Date
February 17, 2017
Area
Provo MTC
Companion
Sister Adams
1st Letter
Hi family and friends!!
It feels like it's been FOREVER since I saw you all last! So day one at the MTC, not gonna lie...was very hard. It was incredibly hard saying goodbye to everyone and I felt sick to my stomach thinking that I have 18 months until I see you guys again. I already can tell that this homesickness will be an issue for me on the mission. But I just gotta take one day at a time and focus on the work ahead of me and hopefully I'll feel better soon.
The very first evening at the MTC was incredible!! We got to speak to 3 investigators as a group of 50. The first investigator went by very well; you could tell he was very interested in the gospel. Most of the missionaries that raised their hands and spoke to him did a pretty good job.
The second investigator was kind of a different story. Her name was Kristine and her husband is LDS but she's Southern Baptist. Immediately, I thought of Dad and wished he could be here to share his testimony to her! She was okay with most of our teachings except for the authority we have and that her baptism in the Southern Baptist church doesn't count because of that. It was definitely hard, she was very stubborn (just like dad was) and there was an Elder who stood up and was kind of harsh with her. They butted heads immediately and you could feel the spirit leave the room because he sort of was putting her religion down and wasn't very gentle. I don't blame him though; we're all new to this! Luckily, a Sister stood up and practically saved the day. She shared her testimony about the power of prayer and that we don't want to offend her religion in any way, we just want to build on it. You could tell Kristin was very touched by it! Pretty soon, we ran out of time but I really wanted to share with her about my story and Dad's story so my companion and I walked up to her while everyone was leaving. I got to share my testimony about prayer and the atonement and told her what my Dad went through. She was very happy that I could relate with her and told me that it meant a lot to her that I shared my testimony. It was awesome!!! The spirit was so strong. I had the biggest smile on my face.
The third investigator went okay; we couldn't really understand him but he had good intentions. A sister missionary stood up and shared some things about the BOM and all of us sort of cringed because she was basically telling him that the BOM is the only book we read and that it's so much more important than the Bible. Immediately after that, a lot of missionaries stood and cleared up that information, luckily. We clearly have a lot to learn, that's for sure! One thing I really took from this experience is to be gentle and kind about other people's beliefs. We shouldn't push them down or be condescending, it drives the spirit away! Just speaking in a loving manner will help the spirit grow a lot than being hard.
My district is wonderful! We have 2 pairs of Elders (Elder Rogers, who is going with us to NY NY South, Elder Wallice, Elder West, and Elder Lawrence who are all going to Arizona.) We have 2 pairs of Sisters (Sister Russell, Sister Fast, who are going to Florida, and Sister Adams who's my companion and going to NY with me). My companion is absolutely amazing!! She's so nice, funny, sweet, and enjoys the same stuff I do! We talk a lot about Harry Potter, Theater, and Soccer, it's really fun. I really enjoy my district! All the guys love the same stuff I do like LOTR, Star Wars, Video Games, so we talk a lot about that stuff at our meal times. Haha! Elder Wallice, who is 21, is a convert to the church (He joined about 20 months ago) and has a very strong testimony. He shares it a lot, and I mean a lot. It kinda gets annoying because he takes up most of the time and doesn't let us share anything. It was very cool the first time but after about the hundreth time, I'm getting impatient. He really enjoys sharing that he's a convert and the only one in our district. But I know I need to work on loving everyone as Christ would and working on not having hard feelings towards him. That's my goal for this week! I need to try really hard to be kind to him.
On the first day, we had a sort of 'Welcome to the MTC' fireside. It was very insightful! I saw Elder Lovejoy and said hello to him! It was nice to see a familiar face. We sang two songs during the fireside, "Called to Serve" and "We'll Bring the World His Truth." I started to cry during the second song because they changed the words from 'we will be the Lord's missionaries' to 'we are now the Lord's missionaries.' What a glorious sentence! The spirit touched my heart when we sang that song because it's the happiest feeling in the world to know that I am the Lord's missionary and I am called to share the beautiful word that is this gospel. I can't wait to get into the field! But I have a little over 3 weeks until I do, so I gotta enjoy the MTC while I'm here!
The MTC is absolutely wonderful! The food, so far, I'm quite enjoying but we'll see if I still like it a week from now! Haha! The people here are so kind and so loving, it's such a wonderful atmosphere here. I'm really enjoying it! I cried during the first night reading the emails and Dallas' letter that he gave me. It's definitely hard being away from all of you guys. The second day I cried again because I saw Sister Hansen at Breakfast. It was literally one of the best moments so far. I miss her so much! We just stood there, hugging and crying for like 5 minutes. haha! I definitely needed to see her because I was struggling a bit that morning so it really helped seeing her. I hope I see her again soon! I'm here for 3 and a half weeks so hopefully I will. I also saw Sister Rhoton, a friend from Westlake! It was amazing seeing another familiar face again! I love this!
I got called last night as an Online Coordinator with my companion, Sister Adams. I basically just help other missionaries with technology, making sure they're obeying the rules, and I also get to help new incoming missionaries with their electronics as well. I'm not the best with tech stuff but I will try my hardest! It's absolutely wonderful having a tablet on my mission. I get to read your guys' emails throughout the week and it really helps me and gives me comfort. So please send me emails, letters, packages throughout the week! I can only respond on Friday's but I can read them any time! It really helps me.
Right now, the homesickness goes away and comes back every few hours. It sucks and everyone says it gets worse before it gets better so I can't wait for the day when I'm not too homesick and I can really enjoy it here. But so far, I really like it! It's a wonderful atmosphere and you get to learn so much. I'm so grateful for this experience. I got to share my testimony of the Savior last night and that really comforted me. I know He's walking right beside me and it feels me with love and comfort to know that I am doing his work and that everyone is going to be safe while I'm gone!
I love you all so much and I look forward to hearing back from you!