SISTER SARAH JOHNSON... Her first real letter....

So the first day at the MTC everyone sleeps so well, because we've all cried all day. And the second day at the MTC is the WORST because you study for a solid 8 hours and you don't get your prep-day and no exercise block. BUT! Once you hit Friday things start getting better! Like exercise is super nice, and it helps us stay sane. My companion, Sis. Young loves to play volleyball, so we do that most days. But another sister in my district, Sis. Litchford likes to run with me, and that has been awesome! I'm so proud of my 9 minute mile now, and my 3 minute plank. I have never appreciated exercise so much as I do here. 

My district is super funny! We have 6 elders and 4 sisters, and we spend a lot of time laughing together. But it's also been amazing to hear from their experiences and know that they are growing as much as you feel you're growing! I feel like the Atonement is something we've often talked about being for sins, and healing from that. But I'm learning that it's so much more than that! The Atonement allows us to change, any change, so that we can become more like our Savior. There's no way some of the things that have been said with our MTC investigators have come from my head. The Lord knows what he's doing here, and it's amazing to be a part of this. 

There are still days where it feels really overwhelming and I get tired of sitting and studying and talking to people. The expectation to be amazing gets kind of scary. But there's a little tug on my heart that keeps saying "Hold out! There's going to be amazing things ahead of you, just wait it out" and that has been the biggest comfort to me. I think everyone feels that - we all wonder if it would just be easier to go home. There's something incredible ahead of us though! And that makes us all hold on until tomorrow, or until Sunday, or until P-day, or until exercise time. There's always something better ahead. :)

OH! And Elder Bednar came to our Sunday night devotional! It was so great! He talked about how we can come to love others the way our Heavenly Father loves them, to help them see in themselves the goodness they don't know how to recognize for themselves yet. I loved that devotional. There's something really exciting about getting to have a Question-and-Answer session with an apostle. 

Something funny this week was that our elders, when they got to their dorm, found pictures of some girl that a previous elder had left behind. They named her Trish and she became kind of a mascot for them? Until another elder in our zone came by and chewed out our District Leader and ripped the pictures up. They've been so upset about the loss of Trish for 3 days now, hahaha. Every time she gets brought up, all the boys yell "Nooooo Trish!!" and cry. It's so great, we're going crazy here. Stupid things are becoming funnier. Like watching Nacho Libre at 3am. Except it's always 3am, and it's always Nacho Libre, and it's still funny. 

Anyways! I hope you're all doing so well! I love you! 

Love, Sister Johnson