So close!!

Well, this week has been awesome. I received a dearelder from Mike and Joy which was a really nice suprise. A few things, does anyone have Jade Schaefer's (she's married now and I can't remember her last name) contact info? I would love to write to her. My p-day will probably by on Monday in the field, so please don't worry if you do not receive an email before that. Also, with calling home, I can call from Salt Lake or from Detroit. One will be very early (between 4-7 am) and the other would be sometime in the afternoon (1:01- 3:55 pm Detroit time). I can't make very many calls, and was just planning on calling the home phone and then maybe using speaker or 3-way somehow. But it uses minutes just to dial so I need someone to answer when I call. I am planning on probably calling in the afternoon, but am not sure yet. If there is a time or a phone that would work better, or a time that will not work at all, please write me a dearelder early today so I know. Otherwise, PLEASE answer and I look forward to hearing from you! Also, if you all would like to look for missionary moments during your week, and share those each email that would be awesome. Teaching children and changing diapers count. But I encourage everyone to look for those moments to share the gospel in any way, and then share.

As far as the broadcast goes, we will be singing tomorrow!! AAH I'm so excited. Rehearsals are amazing. It is so spiritual, and we have members of the general relief society board there every day. Just so you know, I will be wearing a purple shirt and I will be the only sister with her hair up. It was far more of a process than I expected, and I had to get approval from the MTC Relief society presidency and the general relief society board, but they finally agreed. So I will be up there sporting my famous bun for the world! I'm actually happy about it, because there are so many girls out there who may not fit the 'ideal' form of beauty. They think they aren't skinny enough, tall enough, short enough, don't have enough hair, etc. But I'm happy to say that none of that matters and the Lord loves us all despite what we see as imperfections. He made us, and we are all perfect to Hime! I also have a request for the females (and males if they so desire) that while the choir is singing, please listen to the words of the songs that we sing. They have brought me to tears more than a few times, and they are really powerful. So If you could, please listen close and let the spirit touch your hearts as it has mine. 

So many wonderful things have happened this week. We listened to a talk by Elder Holland called "A Time Such As This". He talked about the prophets of the past who all saw our day. They also saw their day and knew that the gospel would be taken, yet they were righteous and kept records anyway. The difference from then and now, is that the gospel willl never again be taken. This is not an uphill battle. The kingdom of God will roll forth with power and great glory and everything we do can help build that kingdom. And our efforts will never, EVER go to waste even if they seem small. It was incredible! Then on Tuesday, Don R. Clarke of the Seventy spoke to us about effective missionary work. He talked about finding families, and making that a constant goal in our efforts. We want to see families sealed in the temples so they can be together forever! He also stressed becoming a missionary and not just going on a mission. It would be so easy to serve a mission. To sit in class, to give half-hearted respsonses, and then serve the Lord with part of your heart. But that is not what the Lord wants. As a missionary, every second is devoted to Him. The word "I" cannot exist. A scripture which I absolutely love is Alma 26:12. It is so true!! Through the Lord, all things are possible, even learning Korean and using chopsticks. It isn't always easy, in fact this is already the hardest thing I've ever done- emotionally and spiritually, but also the most rewarding and we haven't made it to the field yet. 

I love everyone in my zone, and especially my district. They are all so giving and loving and we have become so close. Most of us are going to be serving in Seoul, but with a few of the elders there will some tearful goodbyes on Sunday night. It's crazy how close we have all become in the past few months and I know we will be friends forever. In our zone we have people who go to Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and MIT. Many of them already speak at least one other language if not more. One had a dad who was a spy who has now retired. Another earned a perfect score on his ACT and received the Monson Scholarship at BYU! I could go on and on, but you get the picture. I don't say this to brag, but to show how incredible the people I am serving with are. They have said many times that the Lord often calls his finest to Korea. I see that so much in those around me. It is so humbling to see all the things they have accomplished, and the humility and spirit that they have with them. I am still trying to figure out how in the world I am fortunate enough to be here with all of them, but the Lord has truly blessed me. There is so much to learn and I cannot wait to continue figuring out what the Lord has in store. 

Another awesome scripture passage I was reading is 1 Nephi 13:12-19, talking about the colonizing of America. It says several times that the Lord was on their side. I was thinking about history class in high school, and they always said that by all accounts America should not have won the war. They were out manned, out armed, out skilled, they had absolutely nothing going for them except their faith in God and determination to fight for a good cause. That is EXACTLY what we are doing now! The members of the church are far outnumbered, we may seem out matched or unskilled at times, but they Lord is on our side. And with God on our side, WE CANNOT FAIL!! Even if it seems like things are so hard we cannot make it another day. If it seems like only failure lies in our future. When it seems like all our resources are gone and we have nothing left to give. When it seems like there is no way out, There is ALWAYS a way out. The Lord will move mountains for us if necessary. All we have to do is remain faithful to Him and keep fighting the fight! I promise that this is true. He loves us soooo much and wants to bless us. He also wants us to bless those around us, and then it is just a huge blessing feast!! 

I love being a missionary. It is so surreal that we leave in three days for Korea, and that this time next week I will be immersed in the work of the Lord in a way that I have not yet had the opportunity. I know it will be hard, I know that I will struggle and frustrations will come. But I just want to stand up and yell BRING IT ON!! I know that this is exactly what the Lord wants me to be doing. I know that he loves me and is watching out for His missionaries, and their families. The adversary is always there, but he only has the power I allow Him to have. The Lord is my strength. If I lean on Him, I cannot fail. He has promised this many times in the scriptures. He loves His children, so much so that He is sending thousands of people just like me to preach the word. We are all unqualified, but thankfully none of that matters. He does not call the qualified, he qualifies the ones he calls. There is so much comfort in this. He knows me personally. He loves me, and is sending me to succeed in Korea. Whatever that 'success' is will be determined on His terms. This is the true gospel of Jesus Christ!! We can return to live with Him again. How incredible is that?? I love you all so much! Thank you for everything, and wish me luck! 

-Sister Seegmiller

p.s. this will be my new address for my mission. Please do not send anything else to the MTC or I will not receive it. Thanks so much!

Packages

Sister Shanelle Seegmiller

The Church of Jesus Crhist of Latter Day Saints

Korea Seoul Mission

Samcheong-no 9 gil 45

Jongno-gu

Seoul-si

South Korea   110-230

Letters

Sister Shanelle Seegmiller

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Korea Seoul Mission

Gwanghwamun PO Box 210

Seoul-si

South Korea   110-602

Week 8 Complete

Could you also all share your testimonies with me? That will be a huge blessing to me in Korea. And if anyone else, family, friends, ward members. etc. would like to do this as well, I would absolutely love it! Thank you!

This week has been amazing. First of all, we had TRC last Friday. The people we teach are all volunteers, and guess who we taught! Sister Ahn's brother and his girlfriend. We had no idea who we were teaching until we got in the room. She was completely shocked, which is understandable. It was a good lesson, but it was really hard on her. It was nice to meet them though. What a small world. We have had some amazing speakers as always. Sister Stacey Edgington from the RS General board, Ron Tanner who helped direct 17 Miracles and Ephraim's Rescue (watch them if you haven't, they are amazing!), and Gregory A. Schitzer from the Seventy. They all shared different messages, but they talked a lot about becoming a missionary and not just going on a mission. (Read 1 Nephi, laman and Lemuel are perfect examples of serving a mission with becoming missionaries) A fun fact about the movies, in the movie The Testaments, every single actor is a member except one. The guy who plays Korihor. They said they couldn't find a member bad enough to play the part. 

Some more fun facts. We were told that while Finnish is ranked as the worlds most difficult language to learn, that is not the case with English speakers. They had an English speakers ranking from 1-5, 1 being the easiest. Korean and other Asian languages were all ranked at a 5. Well that's comforting! it's because the sentence structure is completely different, they do 'subject-object-verb', and they speak their grammar. So you have to put a marker on your subject, object, and verbs. Its hard to explain, but its really cool. We had to go to the DMV to renew Sister Ahn's licence. That was fun! We talked to our shuttle driver about his mission, and were able to talk about the gospel to other people in the DMV. It was great practice for the field, only next time it will be in Korean. I also saw Daniel Seegmiller! That was a fun surprise! I was walking to the temple, when I heard my name being yelled from a car at the stoplight. I couldn't tell who it was, so he identified himself and we yelled our hellos! My companion thought I was going crazy yelling at some man until she realized I knew him. It was only for a few seconds but it totally brightened my day. Tender mercies are everywhere! Mekenze had her baby! Little Lukas Limiri joined their family about two weeks ago! I am so excited for her and can't wait to see cute little pictures! On Sunday, I managed to get gravy everywhere on my sweater (I know, big shock right?) But I mean everywhere. Clear up my arm, in my armpit, on my back.. I don't really know how. But luckily one of our elders had a tide to go stick so I went to work. The other elders were very helpful in this as well. Some offered to blow on it (because that usually gets out stains) and others offered to clean it on their wash boards, meaning their abs (our elders have been in a flex-off for the past few weeks.) They are all so sweet and I am very well taken care of. P90X is continuing to gain popularity, as we had 20 people participate this week, a new record! I also beat one of our elders in a 3 point contest. he was quite unhappy, especially since I was shooting one handed, with books in my hand, and we used a mens ball. I have been challenged to a rematch that will take place next week. It should be fun. 

Teaching has been going better as well. Yesterday, Sister Ahn was teaching about following prophets. She said Dispensations, which was a word our investigator wasn't familiar with. I was prompted to explain it, although I have never attempted to teach that principle before. I had to look up words as I went, and it was very broken Korean, but we were able to get the point across with some examples we made with our hands. She said she understood, and it felt so good to follow the prompting and teach completely unscripted. It gave me confidence in my language abilities, and also in following the promptings of the spirit. He will bless us if we do so. 

In other news, that is really REALLY exciting, we got our travel plans today!!! We will be flying out of Salt Lake at 7:30 am Sept. 30. We will fly to Detroit, and then on to Korea from there! I still don't know about calling home. It will either be incredibly early in the morning or sometime during our layover in Detroit. Hopefully I can tell you more next week, but if not, just have your phones ready! I cannot believe we leave in 1 1/2 weeks. So crazy! Also, I WILL BE SINGING IN THE RELIEF SOCIETY BROADCAST!! They were only able to take about half the sisters who wanted to sing, and I was fortunate to be chosen. Sister Ahn is also in it so we are excited! We have about 340 sisters in the choir I believe. Today was our first practice. We were able to meet the General Relief Society Presidency, since they came to listen.They are so sweet and gave everyone hugs! I feel so blessed to be surrounded by such amazing people, and to have such amazing opportunities presented so frequently. Our choir director is one of the actors from 17 Miracles, the one with the abusive husband. So it was a very fun day of meeting people. We will be singing in Salt Lake, so make sure everyone watches, men included!! We were so happy and truly so blessed to be selected to sing. The blessings from the Lord never cease. He is so wonderful! 

I think that about sums up life! I am so incredibly grateful for all of you. And for the gospel that makes it possible for us to be together forever! Being a missionary never ceases to amaze me. It still hasn't sunk in completely, but in about 10 days it sure will! There is no better work than this. I love this gospel with all my heart. I cannot wait to share it with those in Korea, even if they can't understand me! The spirit speaks all languages. You are all doing amazing missionary work at home, which I love hearing about! This church is true. Everyone deserves a chance to decide that for themselves. Thank you everyone for your incredible examples to me! I love you all!

-Sister Seegmiller 

Facial Masks are Creepy...Even in the MTC

Holy cow, 2 1/2 more weeks!

Well this week has been awesome. One request, can you all send me some of your favorite quotes? They can be silly, funny, spiritual, inspirational, random.. Whatever you want. I just love quotes and my elders want me to share more with them and I'm starting to run out! Through email or DearElder or letters would be great. Update for the week, I have been released from my music calling. they try to switch you out every three weeks so everyone has a chance. We also got a new district leader. Elder Wilkinson was released and Elder Hobson took his place. They are both awesome, we we are excited. We found some muscle milk that other sisters didn't want, and gave them to our elders. This has led to a non-stop flex-off during class, and them spending lots of time in the weight room. We didn't know it would have such a reaction, but we are constantly entertained. Poor Elder Weight ran into a pole the other day. He was talking to a group of us, and we all saw it coming, but everyone figured he saw it too, and then SMACK! He ran right into just minutes before teaching TRC. We all just about died laughing (he was fine) but felt a little guilty since all of us could have prevented it. Oops. We have developed a Reeses Pieces obsession. EveryWednesday they have them out, and we stock up in our district! It's not healthy, but we admit there is a problem. However, no one wants to fix it, just eat. So it's all good. It has been raining a lot, which is awesome! My P90X class is growing everyday. The most recent class had 18 people in it. We are going to need to find a bigger space, and I've had other people come ask if they can join. We do it just above the gym, but apparently people think its an invitation only thing. It's been so much fun! OOOOH in other news, we got our new name tags!!! They are completely in Korean, including our names and they are amazing!!! I am in love. This place is amazing. While doing my laundry today, two elders came over and asked me to bear my testimony so they could hear it in Korean. I had them bear theirs first in English, and it ended up being a really cool experience down there by the washers. The same thing happened last night with two of the elders in our district. We all bore our testimonies to each other for practice, but the spirit was so strong that we were all almost in tears by the time the last one was finished. The older district left on Monday. We are now the oldest district. It's super weird, but way cool! I love it. I miss the other girls, and we had a pretty good party before they left (pictures to come). The Korean sisters were my favorite! They gave us some Korean facial masks (to explain the picture) and we had lots of fun with those. The new missionaries came in on Wednesday, and we had 17 new elders and 16 new sisters! It's crazy!! When we came in, we had 30 elders and 6 sisters, just to give an idea of how much sister missionary work it growing. One sister is from Cambodia, and another is from Taiwan. They speak very little English, but they will be learning Korean through English. It's going to be really cool to see how this works out. The Lord knows what he is doing and in this case especially, the gift of tongues is very real. We have had some really cool devotionals. One was from Richard I. Heaton. He brought up his down syndrome son who is 13 to talk to us. I almost started crying! He is adorable! We got to talk to him after, and he has the sweetest spirit ever. Oh my goodness, it was amazing. We had another devotional from Elder James Martino and his wife Jennie. They are from Denton, Texas and he is a member of the Seventy. He talked about the story of Alma and Amulek, and compared that to how we can work with members in missionary work. it was such a cool take on the story! I loved it, and gave me new perspective on how to successfully involve members. He also talked about how in the world, people ages 18-26 are in general farthest from God than they will ever be. He also said it is so surprise that this is the time that he calls us to be missionaries, and dedicate our time to the Lord instead! 

A couple topics that have really stood out in my mind lately are gray areas and potential. So often it is our fear of failing that makes us never reach our full potential. We all can do so much with the help of the Lord. We can do anything He wants us to do, as long as we have faith in Him and ourselves. That's been one of the hardest things for me here. I don't want to say the wrong thing or teach a doctrine wrong, or anything like that. However, this fear has held me back from doing as well as I can. I have decided to put in completely in the Lord's hands. If I make mistakes, well good! That means I'm trying and the Lord will help me grow. Faith cannot reside where fear is present. So I am letting go of my fear, letting go of "I", and am giving the Lord my very best effort. We also talked about gray areas, and how they really don't exist. This is something I have been thinking about for a long time. The Lord has told us what is right, and we know what is wrong. There is no in between. Confusion happens when we try to justify our actions. If we aren't comfortable, it isn't right. We are either building the kingdom, or we are not. We are either bringing ourselves closer to the Lord, or drawing ourselves away. But there is no fence sitting. There is no gray in heaven. Another Elder pointed out that the story of the Nephites and the Lamanites are very much like the story of North and South Korea. A people who come from the same lineage, but were split and now reside completely differently. It was pretty cool to compare the two. Sister Lee (she is the wife to a member of our brand presidency) was actually born in North Korea, and escaped to South Korea during the war. It's so crazy how different the two lands are. I cannot wait to go and teach the people about Christ, and who knows, maybe in a few years missionaries will be in North Korea too. 

I am so grateful for this gospel, and for all of you! Being a missionary is the greatest thing in the world, and having support at home just makes things even better. This church is true. That's all there is too it. Either its true or it's not. If it's not, then we are good people living good lives. If it is, and I KNOW it is, we are striving to be more like Christ each and everyday. We will be able to live with our Heavenly Father in Celestial glory forever and ever! And we will all be together. The people in Korea need this message. We are talking about ETERNITY here! This is not a small task, and I am learning all the time what a big responsibility this is. But the Lord has called me do His work and be His hands. I am SOOO grateful to Him for all that he doesn't need to do but still does for me. From helping me find a lost earring, to helping an investigator feel the spirit, He is always there. He loves us, He wants us to succeed, and success is the only option if we remain faithful. I am so grateful for this gospel. I love it with all my heart! thank you for all of you, and talk to you next week!

-Sister Shanelle Seegmiller

P.S. The rumors are still unconfirmed, but there is a 94.7% chance that we will be singing in the choir during the General Relief Society broadcast on Sept. 28!!!! Also, I may get to call home from the airport when we fly out. I don't know the details yet but I will let you know. 

Pretty Hair...but the Boys Aren't Impressed

3 weeks to go!

Hello everyone!

Holy smokes times flies here. It is yet another p-day, meaning I am one week closer to going to Korea!! (We leave in a little over 3 weeks!!!!) Life is going so good and I couldn't be happier!

Life here at the MTC is great. I love every minute of it. P90X is still a success. We had 12 people in my 'fitness class' this week, and it keeps growing. So do the people, which is probably why everyone wants to work out! My foot was hurting pretty bad the past two weeks. I finally got it checked, and the doctor said it's just an overuse strain. He said to stay off it during gym for the next two weeks. I have even been banned from 4-square. But I will do whatever to get it better. The last thing I want is a hurt foot while in Korea. It's doing well and it should be fine. I was speaking to some sisters from Korea, and they said Koreans never floss, or wear deodorant. Our teachers said the toothpaste is terrible, and it may not contain any flouride(spelling?). So I was just wondering if any member of my dear family would like to send me some of these supplies that will last me while in Korea. I ask now because shipping is far cheaper here in the states. I can reimburse you or whatever you need. But if you could please send me these, that would be amazing. Also, chocolate covered acai berries and parmesan goldfish wouldn't hurt, but I'll leave that up to you. :) I would like, if possible, everyone to send me some wallet sized pictures of your families so I can put them in my wallet. That would be so great. 

I am so grateful for the tender mercies here in the MTC. I can't remember if I mentioned this before, but a simple way I know God is looking out for me. They have the knock-off brand of Honey Bunches of Oats. Plus they have fresh sliced almonds. I eat at least two bowls a day, and I am excited every time. Our roomates are awesome. I found out Sister Tehei is the first sister from New Zealand to ever get called to Korea. How cool! My zone is so great. The other day my tummy wasn't feeling good at all. One of the sisters rubbed my back, another sister got me ibuprofen, another sister got me some chocolate, and the elders gave super helpful tips like "maybe you should run around", and "I heard doing a back bend really helps with stomach pain". They all tried to help me feel better, and it was really sweet. Something I have realized is how the Lord works, and also how Satan works. Practically every missionary here who has been called to South America hasn't been able to get a Visa and is being reassigned in the states until it comes through. Missionary work is booming in South America, and I don't think it is coincidence that Satan is doing all he can to keep missionaries out. However, there has been no problem getting them in Asia, especially Korea. The church is very new there and missionary work is hard. I realize that my mission will be far from easy, but I am so excited to go! And so grateful that I will be able to go to Korea on my assigned date and teach as long as possible. I was able to have an interview with our branch president, President Yost on Sunday. It was so nice to sit and talk with him. We talked about everything, about life, the MTC, concerns, questions, the language, teaching, and anything else. I felt so good after. He is an incredible man. We have some missionaries from Korea who have been here about two weeks and will be heading back to Korea to serve on Monday. I have become really close with some of the sisters. They are amazing, and help me so much with the language. I will write lessons and they will correct any errors. They always ask how they can help more and are just the sweetest people ever. I will be sad to see them go, but they have already started their mission by serving us an incredible amount. They will do amazing things in Korea. 

Language mistakes just keep coming. I have tried to teach with less notes, and it works pretty well most of the time. However, the other day was not my day for Korean. During class, we were doing a sentence activity. I tried to say 'in order to listen to the prophet, we must have ears'. instead, I said, "in order to listen to the prophet, we must be ears'. This wouldn't have been nearly so bad, if I hadn't made a mistake earlier while teaching our investigator. I meant to tell her that Satan is the Devil. In Korean, Devil and Mom are very similar. So, with my wonderful Korean skills, I told her that her Satan is her Mother. OOPS! She looked shocked, and luckily I know enough that I was able to correct the mistake. But it's kind of hard to turn back from a mistake like that. She laughed the rest of the lesson, my district is still laughing. Oh man. Looks like I still have some work to do before going to Korea.

We have had some really cool devotionals again. On Sunday, George and Debra Taylor spoke. They were the MTC presidents in the Philippines. They told us all about missionary work there and how the MTC works compared to the one here. Missionary work is going so well. A new MTC was built, and already the church is looking for ways to expand it. David F. Evans of the Seventy spoke to us on Tuesday. He told us about missionary work as a whole. There are about 75,000 missionaries in the world today and that number is increasing constantly. It's so cool!!! We had 600 new missionaries enter the MTC on Wednesday and that was one of the smaller groups. I was able to be a host, and welcomed the sisters as they got out of their cars. It was really cool. The MTC is so great. I love my zone, district, companion, roommates, teachers, and just everyone is so great! The oldest district leaves Monday, so we will be the 'oldest' district in our zone. Which also means only three weeks until its our turn! AAAH I'm so excited! The church is true. The gospel has been restored through the prophet Joseph Smith, There is so much power in the scriptures, more than we understand. But it is there and the Lord will bless us when we do His will and follow His example. Opportunities to be a missionary are all around us. Never ignore those promptings from the Lord that tell us to bring up the gospel in conversation, or bring the Book of Mormon to school. Whatever it is, the Lord will prompt us if we are listening. I love the Lord with all my heart. I cannot wait to teach in Korea!!! Holy cow. I love you all so much, and am so grateful for your wonderful examples to me. Until next week, 

-Sister Seegmiller

p.s. hopefully the pictures work, The elders wanted to see my hair down, but I told them it wasn't mission appropriate. So I took a picture to show them. Basically, I'm a rockstar. One is of our elders in class, and the others are my hair after sister Tehei did a french braid. pretty cool!

Kimchi is Yummy and "Duty" is Just A Funny Word

Dearest everyone!

Can you believe I've already been here a month! Holy cow. I only have one month to go, and then off to Korea!!! Thank you all for the emails once again! They are so fun to read and I feel super cool printing off pages and pages of emails each week. 

Well I have officially been here for a month, and we only have one left. SOOOOO crazy. I love it here, but the desire to actually be in Korea is growing everyday. Yestderday, our teacher told us all about the culture and society over there and it was fascinating!! I can't wait to experience it for myself, to meet the people, teach them, love them, and just be there with them! AAH it's going to happen so soon. I can't wait. So small world, I met a missionary named Sister Schafer. She is from Germany, but will be serving in the ST. GEORGE, UTAH mission. I was so excited. She said a lot of her time may be spent in the visitor's center, and I told her to watch for my family. So you should find her and say hello and make her feel welcome. She is the sweetest sister ever. Let's find her some people to teach! Also, there has been a rumor that the winter Olympics will be held in Korea either in 2014 or 2018. Can someone please confirm or deny this before we go insane?? That would be great. Speaking of small world, we had a substitute teacher come in the other day. His name is Brother Stanley, and he graduated from Snow Canyon in 2010. I went to tell him I graduated from Dixie that same year, and he said "Yeah I know you, you played basketball. I remember watching you play." I felt super bad for not having a clue who he was, but it was still cool! Sister Ahn's mom sent us all Kimchi flavored ramen from Korea. We ate it at lunch, and it was delicious! I can't to try the other food there. Three sisters did a musical number on Sunday. They sang Love At Home, one verse in English, one in Korean, and one in Tongan. It was so cool!!! They are all from Hawaii and are super sweet. So being a missionary doesn't always make me completely mature. We sang Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel during a devotional. We got to the chorus where they say "Do your duty with a heart full of song", and I just started laughing. Old habits die hard I guess. I was in charge of the Devotional review in our district, and in a meeting a few days later Brother Snow was raving about our lesson to all the District leaders. All I did was stand up front and call on people who wanted to talk, but he absolutely loved it and said all meetings should be as spiritual as that one. I love my district so much. We had a Korean elder who is serving somewhere in the states come up the other day and asked us to bear our testimonies. We did, and he was sooo excited because he hadn't heard a Korean testimony for so long. I love this place! And now for the grand finale, all of the devotionals here are amazing. On Sunday, Carol F. McConkie, the first counselor in the YW General Presidency came and spoke to us. Then that night, Stephen B. Allen came and spoke. He is the managing director for the entire missionary department. My roommate, Sister Patridge played the piano for the musical number while another sister sang "For Me Alone". If you haven't heard it, look it up. It is beautiful!! We listened to a recording of Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk "A Missionary's Call" that night and it was incredible as well. Then on Tuesday, we had another live broadcast to many of the MTC's around the world. We sang in the choir again, and I was lucky to get an aisle seat. Our guest speaker was... Elder Neil L. Andersen!! It was absolutely amazing. He said 4, 137 missionaries were viewing that broadcast both live and worldwide, which is the largest MTC broadcast ever. He really focused on the importance of the one, and going to preach without fear. After it was done, security came and told us there was too much lightning outside to walk back to the MTC safely (our devotional is in the Marriot Center). So we stayed and sang hymns to let the storm pass. Elder Andersen decided to walk around and shake a few hands. He started to walk away from the choir, but then turned around and came straight towards where I was sitting. He only came up a few rows, but we got there early and were sitting in the third row. He came up and shook our hands and told us what a great job we were doing. Because I was on the aisle, he passed by several times, and stood beside me as he talked to a few people. He is such an incredible man! His spirit radiated the second he walked in the room. His love for the Savior and for us was so apparent! We were all so touched, and it was so sad when he had to leave. It was still pouring rain, but they let us walk back. We came back completely drenched, but no one cared. It was an incredible night! I love being a missionary so much. We get to go to the temple again tonight, which I have been looking forward to all week. It is the greatest place on earth. Thank you everyone for your example and support! I love you all so much! Keep writing emails, send pictures and dearelders whenever you feel the desire, and know that I love you all and pray for you every night. The gospel is true!!

-Sister Seegmiller!