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Katie Kirkham <katie.kirkham@myldsmail.net>
Jun 7 (2 days ago)

to me, Angela, chrishkirkham 
Hey guys!!!!! =D 

How is everything going back home?! The days here are soooo long but I can't believe it's Friday already. haha! We have been going nonstop. We really don't waste any time here at the MTC but it's great! I've learned so much already and I have only been here for a couple days!

I have seen SO many people here that I know. I've seen Sister Langford twice, Sister Hubbard (Katrina's sister), Sister O'leary, Cowley, Elder Davis and several people from the 'Y'! I still haven't seen Mandi... I don't know if I will since she is living at Wy View :( 

Tell Angie I'm sorry that I won't be there to see her graduate today but that she is in my thoughts and prayers! So proud of you Angie! You better wear that lei I gave you ;) 

My district is AWESOME!! I LOVE them. There are 3 sets of sisters and 2 sets of elders. I'm going to be said to part with the elders when they fly out to Spokane. 

I guess I'll tell you about what I've been learning here so far:

The first night we learned the importance of learning who the people are that they are teaching, such as who their families are, what they do for a living, what is going on in their life, how they found the church, etc. When we get to actually KNOW the person than we can have a better understanding of what their needs are and how we can best apply the gospel into their lives so that it can touch them at a more personal level. It was a great night! I learned a lot! 

Thursday morning was great. I felt the spirit sooo strong in a 'People and Your Purpose' workshop. We talked about different examples of people and discussed how God probably thinks of them and the love He has for them. We then talked about our purpose as missionaries. Our purpose is to: invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. I learned that as missionaries we INVITE and HELP. The investigators are to take the responsibility and do the rest to create a relationship with God. 

We did a HOURS of studying yesterday in the same room... ah! I better get use it soon. haha I loved studying though! I felt like I received a lot of insight while studying PMG, scriptures and applying it to what we had been learning the past couple days. I read in Alma about Ammon and the sons of Mosiah going to teach the Lamanite people. I didn't realize how PERFECT of a missionary Ammon was until yesterday while studying!! Everything that I have learned within the past couple days was applied perfectly by Ammon when he was teaching King Lamoni. 1st, Ammon shoed the king that he CARED for the people (Alma 17: 22-23). 2nd, Ammon SERVED them to show that he cares and to gain trust with the people  (vs. 25 & 29). 3rd, He asks questions to the King to get to know the King and his thoughts and intents of his heart so he knew how to teach him (Alma 18: 26 & 28). 4th, he teaches the doctrine which INVITES the king to receive the gospel and Ammon HELPS him understand the doctrine. 5th, After Ammon INVTED and HELPD (the missionary purpose!!) the king, the king created a relationship with God which converted Him through the Spirit and he received personal revelation. (Alma 18: 40-42) (Alma 19: 12-13 on conversion). Anyways... I really enjoyed studying that yesterday and it touched me deeply. 

We also worked on the the cycle of daily planning. First we choose topics according to the investigators needs and by following the spirit. 2nd personal study to gain insight on the topics, receive reveliation and prepare to teach. 3rd, companion study to gain companionship unity, focus on progress of those that we are teaching and to prepare fo rspecific appointments and then write out of lesson plan. 4th, we teach by the spirit and immediatly plan what topics we feel we should study to prepare to teach them next. 

Last night I met my Branch Presidency and one of the counselors is my Book of Mormon professor from Freshman year: Brother Merrill! It was fun to see him and kind of a surprise! 

Surprisingly I'm not the oldest one here... hahaha Most girls here seem to be 19. However, there is a sister in my district that is 21. Her name is Sister Peterson from Sandy. She is so darling! She is very spunky and I love her!! My companion is the bomb. We get along really well. She is very sweet and has a cute smile. I feel like we don't have any problem with having the spirit with us when we are preparing, studying and teaching. 

My confidence is definitely growing. I have so much more to learn and I have so much to improve on but I just get more and more excited everyday to get out into the mission field! As great as the MTC is... I am already WAY ready to get out of here.... haha! 

So I have a confession... I forgot to write down Jeff's mailing address... and I should really get that... oops!!! :/ You think I would have it memorized by now but to be quite honest my mind has seemed to forget everything since entering the MTC. I was talking about a cousin and totally spaced her name for like a whole minute! IT WAS SO EMBARRASSING!!!! I swear it's nothing personal... I think I'm just learning so much here and learning so many names that I've shoved all the other names and stuff to the back of my head. hahaha 

Wow... time goes by sooo fast here! It's amazing how fast the time is FINALLY flying by here! ;) hahaha I'm going to the temple today with my district! That should be pretty cool. I guess you already assumed this.. but my P-days are on Fridays here at the MTC. I'm not sure what they will be when I'm out in the field. That's all I know for know! 

Well, I love you guys so much! Thank you for your support and I'm so excited to hear how Angie's graduation goes! So, so proud of her! I want to know what you guys have been up to this past week as well! Tell me everything! 

This Church is true and I'm so blessed and excited to be a missionary!!!! love you! :D xoxoxoxo

Love,

Sister Kirkham