April 16

Hi!Well, it's been a pretty good week over all. I've had a few nights of pretty good sleep (though last night was pretty rotten again). I got a letter from my friend Bryn saying that she didn't sleep in the MTC either, but now that she's in the field she's doing better. I'm looking forward to that.I can't believe I've only got three weeks left! I mean, don't get me wrong, I've been here for eternity, and I think I have a veil keeping me from the reality of a pre-mission life (sorry- I've become quite fond of religious jokes), but seriously... three weeks?!?!? And a week of that is visitor center training. I'm down to the last two weeks of ASL-- I'm pretty sad about that. I really love my teachers and having their examples and knowledge on my side.Well, a few highlights from the last week:Easter was pretty good, but it honestly felt like most Sundays. It was nice to have Easter treats (thanks!) to make it feel a little bit different. The weather being nice was a wonderful plus too. We went for a walk between meetings (I made Sister Barry slow down for fifteen minutes... it was hard for her. But good. I made her smell the flowers with me. She is grateful now.). That afternoon we went for a walk up to the temple. Guess what! I saw Savannah, Lynnae, and Michelle there! We got some pictures. I was seriously SO excited. Then we got approached by an MTC or temple security guy who wanted to know if it was a planned meeting. I flat out told him the honest story (what else would I do? I'm a missionary!) about how I saw them and waved, and *then* there was much rejoicing, but he seemed pretty suspicious. It was really funny. I was excited though. Also up there (and a little less appropriate) Sister Barry and I lost our balance and fell while we were getting our picture taken. You can imagine how interesting that could be for two sister missionaries- appropriately dressed in Sunday best skirts...My cousin Kenneth Neil came into the MTC yesterday! I was so excited all morning (and actually most of the week...). I found his bag of books in the bookstore and wrote a note on the label for him: "Nikki was here. Love you." I saw him in the cafeteria at dinner and asked him if he got it. He said no- he hadn't really looked at it. I told him he'd better look because I'd been really excited about it. Anyway, it's pretty cool he's here and I got to see him. Hopefully I'll see him a few more times before we leave. We will probably leave the same day. (I was kind of disappointed I didn't get to see his parents and our grandparents dropping him off, but oh well. :)Devotional Tuesday was awesome! Elder Holland came and spoke to us. I was really glad to have awesome ASL seats for this one. It was one of the most intense talks I've ever heard. He told us to grow up. Have fun and be happy, but be grown up. It was one of those talks that everyone walks out of thinking, "Wow. I need to be an awesome missionary. I'd better start running now so that I've got some good momentum when I hit the ground in the field." If I get a chance later I'll send some of my notes via snail mail.Also this week, I had a great discussion about personality types with one of my teachers. It was very enlightening and I think it will really make a difference in the rest of my mission and life. I've got a much better understanding of my comps, and possibly more importantly, I got a better understanding of myself.Saturday night we got to teach someone in California on the video phone. It was tough- we were surprised by the fact that we weren't teaching our teacher, but that we were blue-boxing for somebody we didn't know. It was a good learning experience, and a great opportunity for me to be brave.Well, that's all I've got for now. I'll write home some little letters today. I love you all very much. Thanks for all your support and the many awesome letters I got this week. (P.S. the animal one cracked me up. And congrats on the three new little ones. Yikes. P.P.S. I'm glad something finally got named Sally Ann.) Off to write more letters, finish laundry, and finish my pink milk (one of my favorite parts of preparation day!). Love you! Be safe, smart, true, humble, prayerful, etc.Love,