sister O'steen and she is amazing! She is from Roberts, ID and is also called to serve in the Canada Calgary Mission with me. 

but more importantly than all of this is the spirit that can be felt so strongly! It's amazing to be able to have the Holy Ghost as a constant companion and to learn by the spirit. Something I learned in a workshop this week was about 'Understanding Others'. During the lesson, they showed us pictures of people and asked us to share our observations. When they came across the photo of an Amish family traditionally dressed standing in front of one of our temples my initial thought was that they were just admiring or visiting our temple. But the story behind the picture is that the 'Amish family' are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They secretly met with missionaries because they would have been shunned by their community. The father read the Book of Mormon and knew that this church was true. He knew by following the Lord's will he would have to go through trials and tribulations, but followed in faith anyways. His family has been baptized but still follow the traditional clothing of the Amish out of respect for his extended family. This impressed me because I think about the sacrifices that many of us make, in order to have a relationship with God. I also wanted to point out that our quick observations can lead to incorrect assumptions. They encouraged each of us to look through God's loving eyes and see people's potential rather than current situation. 

and now you're all probably wondering about my subject lol !! but I have been so anxious and anticipating my 'Dear John letter' (as my mom calls it) from the church/Canada. My teachers have told me to expect a reassignment soon so I'm just patiently waiting for that moment of heartache haha but I know wherever I am sent I am happy to serve the Lord.  

anyways you all have an amazing week !! 

love sister fin <3