I'll get right down to business since I have a mere 22 minutes. Make sure to check the mail because I'm planning to write a letter every week with whatever I couldn't cram into email time. OK?! It sounds like you got my other letter, though, which is good.
First things first, I HAVE been getting all your DearElders and the other one that sends pictures [Called2Serve.com will accept Word and PDF files less than 1 MB]. AND THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU, because they totally make my day. I broke the district record on Monday at dinner (we get snail mail at lunch and DearElder at dinner) with FIVE whopping Dearelders, all of which were fabulous. Especially the news about Ashley being ENGAGED!!! I'm so excited. I think they accumulated over the weekend since Friday or something, but seriously, THANK YOU for Mom and Dad and Ashley and Heidi and Paige for sending me DearElders, and Kyle and Alexis for the mail. I honestly flip out when I get letters since I don't expect to get them...I tell myself I've only been gone a week and a half and there's no way I should be expecting letters. But deep down, it's the greatest thing ever to get them, so THANK YOU!!! DearElder is a great way to communicate with me rather than emailing me back, because we haven't been able to access a printer here. So if you send me DearElders throughout the week, not only is it more fun to read them and have letters all along, but then I can respond to them in my emails. So again, GRACIAS!
Another thing that's kind of dumb but I should mention: I really love that you call me 'Kristen' in your letters to me, so please keep calling me that. I am still getting used to "Sister Staib." And obviously I like being a missionary but I don't like that I have a different name. I don't know if that makes sense but I like the normalcy of you calling me Kristen. So keep it up. ;)
Also, THANK YOU for updating my blog and keeping me posted on texts and such. And sure, you can put my written letters on there, too, if you would just take out the stuff you think you should.
THANK YOU for the medicine! I have been feeling loads better. Last Thursday I was still adjusting to the whole MTC life and getting that letter and seeing the bag with Mom's handwriting on it brought tears to my eyes. I was having a tough time at first. But I hear from everyone that it's totally normal. Anyway, I was secretly sad that I didn't see you...the thought that you had been right there, and I was just down the hall eating dinner!! When the voice came on the loudspeaker to page a missionary, I actually thought, "I never need to listen to these, it is always someone else. What poor shmuck is it this time?" and they said "Sister Kristen Staib." Well, I had no idea you'd be dropping off stuff for me, and it was such a treat. The herbal sleeping pills and ear plugs have been wonderful, and I don't sleep well the nights I don’t take them, but they have helped me get enough sleep and start feeling better. So that’s good. Should I send the cough medicine back? I'm still hacking up gross stuff and have a cough (like the doctor said I would for 6-8 wks), but I don't think I need it now. Otherwise I’ll tote it over to Mongolia with me. Let me know.
OK, this is not a very good email so far since I'm writing business-y stuff. I’m almost done. But like I said, I'll write a snail mail letter. OH, I have been meaning to ask you ALLLL week, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE send me family pictures! I didn't bring any pictures of the fam with me since I didn't have any printed off, and I would really like a bunch for my little album and to put up. If you could print off a few from graduation, from our trip to SD, from the day I went to the temple, etc., that would also be nice. I just don't have any!!
And while I'm thinking of it, sorry for the typos, I have too little time to care about fixing them. So you'll have to deal with them, I guess. I think you can still glean the meaning though my type-man-ship (that's not a word) is horrible.
There are a few things I think I'll need before heading off to Mongolia, so I'll send you a list later. Could you please email the Andersens and ask if we need sheets? We don't need them here, so I'd like to send them home if I don't need them or blankets. Let me know :) Also, if you could send me a little ditty about Buddhism, I am really curious about it and forgot to do my homework before I left. It's been interesting preparing to teach lessons to those who have no idea about God or who have a completely different idea (they believe in reincarnation!!)
OK, now to the more spiritual stuff and what I've been up to. I just have 7.5 minutes so it'll be a bit lame how short it is, so sorry about that. But anyway, things are going fantastic here! I am loving my companion. We never DIDN'T get along, but last Thursday or so we really had a good laugh because I said something ridiculous (go figure), and since then we've been laughing and joking and being ridiculous and having fun. Don't get me wrong, we still work hard and are focused. But life is so much better when we're cheerful. I decided last week after writing you that I was going to enjoy my time here (I was feeling so drained and so frustrated because I was behind and we are crazy busy, etc), but I just told myself, "You know what?! You only get one mission. You're going to be here 3 months. Don't screw it up. You have to be in class, you have to hunker down and study Mongolian, and whether or not it's hard, you have to do this! So enjoy it, because that is all that is going to get you through!" And you know what? I HAVE! We've all been super stressed out because we're giving the first lesson IN MONGOLIAN tomorrow (!!!!!!!!!!!!) and we've been trying to memorize. It's so hard, I can't even tell you. Not only does my mind not function in Mongolian because the sounds are just so crazy hard, but we don't have a large enough base of vocabulary or grammar to know what we're saying. But its OK, we know it's going to be a royal disaster, and we're just going to do our best. That’s been my motto: just do my best. That is all God asks. And He will make up for my inadequacies. And you know what? I still get stressed out (it's me we're talking about. I just do that) and I still get frustrated, but life has been so much better since I decided that!
So yeah, things here are going great. We had sister Ann Madsen come speak to us on Sunday about prayer (Truman G. Madsen’s wife); so great. Also, Elder Groberg spoke to us on Tuesday night about temples, etc. OK I don't want to get kicked off so I'll end with this and send you a letter (Check the mail!!). But since I got here, there have been 2 very prevalent themes: the importance of temples, and the importance of prayer (EVERY LESSON ON SUNDAY WAS ABOUT PRAYER). Ok I’m going to close by saying I challenge you to read Jesus the Christ with me: 11 pages a day till I leave!!
I love you! Talk to you soon! You’re wonderful!!
Kristen
No comments:
Post a Comment