November 26, 2013

Hey Family!!! Gosh I miss you guys! I hope you all got my letters I wrote you? I sent each of you a personal letter last week! I hope you all got them!:) Mom.....Thank you SOOO much for the packages of cookies....haha everyone in my district LOVES them! We ate every single one of them! Thank you Thank you! Thank you for the letters and dear elders. You have no idea how much they mean to me. I reread them over and over. Can you tell Grandma Ruth thanks SOO much for sending another package! IT means the world to me! She is SO sweet! My whole district loves when Grandma Ruth sends packages! Ha we all share it:) We ALL LOVE HER! haha and Thank Grandma and Grandpa Leifson for the cinnamon rolls and candy and MOST OF ALL THE MINTS! I LOVE LOVE LOVE mints! haha its all I can have because we cant have gum! Thank her SOOO much for the letters! They meant so much to me! I about cried when she said she wanted to help me pack...ha I wish she could! I LOVE HER! and tell Grandpa that I obey his advice ALL the time and it helps so much:) It always makes me smile:) haha I miss and love him like crazy. Also Tell Linda thank you so much for the packages and letters!!!! They are sooooo sweet! It means so much that I have such loving and supporting family. I LOVE YOU LINDA!!! Gosh and thank grandma and grandpa Wilson for all the letters and postcards!!! It serioiusly makes me feel so much better to recieve mail and packages because I remember that I am not forgotten and you guys still love and remember me! haha please don't forget me;) THANK EVERYONE FOR ALL THEY HAVE DONE FOR ME! It means the world. And Mom, I love and miss you and Dad and the boys more than you could ever imagine....Please let them know how much I love them...and how much I honestly miss you guys. I pray soooooo hard for each and everyone of you every night. Please never forget how much I love you guys and miss you guys and can't wait to see you guys again:) Make good choices.....Seriously. haha:) LOVE YOU GUYS!

Alright, well this week was good!!! Ha so my companions.....yes BOTH of them...have had colds..(Yes just a cold) but because of their colds they have legit stayed in bed ALL WEEK. Missed every single class and devotional and EVERYTHING. So I have made a transfer companionship with Sister M and S. But then Sister M got really sick....and Sister S wanted to stay back and sleep...but I have dragged her around with me cuz I don't wanna miss ANYTHING. We are only here for 2 weeks....I wanna make the most of my MTC experience! So after much effort and complaining...me and Sister S havent missed a single class or ANYTHING:) ha yayyy! I did it! :) I have learned SOOOOOO MUCH! I am so glad I haven't missed anything. I feel so bad for all my companions and all they missed out on! Alright so earlier this week we were teaching our TRC investigator. Her name is W....the first time we taught her (last week) It went AWFUL. The spirit wasn't there AT ALL and Sister T and Sister B were just using logic and not applying anything to her so she completely shut down and didn't talk. I also didn't say anything the whole lesson. But then this week Sister M and me, totally opened her up. IT WAS AMAZING. We just completely taught by the spirit. I have no idea exactly what I even said....but she teared up at the end and said she would commit to praying that night. That was a huge deal because she didn't beleive in God or anything. It was cool.....So that was our last night teaching her...and we found out that she was a real actual investigator!!!! For TRC they usually have people act it out....but our teacher said every once in awhile they use real people who are wondering about what we as missionaires do...and she was one of them! It was AMAZING! I am sooo happy I met her.

So on Thursday...it was in field orientation....and everyone was sick. So me and Sister S went and it was cool! We just did all these different workshops and classes teaching us how to be a more effective missionary. Ha my district President pulled me aside and said how proud he was of me for coming to every single thing and not missing anything even tho I was just as sick as my companions:) It made me feel good that I was doin the right thing:) Then that night,....Sister T was havin a really rough night. She was yelling at everyone and having a mental breakdown...So I took her out in the hall and sat her on the couch and asked what was goin on. She ended up telling me that her Dad had passed away from cancer a year ago that day and she was havin a really rough time. NO ONE had any idea that her Dad had died or anyting! She is so closed off and keeps it all in. We ended up havin this super deep conversation about it...It was cool. She actually opened up to me....and I was able to just comfort her and help her through that moment. It was really cool. She is such a sweet girl and I love her with all my heart. Its been a little difficult having all my companions sick because every day we have to teach a new investigator....but since me and Sister S are the only sisters here....we have had to teach DOUBLE the investigators. haha its been WAY cool though! We have had the opportunity to get double the experience! I'VE LOVED IT! :) I have been able to grow a TON. Ha don't get me wrong...it was super hard and frustrating at first because we had NO time to prepare anything,...we would just have to go in and roll with it. But we have just made sure we are full of the spirit all day and focused and the lessons usually go AMAZING. We had this old couple come in who were less active and just wanted to meet with us. They didn't feel welcome or loved in their ward because all their kids have done drugs or just messed up in their lives. They felt judged and not needed. They just wanted to talk with us.....SO IT WENT UNREAL. They were from Tennessee and had the SWEETEST accent. We became absolute BEST FRIENDS. Ha the grandma and me were laughing and crying and I bore my testimony SO strong that SHE specifically was sooo important and needed. I just went on and how people will judge and not follow Christ's example....but this is Christ's church and that's not what he would teach. She just needs to look past all the imperfect people and do her best with handling people and the Lord would bless her and be so proud of her. We need to just rely on the Lord and do what He would have us do.....who cares what anybody else does or says or thinks. HE IS ALL THAT MATTERS. They committed to go to church this Sunday and she asked for my email to continue writing me!!! My district President said that was fine:) It was unreal:) I am going to continue bearing testimony to her throughout my mission and keep her strong in the church.

So this week we had a new district come in. There is this one girl named Sister D! She is from Germany and has become my BEST FRIEND. I absolutely LOVE HER. She came from Frankfurt and she knew Nick!!! He came and ate dinner with her family every once and awhile! It was cool! I asked if she knew Josh but she didn't :(

I am actually really sad I am leaving the MTC. I LOVE IT HERE! I have made seriously AMAZING FRIENDS. ALL the elders are like my brothers. We have all made such amazing friendships here...and most of them are from UTAH so we are gonna party when we get home!!!! We all cried last night cuz we all had to say goodbye:( No worries I WILL CALL YOU! and our whole district is going to Omaha so we are all flying together! I AM SOOO HAPPY! They are my best friends:) and we actually fly to Minneapolis....have a 3 hour layover and then to Omaha! ha its ridiculous...but oh well:) more time with my district:) We get to stay in the mission home till Friday then we get our new companions and all that Friday:)

A ton more experiences have happened this week but I am running out of time....so there is a few:) but I just wanted to leave my testimony with all of you saying that I KNOW without a single doubt that this church is true. I know that at times life can be hard....and things don't always go the way we want them too, or the way we expect. But if we just TURN OUTWARD.....everything else seems easier. When the natural man would turn in, the Savior would turn out. That's what we NEED to do. Forget ourselves. Think of someone else. When you are going through something hard....or in a bad mood...FORGET YOURSELF. I promise you will feel better. In every single instance, in every situation, no matter the circumstance....JUST TURN OUT. When you lose yourself in others and obtain a character like Christ..you'll find yourself. and not only that...but you'll find yourself happy. So turn away from being selfish and, get over yourself and get out of the way, and TURN OUTWARD. Another thing we need to keep in mind....a testimony just isn't enough. We need to be truly CONVERTED. If you are truly converted to the Lord...(not just the church...but to THE LORD) then when people let you down or turn away from God....it won't affect you. YOU ARE CONVERTED TO THE LORD. Not the imperfect people that say they have a testimony.....Don't let someone else bring you down. Who cares....the Lord is the only person you should be worried about. and He will NEVER bring you down. So BE HAPPY:) Just make your life according to God's will and then you have nothing to be scared about or worried about:) I find that so comforting. Nothing else matters but our relationship with God.:) Sorry I just went off there...haha I just LOVE having that knowledge....it makes life easier and better:) Well I LOVE YOU all and miss you all! You are all in my prayers every night and I am SO grateful for the amazing examples you are to me. All of you have impacted me in my life. I LOVE YOU! and have a great week!:)