Hey all!
So I’ve officially been in the MTC for 6 weeks, so I should
be out of here in 3 weeks if my visa comes in time. I got my call pretty late,
so there's a good chance I could get postponed or even reassigned somewhere for
a little bit.
The new Macedonians are here! Their names are Elder Chingas
and Sister Hassell. I only got to meet the elder and he seems like a really
great guy, which I'm very glad of considering he's going to be my companion
multiple times.
We got another apostle this week, which is so crazy! Elder
Ballard came this week, and he just gave practical advice on how we can improve
ourselves as missionaries. He told us how valuable all our time is over the
next two years, and we need to act like it. He stressed how important goal
setting is for us, which is something I've struggled with while being here.
This week we got to start Skyping natives for our TRC time!
We got to talk to a lady named Violeta, and going into it I thought I wasn't
going to understand anything, but she spoke really slow for us so I got most of
it. There were only two people for us to Skype, so Sister Thatcher joined us
and we taught a pretty good lesson on prayer. Violeta knew a little bit of
English, and every time she said something she would say "Understandiie?,"
which was pretty funny. The experience also made me realize how far I still
have to go in Bulgarian. I decided I'm just going to learn as much Bulgarian as
possible, and then the last few days really study up Macedonian. If I do both
at the same time, it's just really, really confusing and makes me take a few
steps back in Bulgarian. All in all, I am very pleased with my progress with
the language. Ever since I really started praying for the gift of tongues I've
noticed a big difference, which I don't think is a coincidence.
On Sunday, we got to watch the rededication of the Ogden
temple. We got to hear from Elder Bednar, Elder Eyring, and President Monson.
The best part of it was being able to hear the prophet pray, the closest man to
God on earth talking to Him. He gave a really good talk about how we need to
love the temple, appreciate the temple, and go to the temple. This past week I
had some questions when going into the temple, and it really felt like I was
receiving revelation from Heavenly Father about those questions.
I'm still loving my time here in the MTC. It has been a
tremendous help to my testimony, and I've learned so much here so far, and
still have so much to learn.
Elder Rigby
Top: Laundry, Hmmm which shirt to wear!?
Bottom: Make-up Elders preparing me for "The Jump"
