It has been super busy here in the MTC sorry for not sending any mail.. I have them written and in an envelope I just haven't had time to get stamps. To start off I love my sister missionaries they are so great!! There are six of us in a room and my sister missionaries are great!

The sisters in my district are Stone, Simmons, Nielsen and I. The Elders are Carter, Lane, Ramirez, Labrum, Mcfarland, Payne, and Staveley. We have such a great group we get along very well. Sometimes there are some anger management issues in our class but so far nothing too serious. My companion is sister Nielsen and she is pretty great! She loves to talk and laugh and sing, and then there is me and I'm all quiet trying to understand what she just said. Anywho, the very first day I got to the MTC during lunch I ran into Cindy!! I was like yess!!! I wasn't expecting to see anybody I knew the enitre time I was here but I have seen several people. I have also seen Elder Frampton and he seems to be doing great, he is smiling and laughing every time I see him in the cafeteria. On the first day after lunch we got to go and be part of a group investigator meeting. It was a real eye opener of what kind of questions and stuff we were going to run into as we go out into the field. It was kind of uncomfortable at first because no one knew what to say or do, but eventually we became comfortable and started asking questions and answering their questions.

My roommates are pretty awesome they are soo funny! they are all younger than I am but that isn't saying much. they are all 19 and I am 20.

On July 4th was probably one of the craziest days I have had yet at the MTC. We got up at 6 to be at gym time by 6:20. We went into a small room where there were a bunch of Oliptical walker things and a bunch of weights. I discovered that I hate olipiticals and they hurt my thighs if I walk on them for 45 min. After gym we only had 30 min to get ready and head to class so it was super stressful trying to take a shower and get all ready and be on time to class but everything worked out just fine except for my hair... it basically stayed in a fro.

Our zone here in the MTC has been pretty amazing. The first people we met from the leadership was Sister Vail'lala and Adair. They are the sweetest people ever! They are headed to DC today and we are going to miss them very much. but they were very accepting and wanted everyone to get to know each other that was their challenge. so we so far have eaten breakfast, lunch, and dinner as a zone every single day! It was so great to hear their testimonies and to laugh and have fun together. Another thing that happened on July 4th was that sister Despain came in (she is an elderly woman) and she asked to speak with me. We had, the day before, done a survey kind of thing and she was following up on it. I was a little worried for a second that something was wrong and I forgot to do something before I got to the MTC. but she was just wondering if me an my companion Sister Nielsen would like to do a class to help us understand and read the book of mormon better. The classes were so amazing they helped me open my eyes to the different things we could get out fo the Book of Mormon and the Bible. I have learned so much from her little classes with us and I am so grateful that I had that opportunity to get to participate in that class. I feel more confident in the way I study for things now.

After talking with her about participating in classes we went to a small workshop where we discussed the importance of seeing people the way God would see them. by truly getting to know them and trying to understand their life stories and become connected with them. They said it was important to get to know the people, because we are not going on a mission for ourselves we are going on a mission for the people. They told us to be mindful as we went through our missions for the blessings we have and how they will affect us. the first thing that popped into my mind was during lunch and how it was helped paid for by the tithe payers of the church. I have also felt the blessing for myself from other people. My family is supporting me on my mission. The Braithwaite side is helping me. so many people are helping me on my mission and I am so grateful, I never realized how blessed i am to have so many people looking out for me and providing a way for me to accomplish all that is needed for me. I know that as I serve a mission that my family will also receive blessing.

After Lunch (this is still July 4th) we had class with Sister Kahawaii and she is so amazing! she had us express how we were feeling right at that moment on our second day at the MTC and how these feelings could be related to our future investigators and how they would feel after hearing the gospel. I never realized how overwhelming and frightening that it could be. Anywho, after that she went over the Fundamentals of being on a mission. she also had explained to us how it was decision on what kind of missionary we were going to be. we are supposed to move from doing what a missionary would do. to becoming/ being a missionary. doing -> beocoming. she said it was up to us to fill in the blank: [________] Missionary. It really made me think about how I was going to become the missionary I wanted to be, and there are so many things that I need to work on but I know that the Lord is on my side and will make all things possible for me.

After class we had dinner and then headed strait for the fourth of July Fireside. It was called the Independence fireside. In every Fireside/ Devotional we sing several songs before it even starts and it helped me realize how much music can bring the spirit to a room. For the fireside we got to watch "17 Miracles". It was an amazing movie. I loved it. I have never really cried during a movie, but I felt the spirit so strongly that my emotions got the best of me. It helped me realize the faithfulness of the saints and how we may be put down by others but we have to keep moving and not be discouraged and continue loving the Lord.

After watching 17 Miracles we went outside and "watched" the fireworks. I say "watched" because we couldn't really see them. We were watching them through trees and basically could only hear the sounds of the fireworks going off. We got to stay up till 11 which I thought was great! until the next day haha.

July 5th.

Sister Nielsen and I got to teach our first "Investigator" it was really our teacher Brother Makahilahila but we called him 'Ryan'. He is a pretty relaxed guy and doesn't really know where he is going in life. I'm not going to lie our first lesson with him went pretty terrible. We explained prayer pretty well but... then we asked him a little too soon if he would pray. he was a little weirded out and was like "what??" Yeah it went pretty bad. But the Second lesson went much better. it was the next day and we got to talk to him about the restoration fo the Gospel and he seemed pretty accepting of it.The Third time was even Better!! We talked about the Book of Mormon and he said he would read it!! Sister Nielsen and I were both excited! We will be teaching him again on Friday. During class on the 5th was pretty tense... there was a lot of anger. Elder Lane seems to be having some problems controlling his anger and it made everyone super uncomfortable, and we can still feel the discomfort in the room everytime we go to class. but the first thing that popped into my head was a quote after he kinda exploded in class: "People will make you mad, disrespect you and treat you bad. Let God deal with the things they do, because hate in your heart will consume you too. "
I felt kind of down the rest of the day until personal exercise time. we have a sister in our room who was an MMA fighter, Sister Johnson, She is pretty legit. Anywho she led us in our workout and it was pretty intense. My Thighs burrrrnnned!! and we got a lot of laughs out of how ridiculous we looked trying to do everything she could do.

All of my MTC roommates are amazing individuals. I can just see the Light basically radiating from them. They are basically angels... besides their weird sense of humor haha. They can be kind of silly at times. but they are a huge example to me. We Pray and read our scriptures together, and it has really helped build my testimony and trust in them and the Lord.

Time is running short! and I still haven't written everything but I will try and write more later. I don't have another P-day till I am out in the field.... so yeah. I leave July 16th at 3 in the morning and I will probably call home during our layover... I'm not really sure when that will be. I will try and send a Letter.

I Love you all, and I am praying for you! Be good! I love you!!!!

 

-Sister Karen Call

Sent July 10, 2013 from MTC