The Lessons from the MTC - Number One

It has now been over a month since I have returned home from the MTC. I would be lying if I said that it has been easy, but thanks to some great people around me it hasn't been as hard as I though it would be. I have to tell you I am not a fan of doctors, or anything health related so you can imagine how fun this journey has been. :D

Just found this painting of the Savior and I love it! Click on Image for Source.

I have been so grateful to know that through it all my Savior is always right by my side. What a blessing it is to have the peace His love brings in our lives. Unfortunately I am not much closer to figuring out what is going on health wise than I was in the last post but I am building Faith and Patience each day and know that the Lord's timing and plan are eternally perfect.

I decided while I was home I wanted to share some of the amazing opportunities I had while I was in the MTC. I know I keep saying it, but I will never be the same person and for that I am eternally grateful.  I met so many inspiring people, and had so many life altering experiences. One of those people was my branch president, President Anderson. I would post a picture but for some strange reason over the 9 weeks I spent at the MTC I never managed to get one with President Anderson. Probably because he is a very busy man!

From the minute we met President Anderson on our second night in the MTC he was continually inspiring us with his love and lessons. He is an extremely soft spoken man so when he spoke the room was always deathly quiet so we could hear the words he had to share. He taught us more on the atonement that first night than I personally had ever even thought about in my entire life. I will share more of that later on, but for now here are a couple of the lessons I learned from him!

Lesson 1:
"You can't take me where you haven't been" - We cannot teach investigators or help others with something that we ourselves do not understand because we haven't gone through it.

Lesson 2:
"The Lord is oh so merciful with us" - The Lord understands us better than anyone and he is loving, patient and merciful as we stumble through the darkness of our trials.

Lesson 3:
"Never Underestimate the power of  Mother's Faith" - On a night shortly before I found out I would be returning home I was feeling quite conflicted wondering what was going to happen and I asked to meet with President Anderson. He shared with me some great advice (lesson 5) and then pulled my companions into the room and shared a story with us from his childhood. The story was about an experience with his mother, and it made me think of how my own Mom affected my life. I know I would not be who I am today without her influence. Sometimes it's hard to remember that the experiences we are having each day will one day be the stories we tell to our children to help them in their time of need. All women can become those mothers of great faith that change their children for eternity.

Lesson 4:
"Be oh so careful with yourself and watch the words you say to yourself" - I know I am not alone when I say that I am often a lot harder on myself than I ought to be. Often times I think we don't realize how destructive our thoughts are. We don't think that we are good enough, pretty enough, smart enough, and we let our inner voice confirm that over and over again. We need to watch our thoughts and make sure we are speaking kindly and in uplifting manner to ourselves.

Lesson 5:
"In those times when you wake in the middle of the night start to pray. Pray about those things that keeps your mind away. If you fall asleep praying remember that is okay." - This was advice given during a time when I was struggling. It must have been apparent that I wasn't getting enough sleep. It is quite common to awake in the middle of the night with a mind full of thoughts. I had never thought about praying myself back to sleep, but it helps! The Lord is truly always there in our time of need! As we met President Anderson mentioned the song below as his inspiration for the advice. This is one of my now favorite Mormon Tabernacle Choir songs.


Over a month later and I am still able to recall these lessons without notes! It's pretty clear that President Anderson had some valuable advice to share. I know these aren't all of the lessons I learned, but these are the ones I wanted to highlight tonight. I feel like these lessons are so applicable to each and every one of us as we travel through this journey we call life.