Thank you so much for your emails!!! I've been looking forward to Wednesday all week long just because it meant that I could hear from you. I sent you a letter yesterday, sorry I didn't send it earlier. I kept trying to write you, but I kid you not, I was so tired that in all three drafts every single word was at least 20 syllables. When I tried to read one of them (to make sure it sounded sane), one of my roommates laughed and said "At least they will know you are still an English major."
Also, I will be leaving the MTC on June 11th at about 4:00am... I don't think you would be interested in a call that early in the morning, so I'll call you during my layover in Georgia. It will probably be at about 1:30 (Georgia time... so I think that should be 10:00 to 11:00 ish... I'm not really sure). I'll be on a calling card, so please make sure someone picks up! :) Oh! I can't wait to hear your voice. I miss you a ton.
I'm glad everything has been so busy. :) At least busy with good things. Congrats to Miranda, that sounds like a great job! I'm glad she will have a change. Also, good luck to you Mom. I will certainly pray for you, although from everything I've learned at the MTC, I REALLY need to work on getting closer to the Spirit. :) I'm not surprised that Julia is a big hit back in New York. I hope she is having an incredible time. I'm also glad that she was able to feel the difference between their church and our church. One thing I've realized being here at the MTC is how incredibly important it is to know the difference between the two spirits. At times it really is hard for me because I've grown up with the Spirit around me 90% of my life. I am SO grateful for that, but sometimes it makes it hard to fully appreciate it.
Thank you for your fast, and your prayers. That really means a lot to me, and I could use every little bit of help. I've witnessed several miracles since I've been here, and I'm trying desperately to write everything down. President Claire wasn't kidding- you certainly witness miracles, and I haven't even gotten out into the field. I'm anxious to get out into the field. Not so much because I can't wait to get to Alabama, but more because I really can't wait until I can start interacting, meeting, and hopefully teaching people.
The other day my companion and I were teaching a TRC investigator (they are paid actors that we have never met before... some are Mormon, some aren't. My companion swears the woman we had was not a Mormon... but we get a VERY short sentence about them two days before, and that is all we have to go off of.), and it was absolutely incredible. We've been struggling with actually recognizing the Spirit, following it during lessons, helping our investigator feel the Spirit, and making our lessons personal. While we were preparing for our TRC lesson, Sister Gauchay felt like we needed to teach her the Restoration, but I kept getting the feeling we needed to talk about the Plan of Salvation. Just in case, we decided to study both lessons and then really work on listening to the Spirit. When we went in, she was kind of skeptical, but seemed okay with us. We started talking about random stuff like the Word of Wisdom, Modesty and pretty much "The Church has so many rules." I realized that wasn't really going to get us anywhere, so I said something about how we were trying to build a tower without a foundation, so we needed to get back to the foundation and teach her some things that didn't really seem to do with all of our rules, but as we continued to teach her, they would help her understand our rules. I swear after that point, the Spirit just took it from there. The lesson was completely unorganized, we ended up covering both the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation because of questions she had, but it was incredibly personal and incredibly powerful. I don't think I'll ever forget that look on her face when she realized that the Savior Atoned for HER sins and that he died so that he could be their during HER hardest times. It was beautiful. I was so incredibly grateful I had the opportunity to bear such a powerful testimony. The Spirit was so strong, I could almost feel it.
Basically, Missionary work is incredible. The Church is true, and the Lord answers prayers. I'm learning how to depend on the Spirit more, and it has produced at least two unforgettable moments.
Thanks for everything you do! I love you!! :)
The Church is true!
Sister Erica Pratt
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