In person MTC finally

I'm finally at the mtc (missionary training center)! Here are the major highlights and lowlights I wanna share plus information that future missionaries could find helpful or interesting and what I'm currently learning as a missionary. I'd also like to warn you in advance that this is probably a long email but they probably won't be this long all the time, the mtc is just such a unique experience.

Temple / Leaving Aunt Amy

So, I stayed with my aunt Amy the night before the mtc and we had cousins over and it was great! The next morning we went to the Provo City Center temple literally only because she knew I wanted to go to that one in particular. It was so nice of her! I'll attach a picture of it. We did an endowment session which is when we make additional promises with God that He makes to us back like at baptism. I did not do this for myself that day, I did it on behalf of someone who is dead so on the other side, they get the opportunity to make that same promise with God I already did. I feel the spirit very strongly when I do an endowment session in the temple. I feel my saviors love for me and it always makes me marvel at how Jesus Christ and his atonement is at the center of everything we do in church. 

After the endowment session, my wonderful aunt got us Swig and Costa Vida which is so nice. We got to talk and just enjoy our last few moments with each other. Then it was time to go. We got to the MTC and they literally just drop you off in a line of cars in the underground parking garage near a door upstairs. It kind of shocked me how soon it was and saying goodbye to aunt Amy brought back the feelings I felt leaving my family in FL so I tried really hard not to cry. I gave aunt Amy my phone and a big hug and I left. 

Meeting my companion/ district sisters

A missionary who had very there for a week gave me directions to my residence hall and I got to meet the sisters in my district in person! They're all so cool and I was so glad that we weren't online anymore. 

Specifically, I think my companion is so cool! She's like low energy kinda like me and we basically like and dislike the same things lol (laughing out loud). It's like the little things that make me go “omg (oh my gosh) were literally the same person”. For example, we both don't like the office. Don't hate me but I just not my humor but whenever I say that to ppl (people) they make it sound like I'm void of joy or something. 

The other sister companions in my district are super cool too! Sister Anderton and Easley are like twins lost at birth they're also totally similar. They dress the same, laugh at the same things, and both have boyfriends friends who they plan on marrying post mission. Sister Griffin and Sister Young don't seem to be as similar but their vibes pair well together.

The food

Some sisters warned me and my companion about the food and they said that they primarily ate at the salad bar but I think I'm generally not picky because my mom wouldn't make our family food every meal of every day so I'm happy to eat a lot more things. The food in my opinion though is good. It's not totally restaurant quality but it's still enjoyable and edible. For the youth who will eventually go to the provo mtc, aloha plate is my favorite in the cafeteria. It's chicken, spam or pork, then a Macaroni salad, coleslaw, and rice. The Macaroni salad is super good imo (in my opinion).

I heard that the chocolate milk was like this big deal and super good but it's 2nd place to Fairlife chocolate milk. It's not as creamy or flavorful as Fairlife.

The worst food I've had so far was on fast Sunday of all days. Fast Sunday is when you sacrifice eating or drinking for 24 hours in return for blessings from God put very simply. I started my fast in the afternoon on Saturday then ended it at the same time so I could eat dinner that day. When we went to dinner, it was the longest line I've seen so far. It went out the door haha because everyone was itching to eat after so long. Once we finally got food we had a hard time finding a fork and then the food was terrible haha. It was all reheated food from the past few days so it was stale and not as flavorful.

I also heard there's an ice cream place at the mtc which I have not been to yet but I want to today to spice things up since it's my companions birthday! She turns 20 todayyy

The workshops / devotionals

Workshops and devotionals are our long things we sit through that are supposed to be educational but my beef with them is that they are mostly teaching us the same thing every time. On Sunday, we learned about the doctrine of Christ like 5 separate times. It became a joke with my and my companion that that's the only thing their teaching us because we don't learn that much in a given day.

I know classes are set up for the lamest of lame missionary but I am not, I wish we were learning at a faster pace.

The classes

Same thing with the classes, they're very helpful but I wish we learned more each day.

Elder Philips and our unique calls

Elder Philips is a missionary in my district, he would go to punk shows, punch people to see if they were real fans of the punk band misfits (if they punched back, they were), he has a huge Mohawk on his driver's license and has plans to get face piercings and tattoos everywhere post mission. He's a very unique guy. What stood out to me is that despite his interests, he has a strong desire to serve the lord. He was called to the Ogden Utah mission and I think that's perfect for him. He said in his testimony on Sunday that Jesus taught the punks of his time and Elder Philips hopes to do the same. I believe that his mission is the find the one lost sheep that other missionaries might not be able to because of his unique personality and interests. It made me emotional because I felt a confirmation from God that like his unique calling, I have one too to find the one lost sheep that only I can speak to just because of who I am.

Elder white and Adam's should be a comedy duo

My favorite male set of companions in my district are Elder White and Elder Adam's. Elder White is 5’6, a published author at 18 or 19, and consumes a lot of media. Elder Adams is over 6 foot, a robotics club kid, and is probably a Twitter user. They're both so funny and are very entertaining while we all eat lunch as a district. They honestly should be a comedy duo because they're able to bounce jokes off each other and add to one another's jokes very well.

Going to the temple for endowments: first time wo (without) family and the Beatles 

After going to the temple with aunt Amy, I was able to go two more times with my district! Our first temple day was last Thursday I believe and we did baptisms for the dead. On Saturday, we did an endowment session. I've done baptisms with the youth in my ward so going without my parents wasn't weird but going to the endowment session was. I've only ever gone with my mom and dad until now. It made me sad that I couldn't go to the temple with them but it was also very cool on the other hand because I've never done an endowment session with friends so I had a little bit of a hard time shutting up and being reverent in the temple haha. 

Within the temple, there is a room called the celestial room that is very beautiful and after your endowment session you can sit there and look at the beauty of the room or ponder as long as you'd like. It's meant to symbolize reaching the highest heaven. I don't typically like to sit there for a long time, not that I don't like heaven, but I'm not a sit and ponder kind of gal most of the time. The sisters in my district wanted to stay for a while so I did too. I also am obligated to stay with my companion so there's that as well. While I was sitting there looking at the stained glass, the chandeliers, and other pretty things above me, the song Real Love by the Beatles came to my mind. The chorus specifically was repeating in my head. It felt like God was just telling me he loved me in that moment and it made me tear up. I encourage you all to listen to it too because it's just a good happy song.

Sacrament meeting

This was my first real Sunday away from my family. I've had very spirit filled Sundays these past few months leading up to my mission and it made me wonder if i was having these experiences so I would know that I can feel that same spirit in any chapel and I was totally right. My eyes were slightly blurry the whole time from the tears I was trying to hold back. I felt so strongly the saviors love for me and that I was in the right place. I also ended up giving my testimony which I don't like doing but I did and I felt good afterwards.

Being tired

I'd say the worst part about missionary life right now is being tired all the time, which is a good thing because there are a lot of potential reasons someone could dislike being a missionary but that's mine at the moment. We are supposed to go to bed at 10:30pm and wake up at 6:30am. I wake up at 6am to do personal study beside my companion and I go to bed at 11pm because I have so many thoughts and experiences I want to write down to remember. Hopefully it will get better in the mission field because missionaries typically don't have to leave their house till 9am but at the mtc breakfast is at 7:30am, and class is at 8:30am so it's hard to fit in personal study, working out, and getting ready for the day all before 7:30am. My mom bought me a caffeine drink i can squeeze into my water so that will probably help too.

Thoughts on missing my family 

I think I said it in my last post, but leaving my family has probably been the hardest thing I've ever done. Since arriving to the mtc though, they keep you so busy I haven't had much time to miss my family which is honestly a relief. I don't like crying so I still miss my family so much but not to a point of tears.

I've also heard some other people's experiences and it's made me grateful that leaving my family is the hardest thing I've ever done, because it could be a lot worse.

Prayer experience: Kelsey and Janene

My last thought is one that happened during the summer but we were talking about prayer in class and I couldn't think of this experience in time to share it so I'll share it here:

It was when I prayed for Kelsey and Janene to be in my fsy group. I started to get closer to them in April and I started to feel really close to Keley and Janene, more Kelsey during youth conference. I already squared away my friend Haper being my roommate and I thought that like no one was going to my week at fsy Kelsey and I figured out then that we were going to the same week at fsy at the same time and said maybe we should pray to be in the same company. We both did and it actually worked! I was genuinely so shocked and it seems like a “classic” prayer story but it truly gave me confidence in my prayers since then that they can and will work. I think the lord wanted to give me that experience for that reason and also I felt like I learned a lot at that fsy and I felt so seen and it was just overall the best fsy I went to because of Kelsey and Janene, and Harper. I love them dearly and I can't wait to see them after mine and their missions.

Since you made it this far, I'd love to hear from you all! My email is addyson.moghimi@missionary.org

Also here's the link to my Google photos. I have pictures of me, my companion, my district and maybe some other stuff.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/K8riSQGsCa65xx9u6