Week 5 of the Missionary Training Center November 19, 2016

Sorry for the lack of email last week! There has been so much going on here at the MTC!!! I only have 3 more days until I head out to Calgary so these last few days have been jam packed with tons of studying and activities! We had in field orientation on Friday which was probably the longest meeting of my life. 9 hours of sitting and talking. But now that's over so I can head into the field!! Yay! Can't wait! Oh also we had the amazing opportunity to hear from Gary E. Stephensen on tuesday at our devotional! He talked about gratitude for the gospel and boldly inviting others to come unto Christ. The spirit was so strong as we all sang called to serve to an apostle of the Lord! Other random things that happened this week: -It was elder rencher's birthday on thursday so we had a big celebration in class! Highlight of my week! -Last class with our two teachers! gonna miss them tons! Running out of time to email but next time you hear from me I will be in Canada!!!!

Love you all!

Hermana Thorstenson

If you would like to email or write to me, my contact information is below:

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Hermana Rachel Thorstenson

Canada Calgary Mission

7044 Farrell Rd. SE

Calgary AB T@H OT2

Canada

Email Address

rachel.thorstenson@myldsmail.net

Week 4 of the Missionary Training Center November 5, 2016

Well this week has just flown by! So much has happened this week so I'll just give a few highlights! Tuesday was probably the best day ever because the president of the quorum of the twelve apostles, Russell M. Nelson came to speak at our devotional! It was seriously the best! His wife started off by asking the question "What do we know that the rest of the world doesn't know?" Let me tell you, within 10 seconds I had a list in my head about a mile long! There are so many gospel principles that others are missing and it is out job as missionaries to bring the truth to everyone! Also, I was singing in a choir of over 1000 missionaries and we preformed the song "Praise to the man" IT WAS INCREDIBLE! President Nelson told us that "millions shall know brother joseph again" because of our work as missionaries! So crazy to think about it that way. Another thing that he said that was interesting was that God has 3 divine objectives 1. Gather scattered Israel 2. Seal those families in temples 3. Prepare the world for the second coming. He also mentioned that God has quickened his pace and we are expected to maintain that pace. Finally one thing that I loved was when President Nelson said that the evidence of our missionary work will be when the 2nd and 3rd generations of our converts are endowed and sealed in the temples. Our work will bless the lives of so many people to come! I'm so excited to be a missionary! Ok another highlight was being able to host some of the new missionaries who came in this week! Our district was assigned to some international missionaries and I ended up helping 2 girls from Hong Kong. They arrived at the MTC with hardly a carry on sized bag but they were ready to serve! I helped them check in and go to doctors appointments and all sorts of stuff! But the best part was going to the missionary assistance office. I had no idea about this place but we showed up and these ladies went through these huge lists of items with the girls and made sure that they had everything they needed from shampoo to running shoes. It was honestly such an incredible and humbling experience. I sat next to an elder from Taiwan who is headed to my mission for a while and chatted with him the best I could. I wish you all could have seen his face light up as they brought out a brand new winter coat for him and he just looked in aw and asked "Is this for me? I can keep it?" It was so sweet. Then he asked the worker for her name and explained the best he could in his broken english that he would write about her in his journal that night and what a blessing she was. I had to hold back the tears as I watched all these missionaries from across the world stand there receiving baskets of items they needed for their missions! Missionary work is the best and I know that the Lord watches out for all of his missionaries! On a funny note, I ate some spicy Korean ramen noodles as a dare from an elder and I don't think I've ever been in so much pain in my entire life! There were like 20 different kind of peppers in there and I wanted to cry but I held back the tears. I haven't been able to taste anything for days. Well I don't have much time left to email but I know the church is true and I am so incredibly grateful to be a part of God's work! Love you all! -Hermanita Thorstenson