Week 1 at the MTC

Hi Family!!!

Wow this is so exciting that I get to write to you!! I got into my email okay too which made me very happy. I'm nervous though because up in the corner it has this time clock that says 28:34 and counting down. So this will be fast and I will try and tell you as much as I can.
Thank you so much for your letters! Its so good to hear from everyone! I feel very loved and I usually get them at night when everything is winding down and it is nice to know someone is out there who is thinking about you. Everything here at the MTC is amazing! I LOVE it here. It feels like a very very intense EFY, the only difference is that you aren't escorted by the boys, you aren't even allowed to go near them :).
Its been a little different getting use to rules around here but its starting to get easier. Its been nice to have a companion because we're both new so we can both learn together. I really love my companion Sister Anderson. Yes she is the one that we saw at Sizzler before we got here. She has such an amazing testimony of this gospel and she is such a strength to me. I also live with two other sisters: Sister Trujillo and Sister Stewart. We all get along so well. I feel like the Lord hasn't tried me at all when it comes to them. They are the companions I would hand-pick if I could do it myself. My District is also very amazing. There are six Elders, three companionships. All the Elders are going to Las Vegas, and all the Sisters are going to New York except for Sister Stewart, she is going to Oakland CA Visitor Center. I have learned so much from my District already... I think the funniest part about watching all the Elders here get use to their companions is an Elder having to wait for them outside of the bathroom :) Girls are just use to going in pairs... I think it makes guys uncomfortable to just have to stand there and wait. Ha!
Also very exciting news. Hermana Jardine and Sister McGuire live on the same floor as I do! Hermana Jardine actually lives three doors down from me. So every night, after 9 pm planning, we get to catch up together until Quiet time at 10:15. Sister McGuire is kept very busy in her calling and she lives on the other side of the floor so I don't get to see her quite as often but I'm so blessed to have them there with me. They are so amazing.
So I am understanding why Dad said when he got home from his mission his bones were tired. I don't think I've ever been so tired in all my life. All we do is work, work, work, and then some more work. I could almost fall asleep walking. I love it though, there is a motto here at the MTC: "The days pass like weeks and the weeks pass like days". I'm not so sure about the latter part because I haven't been here that long but the first part is sure true. Its all a blur, but it is a very good blur. I've learned SO much about the gospel just in a week! There is a difference between knowing the gospel and being able to teach the gospel. Teaching the gospel is going back to Sunbeams and trying to remember what you learned then :) This really has been an amazing experience for me though. I've been trying extra hard to gain a strong testimony in certain areas, so it has required a lot of praying. Heavenly Father, through the Holy Ghost, has told me that these principles are true so that I'm more able to express a deeper and sincere testimony to the investigators.
Monday was the first time that we ever had to teach an "investigator". There is a place here at the MTC called the TRC. It is made up of a bunch of different rooms that look just like family rooms. Then they have recent converts come in and pretend that they are investigating the church. So you and your companion act like it really is a real lesson. Sister Anderson and I got to teach an older gentleman named Jerry. He is from Santaquin so that was pretty neat. His grandchild just died so we got to share with him the Plan of Salvation. Its amazing what the spirit can do, even if it is just someone who is pretending, he teaches you what things your investigator needs to hear. I felt like we were doing fine until he asked where we got all our information from, which launched us into the lesson on the Restoration. He started asking really indepth questions about the Priesthood and where it came from. I learned my lesson not to bring up Peter, James, and John coming down to Earth to give the Priesthood keys back to Joseph. I think poor Jerry was a little lost :) But we learned! Our teacher told us that we should never ask how we did teaching a lesson because it doesn't matter how well we did. It matters how our investigator did. So who knows what he really needed to hear. We get to teach Jerry next Monday which I'm excited about. Tomorrow we have another "investigator", a Catholic couple named Anna and Arnold. So we'll see how that goes. I'm glad that we can get in some practice because some day it won't just be for pretend.
I'm so grateful for this gospel. I'm so grateful for this badge I wear over my heart. I've been reflecting on what Denzel Washington says in "Remember the Titans" when he tells his players that "when they put on that Titan uniform, its time to come to work". As I wear this badge I know its time to put in all that I can for the Lord. This is only a year and a half out of my life and when I'm finished with it I want to be able to tell the Lord that I did all that I could, that I fought a good fight.
Anyway I sent a letter today so hopefully it gets to you soon. Just wanted to let you know that I love you! I think of you often!

Love always, Sister Carter