Letter #3 *~MTC~* February 1, 2011

As usual, it has been another crazy and fulfilling week! I just got back from a session in the Provo Temple and was SO blessed to be able to sit next to my very own Siostra Amy Mann during the session! The temple is SUCH an amazing blesssing in my life and I love the opportunity to go weekly and learn in the House of the Lord! It is amazing how many feelings you can have in one day.... excited, energized, happy, frustrated, worn out, brain dead, sad, etc... :) But that's what makes the MTC such an amazing roller coaster ride! The highs, from devotionals and meetings with our districts make up for the lows!!

First of all, thank you SO much for all the letters this week! Kyrsten (i loved your story about Sister Pico!! Wow!! How awesome! We haven't talked yet, but we see each other and now she knows that I am the cousin of my amazing cousin Kyrst!! :), Lea, Sister Davis, Brother Dave Crocker (Wow!! Thank you SO much for your insights! It was wonderful to hear from you! I hope that your daughter is doing better!) Jet, and YES YES YES!! I even got a letter from Erin!! :) Just write me what we would usually talk on the phone about Erin!! You're AWESOME!!Sorry that I won't be able to respond to all of them personally, but know that each one is read and appreciated very much!

Mom, you have been fabulous at keeping me updated! The days feel like weeks, so it's ALWAYS nice to hear from you at the end of the day. Even though the days are REALLY long the weeks literally just FLY by! I didn't ever get the dear elders that you said Uncle Kerry and Brother Liao had sent though....

Oh, and if it's not too late.... I would LOVE LOVE LOVE for you to name the puppy pumpkin!! The word is one that is written on the second letter I sent you. It has two stars next to it and is pronounced (Teak-va!) I love it!! And you can ask your friend to make sure that you are pronouncing it right!!

Holly Odekirk from my semester abroad left today for the field. Her companion was a girl that was in my jazz dance class at BYU-Idaho and she is going to WISCONSIN!! So, I took the opportunity to write a letter to our ward and Bishop Lindner, so I hope that it will make it there safely!! This week we got a HUGE box from Sister tunney's dad. Her dad is the CEO over dearfoam slippers, so yes... our district now all has matching slippers!! We wear them sometimes during class. Apparantely it is customary to take your shoes off in Russia and then wear slippers in the house, so we're just practicing!!.... right?!! :) They make my feet really happy either way!! :)

This past Wednesday for gym we played district B-ball. Three point knock-out was definitely my favorite. Wow, our district is already SO close! I have come to appreciate and love them all SO much! We have a great time together, cry together, and work hard together! Gym time is a great way to kind of let out our frustrations and have a great time. Elder McKinney in my zone has started a work out group with some Elders. Sister Bullough and I take the opportunity to sometimes join in with their workouts. We call them P90-McKinney! :) yes... and I have been VERY soar from them... but that makes sitting ALL day a lot easier. I also just found out that Elder Baker, in my zone, is from St. Cloud, MN!! So... he TOTALLY knows my favorite Frasier family!! How awesome!

Dad! It was SUCH a blessing this past sunday! We were sitting at devotional and the special musical number was announced. It was Ye Elder's of Israel and the pianest was none other than Sister Sarena Fifield (Patty's daughter) I ran up after to talk with her and introduce myself. It was great to reminisce about how her mom had been brought into the church because of the missionaries, and then, that you were introduced into the church by her mom!! I felt SO blessed that you accepted the gospel and took that step to be baptized! You have remained faithful and are SUCH blessing and example in the lives of all that you know! We were so happy to think that hopefully we can help to bring someone like Patty and you into the church through our service!

Also during the devotional I had a very strong impression of the power and faith of those who are praying for me... to learn the language, to adjust, to be strong. Thank you SO much! The power of prayer is VERY real and I have felt the power of your prayers!
Dad, I also ran into Brother Ponczoch, who served in Novasabirsk (sp?) Russia. His family lives in Stevens Point and Wisconsin Rapids. I thought that he looked familiar and that the name sounded familiar. Do you know them?

This week I have been reading a talk that Siostra Mann lent me. It is by Elder Tad R. Callister and is called "Becoming a Consecrated Missionary." It has taken me several days to go through it as I study a section, think about it, look for scriptures that go along with that topic, and think about how I'm doing and how I can improve. It has been SUCH blessing! One of the later sections of the talk is entitled, "What's the power of a consecrated Missionary?" I just briefly wanted to share some blessings and promises that apply not only to missionary work, but to everyone! A consecrated missionary is manifest when they can teach like Nephi (3 Nephi 7:18). His testimony and words were so powerful that it was imposssible for the people to disbelieve his words!!! This was because of his faith in the Lord!! We can have that same power as we bear down in pure testimony (Alma 4:19). Nephi understood that the power of men did not matter with compared with the power of God (when Nephi talks to Laman and Lemuel about laban's 50). Peter's testimony was able to prick teh hearts of the righteous (Acts 2:37). We were taught this week how everyone already has the seed in them (the light of Christ). Through the spirit we just need to prick their heart. It does take lots of work study, and preparation to be able to do this, but it's SO worth it (Alma 17:2-3). This is my favorite one! As we FULLY commit ourselves to the work and thrust in our sickles we are forgive of our sins! What an awesome promise! We can become purified through serving missions (D&C 31:3,5) This goes the same with what King Benjamin taught us in Mosiah 4:26. We are redeemed and forgiven of our sins!! Take the opportunity to think about how you can better be cleansed and become pure in your own lives through serving others and developing charity!! I sure love you all and hope to hear how you are all doing!!

Love forever!
Cectpa Cunningham