Sister Vranes and sisters at the MTC

Week #3: MTC July 28, 2016 - August 3, 2016

This past week, my district has been looking up more information on each mission. It's been so exciting to learn more about Singapore/Malaysia and New York. I'm so excited for each one of us to go where we are going!

We officially had our first TRC on Saturday, where we teach members of the church from Taiwan. It was a success! We have two teachers and they pretend to be an investigator that was very memorable from their missions. Everyday for the past two weeks, we've been teaching an investigator (our teacher) a lesson, most of the time we teach twice for each teacher. It's difficult, but it really helps our Mandarin and improves our teaching skills. I'm really starting to understand the missionary purpose so much more.

Sister Vranes and the sisters in her zone

On Monday we hosted senior couples. There were 114 of them that came in. I was helping out in the parking lot and directed them to their bags and wives that they dropped off. I met an Elder Buckley who was the previous bishop of the 22nd ward. He lived right down the street and I didn't even know it! He's going to SVU to teach institute, along with his wife who will be a choir coordinator there. These senior couples only stay for a week, and there are a lot of them each week. I am amazed by their dedication to the Lord, and one day I hope to also serve as a senior couple. Well I guess that's just another thing to add to my list of what I would like my future husband to be like--have a passion for missionary work and would like to serve in our senior years :)

The roommates of Sister Vranes leaving the MTC

On Tuesday, we said goodbye to 8 sisters, 4 of them were in our room. It was very sad, but I'm excited for them to serve out in the field. I realized I had miscounted, there were 13 sisters total. After today, we are gaining 4 more sisters, so it will officially only be 9 sisters in our zone. It will be nice to no longer be a newbie and fun to peak in their classrooms and see their scared faces the first week :)

Before the sisters left, Sister Schwarze gave a great lesson about repentance. She started with two questions that struck me. What is the price of sin? Are you willing to pay it? Even as missionaries, no one is perfect. We all struggle with aspects of our lives that we wish to change, in order to become better and more Christ-like. We all have our favorite sins that seem the hardest to change. Repentance means having a fresh view of God. When we feel that godly sorrow, we have a change of heart and yearn to feel the comfort of mercy's arms. In 3 Nephi 9:14 it says: "mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come him will I receive". I think that paints a beautiful picture of the character of Christ. In every picture of Him, He is extending His arm out towards us for us to follow Him. So let me ask you this, are you willing to give up all that you are, your pride, and your favorite sin? Are you willing to pay the price? Are you willing to love God more than you love the sin?

Sister Vranes and her zone