If you don't giggle you might cry

Hello hello! The MTC is great and I love being a missionary! I head to Washington on Wednesday! I could not be more excited! I feel like I literally just got here so leaving so soon is wild to me! 

Highlights:

• GO AND DO EXPERIENCE! On Sunday we had the go and do experience and this was amazing! We were given 2 hours to study on our own how we can deepen our conversion to Jesus Christ! When they first told me I would be studying for 2 hours straight I was sure I was going to hate it. Anyone who knows me knows I cannot focus for very long, but it ended up being one of the best parts of my week! I loved being able to spend time learning how God speaks to me personally and to learn more about Him! 
• GENERAL AUTHORITY DEVOTIONAL! The general authority devotional this week was so good! We had Elder Shayne M. Bowen come speak to us and he is just so cool! You'll hear more about this in my spiritual thought! 
• CHOIR! Okay so those who know me super well probably think I'm actually insane right now, but yes I did in fact do choir. And I honestly loved it so much! I cannot sing for the life of me, I probably was the worst sounding one in the whole choir, but I have never felt the spirit so strong! Being a part of a choir of around 600 missionaries bearing their testimonies through song is so cool! I loved it so much!.
• 24TH OF JULY! Honestly there wasn't anything super exciting about the 24th but all of the sisters in my district wore red white and blue and as we were heading back to the residents halls for bed, we saw some fireworks through the trees! I love fireworks so this was such a happy moment for me haha! 
• TEMPLE! On Tuesday we went to the Payson temple again! We did an endowment session and I was so happy to be in the temple! I feel so much peace in the temple and I feel like all my worries go away, so this was so awesome for me this week!
• DR PEPPER! I know I sound actually crazy but one of the sisters in our hall had cans of Dr pepper cream soda and she let us all have one! I was so happy to finally have a little bit of caffeine because there is literally none here! We all were so grateful she was willing to share and it really got us through that day haha!
• KAHOOT! I have to brag that I did in fact win Kahoot in my class so basically I'm just the best. We all get so competitive so when we play games we have so much fun and I was very proud to win haha! 

Lowlights:

• CAFETERIA! Okay so the cafeteria is an absolute madhouse! No one goes at their scheduled times and there's over 2200 missionaries at the MTC right now. The lines are SO long and the food is SO gross. We have been living off of salad and cookies all week! There is a place in the cafeteria called Choices that is basically like Zao bowls if you know what that is. We love Choices and we've had it for most of our dinners this week. One night we got in line and I kid you not we waited for 30 minutes to get to the front of the line! I was so frustrated! As we were eating Sister Roper said "if you don't giggle you might cry" which is where the title comes from haha! Anyways if you ever feel like you might cry, take her advice and giggle the tears away. 
• LONGEST DAYS! The days in the MTC are so long! It is seriously go go go from 9-9 and by the end of the night I'm so exhausted! I don't know if I've ever felt more exhausted in my entire life! It's so much work but I'm loving all of it! 

Spiritual Thought! 

My spiritual thought this week comes from our general authority devotional and just one thing he said that really stuck out to me! He said that the greatest convert we are going to meet is ourselves. This obviously is super connected to missionary work but I also think that it can be used for everyone. Everything you do is helping you to be more converted. There isn't a point where you are "converted enough" or "done converting". You are always deepening your conversion and as you do so, your relationship with Christ can become even more personal! 

I love you all and hope you are having the best week ever!!!

Sister Stringham