Livin' on a prayer

🎶Ooooo I'm halfway there... with my MTC experience haha 😉 Which in reality is really sad because I LOVE it here! I am continuing to learn sooooo much and grow closer and closer to Jesus Christ. Alright enough with my lame attempts at humor😂 I feel like things that I would have found only moderately funny before the mission are now suddenly hilarious to me for some reason... maybe I just don't get as much humor in my days haha.

Pretty view from near the building we teach in at the MTC

I love to see the temple in the distance.
This is the view from near our classroom.

Beautiful sunset out the window of our classroom! We usually have class in here for about 6 hours each day.

Well, WOW!! Conference was SO uplifting and inspiring. I was able to receive so many answers to questions. My fav session on Saturday was the first session. I'm definitely going to have to go back and reread John Pingree Jr's and Elder Holland's talks. God is mindful of each of His children, and He has a specific plan for each of us. Before we came to earth we were given specific assignments for our life on earth in order to further God's work. EVERY assignment is so important! As we rely on God, He will help us fulfill our assignments:) I LOVE what Elder Holland said about striving for steady improvement, not toxic perfection. We will not ever be able to earn perfection, but it will be a gift. Let Christ's commandment for us to be perfect inspire you, rather than make you discouraged! Just keep trying:) Oh yeah, and when it was announced that Elder Holland would be the next speaker, there was a collective sigh of love/excitement throughout the entire missionary audience hahaha. He's a fav among many;) I love that everyone can come to conference with different questions, yet the spirit is able to answer them ALL personally, meaningfully, and repeatedly. One of my favorite talks from Sunday's conference sessions was Elder Callister's. It was SO GOOD, and something I really needed to hear. I already had a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon, but it was neat to hear an academic perspective too. The Book of Mormon is the word of God! I know it! Joseph Smith was called by God to be the prophet of the Restoration.

Sister Arnold's mom sent homemade CINNAMON ROLLS in the mail (it's a family tradition for them to have cinnamon rolls at conference) and she shared them and they were delicious😍

Conference Cinnamon Rolls--I like this tradition! :) 

I love John 14:26 and how it talks about the spirit bringing things to our remembrance. Last week in one of my classes or a devotional or something (it all blends together in my head haha) someone shared an analogy about filling your "spiritual well." Each of us has a spiritual well. When we prayerfully study and ponder the scriptures and do other things to increase spiritual knowledge and testimony we are gradually filling up our spiritual well with water (knowledge/truth). The Holy Ghost is the bucket that goes down in the well and brings up water to us. The only way He will be able to bring water up to us is if there is actually water in the well! It's our job to fill it up. We need to fill up our spiritual wells FIRST, before the Holy Ghost can bring anything to our remembrance. Obtain His word first and THEN declare it (D&C 11:21). I thought you would all enjoy this analogy, especially Colby:)

Philippians 4:7 peace that passeth all understanding. See footnote.

The first Sunday session of conference was so good!!! There were a few things that repeatedly stuck out to me. They were to 1) center your life on Jesus Christ, and do that by 2) having faith, hope, and charity (**fill your life with service**). It was a very uplifting session that increased my hope and brightened my perspective. I need to do all I can to focus on OTHERS! This is one HUGE thing I've learned on my mission. Before my mission, a big reason I wanted to serve was for the things I would learn, how I would change, and the things that would benefit me. But really the reason you serve a mission should not involve yourself. You have to forget yourself and get to work! As you focus on serving and loving others, a natural product of doing that is blessings in your own life (but those blessings only come when you aren't seeking them, if that makes sense). So moral of the story, focus on others. You will be blessed in more ways than you can comprehend by doing so! It's been cool to shift my mentality from myself to others, and to see the joy and love that have come even more abundantly into my life from doing so. It's incredible!!!!!

Elder Wilcox showed me his fav pic of Christ. It's called Worlds without end, painted by Greg Olson. It is such a neat picture! It's a good one to ponder.

A few things I didn't get to share last week were: what it's like having a comp 24/7... well to be honest it's been kind of nice! It is an adjustment, but it wasn't as hard as I thought it might be haha. You always have a buddy to go places with and to talk to. It helped me in the transition to have my district sisters, and my comp by my side always. Bathroom, shower, study, and journal time are very nice independent time though:) and here at the MTC you can do whatever you want at the gym during exercise time as long as you and your comp are both in the gym somewhere. So that has been a blessing that I can workout on my own, and do any workout I want.

One thing I learned this week that I LOVE: How to know when you are a successful missionary? Elder Bednar says "the way you know is when you quit worrying about it." Something God taught me today was what to do when I feel overwhelmed (when I feel like I need to be doing more and more bc I can always always always to better... which is true but I need to not run faster than I have strength). Elder Bednar's advice to quit worrying about it helped me a lot. Sis Oscarson also talked about trusting in the Lord during her Tues night devotional here at the MTC. I am an instrument in God's hands. I simply need to decide each day to give this work my all! Take things one day at a time:)

District Sisters ready for instruction!

Everything in the gospel is so related:) I was reminded that I need to humble myself and testify more in general. When we testify, we are being humble enough to let the Holy Spirit be the teacher. He is the one that converts.

A highlight from this week was teaching one of our new investigators, Karissa. She was asking how to know if a feeling is an answer from God or just your own thought. I explained a few things, one of which was that my dad always taught me that the Holy Ghost is consistent. She found that very helpful.

A huge highlight of today (and this week really!) was having the opportunity to bear my testimony to a group of yound women from Mapleton. Sister Taufa and I were walking to the bathroom during a short break from class, and Sister Gilbert (wife of 1st counselor of MTC) asked us to bear our testimonies. It was an amazing, spirit-filled experience. It was neat because I didn't have any preparation time to collect my thoughts or think of specific things to say, so I just bore a simple testimony that Jesus Christ is our Savior, we can come closer to God by following the precepts in the Book of Mormon than by any other book, and that we have a living prophet. It was such a cool moment for me to be the missionary standing before so many young women bearing my testimony! I hope something I said touched at least one girl's heart. (There were probably 30 yw!) Sister Taufa also bore her testimony on the Atonement. It was so powerful, holy cow. I love being a missionary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've heard and felt over and over that I need to: Trust in the Lord. Be humble. Work hard. Love others. Become as He is. You can change!! But you can't do it alone. You can change your thoughts and actions, but The Lord is the only one with the power to change our very nature, our disposition, our desires. That is why we NEED Him. Trust Him.

We got to go to the temple this morning! Lorene sent family names in the mail last week, so a few people in my district were able to do some of those.

We also got to attend a broadcast of Elder Hales' funeral. He seems like such a loyal servant to family and God. I desire to be a greater friend to the Savior.

I've been studying alma 32 a lot lately. Such a good chapter!!!! We use it in a lot of our lessons with investigators.

I KNOW this Church is true! God loves each of us individually, and He desires for us to return to live with Him someday!

Keep letting your light shine!

Love, Sister Flake :)

I LOVE this sign... I've been searching ever since I got to the MTC in hopes of finding it! I know that God cares about and loves EVERY single person individually! If that doesn't make you feel special then idk what will! 

Love you guys! I miss you and pray for you by name every single morning and night. I am soooo thankful for each of you. I've got the best family in the world❤

Map with Nathan! We both fly to our missions on the same day :) I love seeing him all the time.

Most of district, pointing to where they'll be serving

Elder Wilcox's younger siblings made each of us a goody bag! Made my day :)

(contents of my goody bag) :) :)

We planned our pday out and guess what I am so excited for?!?!!
I get a NAP today! Wooohooooo!!!!

I bought a mini set of scriptures woohoo!!!!!! they are ADORABLE!!!! and super light and small:))) 

My companion's hair is so long! Yes, I braided it :)

I've seen so many people I know here at the MTC--from Centerville, USU, and even MN! So fun!

Mandy (Centerville)

Micah (Centerville)

Tanner and Parker (MN)

Miranda (Utah club gymnastics)

Pictures of the murals I talked about in last week's emails...

There are beautiful pictures of Jesus Christ everywhere. I love it! It is a constant reminder of who I am on a mission for.

 

Here's my zone! I've really come to love them.

I see Nathan everywhere it seems like! Here's a pic of us in front of the Brother of Jared mural.

This is my absolute FAVORITE picture of Christ that I have seen so far at the MTC. You can't see it very well, but Jesus has a tear streaming down his cheek. I know that the Savior loves us each individually... and He loves us SO MUCH<3