Dear Family, (and friends listening in)
Dobar Dan!
I love it here at the MTC. I have the most awesome district and companions. I'm a solo sister, which means I'm the only sister going to Croatia right now. There are 7 other elders going to Croatia, and 2 elders going to Slovenia in my district.
My companions are wonderful. I have one companion named Sestra Izatt, and one named CECTPA Meyers. Sestra Izatt is going to the Czech Republic. She's 6 ft tall, blonde, and looks like a super model, only prettier. She is very friendly and has a wonderful testimony. She left a boyfriend at home. She has a wonderful laugh. CECTPA (that's sestra in cyrillic) Meyers is going to bulgaria. She's my height, and she looks like rapunzel from tangled after her hair got cut off. (or that's what one of her teachers told her yesterday). She has one of the most gorgeous singing voices I've ever heard. She has been here for 4 weeks already, so she keeps Sestra Izatt and me on top of things. She's such a good quiet example. I look up to her a lot. I want to be like her.
I love learning Croatian. One of the nicest things about it is that there are no articles, and not as many verb forms as in other languages i've studied. Our district is doing a pilot program where, instead of starting out teaching in english and then switching to our language when we actually know it, we're only teaching in croatian. this is the first Croatian district to do this program. It's sorta scary because my second full day here, I was teaching a lesson about the gospel in Croatian. We did a lot of reading in that lesson. Pretty much all we could do was say a prayer and testify that God loves us. Oh, and I accidentally had him read John 4:16 instead of John 3:16. Don't do that. It doesn't exactly teach the same doctrine... I about died laughing when I went back to my classroom and found out what he'd read. But our pretend investigator kept a straight face the whole time. I don't know how he did it.
There is a huge focus in the MTC on getting to know the person you're teaching well and seing them as God sees them, and then showing them how the gospel will bless their lives personally. As representatives of Jesus Christ, it's our responsability to show people how much God loves them and how much God wants to make them happy through his plan of Salvation.
I love this gospel. I know that God lives! I know that Jesus is His son, and it is only through His name that we can be saved. I know that Joseph Smith resored the church and priesthood of Jesus Christ to this earth today and that a prophet speaks today.
I love you all!
Sestra Ariana Black
Crkva Isusa Krista Svetaca Posljednjih Dana
