Buenas Dias a mi familia y mi amigos!
        I feel like I say this every week, but I feel like I need to say it every week; Thank you so much for the letters I get from you all. It means a ton :] I look forward to hearing how everyone is doing!
        It's been a hard week here. The MTC is a spiritual and emotional rollarcoaster; I suppose my whole mission will be like that. I've never been so focused on the Gospel in my entire life. I've never tried to feel the spirit as often as I am now. And sometimes when answers don't come right away, or you feel like you aren't getting any direction, it's really tough. I admit that I had some doubts this week. But as I have come to realize that this is a trial of my faith, I am staying strong. Ether 12 has been my rock this week. The witness won't come until after the trial of your faith. I also was reading in the Bible Dictionary under "conversion" and something really stuck out to me. It says, "Complete conversion comes after many trials and much testing." It doesn't say that it comes after many witnesses and confirmations. It comes after many trials and tests of your faith. I was also reading in the Bible Dictionary under "prayer" and it said that prayer is work. And I hadn't thought of it like that before. Real prayers take real work. If you really want got to know how serious you are about this, you have to put the work in. And I'm trying.
        The Tuesday night devotional was the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the MTC. There had been many different rumors about certain people being there, but as always you never find out who is there until they walk in the door. I was in the choir (I am every week... it's pretty fun) so I was certain to have a seat. There were over 200 guest invited, so many missionaries did not get a seat. So I felt really lucky to be in the room when Elder Nelson and Elder Holland walked in. It was a great meeting. Elder Holland's talks always are so powerful. He really talked about the covenants that we have taken on in the temple, and that we are obligated to work as hard as we can. And Elder Nelson talked a lot about missionary work, and past missionaries. There were some really incredible missionaries in the early days of the church. I hadn't heard a lot of the stories. He closed his talk but stayed at the podium. He then continued to tell us that he was going to dedicate 5 buildings on the MTC campus that were either new, or had been refurbished. It was beautiful. I realized at that moment that we rarely get to hear an apostle pray. I think the only times I have heard them pray is during a dedication. It was a fantastic experience to just hear them dedicate these building to God. That they are here to serve him, and for his purposes. He blessed them that the Spirit would dwell there, and that the missionaries minds would be quickened in them.
         Wednesday morning a district in my zone that I have grown really close to left for the field. It was really sad to say goodbye to them, but I know that they are going to be fantastic missionaries. It's kind of crazy being in the MTC for so long because you really grow attached to the missionaries around you, and then they all leave for different places all over the world. I'm so grateful for the Elders in my district. They can be a little crazy at times, but really they treat us Hermanas really well and are really kind. Two Elders in our district were made zone leaders (E. Kener and E. Mallard) and E. Erickson became our new district leader. (all 3 of these are the ones headed to Houston mom!) But anyways, Wednesdays are always fun because new missionaries get here! (and they have creamery icecream at lunch! haah) But yesterday a friend of mine, Ryceejo Nordstrom came into the MTC! So it was fun to meet up with her and talk to her for a while. I think she's going to be such a great missionary. She's going English speaking so she'll only be here until February 20, but it's always fun to see familiar faces.
         They have started having P90X classes everyday during gym time, so Hermana Cottrell and I went on Wednesday. It was pretty fun, and definitely a good workout. I can feel it today!  The longer I am here the harder it is to make myself workout on my own. So going to the classes is becoming more and more important. That makes me a little worried for when I get out in the field... haha.
         Teaching our investigators is going so well. On Monday we went into a lesson having planned to teach about faith and repentance, but as soon as we got into the lesson we knew something was wrong. Trino told us that his tio had just passed away and so we knew that we had to teach the Plan of Salvation. And the most incredible thing is that we did. In Spanish. Not having prepared for it. And like we knew what we were saying and it was just so fantastic. My Spanish is coming. I'm going to make it!
        This morning we had the oppurtunity to go to the temple like we do every Thursday morning, but this week we decided to do sealings. I had never done sealings before, and I am so glad I did. It's beautiful. The promises are real. I don't feel like I need or should say anything more about it. Families are so central to God's plan. Families are what it is about. It is so incredibly important. I loved it.
        And I love you all. My time is up and I have an appointment to get my haircut!! Don't worry; I'm won't do anything toooo crazy! hah.
  Love love love,
         Hermana Holly Larson