MTC life is back to normal now that I'm over the 'plague of confined quartered living'. I have to say there were some perks for being sick. My roommates totes did my laundry, I didn't have to go to a long, boring meeting and I got to ride the elevator for like 4 days! I made sure to cough real good before I got on so everyone would know I had a pass to use it and they would also stay super far away from me. Win win. ;) I finally had to visit with the doctor and he gave me a sweet prescription, but they forgot to deliver my meds so I had to walk across the street to the BYU Health Center. It is a short trip, but just as we headed back , the heavens opened up and dumped a whole lot of wetness on our heads. As I walked as quickly as I could (which everyone knows is about the same pace as a snail) I thought how pathetic this must look to passersby and I was glad I had sympathy. No worries, I'm all better now and I'm sure I'm better for the experience...at least that is what people around here always say. Optimisticers.
One night in my virus induced coma, I was awakened by a piercing siren. It was the fire alarm. I rolled myself down the bunk, grabbed my badge, keys and jacket and stumbled down the stairs and out the building. Hundreds of missionaries were standing out there. Plenty of the us were in PJs, others with towels on their heads. I was standing there, without any corrective vision, no supportive underclothing (you know what I mean) and a pounding head cold. We all stood out there, some missionaries were taking photos - because this was clearly the most exciting thing to happen at the MTC ever - waiting for any kind of information. Finally, after about 15 min we were told it was all clear. As we headed back to the building, the question answered itself. The aroma of finely burnt popping corn filled the air and smothered the stairwells. Late night snacks have proved to be deadly. The moral of the story is sisters should not be allowed to microwave popcorn.
A few days later, we came back to our room after gym and headed to the showers. Right as I was rinsing the conditioner out of my hear I heard my companion squeal. The door had been locked behind us by some mysterious gnome. (no one has yet to confess to the offense, but it wasn't me!) There we were, all four of us, dripping wet, standing in towels all sheepish in the bathroom with no idea how we were going to save ourselves. I offered to walk to the main office in my robe, but they stopped me concerned I would be immediately escorted from the campus, I figured that was better than hanging out in the bathroom so just as I was about to step out the door, we found clothed sisters in the hallway who selflessly volunteered to retrieve our key from the front office. We had some nice girly bonding time in the showers that day while waiting for our heroines to rescue us. Later that day we learned the Elders have a secret trick to get back into their rooms. It involves an envelope, dental floss, wire hanger and a vacuum. Hmmm. Hurry, go - solve the door unlocking dilemma with just those items! After they explained it to me, I have to say it's about the most ingenious thing ever...aside from my idea of walking across campus in my robe.
President Brown (of the MTC) sat down by us during lunch a few days ago. He is the nicest man, I mean, I knew he was nice, but he was so nice in real life. Of course now that he knows our names, we could easily be called out in the next meeting for anything. Yikes. But it was probably worth it. We had another awesome devotional last night from the President of the Quorum of the Seventy. He talked about ways in which we could be sure to have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost - something we especially interested in here since that is the only we can survive. We learned that there are three things you can do, bridle your passions, garnish your thoughts with virtue and ask the Lord for it. I'd never really thought so deeply about using these three principles together to ensure you have the constant support of the Lord. At first when he said 'bridle your passions' I thought oh yeah, this talk is for the Elders, but as I thought about it more - what 'bridling' and 'passion' really mean, I could see how it applied to me. A horse is bridled so he can be broke and then guided. We don't have to shun everything, we have to bridle it, we have to learn how to control ourselves and be guided. It is when we are disciplined we learn the most. Garnishing our thoughts with virtue just makes them the more beautiful.
Well since we have no media of any kind here, we thrive on Mormon Messages. I watched a wonderful one the other day so I'd encourage everyone to check out the 'Power of Hope'. It brought me a lot of peace and a big smile and I know it will do the same for you!
XOXO,
Hermana Hall
P.S. On the board in here is written: "God is always watching...so is Santa." Ahh, such is life at the MTC.
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