Week Three - Part Two

Dear Family,

So I don't think that you guys got my joke about serving Spanish speaking. I was kidding. My friend emailed me and said congrats on speaking English and mentioned how excited he was that he could see me here in the MTC before I left. I broke the news to him that I wasn't going Spanish speaking hah If anything I should be called to Tagalog speaking! REPRESENT!

So this is my last week here with the Elders in my district they leave on monday to New Mexico. Its going to be hard because I have really grown to love each and everyone of them. I have considered them as family and its hard to say goodbye knowing that I probably won't see them ever again. Some of the Elders went to BYUI before their mission so they said we all need to hangout when they get back but I would have been graduated by then. I told them that I hope I get sent to Farmington, New Mexico for my out-bound so we can serve together again. Elder Linds birthday was yesterday, so Sister Hillam and I decorated our classroom and got him a couple of his favorite things as a gift. We also made him a rememberance journal and had our branch presidency, our district, and some other Elders and Sisters in our zone write in it. He loved it. When he started reading some of the things in it, I swear I thought I saw a tear forming.

Sister Hillam and I have one more week here in the MTC. We have to do Vistor Center Training and learn how to give tours by the spirit. Sounds easy enough, but its hard to know what you need to teach your invetigators. We need to discern peoples needs within minutes of talking to them. I'm sure Tatay and Kuya knows what I mean. Its harder than people think. But it is worth every minute of it. I have had THE BEST time here. Everyday I learn something new and I'm always striving to become better. There are days when things get really hard and other days when you are on cloud nine. I have learned to trust more in the Lord and not think too much about hard days. Brother McClain and Brother Combs are my two teachers here in the MTC. Bro McClain served his mission in California and Bro combs served in Uganda. They both teach me so much. Bro McClain really knows how to challenge us so we can be better than the class before. And when Bro Combs talks about his mission, you know that he loved every minute of it. He gets so excited when he talks about talking to investigators or when he tells us that the Lord is preparing people for me to teach already. I can really explain it, but trust me when I say that they were meant to teach me. Its going to be hard to say goodbye to them too. But I told them that they both need to get married in the Salt Lake Temple so we can see them get married!

So I don't know if I told you this but we do A TON of role playing here in the MTC. Bro Combs and McClain pretend that they are someone else and the companionships teach them all the lessons and try to commit them to be baptized. Well I want to tell you about Stephen. Stephen is actually Bro McClain, he is someone that he taught on his mission. But anways Stephen is 22 and really shy. He has a girlfriend that is a member and works at some travel place. He is really logical. He believes in God but he thinks that God is too busy to anser his prayers. So anyways this is our third time teaching Stephen and we have committed him to read the Book of Mormon. At this point he hasn't read it and doesn't see the reason why it is going to benefit his life. So Sister Hillam and I decided that we should all read together so we can help him receive revelation from the Book of Mormon. So we proceeded to read from it, but I knew that Stephen wasn't being receptive to what we were saying. He said something about how his girlfriends dad would read at FHE the times that he went with his girlfriend. I asked him if he felt anything when he went to FHE and he said no. Then he said something about how his girlfriends dad knows a lot about scripture and how he cant receive his own revelation because he is not as knowledgable about the Book of Mormon than others. I asked him why he thought that and he said that he didn't have a father that read scriptures with him. Then I said, "Stephen, dont you know that your Father in Heaven is reading along with you?" Pure silence came and the spirit was so strong. I looked at Stephen and he started to cry. He told us how his dad wasn't the best and he asked me if his dad would ever change. I told him that if he committed to read, pray and get baptized that his father would change through his example. I started to cry when I bore my testimony of Christ. Though the whole lesson was a role play, the spirit was so real. It was the most amazing feeling in the world. When you have the opportunity to change the lives of the people you meet is so rewarding.

I love this gospel so much. I love Jesus Christ and what he did for me. Please don't ever forget that God loves you, and that Jesus Christ loves you. Go to church. Do not deny the blessings that Heavenly Father wants to give to you. I love you all so much. I think and pray for you guys all the time.

Love you,

Sister Opeda

P.S. Sorry for all the typos. I have to type fast cause I'm running out of time to type. Plus Kuya stole all the computer talent from the family.