MTC week 10: My last week in the MTC!

Hola a todos!

Well, I survived my last week in the MTC, and I can already tell how difficult it's going to be to say goodbye to people so many times! I have grown so close to my district my teachers, and my branch, etc. Even though I didn't shed any tears (I hardly ever cry for some reason...), I will miss them all very much. It's so strange to think that tomorrow morning I'll get on a bus and leave this place, and I will never be able to return as a young missionary. However I have made some fabulous memories here and taken some great pictures, and I know that I will always remember my time here and the people that I have come to know and love.

Recently, my companion received a letter from one of her close friends. Enclosed was an excerpt, adapted from a talk given at a missionary farewell given by Shari Richards Turbo in 1994. She read it to me and substituted my name in and I knew that I had to have a copy. I thought it would be fun to share with all of you... especially those who aren't particularly familiar with the work of sister missionaries. This really portrays it well.

"It is exciting for me to see how many wonderful women are choosing to serve missions. I've been blessed to [have been] a sister missionary and I've been blessed to work with many other sisters.

It takes more than a mission call to become a "real" sister missionary.

Not just anybody can do it, but I believe that [Hermana Hollenbaugh] has what it takes, and I wish for her the kind of mission that will show her how to become a "real" sister missionary.[Hermana Hollenbaugh], I hope you feel the powerful spirit of the MTC as you struggle hour after hour to study the gospel and learn the lessons in Spanish.

I hope you feel the frustration of trying to bear your testimony in Spanish but not knowing enough Spanish words to say what's really in your heart.

I hope you feel the Spirit whispering Spanish words to you in an important lesson with a special family.

I hope you feel and appreciate the courage it takes to approach someone on the street, at their house, or on a bus and interrupt their busy lives to ask them about their beliefs and to tell them about yours.

I hope you feel the humble, sweet spirit that comes as your investigators kneel and pray for the first time.

I hope you have a difficult companion who makes you struggle and grow as you try to work together.

I hope you have an "awesome" companion who is like your best friend, who cries with you when you get transferred.

I hope you have days when all you do is knock on one door after another.

I hope you have to walk on muddy roads in your best dress.

I hope you learn what it's like to scream at the wind, rain, and blazing hot sun that just won't quit.

I hope you learn what it's like to stand at the door of [someone who doesn't like mormons] and bear your testimony of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon while they quote scriptures and attack you with things and words you can't understand.

I hope you feel the power of the spirit as people believe you when you testify of the Savior's love for them.

I hope you feel the disappointment of a family you thought was "golden" telling you they don't want you to come anymore.

I hope you experience the joy of the hugs that come from someone wet from the waters of baptism.

I hope you learn what it's like to sit in a Sacrament Meeting and listen to a young woman you taught bear her testimony.

I hope there are times when you feel utterly alone and inadequate as you walk the streets of [Texas].

I hope you feel the unconditional love, strength, and support that come from your family at home--and from your Heavenly home as well.

I hope that in a year and a half you can stand at the pulpit and realize that there are no words to describe what your mission means to you. But you'll know, and that's the important thing.

I hope that you can stand here and feel the great peace that comes from diligently and faithfully serving a mission.

THEN... you'll be a "real sister missionary."

I love this so much. I know I will have many if not all of these experiences at some point over the next 16 months I will spend in Houston, but it is so worth it. After spending 10 weeks here in the MTC, I know without a doubt that there is nowhere else I'd rather be than here. I have felt the Savior's love in my life in a way that I have never felt it before. I KNOW that he loves me, Austin Hollenbaugh, personally. He knows all of my strengths and all of my weaknesses perfectly... better than I know them. Those nights that I have laid in bed worried about my spanish or my ability to share the incredible importance of this message, he has been there with me, and brought great peace and comfort to my heart. And most of all I KNOW that he can do this for all of you. I pray that each of you will recognize this in your life and let the Savior take your burdens and heal you. Because he can and will if you let him.

I love you all!

Hermana Austin Hollenbaugh

ps. think of me tomorrow morning at 6am!