2026-07-21_email_natalie-weekly-still-in-the-mtc
From: nheywood@missionary.org To: undisclosed-recipients (weekly group email) Date: 2026-07-21 Subject: Mission week 2.. still in the mtc 🥲
HELLO EVERYONE! Sorry I feel like this is so long haha but here we go! I just finished my first week of provo mtc and let me just say, I miss the option to take power naps. Or just take a nap in general. There has been SO many things that have taken me a second to adjust to, and I have yet to get used to the constant feeling of being tired. Which is crazy, because this has been the most structured sleep schedule i've had in years! I really dont think that sleep is real. There is literally 5 alarms that go off at the same time in the mornings, i would compare it to the feeling to getting tazed. even though i have never been tazed. On saturday, i went through the most traumatizing experience. I went to grab some cheezits from my box that was sitting on the floor, and then i saw something black MOVING in the cheezits. It was an ANT and there were DOZENS throughout the inside of the bag, outside of the bag between the bag ans the box, and CRAWLING ON THE OUTSIDE THE BOX. i felt ultimaletely violated, i just wanted a cheezit and now there was ANTS in my room. I thought there would be zero bug encounters, but i was wrong. I moved all of my luggage that weighed a million pounds and everything that was touching the floor to the top of the desk/closet things, which are like at least 2 feet taller than me. I somehow was able to become she-hulk in that moment because there was NO way i was going to have any more ants in my stuff. DISGUSTING. And the color/pattern of the carpet is just so cleverly designed to hide where these ants are crawling! brilliant! I will never feel safe again. Anyways... i LOVE my comp sister dillingham, (sister dilly) she is the sweetest person ever and she's so fun to talk to! I also love my district, we have lots of fun together. I genuinely have not laughed this much in my life. I have found ways to entertain myself let's just say. 😆 Ive had lots of classes, devotionals workshops, and times to study. We also went to the temple on friday and monday! Such cool experiences, i love spending time in the temple, its one of my favorite places. quite literally heaven on earth. Some really good quotes and things that ive heard that i really liked this week are: -"Faith can move mountains, but dont be surprised when god hands you a shovel" -"People dont care about how much you know until they know how much you care" A sister in my district was talking about the Book of Mormon, and she described it as "you're in the middle of a huge rainstorm and thinking you're about to crash, but then you turn on the windshield wipers and your headlights, and you are able to see clearly and feel safe again." That is the impact that the Book of mormon has on pur lives. Not just the Book of Mormon, but the word of God. Listening to all of the positive thoughts in our head and acting on them. In Moroni 7:13 it says "But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God." Show your love towards God! Start with the small and simple, just smiling at people. Thats the goal that Ive been working on, is to smile at people! Ive had to push myself in so many ways thay make me feel uncomfortable, awkward, and dumb. But EVERY time i have done it, i have seen the blessings, and as much as i hate the feelings of inadequacy, i have the biggest testimony that God is on my side and that through my struggles, He is making my weaknesses my strengths. As long as i try my best, he will fill in for the rest.
I am so excited to continue to serve the Lord and to be an instrument in his hands, to let him mold me into the best version of me I can be!
Start with the small and simple!
ONE MORE WEEK UNTIL I LEAVE PROVO MTC!!
Love, Sister Heywood
Here's my google photos link! https://photos.app.goo.gl/ruebEyiYQQYcNbZE6
Filing notes
Natalie's first weekly group P-day email from the Provo MTC, sent Tuesday, July 21, 2026 (her P-day that week; it reverts to Mondays in the field). It went to her mission email list as undisclosed recipients; Jason received it directly. The same call the same day (the first MTC P-day call) covers most of these threads in more detail, including the ant story, her companion Sister Dillingham, the temple trips, and the weaknesses-into-strengths theme she anchors to Moroni 7:13 and repeats as "as long as I try my best, he will fill in for the rest."
Text is preserved verbatim, including Natalie's own spelling and punctuation. The email links a Google Photos album (https://photos.app.goo.gl/ruebEyiYQQYcNbZE6), which she said in the call she titled "Bob Cobb the Mission." Photos are not pulled into the vault from a link; if Jason wants them, he can drop an export into Sources/01_to_process/ for a media batch under Natalie/Mission/Media/ per the photo-intake procedure.