Buon giorno la mia famiglia! Merry Christmas! They are letting us email home today since we don't get to call. Pretty great. I am loving my Christmas here in the MTC. It has been amazing thus far. I'm writing you more details about it in a snail mail letter that I'll send tomorrow. Yesterday was so much fun. In the morning our teacher spent an hour and a half of our class time showing us pictures of his mission and telling us stories as a present to us. Then when he found out our gym time was cancelled he said he'd stay and play some language games with us. So all of the italian missionaries spent our gym time playing language games and improving our skills during the time we would have had gym instead of wasting it away doing other things that we had initially planned (like naps and long showers...ha!) This was way better and more productive for us. I'm putting more details of that in the snail mail letter. Last night we had a Christmas fireside where we sang a lot of hymns and they read the nativity story. Then we got to watch the Christmas Carol and eat popcorn! Movies are so much fun here. With 2000 missionaries, especially when they are mostly 19 year old babies, things can get pretty crazy. But it's so much fun. Then we italian sisters had been wanting to put on a nativity scene in our residence after, but it got a lot bigger when our Ukrainian sister friends joined in on the party. I was the angel and read the story in Italian and then we had a wiseman who read it in english for the crowd that gathered. We had almost our whole floor there to watch. So much fun! I'll send you pictures someday. haha.
Thank you so much for all of the gifts! From everybody! I think i forgot to say thanks to the ward for the big poster. That was amazing. people are so nice. I love our ward. This morning all the italian sisters gathered around one of our trees and opened all our presents together. I love them all. We had a great morning. More details in the later letter...
The thing I really want to tell you about is our sacrament meeting this morning. First of all, it was with EVERYONE. 2000 missionaries! It's the first time they've done that. And presiding? Elder David A. Bednar of the quorom of the twelve apostles! Merry Christmas to ME! He and his wife spoke to us. Elder Bednar gave the most powerful talk I do believe I've ever heard in my 21 years of life. There's somethng different about the apostles here when they speak. First of all, they are very funny. Elder Bednar did quite the great impression of the cookie monster today. But they also are very straightforward, tell it to you straight, make sure you understand, powerful in a way that sends chills down your spine like, "oh, I should really listen..." I mean I would listen to them anyway, they're apostles of our Lord, but man, I can't describe it. Elder Bednar spoke on what it means to be a true convert. About putting off the natural man. About taking on the character of Christ and turning outward and not be focussed inward. He told some amazing stories about people that he has met in his life that are absolutely amazing in their Christ-like attitudes. One story about a woman he met while he was a stake president brought tears to my eyes. Amazing! Maybe I'll include that story in a letter. But seriously... i was in awe. Since I've been here they've shown us a clip of a talk Elder Holland gave here a while ago, talking about how we must be our first converts. Elder Bednar expounded upon that and talked about how being a true convert was more than having a testimony, but "converting yourself to the Lord." I forgot what scripture he used with that... Alma 27? maybe? But about how thousands were brought to the knowledge of the Lord, which is a testimony, but they were also converted unto the Lord, which meant they could never go astray. He urged us to strive for this every day, and to realize that we needed to be converted before we could help others to do the same. He said that being truly converted is to turn outward like Christ, and talked about all tht times when Christ was suffering affliction, but his thoughts were outward. One that amazed me that i don't think i've ever heard before, was after he had been fasting for 40 days and Satan tempted him, in the Bible it says that angels came to minister to him, but the footnote says that he learned that John was in prision, and so he sent angels to minister to him. He was thinking of others after this period of extreme hardship and trial. The most powerful part however, was his bearing witness of the Savior in the end. As he was testifying of the reality of our Savior and of the truthfulness of this gospel, and testified that Thomas S. Monson is true and living prophet and that this chruch is the only church with the fulness of the gospel, it was like I was hit with a spiritual baseball bat to the face (that's an expression I borrow from my fellow Sorella, Sorella Bush). I have never been hit so hard by a testimony as i was that one. I don't know what made it different than every time i hear an apostle bear witness of the Savior in conference. Maybe it was that i was just 20 feet away from him, maybe it was just what I really needed right now, but it was incredible. There was so much more, and i wish i could tell you all, but it really just blew my mind. I wish you all could have experienced it.
I love being here in the MTC. I know that it is a special place and that the spirit that is here can not be felt anywhere else. I feel blessed to be here at Christmas, and that I was able to hear the testimony of on of our Savior's twelve apostles today. I know that he is truly an apostle of our Lord and Savior. I know that Jesus christ lives! And i'm so grateful for this marvelous holiday we have dedicated to Him and His birth. I wish you a Buon Natale! Love you so much!!
Sorella Forbes
P.S. I'LL BE IN ITALY IN A MONTH FROM TODAY!!!!
P.S. I'LL BE IN ITALY IN A MONTH FROM TODAY!!!!
just in case you didn't know...
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