"How Great Thou Art"

 It has been a great couple of days as we continue on here at the MTC. I've been seeing people I know from BYU here and it's weird to think that I was only a little bit away from the MTC when I lived there. My dorm building is in plain sight of Building 12 at Heritage Halls. I used to look at the MTC from my dorm or as we passed it to go to the temple and it's weird to see it all from a different perspective. I am so glad for the time I had at BYU. I keep thinking about all the great people I met, how I changed when I was there, and some really great friendships that I made. One cool thing that I realized is that it is possible that three of my five roommates will be here at the MTC at the same time! I am so excited to see them! 

I am loving my calling as an STL here at the MTC. It has been a whirlwind of different things as we try to help everyone adjust to missionary life. We have had a couple of scary moments this week with girls having health problems and heading to the hospital, but everyone is doing alright now and still heading to the mission field. I remember that the previous STL's told us that nothing had really happened while they were at the MTC for 9 weeks except for some girls who felt homesick and a companionship problem, but it seems that there is always something that is going on with our branch now. I am happy to help all of the girls, but I think what I have realized is how much they have also helped me. By serving them, it has allowed me to spread out and know them better. It has also been weird to see how by serving them I have come to love them each. I don't know all of them well, but I have a huge respect for them and all they go through. 

Saturday was one of the days that really scared me. We were walking back from class to our dorms when we saw flashing lights in front of our building and the gym. There was an ambulance, a firetruck, and some police officers with a ton of missionaries around. We went into our building and girls started coming up asking us what happened and someone said that a girl got heat-stroke and passed out. That's when two girls came out of the elevator crying. One of the girls in our branch had apparently been acting weird and unresponsive throughout the day and had passed out in front of the gym. This scared her whole district, who were luckily all there to help her and wait for the ambulance. Another tender mercy that we learned of was that two of the leaders from our branch showed up at the exact right time to help out this district and to go to the hospital with this sister. Everyone was worried for her and we decided to gather everyone to pray for her. A lot of the girls from our branch joined together and prayed for this sister's safety and health. The next day, we learned that this was a reaction to a vaccine she had gotten and that all she needs to do is rest. It was a powerful experience to see so many missionaries gather in prayer and I am so glad that this sister was okay.

On Sunday, Sister Haun (my Macedonian-speaking companion) and Elder Wells (the only Turkish-speaking elder) played the song "How Great Thou Art" in church. Elder Wells is insanely good at the piano and Sister Haun has an amazing voice. The spirit was so strong as they sang of the greatness of our God. Sacrament Meeting was powerful and the main message that I want to share from it is that we are each beloved children of God. He knows each of us personally and loves us despite our many flaws. He knows what we need and has a plan for each of us. Another message I heard in Sacrament Meeting that struck me was about the sacrifices that parents make so that missionaries can serve. My parents are my heroes, they have been there every step of the way guiding me where I need to go. I am incredibly grateful for them and their example to me. 

Later that day, we went to record "How Great Thou Art" for Sister Hauns parents. When we showed up to the room with the good piano we saw the elder who had sung for the devotional and talked with him and his companion for a bit until Elder Hayne (Elder Wells' Macedonian-speaking companion) started to sing the song with Elder Wells at the piano without Sister Haun. I went over and started singing with him for fun and towards the second verse of the song everyone was singing. It was so fun and I remember thinking how true the words "then sings my soul, my Savior, God, to Thee" as we sang. After we stopped, Sister Haun sang the song as we recorded it for her mom and then a man came in with all the flags that had been hung up that day in a cart. He said "Great! I have some help!" and we got to fold all of the different flags! It was super cool and fun to talk with each other and see all the different places that Heavenly Father was sending people.

The rest of what has happened is just classes, SYL (speak your language), and a really cool devotional that we had the other day. I am so glad for all of you and so thankful for the emails that you send! Teşekkür ederim!

Sincerely,

Kızkardeş Calder