February 16, 2016:
First Week!
Hello everyone!! So I've been here at the Missionary Training Center (MTC) for 7 days now!!! Its finally my preparation day (P-Day) so I can finally e-mail!
Wow has it been a very crazy week.. It's been one of the hardest of my life, but also one of the most spiritual of my life. I'll try to remember everything that happened this week but there's been lots... I feel like I've been here forever.. So bear with me
Wednesday: So Wednesday morning my family and I got up at 2:30 in the morning there in Missouri and I got all ready to head off to the MTC. It was a hard morning. Leaving my family at the airport that morning literally broke my heart, and to be honest I wasn't really able to handle it. It still hurts so so bad. But then mom flew with me to Utah and we stopped by and said goodbye to a few family members on the way and then I said goodbye to Mom at the MTC. It was so so so hard, Mom I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! But I had a Host Sister Missionary helping me with my bags as I walked away from my Mom... I was in tears. But the Sister started talking to me and telling me what a great experience the MTC was. I just wanted to go hop back in the car with Mom. I hurt so bad. But as I started walking in and they gave me tons of materials and I put my bags in my room and met my companion I suddenly starting feeling an overwhelming peace. Nothing like I've ever felt before. My companion Sister Hernandez is the most amazing!! I really do love her so much! I am so lucky, she's actually FROM MISSOURI TOO! She's from St. Joe!!! Can you believe that, and we're going to the same mission! She's 20, so amazing, super sweet, very caring and loves me too! We had a very spiritual and amazing welcome to the MTC and I felt very comforted, I was still hurting and missing my family, but let me tell you, the spirit here at the MTC is real, that spirit is the only thing that kept me here. We then met our District which is a group of 10 missionaries and got our assigned classroom. I love my district SO MUCH!!! There's 4 Elders and 6 Sisters. Our District leader Elder Huff and Elder Hearn-- they are HILARIOUS and our upcoming zone leaders Elder Rosengren and Elder Steere. Sister Hernandez and I are the Sister Training Leaders! (equivalent to the district leaders) and then we have Sister Johnson and Sister Moore -- funnest!! And Sister Haselden and Sister Tew. I love them all so much! 4 of us are going to Rancho Cucamonga, 3 to Las Vegas West, and 3 to Phoenix. We have had such a great time together. We also met our zone, our zone leaders and the leading district are so amazing!!! I'm so grateful for them. Then we got settled in our Residence and had a very VERY hard night of sleep for me... and there are 6 of us sisters to a room!!! SO CROWDED.
Thursday: We met our teachers for class times, and they are so great, Brother Rogers, Brother Smith, and Sister Neilson, they trade off days. We had lots of study time this day, which we study a lot! Always in our classroom, so we are always with our district. People always say how close you and your district get in the MTC which I thought was impossible, we aren't even here for two weeks... but we are together ALL the TIME, and we have all gotten SO CLOSE it's like we've known each other for years, it's so great!!! Then we met our branch presidency (which our branch is just our zone) and they are super super cool, that's when Sister Hernandez and I got the calling of Sister Training Leaders.
Friday: This day we had a lot of study time as well, lots of bonding with our district, but this was also one of the hardest days for all of us. We were all getting stressed and I've been by far the most homesick.
Was not the best day. But that was the first time we got to go to the gym!! I played volleyball which was super fun, and our zone all played knockout together and they have a track, my companion and I ran on that for a while... and we also taught our first lesson to an "investigator" (who was our teacher Brother Rogers acting as an investigator) Daniel. It didn't go very well.. he tripped us up a lot and we were nervous and we didn't say everything right.. ugh.. wasn't very good.
Saturday: We had to get up super earlier than usual because us Sisters were assigned a service project, we just cleaned bathrooms and such, yucky. Then we had lots of study time and actually were assigned 2 real investigators that we will be teaching this next week. Catherine and Jessy. We got exercise time again and Sis. H and I did a super good running work out and our legs were jello after that but we felt good. We had to do some MTC training that day and then more studying and class time. This day our district had an AMAZING spiritual day, we all felt it and couldn't believe it, we had had so many spiritual talks, and we had our second lesson with Daniel and it went much better than the first, and everyone elses lessons had gone so well too. We had a district Book of Mormon study as well and all had such amazing revelation, it was an amazing day. Because that was the best day thus far we all decided to do a fast as a district for Sunday morning to keep up this spirit and help each other have comfort and strength. It really brought us together.
Sunday: Sunday was busy, we had sacrament which was good. Every missionary is supposed to prepare a talk because they will just call on you and give you no time, so I prepared one but I did not get called up, good! We had a New Sister Orientation, then Sunday School and Relief Society. Our district then all wanted to be in the MTC choir and it was so amazing our first practice, our director is SO GOOD and he made it so spiritual, it was beautiful! We then went on a temple walk with our zone. We walked across the street to the Provo temple, and took so many pictures! I don't know if I can send them, but I'll try. It was such a fun experience and it was so sweet, and COLD. Then we had an amazing devotional that night by a guy who visits and trains lots of missions, and he called up some missionaries who were converts, it was so great, I don't remember his name.. sorry.
Monday: We didn't get to really teach Daniel today but he said he'd like to get baptized if he can know things are true and he told us he read the Introduction to the Book of Mormon and had prayed about it and felt really good, so our next lesson should go great! We exercised again and our whole zone had an amazing few games of knockout... for the record I was totally always in the last 3, even though I suck. So much fun. We had lots of class time and study time and then we went to go teach our first real lesson with an investigator, Catherine. It went really well, we got to know her and she was really interested and we did our lesson pretty well, but we couldn't find a Book of Mormon to give her and she kinda seemed... skeptical... but it definitely went well.
Tuesday: We were all so excited it's P-Day!!! I'm so happy!!! We ate, got some mail, took a nap, and came to wash clothes and e-mail!!! We have Ronald Rasband coming to speak to us tonight, and we get to go to a session with our district in the Provo Temple! Can't wait!!!
Thursday: We met our teachers for class times, and they are so great, Brother Rogers, Brother Smith, and Sister Neilson, they trade off days. We had lots of study time this day, which we study a lot! Always in our classroom, so we are always with our district. People always say how close you and your district get in the MTC which I thought was impossible, we aren't even here for two weeks... but we are together ALL the TIME, and we have all gotten SO CLOSE it's like we've known each other for years, it's so great!!! Then we met our branch presidency (which our branch is just our zone) and they are super super cool, that's when Sister Hernandez and I got the calling of Sister Training Leaders.
Friday: This day we had a lot of study time as well, lots of bonding with our district, but this was also one of the hardest days for all of us. We were all getting stressed and I've been by far the most homesick.
Was not the best day. But that was the first time we got to go to the gym!! I played volleyball which was super fun, and our zone all played knockout together and they have a track, my companion and I ran on that for a while... and we also taught our first lesson to an "investigator" (who was our teacher Brother Rogers acting as an investigator) Daniel. It didn't go very well.. he tripped us up a lot and we were nervous and we didn't say everything right.. ugh.. wasn't very good.
Saturday: We had to get up super earlier than usual because us Sisters were assigned a service project, we just cleaned bathrooms and such, yucky. Then we had lots of study time and actually were assigned 2 real investigators that we will be teaching this next week. Catherine and Jessy. We got exercise time again and Sis. H and I did a super good running work out and our legs were jello after that but we felt good. We had to do some MTC training that day and then more studying and class time. This day our district had an AMAZING spiritual day, we all felt it and couldn't believe it, we had had so many spiritual talks, and we had our second lesson with Daniel and it went much better than the first, and everyone elses lessons had gone so well too. We had a district Book of Mormon study as well and all had such amazing revelation, it was an amazing day. Because that was the best day thus far we all decided to do a fast as a district for Sunday morning to keep up this spirit and help each other have comfort and strength. It really brought us together.
Sunday: Sunday was busy, we had sacrament which was good. Every missionary is supposed to prepare a talk because they will just call on you and give you no time, so I prepared one but I did not get called up, good! We had a New Sister Orientation, then Sunday School and Relief Society. Our district then all wanted to be in the MTC choir and it was so amazing our first practice, our director is SO GOOD and he made it so spiritual, it was beautiful! We then went on a temple walk with our zone. We walked across the street to the Provo temple, and took so many pictures! I don't know if I can send them, but I'll try. It was such a fun experience and it was so sweet, and COLD. Then we had an amazing devotional that night by a guy who visits and trains lots of missions, and he called up some missionaries who were converts, it was so great, I don't remember his name.. sorry.
Monday: We didn't get to really teach Daniel today but he said he'd like to get baptized if he can know things are true and he told us he read the Introduction to the Book of Mormon and had prayed about it and felt really good, so our next lesson should go great! We exercised again and our whole zone had an amazing few games of knockout... for the record I was totally always in the last 3, even though I suck. So much fun. We had lots of class time and study time and then we went to go teach our first real lesson with an investigator, Catherine. It went really well, we got to know her and she was really interested and we did our lesson pretty well, but we couldn't find a Book of Mormon to give her and she kinda seemed... skeptical... but it definitely went well.
Tuesday: We were all so excited it's P-Day!!! I'm so happy!!! We ate, got some mail, took a nap, and came to wash clothes and e-mail!!! We have Ronald Rasband coming to speak to us tonight, and we get to go to a session with our district in the Provo Temple! Can't wait!!!
Thank you all so much for all the dear elders, they make my day, and make me cry so much. Thanks grandma and grandpa for the Valentines box!!! I loved it and hung the monkey from my bed, my district sisters enjoy all the candy with me wink emoticon Haley and Dad I got your package as well!!!!! Wow thank you so so much you did great without mom there! You spoil me! I can never say I'm not loved. I cried and cried. I miss you all so so much.
Fun facts:
At the MTC right now there are 51% Sisters and 49% Elders!!
It's SO COLD and most days it's so overcast and there's so much inversion you can barely ever see the mountains
We leave for California on Monday the 22nd and can call my family right before the flight!
The food isn't too great... It's not terrible, just not the best quality.. I usually eat too much, but I work out a lot too wink emoticon
The bathrooms are always so full, especially the showers. They have one main bathroom for each floor, which has like probably ten showers and twelve stalls, but there's SO MANY SISTERS
Our zone leaders left yesterday, so sad. The Sisters were going to Bakersfield California and the Elders to Tampa Florida!
At the MTC right now there are 51% Sisters and 49% Elders!!
It's SO COLD and most days it's so overcast and there's so much inversion you can barely ever see the mountains
We leave for California on Monday the 22nd and can call my family right before the flight!
The food isn't too great... It's not terrible, just not the best quality.. I usually eat too much, but I work out a lot too wink emoticon
The bathrooms are always so full, especially the showers. They have one main bathroom for each floor, which has like probably ten showers and twelve stalls, but there's SO MANY SISTERS
Our zone leaders left yesterday, so sad. The Sisters were going to Bakersfield California and the Elders to Tampa Florida!
I can't remember much else to tell you... So ask lots of questions!
I'm doing alright but definitely missing my family and friends so much.
Love you all, Sister Day
wink emoticon
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