Shall we not go on in so great a cause?

 New Cal, here I come!

The elders loved the scotcheroos you sent

 Jumping for joy at the temple with another cool Australian elder

 Temple walk selfie

Elder Fisk and Elder Garside

 Tomorrow is my MTC halfway mark, and the words of Bon Jovi's "Living on a prayer" have never rung truer for me. I am halfway out of here, and I really am living on a prayer. I pray so so so much here, and it's an incredible thing. I have grown so much closer to my Heavenly Father, and have felt so much of his love for me. The Atonement is so incredible and real. Isn't it amazing that Heavenly Father loves us enough that he sent Jesus Christ to pay for our sins, so that we can have the power that Heavenly Father has? It's amazing. Never take the Atonement--L'Expiation en francais--for granted. Christ has suffered all of our afflictions and knows everything we are going through. The Atonement can get us through anything and give us the power to do everything we are called on to do.

Conference weekend was FANTASTIC. I am so so grateful I had the opportunity to watch it here. Not only were they fantastic talks, it was nice to have a little break from the usual stresses of the MTC. :) Holland's talk was incredible, as usual, but the Sunday morning session was prime. I LOVED Uchtdorf's talk on gratitude. Everything was just amazing.

We got to watch the David Archuleta special they showed between sessions on Sunday which was way cool because I was in it! Well... you never actually see me up close but I'm in the crowd, and my voice was definitely one of the many singing Hark All Ye Nations with David. What a cutie he is.

For our Sunday Devotional, Vocal Point came and performed. The spirit speaks to me much more easily through music, so David Archuleta and Vocal Point were both real tender mercies for me. We've been hitting the jackpot when it comes to devotionals!

Every Sunday night, they show church movies like The Testaments or The Restoration and things like that. We watched Joseph Smith and MAN I forgot how much I love that movie, and how much I love Joseph Smith. That movie just re-solidifies my testimony of Joseph Smith and I cry every time. If you haven't seen it recently, watch it. And my favorite quote ever, which I had forgotten about for some reason: "Shall we not go on in so great a cause?" When things are hard, when we want to quit, it always helps to remember WHY we are doing what we're doing. Especially here in the MTC, when you aren’t teaching real investigators and feel like you aren’t good enough, it always helps to remember how great a cause this is. It is worth it to keep going!

Well, I love you all! Thank you for the love and prayers. Hope things are going well in the real world. Have a good week!!

Soeur Gardiner