MTC - Week 2

Halo everyone!
It’s Preparation Day again! These weeks go by pretty fast. But then again, if I think about how much I accomplish in one day, let alone one week, it’s seems pretty long.
So last Saturday Sister Hewlett and I taught at the TRC. The TRC is a place where missionaries can go to practice teaching “investigators” in the language they’ll be speaking on their mission. Usually the “investigators” are returned missionaries or families from that country. We had to teach lesson one in Indonesian, but luckily we were able to use notes. We taught a lady named Josephine who is a native Indonesian. She was so sweet! She kept helping us when we pronounced things wrong, and she’d tell us a word if we didn’t know it. We asked her about her family and she said she had a younger sister who passed away. I immediately saw our common ground and told her that I too had a sibling who passed away. I bore my testimony that through the gospel, families can be together forever. What a wonderful truth! At the end of the lesson, we bore our testimonies about the Restoration and the gospel. We usually say the same thing to everyone we bear our testimonies to, but I felt impressed to say different things. Somehow I was able to express my thoughts and feelings clearly because she understood what I said. The spirit was strong and again my testimony of the truthfulness of this gospel was strengthened. This Saturday we have to teach at the TRC again but this time with NO notes! Our teachers asked us to also memorize “Penglihatan Pertama” (the First Vision) in Indonesian. The only thing is it’s literally twice as long as it is in English! That night I studied the First Vision over and over and was able to memorize it. I know that the Lord is helping me with the language and in remembering things. I know that he has given me the ability to learn the language as quickly as I have so far, and I can feel the confidence He has in me to preach His gospel to the people of Indonesia.
Our Branch President asked us to have a talk prepared every Sunday in case he is prompted to call on a certain missionary. This past Sunday the topic was the Plan of Salvation. As I was preparing the talk, I wrote down a few thoughts and then realized that my testimony of the Plan of Salvation really began when Hunter passed away. Through that experience, I was able to pray and feel the Spirit testify to me that I would see my little brother again. I was actually hoping that President Dodge would call me up to speak, but unfortunately he didn’t. Maybe next time! 
This past Tuesday for devotional, the MTC was blessed with the presence of one of the Lord’s apostles. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland and his wife spoke to us about missionary work, what an important calling it is, and how we should embrace and cherish every moment spent out here. It was beyond powerful! I felt the spirit so strongly and I knew that he was one of the Lord’s chosen servants. He talked about his mission and how he has thought about it every day for the past 49 years. “My mission has affected every good thing that has happened to me,” he said. These past couple of weeks have been full of wonderful and memorable experiences. I am loving the MTC and the work that we are doing…the church IS TRUE!

Saya mengasihi kamu semua (I love you all),
Sister Whitney Okamoto

P.s. Ok so the scripture I want for my plaque is Alma 17:11, written like this:
“…Go forth…and establish my word; yet ye shall be patient in long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth good examples unto them in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls.”