September 13, 1013

Hello Hello Hello from the good ole MTC!  I LOVE THE LETTERS!!!! It is seriously the best part of my day when I hear I got 3 or 4 letters.  AH! they are seriously the best.  My district kinda hates me cause I get the most love out of anyone else.  That's what's up!  Haha  I love hearing what everyone is up to.  

Mom CONGRATS!  I knew you got called to Relief Society, I could feel it in my bones. haha That sounds like fun going to institute.  And I LOVED the Moses story you shared with me.  It is what I needed for sure.  

Saryn no joke, you are a babe, those pictures are the bomb.  The way you write makes me laugh out loud and everyone hates me cause I am the only one that got a letter. But VBall sounds like a beast.  How are classes going right now?  Is that kid from choir still all in love with your face?

Tanner.....you know how I feel about Katy....BUUUUTTT if you feel like its right then I still like you.  haha jokes.  How is work and everything with the Katy face going?  Fill me in little bro!

OLSEN FAMILY!  You guys are the BOMB!  I was so surprised when I got like 4 letters in the mail from all of you! You all are the best.  Maggie you are adorable and I love you like crazy.  I told my companions how you got asked to homecoming.  FANTASTIC! I am full support.  You are going to have so much fun! Send pictures!  And Abby, those stickers were the cutest thing.  I am so happy you wrote me babe! It is supposed to be super cold in Montana, any advice to stay warm? Joey, I am super bummed I didn't get to say goodbye, BUTTTT You are going to be a ridiculous missionary.  I've only been in the MTC and I am starting to see how much work it is. But I have learned so much and really seen what life is all about.  You really gain perspective here.  I cannot wait to hear where you are going.  AHH! Its going to be so awesome. Love you!

Grandma Warr and Grandpa!!  I love what you said about how its okay to be green because green things grow.  Thank you.  Thank you for all that you said, your letter gave me such strength to go throughout the day.  AND! I got the poem about the girl that eats the whale.  AWESOME! Thanks so much.  You are the best.  If i could write something awesome in German I would.  I LOVE YOU!

Jensens! Thank you so much for letting me crash at your place and taking care of me that last night and morning....we all know I needed it.  The MTC has been great and I keep thinking about what Uncle Paul said, You will never get an opportunity to serve like this again, you will never experience like this again.  And it really is an experience like non other.  Thank you for all that you did.  I love you!

OKAY! Here is the dirt.  Get ready. 

So my zone is made up of 3 districts.  Mine, ASL and SLC.  SLC left on Tuesday and a new district of Jackson Missouri missionaries took their place.  Sister Wallace, Glenn and I were assigned to be the equivalent of Zone leaders for girls.  We are the Sister Training Leaders.  We just had to welcome them on Wednesday night, show them the ropes and be there if any issues arise.  

We have run into other Montana districts with other Elders and Sisters which has been so much fun.  I got to see the sister that i have been facebooking back and forth with but not a whole lot.  We all fly out the same day on the 17th.  Which reminds me, we get to call you that day.  I bought a calling card.  Plan on me calling around 7ish-8ish.  I will call the home phone.   

I don't remember if I talked about my comps or district last week or not.  WE have 4 Elders.  Elder Russel and Evensen and Elder Beard and Wilson.  Elder Russel is the BOMB.  He was baptized at 17 fell away and about a year ago had this amazing experience that changed his life.  He is 21 and has such a cool perspective as a convert. It's a different feel talking to him about the mission compared to some of the other Elders because he WANTS to be here so bad.  And he has such a desire to serve and work hard while some of the other Elders are immature. I feel bad because he doesnt get any mail from family or friends.  His companion Elder Evensen just turned 18 last month so there is a pretty large gap between them but they get along great and work hard together.  Not like Elder Beard and Wilson.  They.....they kind of butt heads and have a hard time studying together.  Elder Wilson is very much an 18 year old which I can tell gets on Elder Beards nerves.  Wilson doesn't usually participate in class and falls asleep regularly.  Elder Beard though is not much better haha, he just thinks he is.  I feel pretty tight with our district though we eat together and spend most of our Pday together as well. 

Then there are my companions,.....hahahaha It has gotten so much better.  Sister Glenn and I....are similar in many ways but are VERY different in others which at times can cause some tension.  It didn't help at the beginning that I was stressed and nervous and then I had this companion that has different ways of getting her points across. For instance, we taught a lesson and afterward Sister Glenn pointed out that I needed to let everyone else talk.  Which lets be real, is not hard to believe.  So next lessons I backed off but Sister Glenn spoke the ENTIRE time.  SIster Wallace and I were able to throw in a little testimony at the end.  It has been stuff like that where she tells me not to do something but will end up doing the very same thing later.  Ha butttt I am much more comfortable and what she says I am able to roll off my back.  I have been praying that my love for her would grow and that we could work well together. Because if we aren't happy with each other the lessons will not go well.  And I really and truly have.  All three of us are getting along great and have gotten much more comfortable with each other.  Sister Glenn is an amazing Sister though. She has been through SO much which makes me have so much more respect for her.  Her mom converted her Dad and about a year later her dad has his records removed from the church.  He is an active baptist while her mom still goes to the LDS church. Growing up they were not allowed to go to church with her mom unless her dad was out of town, no home teachers, no visiting teachers, no Friend magazines or anything doing with the lds faith. She just turned 19 2 months ago and was baptized at 18.  We had a heart to heart talking about how she gained a testimony and how the church has influenced her life.  Because of that conversation I was able to understand why she acted the way she did. 

Sister Wallace is the best! She is half Samoan, and is HILARIOUS.  She was pretty shy at the beginning but is so much more open and outgoing now that we spend every waking moment together.  She is 22 and went to BYU Hawaii for a year and worked at the PCC.  In our lessons that we teach she doesn't say much, but what she does say has a lot of power.  

Some fun facts about this week, I met one of the guys from the District!!! We had this crazy all day orientation yesterday and he taught one of the classes.  I creepily tried to steal a picture without him noticing but I he totally saw me..... I just went over afterward and asked for a picture with him.  So basically. I met a celebrity.  

DAD!!!!!!! I met Sister Griffen!  I totally forgot you told me about her and then last Sunday we met other Montana Sisters.  I asked Sister Griffen where she was from and when she said Ohio I told her that you served there.  She just laughed and said, yeah I actually already know that. She went on to explain that a woman in her ward came up to her after sacrament crying and told her that the first Elder she ever met was Elder Moline and his daughter was going to her same mission.  Crazy Crazy. She is super cool.  

I met one of Maurie's efy friends, Amber! And I saw Megan Mckee today as well as a friend from my ward here, Kate Hargadon. I also go the opportunity to meet one of the women that helped write the YW theme! WHAAAAA! Super awesome.  

So this letter is super long. I’m sorry for writing so much.  The MTC is hard.  This is definitely not easy stuff but it is so worth it.  I have learned more here than I have in my entire life.  The things that we learn seem so simple but can be so difficult to actually apply.  They stress teaching with the Spirit more than anything else.  To listen and to act.  Listen to the investigator and gather their needs from what they say.  They will tell you as you listen what you need to teach them.  But it is so hard.  I am having a hard time with planning and not over planning.  It is so much more comfortable going into a lesson knowing what you want to teach how you want to teach it, who says what and who invites and commits, so I have been working really hard on relying on the spirit.  We have a lesson tonight so I hope that I can apply what I learn.  Also they beat the Doctrine of Christ in you like no one's business.  Read 2Nephi 31 or 3Nephi 11.  Awesome chapters.  Pray for me that I will be able to retain what I learn.  I have been reading the scriptures like crazy and never in my life have I ever felt the way that I do about them right now.  They are magical.  For real, like magic.  Any problem you have can be answered in the scriptures.  They bring us peace and comfort as well as warning and direction.  I LOVE THE BOOK OF MORMON.  

I love this work.  Missionary work is the work of God.  There are so many people that need this gospel and I get to do that.  I GET to.  I am so thankful for this and for all of these people here that are willing to give up their time to serve the Lord.  AH! So wonderful.  I love you all and I love this gospel more than anything.  Don't write me after the 17th cause I will be in MONTANAAAA!!! WOOOOO! Love yaaaa!!!

P.S. I am not at the MTC West Campus