Sister Michelle Christine North: Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice

People!! This week was filled with the most lovely people, exciting speakers, happy birthday to you songs some bitter sweet goodbyes and of course some sparkle. But can I just say first off how much I have appreciated all of the love that you guys have been sending me this week! Thank you so much for all of the letters and fun packages that have made even the Best days even better!

So Tuesday night is what we like to call our little "Happy Birthday Miracle." So we actually had two birthdays, Hermana Mecham (my companion) and Hermana Crosby (my personal fitness trainer). I guess double the birthday equals double the miracle because...Drum roll please...an APOSTLE came to speak to us for our Devotional!!!!! And not just any apostle, Elder M. Russell Ballard, the one who helped put together the glorious manual that we study every single day, Preach My Gospel. So maybe I should clarify because Yes, I know sometimes it is the norm for apostles to come speak to missionaries at the MTC and people have their cool stories about it, but we have been waiting and waiting and waiting for a devotional or fireside where we too would get that experience. And after getting our hopes up every week, this week we all just accepted the fact that this week wasn't the week. So that is why it is our little miracle and a sweet birthday present to our Hermanas. I learned so much from Elder Ballard. And isnt he so sweet, because the first thing that he said when he came up to the pulpit was", "You look so beautiful! But that is probably because we have more sisters here." haha. Those poor elders. They are beautiful too, we sisters just dress better. ;) Aside from that sweet compliment, we were taught and tutored about how much the Lord loves us and about what our responsibility as servants of the Lord is. He reminded us that "[We] know a lot already." That was refreshing to hear because it is True! A lot of times we may be afraid to speak about the church to others or study and memorize gospel wateriness in order to teach, but the best way to teach is from the heart. We can share the gospel by bearing our sincere testimony and sharing our experiences with others and the Spirit will help them understand the rest. Confidence is key and as we capture the vision of what the message is that we have to offer to the world, we will come to see that the message is GOLD(or in my case,Glitter). People are searching for that gold everyday; the gold that brings eternal happiness. The gospel brings happiness because it brings us closer to God and helps us understand through His perspective our purpose and potential here on Earth (Wow, that was a lot of p's). I read a scripture that I absolutely LOVE in Corinthians 2:9 where it says, "But as it is written eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things with God hath prepared for them that Love Him." I love this because it shows how God can do so much more with our life than we can with our own. He has blessings in store for everyone of his sons and daughters if we just have trust in him and abide by his words. Elder Ballard left us with a blessing at the very end of his talk, when he said, "I bless you my beloved fellow missionaries, with a large capacity to love the Lord even more than you could imagine you could. As you have that love, you will have the strength and power to carry on and endure to the end during those hard times." I have seen my love for the Lord increase so much as I have been here at the MTC and I know that that love will only continue to increase as I serve his sons and daughters and help them come closer to Him. I know that we all have a Father who is in Heaven. He wants the best for us and has blessings prepared for us, ready for us to receive when we come unto Him. I love Him so much and can not wait to live with Him again.

The rest of my week went super awesome! I got to be a host to the new missionaries that just came to the MTC on Wednesday Which was super weird for me because I feel like I was just being hosted yesterday! It was so fun though, I met the sweetest sisters and even some sisters that will be going to Chile with me! And by the way, I found out that I am leaving to Chile on March 12th at 1PM. What?!!! It is so crazy how time has flown by so fast. I am so excited to get there and start my mission. Because lets be real, my mission hasn't really started yet. So many people in my zone and friends that I have made here are already in the field serving. We all had to say goodbye to them on Monday night but it was bitter sweet since they are going where they should be and we will get to catch up through mail. Although, I have to admit, the MTC all of a sudden feels so empty even though 800 missionaries came in on Wednesday.

Anyways, I hope that everyone is having a great week! Love you, until next week!

xoxox, Hermana North

picture 1: M to the C to the Noche