Bonjour Tout le Monde! It's hard to believe that it's almost been a month. Days pass by slow, but the weeks pass by very fast. The native French speaking district joined our zone and it is a blast to have them around... There are two sisters from New Caledonia who basically laugh at every French word we say (but it's really because they love us so much).


Sister Liz Watkins joined our district and is in a trio with Soeur Kiwa and Soeur Cromar, so we now have 5 roommates in our little bedroom. Together, she and Sister Cromar are little bundles of crazy and it makes the long days in the classroom pass by more quickly.

So one of my favorite things about the MTC are the Relief Society, Sunday Night, and Tuesday Nights devotionals. Every speaker gets you really motivated about being a good person and being a good missionary. It's also cool because Sacrament Meeting talks and District Meeting talks usually correlate with the devotional subjects. From the devotional this past Sunday about pioneers something really stood out to me so that's kind of what I want to write this email about today.

"I Believe in Miracles"

I want to testify that miracles truly do happen. It seems surreal to hear the stories of the pioneers where food would appear on the trail or souls who had frozen in the night would come back to life the next morning or feet frozen with frostbite that would be completely healed instead of amputated. Sometimes it's hard to believe in miracles, but that doesn't mean they don't still happen.

I want to tell of miracles here in the MTC...There are missionaries in my district who didn't know any French when they came, now it's the fourth week and they are teaching full lessons in the language. They learning grammar concepts that in school, you don't learn until you are a fifth or sixth year student... And they are learning them in one three hour lesson. Not only that, but next week, they are preparing to learn a second language. The MTC is a miracle.

This week we were asked by our district leader to write in our journals from where we draw strength and I want to share that today. And perhaps you too can think of where you draw strength from.

"I draw strength from my parents, from their testimonies of the gospel, of eternal marriage, and the importance of families. I draw strength from their examples of long-suffering endurance and love.


I also draw strength from my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I learned today about the Atonement. When you give a gift to someone, you desire for them to love it and to use it. Christ's Atonement is a gift. He wants us to use it. It's not here to sit in the closet and gather dust, but to be used every single day. I draw strength from the Atonement and from the example of Jesus Christ. He did every hard thing known to every man, with His help, I can do hard things too. During companion study, Sister Stastny shared this and I love it... Jesus Christ already suffered for my sins, He already felt my sadness and pain and guilt. He already sorrowed... It is now time for me to bring Him joy. It brings Him joy when we repent, when we turn our hearts to Him, when we use the gift He gave His life for. It makes Him happy when we use His Atonement."

I know we need Jesus Christ in our lives, I know it. And I hope all of us will choose to invite Him in and let Him take away our sorrow because it makes Him so happy when we do.

XOXO Soeur Spackman