I laugh the most when I'm desperately tired :)

Here is what's been going on here at the MTC:

The MTC sucks and rocks. I've never had more difficult times and I've never had more excitement or felt the spirit stronger. One of my teachers (Sister Winters who served her mission in Louisiana and is one of my biggest role models even though she's a girl because of how strong her testimony is and how much love she has for EVERYONE. She reminds me of how I think Emily will become :) Sister Winters is the only member in her family and when she chose to serve a mission her dad kicked her out of the house.) said that it's because of the lows we experience that the highs are possible.

The food is awful. Spencer wrote in a letter to me: "I would recommend eating an apple with every meal to 'stay regular' if ya na i'm sayin'..." 

So I'm in a threesome since Monday. Elder Christensen's companion Elder Williams went home to work on some unresolved issues and will be back out as soon as possible. i really like being in a threesome mostly because my two companions are SO awesome! We've had very few issues and we get along perfectly. We're all here for the right reasons and want to be the best missionaries EVER. We're going to be unstoppable in Tempe.

The best advice i've heard here is SMILE even when you don't want to. Believe me, I havent wanted to. I get sooooo tired here and I get grouchy. I'm learning to control it though so mostly I laugh the most when I'm desperately tired :) It helps a lot to laugh here. I have a ton of inside jokes with my companions which helps a lot :)

MOM. THANK YOU FOR THE PACKAGE AND ESPECIALLY THE PICTURES. It was so special and meant a lot. I have such a great family, I love you all SO much.

Funny stories: After working out, Me, Elder Tambo, and Elder Christensen took showers. (When you close the residence doors they lock themselves.) Elder Tambo was the last to leave the room and closed the door assuming either myself or elder Christensen had a key. Elder Christensen was the first to finish his shower so he went back to the room to find the door locked. He came back to the showers and asked if either of us had a key. We didn't. Instead of getting mad at Elder Tambo we laughed super hard. We were stuck in the hallway in nothing but our towels (luckily we all had one!) for about 45 minutes while some other missionaries ran to the front desk to get a key :)

Second story: Friday last week was the longest day of my life. I was so tired that to stay awake in class I kept a partial amount of water in my mouth so if I dozed off, my mouth would open and it would drip all over me. Anyways, when the day was FINALLY over and we got back to our residence hall, I threw my stuff all over my desk and yelled, "I'M GOING TO BED AND THERE ISN'T ANYTHING EITHER OF YOU CAN SAY THAT WILL STOP ME!!!" Right then Elder Tambo walked in from the bano and said, "Elders, we have to do companionship prayer!" I dropped on the floor and layed on the ground feeling really badly for myself and how hard my trial was. I asked my companions if it was okay if I prayed from my position on the ground which they agreed to so I said the prayer curled up on the floor. I still managed to make it heartfelt but I felt so very pathetic. I got to sleep immediately after though and all was well.

The gospel is true. Christ is our redeemer. Following his commandments WILL bring happiness and blessings WILL be poured out upon us. I know this because God has promised this and God doesn't lie and I believe in Him.

(a few hours later)

I can't seem to be able to send pictures from the MTC computers but I'll get them to you guys ASAP!!! I got a lot of pictures today :)

OH BTW, tomorrow since it's fast sunday there is a moring devotional with all the missionaries and I have the opportunity to say the opening prayer! There might be an apostle there!!! I'll let you know how that goes :)