MTC Week 6

My second, Last P-day in America!!

It has been a rather interesting week. Wednesday was great! We hung out with the Anziani in our district and wrote letters. It was fun to spend time with them, they are a lot of fun.

Friday is where things start to go a little crazy! Friday was infield orientation, so all the  people who left this week went. It was good. We learned some about what to expect when we enter the mission field and about how to be effective missionaries. There were a lot of work shops which were actually rather fun. In field orientation went from 8:30 am - 5:30 p.m It was really long! At dinner Sorella Sharp and I were called to the front desk. When we got there we were told to go to the travel office.  Both of our VISTA's were running a few days behind, and because Monday was a holiday they would not be here in time for us to leave Tuesday morning. They believe they will becoming with in the week so they didn't want to reassign us. So we get to hang out here for a few extra days. It was hard, but I was grateful we would get to stay together. We were told to go and inform our parents. When we went to use our email, it was down. So we had to go and inform the IT department. They told us this has been happening a lot and the took our names down and told us to borrow someone else's email for the time being. We did, and if you could not tell our email works again!!! Yay!!!!! Later that night I asked on of the Anziani for a blessing. It was wonderful, it brought me peace and calm. I knew that there was a reason I would not be leaving Tuesday even though I did not know why.

Saturday was great. Our classes were wonderful. Two of our three teachers were out of town so we had a substitute for part of the day. She was a lot of fun. We informed our one normal teacher that we would be here Tuesday, and she arranged it so that our regular teacher would come!

Sunday was splendid. All of our lessons seemed to be exactly what I needed. The fireside was on how a mission is difficult but all is well. Our district sang in sacrament. We sang Praise the Man. It was beautiful! He talked about how we learn and grow on a mission and about how we learn to overcome our trials on our mission. It was really uplifting. Our branch presidency told us to be prepared to leave on Tuesday, just in case something happened.We finished packing that night. Monday morning we did our laundry and emailed home just in case. We had our last lessons with our "investigators." They both went really well! By dinner time it was apparent that we would not be Tuesday morning. It was really hard to have to say good-bye to the ones in our district. Both Sorella Sharp and I received blessings. We both felt good about staying, even though it was hard to watch everyone else go.

Tuesday was AMAZING!!!!!!! Our teachers came and we had class like normal. It was so cool, because it was completely focused on the specific needs of Sorella Sharp and I. I feel like I learned so much!! Our teachers have such great testimonies! They gave up their day off to come and teach us. I am so grateful! I think I might have gone crazy without a teacher. I really love my teachers! We were told to check the travel office at lunch time. Our VISTA's still had not arrived yet. One of the members of the branch presidency had called to check during his lunch time to see if they had come yet too! We were actually in the office when he called!!! It is so nice to know that they watch out for us. Do you want to know what the best part was? Guess who talked at the devotional last night? It was...wait for it...

ELDER HOLLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was SO AMAZING!! His talk was wonderful. He began his talk having is grand daughter come up and bear her testimony. She just got home from her mission. She served in Milan Italy! That was really wonderful. His talk had four major sections.

The first section was about having our own personal conversion on our mission. I found it interesting that he used the word conviction more that he used the word conversion. Most of what he said in that section are only missionary applicable but he did say one thing on personal conversion that I would like to share. He said "You are God's investigator!" this goes for everyone. He wants each of us to continually be more converted.

The second topic was obedience. He told us that obedience is the first law in almost everything. He told us that he dislikes having to talk about obedience, because we sent in a letter accepting our mission call, accepting to do what ever the Lord would have us do. In order to do this we must be obedient. The only reason he talked about obedience is because we need it to have the third thing he talked about.

The third thing was, Preach my Gospel by the Spirit. This was the main topic of the devotional. Everything else he talked about was centered around the need for the Spirit of the Lord. In order to have the Spirit we must be obedient and we must be converted. He talked on how missionary work CANNOT succeed without the Spirit of the Lord.

The fourth thing that was discussed was opening our mouth. He said " The truth, to be the Truth must be spoke." We have to open our mouth and talk, that is the only way others will know the truth. Satan does not have power to kill us, but the next best think he has is the ability to shut your mouth. He does not normally bind our tongue like he did with Joseph Smith, instead he places doubt and fear in our mind. Because of our doubt and fear, we bind our own tongue. Elder Holland told us "Do NOT bind your tongue, if you do this Satan Wins!" He closed by telling us we are sent with the same message as Apostles.

 It was such a spectacular talk!!! I am so grateful I could hear it.

One of the members of our branch presidency came and did devotional review with us last night. (the same one who called the travel office.) They are such wonderful people. I am so grateful for all the amazing people Heavenly Father has placed in my life.

At the end of devotional review President Sell gave Sorella Sharp a blessing, he asked me if I wanted one as well, I did. These past few days my testimony and gratitude toward Priesthood, and Priesthood blessings has grow so much.

My challenge for you all this week is to look for the blessings in your life. Especially on the hard days, and during even the smallest of trials. This week has been challenging, but I have seen so many blessings in my life this week.

I love you all,

Sorella Victoria Pinnegar

Victoria and her companion are waiting for their visas to go through. We will post her address in Italy within the next week!

Link to MTC Devotional - May 26, 2015

MTC Week 5

!!!!!! My last P-day in America !!!!!

This week has been a good week, but a sad week. Sister Hadfield and the Germans left yesterday morning early. It was our last week with them. We had a lot of fun spending time with the Germans! We spent all day with them and just had a lot of fun! We were so busy! We spent all week signing there Juice Boxes (bye books). On their last day we went and sang God be With You Till We Meet Again in Italian!  We also hung out with them for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner! We didn't get a lot of sleep Monday night because we were helping Sister Hadfield finish getting ready. We woke up at 3 in the morning to say good-bye to the Elders going to Berlin, and then we had to say good-bye to Sister Hadfield. We had a half an hour between when the Berliners left and when she left so we stayed up and had a little good bye devotional. We were really tired yesterday!

The three of us on Sister Hadfield's last P-day.

I have such great Anziani in our district. It has been wonderful to get to know them all! They made sure that we were doing okay all day yesterday! We definitely got placed with the best Anziani in the Zone.

It is my last week at the MTC!!!!! We got our flight itinerary on Friday! Everything is finally starting to sink in. It is a bit nerve racking. It is difficult because that means that I am going to have to say good-bye to all of the friends I have made here! I am excited to leave but don't always feel like I am as prepared as I should be. I know that the Lord will help me with my struggles. I have a great companion and wonderful Anziani that are willing to help in any way they can.

Sorella Sharp

I love my Companion. I am so grateful that I was given such a wonderful companion. It has been such a blessing to have my first companion be someone who I get along with. Both Sorella Sharp and Sister Hadfield have been amazing! It is wonderful to see there testimonies and to see how much they have helped me to grow over the past five weeks!

On Sunday we watched the Characters of Christ again. It is such an inspirational talk. I learned something completely different from it than I did last time. I think that shows just how much I have grown in the past few weeks since I last saw it! This time I learned about the importance of being truly converted to the Lord and about the difference between a Testimony and being Converted. In it He defines what Character is. It is Moral qualities constantly lived, Strongly developed, and Strikingly displayed. That made me thing about what my character is and what I need to change to align my character with Christs. I know that as we align our character with that of Christ's that we will be converted unto the Lord. What do we need to do to have a Christ like character?

Yesterday President and Sister Soares talked to us. Sister Soares talked on how we will face challenges and changes on our missions and how a mission is the best place to learn how to over come our trials. Her husband President Soares talked a lot about obedience and how important it is to be obedient. He taught that in order to truly represent Christ we must do as He did. He was always obedient to the will of the Father and we must strive to do the same. My favorite thing that he said was "You never see an obedient missionary unhappy" I think that this is true for more than just missionaries. When we strive to be obedient we are happy because we are closer to the Savior. As we are obedient we are blessed beyond measure and we feel the love of God in our lives.

My challenge for you this week is to find one thing in your life where you want to be more obedient and strive to be as obedient as you can in that one aspect. At the end of the week reflect on how obedient you were and the blessings you have experienced because of your obedience. Then pick an thing to be obedient in and start the processes over.

I love being a missionary! I love you all and miss you!

Sorella Victoria Pinnegar

Victoria and her companion are waiting for their visas to go through. We will post her address in Italy within the next week!

MTC Week 4

This has been a really good week!

My companions, as well as the Swede and the Dane.

We have an awesome "investigator!" She lives with her boyfriend and we had a lesson on the law of chastity because she is committed to baptism. When we first taught her this lesson she felt like it was impossible for her. In Italy it costs a lot of money to get married and the standard engagement period is at least a year for wedding planing! It is ridiculous. Also a lot of Catholics don't get married be cause if you get divorced you are excommunicated from the church. She Really felt that it was impossible for her to live the law a chastity. We asked her to pray about it, the next day we asked her if she had prayed and she said yes. She said that Heavenly Father had told her that it was the right thing for her to do and that even though she knew it would be hard she would try!

On Mothers Day I got to call home!!! This is their second time doing this. They started doing this for Christmas! I was so happy that I could call home and talk to my family! It was great hearing how everyone is and how they are all doing!

Beautiful day, but a little cold.

Our Fireside on Sunday was great! The speaker talked on Repentance. It was a really good talk on repentance. He focused on the fact that repentance is not a negative thing. It is positive and that it is a gift from God. Repentance is a wonderful thing and that we should take advantage of it everyday. It means a change and a fresh view. The bad things that happen and the guilt that we feel come when we choose not to repent. The negative connotations of repentance come from Satan. He does not want us to repent because through repentance we come closer to Christ. Repentance is a way of life, not an event!

Yesterday was an AMAZING day! We had a really good lesson in the morning with Sorella P. and Fratello K. We talked about our relationship with Christ and about how to come closer to Christ. It was wonderful! Sorella B. talked to us in the afternoon. She is such an awesome teacher! She has such and amazing testimony. We had group coaching with her and at the end she talked to us about our call as missionaries.There is a quote from Elder Holland that stuck out to me.

"This is higher and holier and more eternal than anything you've ever done. It is by definition the most important thing you can do in the world, in time, or eternity. For this reason you are engaged in the saving of the human soul. That is the thing God himself said was His work and glory. It is the purpose for which the Savior came to the earth and gave His life. It is the purpose for which every prophet has lived and every apostle has spoken. you Join Those Ranks!"

This is so inspiring and yet scary. I do not feel worthy to be ranked with prophets, apostles, and the Savior. I know that the Lord qualifies those He calls and that he will qualify me.

Temple walk

The devotional was given by Brent H. Nielson. He talked on getting iPads in our missions. My mission just go iPads a month ago. He talked about the responsibilities of using electronics. It is great. He called us Disciples in the Digital Age! We will bring the world His truth in the ways that have never been seen before. He talked about how if we want our children to be like the Armies of Helaman we need to bury our weapons of destruction. That was so powerful to me that by my willingness and decision to choose the right my children will be blessed. It was such a powerful talk on using the internet safely and correctly. He said "Don't let Satan control the Internet." That is so true. We have the ability to make the internet a safe environment. As we post and share positive and uplifting thoughts on social media we can make the internet a better and safer place. He also told us to have another person check your device so that you can make sure that there is nothing that can lead you astray!

This week I would like you to think about your personal weapons of rebellion and how you can bury those. I would also like you to think of how you can use the Internet to bring the spirit and fight off Satan.

Sister H. got her flight plans last week and it was really sad. She leaves in the morning on the 19th and it is really sad. I am going to miss her a lot.

Over all it has been a really good week.
I want you to know that I love and miss you all.

Sorella Victoria Pinnegar

Sorella S. and I

Victoria and her companion are waiting for their visas to go through. We will post her address in Italy within the next week!

MTC Week 3

Sorella S. (the redhead) and Sister H. (the blond)

Ciao!!!

I can hardly believe I am already half way through with my time at the MTC. It goes by so fast! The days are so long but the weeks are really short here! It has been a great week!

On Wednesday we hung out with the Germans all day writing letters. They are all Hilarious! We sat around and shared food and told stories. They are really great! Unfortunately they leave a week before the Italians. It will be sad to see them go. During gym one day they taught me to play Thunder which is a basket ball game. It was a lot of fun.

Me, with some of the Fabelholt Germans.
(That is what they call themselves. It means fabulous.)

We have a new teacher this week. She was are first "Investigator." She is such an amazing teacher! She is actually going to school to become an Italian teacher! She talks really fast so it is sometimes difficult to understand. If you speak English to her, her response is always that she doesn't understand English. Yesterday she took a break and told us all about the Italian culture. That was a lot of fun. It will be a lot to get use to though.

We did our first TRC this week. TRC is a bit like doing visiting teaching . It was really fun. It wasn't as stressful as our lessons with "investigators." The scary part was that once we finished our teachers told us they were watching and could hear what we were saying!

Sunday was AMAZING!!!! I think everyone should have the opportunity to have Fast Sunday at the MTC.

Matching!!! We accidentally matched on Sunday!!

We had Mission Conference, some of the missionary presidency and their wives talked to us. The talks were great! They were on having the companionship of the Holy Ghost, the fundamentals of the gospel, the restoration of the gospel, and building testimonies and becoming converted.

For the Fireside Elder Holland's son Matthew Holland came and talked to us. The Ogden Utah Institute Choir came and sang as well. Brother Holland talked on Joseph Smith and would stop and the choir would sing. The program was ended with the institute choir and the MTC choir singing the Mormon Tabernacle Choir version on Praise to the Man.

After that Sister S and I stayed to watch The Character of Christ by Elder Bednar! That was probably the most amazing talk I have ever heard! He based it on something Elder Maxwell once said.

I am going to tell you what he said and I want  you to ponder it through out the week.

"Without the character of Christ there would be no atonement."

Please think about this and why the character of Christ is so important and how this relates to you in your life. Also think about what the character of Christ is!

The devotional last night was also really good. Elder and Sister Rasband spoke to us. They talked on opening our mouths and being fearless missionaries. His talk was on the importance of finding people.

Lots of Love
Sorella Victoria Pinnegar

Beautiful day for a temple walk!