Hello everyone!
I'm not kidding with that subject line. On Friday night, I started to feel really sick with a stomach ache, headache, and a fever. On Saturday I so feverish, dizzy, and weak that our teacher Brother Eaton sent Sister Allison and I to the health clinic on the other side of the MTC campus. Unfortunately, we all forgot that the clinic is not open on Saturdays. So we walked back to class where Brother Eaton told us me to go back to my room to lay down. By the time we actually got back to our room, we had probably walked a mile, which did NOT help how I felt. The next day was fast Sunday, and at the MTC, it's a mandatory fast, mostly because the cafeteria was closed. This also didn't help how I felt. The purpose of telling all of you this is not so you can feel sorry for me. I had some amazing experiences because of this. On Sunday, President Dyck authorized my district leader, Elder Corbridge, to give me a blessing. My whole district participated in the blessing. It was the first time any of these Elders had the opportunity to give a blessing. Having 8 Elders surround me with the purpose of blessing me reminded me of a scripture; "And mine angels [are] round about you, to bear you up." Sister Allison even participated by holding open the missionary handbook for Elder Corbridge to make sure he said the right thing. Another thing I learned from this is how grateful I am for Sister Allison. I seriously don't think I could have made it through the weekend without her. She never complained about walking extremely slow because that's all the energy I could give, or missing class because I had no more energy to give, or even that I couldn't really hold a conversation with her because I was delirious with fever. Instead she just loved and served me. I love her even more after this weekend. Also, on Saturday for the part of class that I attended, we were talking about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It hit me full force then that Jesus Christ knows exactly how awful I feel and He is there for me in the same way that Sister Allison was there for me, I just can't see Him.
Now that my mom thinks I was dying, I can assure her that I didn't die. I just felt like I was. ;) The good news is that my fever finally broke on Sunday night, and I regained most of my energy yesterday. My stomach still hurts a little today, but I'm not dying anymore.
Like I mentioned, this last Sunday was fast Sunday, which meant we had a fast and testimony meeting. During sacrament meeting, even though I felt awful, I kept thinking that if I can't even bear my testimony in a sacrament meeting, then I'm going to be in for a long 18 months. What else do missionaries do but bear their testimony? So I got up and bore my testimony. I don't remember a thing I said, but later all three members of the Branch Presidency came up to thank me for my testimony and they told me that my words were very powerful. So maybe what I was feeling in that meeting wasn't my fever, but the Holy Ghost guiding my words. :)
The MTC branches are kind of crazy. We get and lose missionaries every week, and no one knows who is teaching a lesson or talking in sacrament meetings. We're told that we should just prepare a talk on a certain topic and with our companion prepare a lesson on another topic each week. Then on Sunday morning our Zone leaders tell us who is teaching the lesson for relief society or Sunday school. During sacrament meeting, President Dyck will just get up and announce then and there who we will hear from each week. Giving a talk this week wasn't a big deal because of fast and testimony meeting, but Sister Allison and I were called on to teach Relief Society. We had spent maybe 15 minutes the day before preparing the lesson. The topic was recognizing the spirit, and it was incredible how powerful the spirit was in that lesson. The Lord really does take whatever we have to give and makes it more. It's the parable of the loaves and fishes again.
On Sunday night, we watched a devotional that Elder Holland gave at the MTC in 2004 called "Missions are Forever." In it, Elder Holland shared a poem:
Come to the edge, He said
No, I said, I'll fall
Come to the edge, He said
No, I said, I'll fall
Come to the edge, He said
So I came to the edge
He pushed me, and I flew.
It was very powerful the way he shared it, and I think it can be applied to every aspect of life, not just a mission. The Lord gives us trials- he pushes us- so that we can fly. We just have to make it to the edge of our ability.
We got our travel itineraries on Friday Night! Sister Allison and I leave the MTC on the 12th, so next Wednesday. The only downside is that we have to get up at 3 in the morning to check out of the MTC on time. It's going to be a long day. Our flight doesn't leave until 8:30, but we have a layover in Georgia. We won't get to Arkansas until 4:30 in the afternoon. Sister Allison is assigned to be the travel leader for the 14 of us who will be on that flight, and so every time we see someone going to Arkansas they say, "Hi mom!" It's kind of funny because Sister Allison hates it. Because I'm leaving on a Wednesday, I will have one more P-day next Tuesday.
God is Good!
Love,
Sister Slade
Pictures
1. Our temple trip on Friday
2.
3. Proof that I'm alive and well. This picture was taken yesterday.
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