Allison Jo Glanzer: Wednesday we started visitor center training!

Man, I need to get better at thinking of the highlights of the week. That is a goal I will commit to right now! Take a moment each day to jot down the highlights! Sometimes the weeks blend together!

Fast Sunday was such a long time. I got a headache, but my comp wanted to go to choir, so I sat off in a corner and slept. When it came time for Sunday Devotional, my headache was almost gone. We sat for one final time as a district. Saddening. But we sang a tone of hymns before devo started. The elders sitting behind us were less than reverent. We were singing hymn #34, Oh Ye Mountains High, when the elders were singing it as silly as ever. Right before the last verse, an elder whispers to his crew, "With conviction." I lost it. I was laughing so hard. I wasn’t singing because my head still hurt and they were just taking away from it. But "with conviction," S. Blocker and E. Christensen gave me some looks. The goofy elder’s singing made me think of the Ninja Turtles.

Elder Etone (he-ton) was our speaker and he talked about preaching repentance. If what we teach matches our hearts, then the spirit will witness it to whomever we are teaching.

I was making this random weird doodle. The elder behind me, the one that said "with conviction" asked me, "Sister? Sister? What are you drawing? What is that?" I was so startled to have an Elder randomly talked to me. I was like a deer in head lights, "I don't know. Just random." He said, "Just some doodle. Okay, cool." However, the format of my doodle leads to playing the dot to dot game with E. Christensen. He won, 30 boxes to 60 boxes.

Monday was our first day without our elders and we were kind of put out. S. Foote made a sign, "Our Elders left us, come say Hi to us!" We got quite a few elders and sisters to say hi.

We didn't talk that much during lunch, I remember excepting a set of elders to walk through the classroom door, disturbing our peaceful personal study. But with it just being us six sisters we got even more help and guidance on our lessons that we gave to PI’s (personal investigator) from our teachers. A lot of good help. Sister Davis especially was excited because when she was in the MTC she was just with sisters. We even had enough to get into some deep doctrinal questioning after the initial lesson, and she wrote our names in Russian for us.

For Tuesday Devotional, when we were practicing for choir they told us that we were going to have a very special speaker. Also, it was broadcasted WORLD WIDE to the other 14 MTCs! Elder Bednar came and spoke to us!! How awesome is that! He spoke to us on how to find a away to get the most out of conference, and that conference should be our walk and talk for the next six months! He gave us the idea of looking for the doctrine or principle, invitation, and blessing(s) in each talk given. I thought of mom and how she would love this idea! Usually we just figure out the topic, she always takes notes, but this is grand way to outline them! More info to go with my tie drawings!

Earlier in they day back in our 18m classroom, actually the next door class, we watched Mormon Messages with the other temple square sisters. Then there was a man on the roof! We are still having issues with bats. It was funny to make up what he was shouting down to the men below him. It was just so captivating to have something new and different.

WEDNESDAY WE STARTED VISITOR CENTER TRAINING! WOOT! We have been waiting three weeks to know what we, as temple square sisters, will be doing! Finally, we as visitor center missionaries will come in contact with more people than any other full-time missionary. Our "tours" are our lessons. We will be bearing our testimonies 100+ times a day!

There is a quote from Elder L. Tom Perry that one of our new teachers shared with us, "Light in their countenance and testimony of the atonement in their eyes." There is that beloved light again! Temple Square sisters really are unique! Regular Visitor Center (VC) sisters are half VC and half proselyting every day for the full mission. We are full time Visitor Center, and if we choose, we can request to do the outbound mission. I will definitely be choosing that.

We usually have a service project on Wednesday mornings. We didn't have scheduled time for it, but we still did it. We had no time to eat AND get ready for class. Our class was supposed to be on the 5^th floor of 18m, the next floor up from our old class. So, we being late, hike up four flights of stairs, then see that the location is changed, fly down four flights of stairs, speed walk over to 11m, and scurry up one really steep flight. I am thankful we don't have to go up so many stairs now.

Thursday, we go to do an online chat. I was very frustrated. What I was impressed to say, my comp did not let me. We have been trying to balance out how much teaching and talking we do, she does a lot and I do a little, and now having the chance to be more vocal, she shoots me and my promptings from the spirit down. I was not pleased, so I kept my mouth shut for the remainder of the time because I need to cool my jets and let the contention die.

I have a new favorite painting of Jesus. It is of the story where He walked on water out to the boat of His apostles. But this one is before He got to them. It is amazing how you can take a painting depicting one thing, but find so many gospel applications to it. I was also able to enlighten S. Wagner a little bit with my very small knowledge of art that I had retained from Mrs. Lind.

When we have our break, we go out into the hall and we sprawl out into these arm chairs and chillax, take a quick nap in 5-10 minutes, then back to the grind.

I got my magnets for doing my laundry. Woot! This week as a whole, my district of sisters really sucked at getting up on time. We got to the point that we asked the sisters next door, the ones also going to temple square with us, to wake us up at 6:45, and we haven’t shown ourselves yet.

Today, on our way out from the temple, we were still in there, just about to go change, a man stopped S. Richey and I and talked to us about formulas. It was super random, but for at least ten minutes he repeatedly asked us to make sure we got it. It was a tad hard to understand him. He said, "Workers will win, wishey washer won’t. Three R's: right choice, responsibility, and report.” Then he talked about keeping track of how many people we do work for in the temple, and do as many as possible. “Keep score" he said. I do not think temple work is something to "keep score" for.

Oh! I was on the phone, doing a bible confirmation and the woman asked, "This ain’t the mermen bable is it? I don't want the mermen bable." No ma'am, this is the holy bible.

As soon as I hung up, I cracked up hard. I love interesting accents. There is a sister here who did her three weeks in the New Zealand MTC and her VC training here. I think she is going to the DC Visitor Center. We were checking out her Australian currency. She thought on the 20-cent piece, there was a dead body floating in a river. I told her it was platypus. She is like 20 and she thought it was a dead body all her life. I am glad I could enlighten her!

Today is also S. Blocker's birthday!! She got a package yesterday and STILL hasn't opened it. Self control at its best! Wow. There are couches in our residence that are placed right in front of the vending machines, and it feels like you are watching TV. Almost.

Sister Glanzer