Sheri Dew and Elder Bednar... all in one week!

Bonjour!

OH MY GOODNESS, what a week. Are you ready for this? Everyone in the world is going to be jealous of me. Even I'M jealous of me. First of all, SHERI DEW came for our sunday night fireside! And better yet, Soeur Larsen and I were plucked out of the audience of 2,000 to sit front row center with a few other select sisters! We were seriously right there. It was an amazing experience- Sister Dew is an unbelievable force of righteous womanhood. She is eloquent, brilliant, and entertaining. She didn't use teleprompters at all! She just grabbed her scriptures and went to town and it was amazing. Some quotes:

"God knows who you are. He knows where you are. He knows what your mission is- both in life and as a set apart full-time missionary. and He knows exactly what you need to fulfill that mission."

She talked a lot about how we were especially saved for these last days. "we demonstrated determination and conviction in the premortal life which then caused us to be sent to earth at this time. It's not an accident that we're here now. in our premortal life, we developed, to an unusual degree, the talent of spirituality. do you think there's any chance Heavenly Father would have risked the outcome of the last days? He knows we can do it."

Awesome, right? I love her and her 80's hair and bright red lipstick.

Then, Elder Bednar came for our Tuesday night devotional! Can you believe it? We're so very spoiled here. I love that they surprise us every week.... no one has any idea who is coming until they walk in. This week, we were singing some prelude music, "Behold, A Royal Army" and right as we were singing, "Victory, victory!" the double doors burst open, he came walking in, and all 2,000 of us rose to our feet. It was SO COOL. He spoke a lot about teaching with the doctrine: "the doctrine is always the answer"-- he must have said that like ten times. He talked about letting the investigator find their own answers to questions. That way, they don't become dependent on the missionary. We are to guide them toward the Savior so they can stand spiritually independent and rely on Him. We are to be worthy, confident, and faithful so we can match the message. He closed with an Apostolic blessing:

"As you are diligent and faithful in your study and learning, the doctrine will distill upon you as the dews from heaven, bringing understanding and protection. As you do so, you will be magnified."

How amazing is that? we are so blessed here at the MTC. I'm so happy to be here! I love, love, LOVE being a missionary. Oh by the way, Mom, Amie, Katie, and Lyric-- Soeur Larsen and I saw NieNie and Mr. Nielson coming out of the temple last week! We chickened out of going up to them and now we're mad at ourselves that we didn't. She looked darling, of course.

A few days ago in class, Frere Welch was telling us a mission story and he said something about serving in Metz (i have no idea how to spell that) and something clicked in my brain. I asked him if he knew Serge and Isabel Brun and he said, "Oh my gosh, he was my favorite branch president EVER!" And then I told him the relation and he said he met Michel and Liliane too, and he's friends on Facebook with the Bruns! So Amie and Roland, ask Serge about Elder Clayton Welch and tell them he's my MTC teacher :)

Also, Scott and Lyric, I was talking to an Elder in my zone the other day. I asked him where he was from and he said a small town right outside Twin Falls. I asked him if he's ever heard of Wendell, and he was like, "No way! That's where I'm from!" It's Elder Nathan Ormond! He says to tell you hi, Lyric :) What a coincidence! And THANK YOU for the package! I love the card. and the pastry. and the pretzel m&ms. Yum!

Anyway. Lots of cool coincidence-y stuff happened to me this week. Right now I'm in the laundry room, waiting for my stuff to dry. And I'm not wearing a skirt... bliss. :) I love all of you so very much, thank you for the letters and packages! Keep 'em coming, they make my day!

avec amour, soeur williams