1/2 through MTC

That title is no lie folks. Officially 2 weeks left until I'm off to the real world. Pretty scary but I'm so excited for Brazil and feel like I've made good progress here at the MTC! This week has been a pretty standard one, cause when you're this far along in the process the days are basically groundhog day. Since I don't have a lot to report on this week, I want to share a spiritual message with you all that was really powerful to me from this week. 

If you can learn how the spirit speaks to you, the power and direction you gain in life will be immesrable. A lot of the time when an idea randomly comes to our mind, we question whether it's from us or whether it's the spirit trying to give us a message. Elder Bednar taught us that we should try not to overcomplicate this question, and that a quick way to judge the ideas that come to mind is this: If the idea even has the POTENTIAL to bless you or other peoples lives, then follow it. Sometimes you won't see the immediate benefits, and often times you won't even recognize it as a spiritual prompting in the moment, but if it has the potential to bless lives in any way then follow it. Bednar shared a story from his mission where he was saying goodbye to Elder Packer at a train station in Germany, and he gave Elder Packer 20 Marks (German currency) to account for food and things if he wanted them along the train ride. While Packer was taking the train, boarder guards came onto the train and asked to see passports. Elder Packer had a sufficient passport, but his wife did not. If they didn't do something, they would  get kicked off the train and potemtially be arrested. It was a grave situation that they had not anticipated, and were ill prepared for. When the guard got to the car they were staying in, Packer, not having many options, put the 20 Marks in he and his wife's passports, and gave them to the guard. When the guard got back, the 20 Marks were gone, and he didn't say anything else to Packer and his Wife. Miraculously, the guard let them continue on the train. When Packer got to his destination, he told the area President about the story of the guard on the train. The area president, shocked, said that those guards regularly throw people off of those trains for insufficient passports. He'd never seen an instance where they let someone with an insufficint passport continue on the train. Kind of a long story, but the point is that Bednar gave him those Marks literally with the intent of them getting food. The Marks ended up being used to let him and his wife safely travel across the country. Was the idea Bednar recieved to lend them those Marks a spiritual prompting? Absolutely. Did he realize it in the moment? Absolutely not. He simply was following the idea he recieved to do a small action of goodness, and it ended up being the sole and exact thing that Packer needed in his life that day.

I testify to you all that God is in the works of our lives. And not only our lives individually, but our relationships with those around us. He knows the right steps for us to take to maximize blessing others lives, he just needs us to learn the language of the spirit so that we can unlock that power. I invite you all this week to pray, and to ask for God to impress small and simple actions you can take this week to bless others lives. And once you recive the whisper of an idea, to follow it. I know that it will bless your lives, and it will bless the lives of everyone around you. I know these things to be true, and say them in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

I love all of you guys. Thank you for your support, inclusion in your prayers, and being on this adventure right along with me. More updates to come next week, see you all then!