Stay tuned for the "Sisterhood of the Traveling Skirt"
March 7, 2012 snail mail letter received March 10, 2012
AAAAAH! I can't EVER write enough in my email!!! HAHAHA! So, Sister Sessions and I had just come back from the computer lab, where we were writing our emails. She sadly told me she thought she had left her notebook in the lab. I said we could go get it. As she was getting off her bed, I hear, "Oh, my, goodness! It's IN. MY. HAND!" Baaaahahaha! I love it here!
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AAAAAH! I can't EVER write enough in my email!!! HAHAHA! So, Sister Sessions and I had just come back from the computer lab, where we were writing our emails. She sadly told me she thought she had left her notebook in the lab. I said we could go get it. As she was getting off her bed, I hear, "Oh, my, goodness! It's IN. MY. HAND!" Baaaahahaha! I love it here!
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For those of you who don't know, there is a brand new pilot program going on in the MTC. The time spent in the MTC learning the language has been shortened. In my case, Portuguese HAD been a nine-week program. However, it is now only SIX weeks. I was given the choice of staying home for the three weeks or come to the MTC as an English-speaking missionary for three weeks. I CAME, of course. Sister Sessions and I and one other elder all had the same report date and chose to come here. The elder has already been informed that his visa has arrived right on time, and he will leave Tuesday [March 13] for Sao Paulo. It doesn't look too happy for US. Last week, we met some sisters who decided to wait at home for the 3 weeks and now are here because their visas didn't come in time. So, they're in the pilot program here in the Provo MTC. We get SO excited when we see them, asking all sorts of language questions; but they don't usually know what to say back. Maybe they're just dazed. Heck, I would be!
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Monday was the first day I didn't cry! Only twice I have cried out of frustration, fear, stress. Mostly, it has been from the spiritual power I have felt here. Spiritual feelings turn into spiritual tears, and I have turned into a doggone leaky faucet. I often explain it to my "investigators" like this: "Sometimes our hearts are so full, it leaks out our eyes." I must have a very small heart. It must be the only explanation.
Shout-out to Vacaville! Last night, the MTC choir performed for speaker David F. Evans. There were maybe 5 rows of sisters singing, but I was on the BIG SCREEN! Woot, woot! Vacaville is gettin' rep'd here in the MTC with Sister Anna Schlant, Elder Jon Benning, and I. I think Jon made it on the big screen, too. There's a Tongan elder here from SF in the district that is only one classroom away from our district. Whenever he sees me, he flashes the Vacaville "gang sign," and says, "VACAVIIIILLE!" Haha, LOVE him. We have gotten really close with that district, and it was SO SAD to see them leave already.
Tell Andrew E. [ten-year-old boy from Vacaville Primary class] I'M SO PROUD OF HIM! Really, the best gift or talent you can ever have is the Holy Ghost AND knowing when it speaks to you. |
Sister Postak and Sister Nelson's Valiant 10 class. They are a great bunch!
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*****If I were to die today, I would ask you all to do just one thing for me: call up the missionaries and have them over in your home. Ask them what message I would have told you before I died. Ask them why I would be willing to give my LIFE for this gospel. Hear what they have to say because their words are the words of God. I want people to know who we missionaries are, what we do, and why we do it. If people actually knew the whole Joseph Smith history and all he went through, prejudices would be replaced with curiosity. If people ACTUALLY knew that it took an unlearned man about 65 days to translate 531 pages of ancient reformed Egyptian, they would marvel at such a feat. If people truly knew the whole story of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, their knee would bow and their tongue would confess that Jesus is the Christ. The story of the "Mormons" is a marvelous story, indeed, of which there must be one of TWO conclusions: #1 We are all supporting a fable and being better people based on the works of the devil. OR #2 We are living righteous lives because we have come to know for ourselves that the Book of Mormon is from God and is tangible evidence that God still talks to His children through prophets--prophets from biblical areas, prophets from ancient Americas, and prophets who have been called by God in this dispensation. It is either one or the other. All we ask is for you to find out for yourself. God has always allowed us to find out for ourselves, and it's no different today. James 1:5, near the end of the Bible, has a promise. Moroni 10:3-5, near the end of the Book of Mormon, has a similar promise. So, pray to God to know. I have come to know for myself that the gospel of Jesus Christ had to be restored because God's power, which is always held in its fullest form by a prophet, was taken from the earth after Christ's apostles were killed. He chose a 14-year-old curious boy to become His prophet so there would be no doubt that the miracles that came to pass could only be explained as by God's hand. This pattern is not new. Moses was slow of speech. Samuel was a young boy. I am just a 21-year-old girl, who doesn't even have a college degree; but I have been called by God to be a witness of His truth. 1 Corinthians 1:27 It has been from the beginning that God has called fishermen, a carpenter's son, and a farm boy to bring souls to Him. How? By making people feel in ways they never have before; by having people ponder questions they've never considered before; by answering the questions of your soul that you've never before uttered. God is there. He knows your needs, your worries, your pains. He yearns to heal and bless you if you will but obey Him.
What I know to be true can't be explained in words, can't be written on a board, can't exist in a mathematical equation, and certainly can't be confined to the chambers of my left ventricle. I KNOW that God leads His church on earth by prophets. He always has. We must be willing to listen to them. I am on a mission to tell you and all the people within earshot or keyboard finger power that He leads His children TODAY by a living prophet. His name is Thomas S. Monson; and although you may not have the chance to meet him personally, you can read [or listen to] his words on lds.org and find out for yourself if his words are of God. Take a leap of faith with me. Listen, then ask yourself this question: If there is a prophet of God on earth today--a modern-day Moses, so to speak--how would that change my life? How would that bring me closer to my Savior?*****
As a final note, we sisters have found the sharing/reject/swap box. Last week, we found the most hideous skirt and were laughing about it. One thing led to another and now this "Sisterhood of the Traveling Skirt" is booked for TWO WEEKS!! I get to wear it Sunday. :) Her name--the skirt's name--is Sira. (As in Sirens, get it?) If you zoom in, you can see anchors and seahorses. Lol. The funny thing about the skirt is... every sister who has worn it looks GOOD in it! It's just the right touch of vintage and foreign, and every sister puts her own fashionable spin on it. After wearing it, she will sign the inside and indicate where she is going on a mission. You WILL see pics! :)