Made it to the MTC

Hi all,

I have been at the missionary training center for 6 days now though it feels like I've been here for longer than that. All my flights getting to Utah went smoothly. It has been an adjustment living here at the MTC though. They waste no time in getting us started. After dropping off my luggage in my room and getting my name tag, I had class right off the bat. There is not a single minute of the day that is not planned; we are always doing something which is exhausting but good at the same time.

My companion's name is Sister Swinson. She is from Lehi, Utah. We make each other laugh all the time. It's different adjusting to having another person with me 24/7 but so far I'm doing okay with that haha. 

I absolutely love every person in my district. A district is a group of missionaries. There are 10 Elders and 4 Sisters. It's crazy how fast you build relationships with people when you see them all day every day. We are like one big family which is great because we support each other and study together and have fun.

My favorite part of the MTC so far has been studying the scriptures with my district and the Sunday night devotional. The head of all the MTC's (there are 11 around the world) spoke to us about how missions are life changing experiences. 

One thing I was not expecting to do in the MTC was teach actual lessons but I've been doing a lot of that! They have people pretend to be investigators of the church so we can learn what it will be like to teach lessons in the mission field. I'm slowly gaining confidence in teaching gospel principles and it's incredible the improvement in just a week. Cannot wait to see what the next two weeks bring! 

My favorite scripture verse from this week is 3 Nephi 18:24 - "Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do. Behold ye see that I have prayed unto the Father, and ye all have witnessed." From this verse I learn that the most important thing I can do on my mission is be a light to the people I meet. Yes, sometimes I will say the wrong thing but ultimately sharing with people that God loves them and that through Christ there is hope is the most important. 

If there is anything specific people would like to hear about, feel free to let me know! 

Talk to you next week!

Love,

Sister Chilson

Sister Chilson's District

 The sisters in Sister Chilson's District

Sister Chilson and her companion