Hey Family! Only a week and a
half left at this MTC...and I'm not necessarily disappointed in that
fact. You can probably judge that based on the time that this email will
be sent. [5:45 am Utah time] Laundry and emailing are the worst and so we try to get them out of
the way ASAP!
Anyways, this week was very
much like all the rest of them...the weeks get super repetitive and I
definitely lose track of how long I've been in this place. BUT last week
we did sealings at the temple and it was my first time and holy cow!! That was
so cool! It was awesome to hear about all the promises and watch families
become eternal in front of my eyes...I just loved it:) and so we're going to do
those again today too!
Let's see...the BYU Men's Choir came to sing to us for devo
on Sunday and that was so cool! They did this arrangement of Called to Serve
that was stellar. And that's saying something, because you would not
believe how many times I've heard that song around here...I liked it much
better with a bunch of strapping college men singing it. I may be a
missionary...but I'm still a girl you know! :)
On Tuesday we had David F.
Evans of the Seventy come speak to us. He talked a lot about repentance
and it was a great message, but the thing that really stuck out to me was a
story he told of an elder from his ward whose visa never came, so he was in the
MTC working at the call center for a solid 3 months. Elder Evans said he sent
the elder a letter to comfort him, but the elder replied that he promised the
Lord 2 years of his life, and if the Lord needed him to be in the MTC for a few
months, he was more than happy to serve. That made me feel pretty guilty
for whining about my visa not coming, but I realized once again that the Lord
is showing me that this mission is NOT ABOUT ME! Apparently I have not fully
learned that lesson and need to be taught it over and over, because that's
certainly happening!
The weather here is FINALLY
warming up and we love it! We can now go outside and use the fields for gym, so
I play softball with all the elders because all my sisters are bums and go play
volleyball. No. I totally got nailed in the shin while I was pitching on
Tuesday and so I have a fabulous bruise on my leg...whatevs, it's not like I
wear skirts all the time or anything. They said they wanted colorful
sisters, right? :) Yeah so we study outside now a lot, and that might be a bad
thing because I tend to fall asleep. But I will be valiant!
I loveee personal study here.
It is definitely the best part of the day. I've never learned so much or
been so heavily into the scriptures. I can spend a solid hour on 3 verses and
learn more than I thought possible! I've been reading the Doctrine and
Covenants lately and it's just all about missionary work! It's super inspiring
and I am all peeved when we have to go to lunch!
Speaking of lunch, I am
fat. This MTC food can kill a person. Holy goodness, it is wreaking
havoc on the insides of my sisters though...and I am suffering the consequences
of their bad dietary choices. That's all I will say about that.
Ok so our teachers here pretend
to be investigators, right? We take it super seriously though. I think I
told you about this in my snail mail letter, Mom, but I'll write it
anyway. Our investigator named Guiliarme was scheduled to be baptized on
Thursday. Sister Butler and I were so excited! Then on Tuesday we went to
teach us and he came to the door and told us that he couldn't do all the things
that we asked and he was going to give up and didn't want us to come
back. We started bearing testimony to him and asking him if he knew that
the principles we taught were true, and he said that he knew they were with his
whole heart. He has some major addictions that we've been working on him
with though, and he said he just didn't think he was strong enough to do what
we needed him to. So we asked if he believed that Christ performed
miracles on the earth, and he said yes. Then we asked if he knew that Christ
suffered for the pains and sins of the world, and he said yes. Then I got a
little frustrated and asked in very broken but feisty Portuguese that if Jesus
could heal a blind man and suffer every possible sin during the atonement, why
on earth could he not help Guiliarme overcome any trial he might have?! He
started crying and agreed to let us keep coming back, then said a beautiful
prayer and Sister Butler and I both left in tears. It was the coolest
lesson....good grief, I can't wait until this stuff gets real! If the Spirit
can be that strong in a fake, lesson, I can only imagine what it must be like
in the real deal!
Congratulations to Hunter and
Steven! That's so so exciting, and I can promise them that this is the best
decision they could EVER make!! Hunter, every time I see a sister from the
Philippines, I ask her to speak some Cebu for me. Yeah, good luck with that
one. Just kidding you will pick it up in no time! hahahaaaa.... ;)
Mom, Thank you so so much for
all the dear elders and the awesome scriptures. They are really
inspiring! Thank you also for all your prayers about the visa...I'm praying for
it too! I so want to go to Brasil dadgumit!!
Dad, thanks for the letter! My
district thinks that my pai terrestrial is a pretty funny guy! Don't worry
about Frenchie, he got talked to by the branch president, so now it's just
reals awkward whenever we see each other in the hall and whatnot. But some
Samoans proposed the other day and asked if I'd come back to Samoa after the
mish, so you can think about that one this week ;)
Cooper!! I loved your letter!!
I must've read it at least a brazillion times!! Besides the fact that you used
the word "wroted", it just made me so happy! I'm glad school is going
well and I bet you're super ready to bail hard out of Stapley. If it
makes you feel better, I spend about 10 hours studying in the same classroom
every day...yeah you'd explode. But I love you so much and thank you! You
know what you do now?! Write again:) It's the write thing to do! hehe
Kristen is coming here soon!!
I'm so sad that I'll miss her, especially since I get to be a host next
week! I fully remember my first day here...I will be super nice to those
poor girls. But Kristen and Crystal, just wait, this is the best thing ever!!!!
WE WILL HAVE SUCH GREAT STORIES!!!!!
Also, that's pretty cool about
the new stake presidency! But it's gonna be sooo weird to be released by
someone other than Pres Ahlstrom! Ah well!
I love you all so much and
thank you for your prayers! I would write in Portuguese but I am still to
embarrassed to send it out when I know that people who understand my mistakes will
read it! :) Tudo Bem!
Love,
Sister Dana
Sister Dana
PS
Pics are coming, I'm just waiting for Sister McCleve
(pronounced Mc-clevy) in Portuguese to open up because I need to borrow her
card reader. I wonder if we need those in Brasil! Hope not. Ask
Norma You should send me some pictures!! I would love them!! Also, I said
a super funny pun just barely. So Elder Hanna got a picture with all the
Samoans on our floor, and it's hilarious because he's this tiny white kid with
all the huge polys. So anyway, I was looking at it and go... "Samoan here
does not belong..." Super funny, right?! Ok I love you and you can send me
letters and packages all you want and I will not complain one bit! I love you
bunches!
Sista Danaaaa
 |
| This Picture is because Hunter Musgrave was just called to the Cebu Philippines mission |
 |
| Sister McCleve with the Mangos |
 |
| Sister Butler had been sick and couldn't infect anyone |
 |
| She studies even when she's sick though |
 |
| Elders Hendrickson and Blanchard with Sisters Dana and Orr |
 |
| Shelby and Sister Orr |
