HELLO!!!
I hope you are having a fantastic week and looking forward to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple dedication. I know I am!! I bought my white handkerchief and I'm set. Mom and Dad, thanks for the insight that Pres. Gottfredson gave. I have been trying to think about it all week, if there is anything that you should pray about for me, and I just don't know what, specifically, that could be. I will definitely approach it with prayer. But I guess just keep praying for me, for me to know that I'm going to be OK with the language and with the coming months.
I know I can do all things with the Lord's help, but sometimes I think it's easy to think that I'm on my own here or something. But, as I've been reminded time and time again, this is the Lord's work, not mine, and there is no way He would leave me without help. His hand is in all things.
Well, as my subject connotes, I have had a really great week! Also, a few things that were kind of hard, but we'll save that for later. So here are the highs from this past week:
1: I got your package!! Don't worry, it came, but it came Friday at dinnertime. I'm not sure why. The rolls were delicious, I ate most of them myself (greedy, I know!) but gave at least half away to my district, and about 5 to Sister Marta, who had just finished her finals. She told me the next morning that she'd gone home and eaten the whole bag of them (5 rolls or so) all that night.
I swear I squealed like a child at Christmas when I opened that package...your freshly made rolls (and LOTS of them!), the NorthFace backpack (I'm taking it to the tailor here today so hopefully they can fix that pocket for cheap!), GUM!, the darling stationery and everything else. So thank you thank you thank you!! I am seriously SO spoiled!!
2-We had the Referral Center again yesterday. Last week we didn’t have the best week there (we only got 3 referrals), and so we lowered our goal a little bit this week to 7 referrals. Our 'record' was 18 before, so we thought 7 would be do-able. Well, we got FORTY TWO REFERRALS!! Meaning, because of that one hour with 13 of us on the phones, there are 42 people who are having the missionaries come over!! It was SO AWESOME!! Every one of us was just beaming as we left. It just strengthened my testimony that when we make goals and take them to the Lord, He will provide a way.
Now, I know people have their agency and everything--you can't MAKE people accept the missionaries--but usually we just get answering machines and wrong numbers and stuff. Yesterday we had TONS of people calling in constantly in response to the commercials they'd seen on TV for a free Bible or Lamb of God movie, and the people that we were calling (outbound) were actually picking up their phones! The Lord's hand is in ALL things! This is His work! It was fantastic.
3-We got to host the new missionaries coming in yesterday. Since the whole curb-side drop-off is still new, they keep switching the system, but the fun part is that we get to show the new missionaries around and get them checked in. There weren't that many sisters coming in yesterday, so I only got to host 2 of them, but it was still good. It made me think back to just 5 1/2 weeks ago when that was me. Sometimes it's good to look back and see how far you've come. It made me realize that we have all come a really long way in just a short amount of time, and the Lord has really blessed us to learn Mongolian and grow a lot in spiritual ways.
Well, before I climbed into bed last night, I decided to go check on one of the new sisters I’d escorted. She was having a hard time when I was showing her around...she was still a bit teary from saying goodbye to her family, and last night she was also struggling a bit to keep it together. I told her it would be OK, we have ALL gone through those first few days (it is kind of rough to suddenly flip the switch that you're a missionary, y'know?) and told her that everyone around her had gone through that and that she WOULD be OK.
I think sometimes in life we forget that other people have gone through hard times; that we are not the only ones. And I know that I forget too quickly that Jesus Christ knows EXACTLY how to succor us in our pains and trials, because He has felt it all! I hope that sister is doing better today.
4-Thank you for the letters!!! In response to your question, Chris, there is not much that I can think of that I want or need, except for maybe some church music. I don't have much instrumental music...I don't really know what's out there, but that would be wonderful! And my companion doesn't get tons of letters, so maybe if the kids wanted to draw her pictures or if anyone wants to send her a letter or something, I think she would love that :) Her name is sister Aubry Ellison, or you could send it to me and I will give it to her! Thank you!!
And, Alex Ingersoll, I got your letter a couple of weeks ago, thank you so much! I wrote you a letter last P-day, but then realized it probably wont' get to you if I send it to Wolfeboro. So, if you ever have a chance, let me know what your address is here in Provo, I'd love to write to you!! Thanks!!
5-In the way of MTC traditions, I've started memorizing a scripture every day and making a point to read a General Conference talk every day, too. I LOVE THEM!! I have always loved reading Conference talks, but now I seem to be even more 'hungry' for the words of the living prophets. Conference is so wonderful! I'd recommend to everyone that we review the words from last General Conference in preparation for this upcoming one, and also to prayerfully consider any questions you may have and take those to General Conference.
Whenever I've done that, I have gotten answers to my prayers. EVERY TIME! In fact, it was this time last year that I watched Conference wondering if I should go on a mission....and you know the rest of the story, because here I am!!
Also, if anyone has a favorite Conference talk from any general conference and would like to share it, please let me know the title or you could send it to me, since I really do love reading them! While I'm still here in the MTC I can look it up on LDS.org, but once I'm out in the field I don't think I'm allowed on there anymore.
Also, two great highs this week were seeing Bekah Allred yesterday in the cafeteria (friend from DC!! I love her!!) and David Kader (Jerusalem friend) in the health clinic when my roommate had to go get her cough checked out. We got to talk for a long time. I love seeing familiar faces! We're past our halfway point here (CRAZY!!!), so it's only a few weeks before I'll be out in Mongolia with no familiar faces to speak of, so I appreciate the times I do get to see some friends!
OK, so I mentioned this week was the highest of highs---yesterday was the best day ever! But there have been a few things that were kind of frustrating or sad...
Sister Marta graduated last week, and on Monday she got an email from HR saying that she'd been terminated since she's an international student. So here we were, thinking that we would get to have another week or two with her, and they told her she couldn't be our teacher anymore. That made me so sad, and now we just have one teacher until we get a new one in a few weeks. We've felt a little forgotten at times, but I know it's been good for us because it's made us take our learning into our own hands a little more than we would've had to had we had a teacher 24/7 like we usually do. I think we will get a chance to say goodbye to Sister Marta before she leaves next Monday.
Also, I don't know why, but I just had the CRUMMIEST day on Tuesday! I woke up on the wrong side of the bed or something, but I hadn't felt that discouraged since I first got here. I think I take it for granted that I've just been having a good time here and that I've generally had very high spirits. Sure, certain things are trying here, and there are ups and downs, but Tuesday was just rough.
I kept praying all day to be OK, to have a good attitude, to be cheerful and energetic and happy, but it just wasn't happening. I didn't feel well, my head hurt, and I was just very discouraged altogether. By the end of the day, I turned things around a little bit, but it was so disconcerting.
I decided on Wednesday morning when I got up that I wasn't going to let that happen again. That my mission and my time in the MTC are too short to just let myself get that down, and that it really wasn't worth it. So I prayed to have a better day, and decided I was going to enjoy the day, and I did!! And that was yesterday, the day I was telling you was the best day ever.
So, my testimony is this: the church is true, attitude is everything, Heavenly Father loves us, and this is His work!! I love you!! Keep smiling!
Love,
Kristen
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