Sœur McKenna Soffe: Week 5 MTC July 23rd

Bonjour ma famille et mes Amis!
Or as the cool frenchies in the MTC say Qoui de neuf mec! (Which means what's up dawg in French, or if you are really awesome you way "Qoui de neuf coco" which means what's up bro!) haha I hope you can all imagine me walking around the MTC saying "Heyyyy Qoui de neuf mec??" Haha the poor new missionaries are very confused.
This week started off so so awesome, then it got really hard; so let's start with the awesome weekend. So this past Sunday was one of my favorites. Me and ma collegue taught Relief Society, and we taught about faith and the atonement! It was such a great lesson, people gave so many good insights and the spirit was really strong. I don't know why but this week I have had so many doubts running through my head, but I have realized I could never ever do this alone. I am so lucky that I don't have to, because I really do feel the savior holding me hand and guiding me every day! I promise you the enabling power of the atonement is so real, and I promise you if you just ask and seek it you feel the savior's overwhelming love for you!! So after our really good Sunday meetings the MTC gathered for a devotional. You would not believe how full the MTC is, there is over 2,500 missionaries here so the auditorium is full and some missionaries have to watch devotionals in the full overflow. We are all in the choir, so we lucky always get a set in the auditorium. So instead of having someone come and speak, as mission we watched Elder Bednar's character of Christ! This is such a good devotional video and I loved being able to watch it again. BUT THEN when it was over Elder Bednar walked into the auditorium, and completely surprised all of us!! It was so cool, and I felt such a strong spirit that he is an apostle of the lord! He came and for an hour did a Q and A session with all of us, and it was incredible. It was amazing to learn from the way he taught us, and even though we were the ones asking questions he asked us more than we asked him. I learned a lot about how I want to teach my future investigators. We need to let the spirit guide us, so they can be guided by the spirit! The sprit really is the true teacher! My district was able to talk with President Burtasso (MTC 1st counselor) the other day and after we had an amazing discussion about Temples and the priesthood. He told us that Elder Bednar was really impressed by the questions that were asked but also the spirit in the MTC!
The church is so true everyone, but was so awesome is that it isn't the people who run the church that make it true. It was amazing to see elder Bednar but that's not who I have a testimony of. One thing that he said is that it would be tragic if one of the apostles were to fall away, but it wouldn't change his testimony at all. This is because he is truly converted to the savior not the people of the church. This is how true conversion and testimony come, by having a testimony in the principle of the gospel and our savior. So for this week your frenchie's challenge is to ponder and pray about where your testimony and conversion is, please keep trying to develop Christ's character and be converted to your loving savior!!
So know on to why this week has been hard for me. So me and my district have gotten so close, ahh I love them like family. So one of our Elders actually had to go home this week. It was Elder Thorneloe because he has been having GI issues, and the doctors said he can't go out. It absolutely broke my heart, he was our district leader and such an amazing missionary. It was really really hard on Thursday to say goodbye to him, but I am so grateful for the way he has influenced me. I am so so thankful that I have this opportunity to go on a mission, and yet I have no doubt that he is going to influence so many people's lives; because he helped all of us become better missionaries.
Life is crazy,and sometimes it is so hard to understand why the lord does what he does. I know though that he has a plan for each of us, and I trust him with everything I have. I can't believe that today marks one month for me being on a mission, and I leave for France in 11 days. AHHH I am so excited but terrified at the same time. I have learned more than I ever thought I could about my savior, French, and my self in the MTC. I still don't feel like I know much of the language, but I am putting my trust into my savior!
I love you all, and I am so thankful for your support!!
Je t'aime tout ma coeur
Sœur Soffe

This is our zone (which is all of the French speaking missionaries )