Week 2! (mtc)

Bonjour mon amies! My oh my, what a week it has been! I am just loving it here at the MTC. I'll probably say this every time but the spirit is just so strong here. I can't even believe it. Also time is such a weird thing here. They say the days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days... They're totally right! Sometimes I marvel at all of the things I accomplish in one day. It's all because of the spirit. So one of the coolest things that happened this week was on Tuesday, we got to hear from Elder Christofferson and his wife. They came here and broadcast it live to all of the other MTCs. I sang in the choir. There was something truly heavenly about being surrounded by 900 voices in unison. We sang Joseph Smith's first prayer. Anyway, elder Christofferson talked about a new thing the church is going to be pushing. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints will no longer support the word Mormon in the context of using it as a shortened way to say LDS. He told us that Heavenly father was not pleased at all that the name he gave to this church has not been used. He actually called us to repentance! I thought that that was absolutely incredible! He also said something that stood out to me: Mormon the prophet is heartbroken when we use his name instead of Christ's name. So the church is going to be discontinuing "I'm a Mormon" and "Mormon.org" anything that was meant to have Christ's name in it. He said, "It's an impossible feat to attempt to do this, but the Lord wants it done, so we're going to do it!" Wow right? My companion soeur Nelson and I have taught lessons to "investigators" (now they're calling them "friends of the church") all in French. Never in a million years would I ever expect that I could ever do that! But I truly do see so much growth in myself even in one day. I can understand and my sentences are becoming more substantial. It's truly incredible. Le don de langue (the gift of tongues) is so real. I had had quite a hard time the first week with the language, but I have a testimony that the Lord always blesses those who are on his errand with strength beyond their own. I am an example of that. I know that I still have a long way to go and i'm probably going to plateau a million more times, but to bring just one soul unto Christ makes it all worth is to me. Knowing my purpose as a missionary has made everything so much clearer. Every little thing I do is for the people I teach. I sleep so that I can be alert to teach them, I eat so that I can have the energy and strength to teach them. I struggle with learning this crazy language so that I can speak what they need to hear. It's ALL for them. The moment I opened my call, I felt a love for these people I haven't even met and that love hasn't decreased. In fact I have felt it grow so much. I hope that all is going well with all of you! Much love! Love, soeur Bates