I love being here at the MTC!

Carly writes: "It is so wonderful in so many ways. My first few days here were exhausting to say the least. We get up at 6 every morning and we don't get back to our rooms until 9:30 at night. But, being so busy and productive is my favorite thing ever, so I feel right at home! When I first got here a sister took me on a short tour, I went and got my nametag and my books, then I went to meet my companion and my district. I am with three other amazing sisters in my district. Sister Kinikini, Sister Brett, and my companion Sister Katterfeld who is from Austrailia! They are so wonderful and we get along really really well! They will all be going to the Temple Square mission with me. There are about 9 American girls going to temple square in my transfer and about 16 international sisters. I LOVE all of the sisters! They have already humbled and helped me to realize that I have a long ways to go and I still have so so so much to learn! The elders in our district are so fun! They just seem so young, a mission adds like 10 years to boys. Missions make them MEN! oh ya.

Everything about the MTC is uplifting. The firesides, devotionals, classes, prayers, hymns, personal study, companionship study, practice teaching time, everything! It seriously is like heavens little magic workshop on earth. I LOVE studying my scriptures so intently everyday for several hours. I am feasting upon the words of Christ and I still can't get enough. Luckily I will be doing this for the rest of my life! My companion and I memorize a scripture together every day so hopefully I can keep that up my whole mission. Our Sunday meetings were incredible. They broadcast music and the spoken word for us and then immediately afterwards we have Relief Society. Relief Society was amazing. A sister shared her incredible conversion story that had everyone there in tears by the end, she was so awesome. This last sunday our branch President had each of us write a talk on Charity and Love, then he called 3 elders randomly to come up and give their talks. I sang "Consider the Lillies" for the meeting. I am so grateful for my talents and that through them I can bring the spirit into the hearts of those listening! I am really looking forward to sharing my musical gift throughout my mission, what a blessing music is! On Sunday night at the Fireside we all stood and sang "Called to Serve" with all the Elders and Sisters. The spirit was so strong! I could barely sing as I felt a confirming witness to me that we are called of God and we have a strong purpose and mission to share the Gospel with the people all over the world. The Lord is constantly blessing me with confirmations that a mission is exactly where I need to be right now.

My companion is amazing! She says the funniest things all the time. She always says reckon, like all the time. It cracks me up! Yesterday she said, " I'm feeling so flat! I just want to Cark it!" She was really saying, I feel so tired I just want to pass out. Man, she is so adorable. We love each other so much and really feel that the Lord put us together for a reason!

I am learning the I must rely on the Lord every second of ever day. I have always felt that I need to rely on him, but now I know that it is absoulutely necessary. I wish I could tell you all about my different experiences that I have had this last week. I have found some incredible passages in the scriptures that have boomed my testimony. hah boomed, ya! It is easy to get distracted here or think about things from home, but then the Lord blesses me with more inspiration! Wow, I am so blessed!

I am so happy to be here on my mission. Every single night when I write in my journal I just feel so wonderful about how my day went and everything that I am learning. I hope that I can continue to give myself completely to the Lord. I know that as I try my hardest that he will continue to teach me amazing and wonderful things that I will use for the rest of my life! I am so happy! We are so freakin' blessed to have the Gospel in our lives! Please don't take it for granted even for one minute. The Lord will humble us if we don't express our gratitude to him every day, and seek opportunites to share the good news."

Carly also reports that she loves seeing people she know - MJ Roberts, Robert Skousen, Jaes Jones, Sis. Talbot and Sis. Sargent :)

She also gave us a reading assignment - Hebrews 11 - Carly says "It is truly incredible"