Letter from April 30th, 2013

Surprise early letter!

So our Pday got switched to Tuesdays! I have some news! I will be getting my reassignment this week! What the heck...either Wednesday or Thursday. WHICH MEANS I WILL BE CALLING HOME!!!! Yeah I'm way way excited.  So just be ready at some point over the next few days and tell me in a dearelder what number you want me to call! I am so so excited to talk to you!!! Even if it is because that blasted visa hasn't come yet.

About the visa though- I am so very very glad that I came to this MTC.  I have had so many tender, sacred experiences here that I wouldn't trade for anything and I know that I needed to come exactly here to get those blessings.  I've been able to hear prophets and apostles and make some amazing friends from all over the world! It has been so amazing to realize that even though we live thousands of miles away, we have the same purpose.  They are all such a strong support system and I just thank God every day and night in my prayers that He sent me here and knows exactly where I need to be!  That's why this reassignment isn't so hard.  I am learning more and more to trust in the Lord and that He has much better ideas of how my life should go than I do!

Thank you all so much for the DearElders and letters this week!! I probably set a record of 14 Dearelders yesterday...oh that was so awesome! Just stay updated on when I am heading out of the MTC, because if you send any after I am gone, they'll just get thrown away! Rude, I know.

These last few days have been amazing.  Our district had the best Pday last week! We went to the temple and did yoga and played games...oh it will be so hard to say goodbye to them! I look at the missionaries around me and just realize how strong this generation is that is getting ready to serve...I know God has prepared this generation of missionaries like never before and that his gospel is in good hands! We also were able to hear from some outstanding speakers this week! Our Relief Society lesson was taught by Sister Oscarson, the new General YW Pres! Yeahhh it was legit! She talked a lot about pruning the vineyard and the parable in Jacob 5.  It was so cool to realize that the Lord of the vineyard is definitely working right alongside us.  We got to meet her and her presidency after...way cool! We also heard from Stephen B. Allen, the Managing Director of the Missionary Department. Probably my favorite devo yet! He was super blunt and told us that if we have any reservations or any parts of ourselves still at home, they won't do us any good.  He also said the word crappy from the pulpit, which gives me faith that there is still hope for me too:)

The weather in Provo has been gorgeous! We study outside all day and I am finally starting to look human again without the help of a spray tan! haaaa...yeah it's just better for everyone's mood and everything too! It'll actually be pretty sad to bail out of here in a few days! But I am way excited to see Kristen tomorrow! I totally thought she was coming next week! Oh my gosh she's going to have the best time and I will totally attack her and give her the biggest, best hug of her LIFE.

It was not easy to hear about Beth.  I was expecting her to pass, but it still hurt when it actually happened, you know? My sisters were the best though.  They were so loving and were there for me the whole time.  Please tell her family that I love them and I'm praying for them and I know exactly where she is...and I have a few friends with badges that can tell them exactly where she is too if they are interested :)  I don't have a doubt in my mind that she is happy, and she is whole, and there were angels rejoicing when that blessed daughter, who suffered so much and taught others even more, returned home to her Father.  I just know that she ran all the way there.  Thank you so much for the care you took of her, Mom.  You have seriously been an angel and I totally cried every time I thought of how you were being so good to her. That means so much to me and I can't thank you enough!

I got the package- it was so great, thank you thank you!! I'm sorry this letter is short...I love you! I will talk to you soon, ok?!  Eu amo voces, e eu sei que esta igreja e verdadeiro, e eu sei que familias sao eternal:)

Love, 

Sister Dana 

With Elder Diaz from Chile



Elder Gunnel from MVT

Sister Butler, Dana, Orr and Elder Hernandez from Mexico

Elder Hernandez: "Ah!! Facebook Photo!"



Elder Jason, from the West Indies

Elder Lima from Samoa



Elder Lima, Elder Uhhhiforgot, and Elder Sio!!

I love my Samoans!!



With Elder Thunot and ...not sure about the other guy!

With Elder Thunot from Tahiti



Elder Visconti from France...one of the coolest people I have EVER met



Our District with the foreign missionaries!



Sisters Orr, McCleve and Dana after the temple

Sisters in our district with Sister Beus, our awesome Coordinating Sister

 

April 26th 2013

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

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

April 19th Letter and Pictures

Hello!!!

How is everyone over there?! Life over here is great...as usual!  Ok, I have some good stories to tell today! Muito animado!

To start this thing off, last P day kind of sucked. My companion got wayyy sick, so we spent a lot of time in our residence. Then in the giving spirit of this place, she decided to pass it on to the other chicas in our district! All of them except Sister McCleve and myself got soooo sick and had to go to the clinic.  I'll be selfish, but I was kind of glad that they got to be the ones to stay in our residence all sick together with Sister Butler, because I hateeee missing class! Thank heavens for splits I guess.

On Sunday we had this stellar lesson from Sister Mary Edmonds in Relief Society.  That woman has served 4 missions! Apparently to be awesome, you have to just be too cool for marriage, because both she and Sheri Dew are still on the market. I'm not sure how that went down, but they are both fabulous and it was really cool to hear her stories. Sis Edmonds talked all about the miracles that happened on her mission and I think that she comforted a lot of us who are wondering what in the world is going on in this crazy place.  I know I was so grateful to hear that message!

Sunday night, our devo was by Brother Droubay, who is the head of Missionary Media.  Basically the long and short of his message is that our church is spreading far and wide, and we'd better be ready to keep up with the rising tide!  There have been huge mormon.org campaigns all over NY and London and pretty much our church is super tech savvy.  It made me miss texting. Go figure!

Ok, so our devo on Tuesday was even better though. It was by....ELDER RICHARD G. SCOTT!!! And I was in the Choir so our seats were, once again, the bomb.  I can't even describe the Spirit that came into the room when he walked in.  Thousands of missionaries sometimes have a hard time keeping things quiet, but as soon as he entered, we all shut up and paid and attention.  This man is an apostle of God.  He gave this amazing talk about prayer and the blessing that it is and how we should never ever take it for granted. I found quite a few answers in that thing.  Lately, I was feeling like I wasn't sure exactly how I got here on this mission. like, it's required for elders, and all this sisters just snuck in somehow when we should have been being good and finishing up school and getting married.  But Elder Scott talked just to the sisters for a while and told us how we are needed here so much and each call is given by complete inspiration. It was just what I needed to hear! Then he gave us an apostolic blessing that those of us learning foreign languages would master them...definitely needed that one too!! So at the end, my Sister McCleve gave the closing prayer! Actually she almost tackled the apostle because after the closing song, he decided he wasn't done talking and came back up. She was in such a rush that she almost didn't see and got dangerously close to taking out an apostle of our Lord...all captured on the big screen;) I love modern technology!

Oh, and about the Boston Marathon? Yeah Elder Hendrickson's mom was running in that and was saved by a serious of miracles. I guess she finished like a minute before the bomb went off and all of this other stuff and his parents attirbute it completely to Elder being on his mission.  I can't believe I didn't hear about anything like that!! This is major news!!! Will you please tell me what is going on in the outside world sometimes?! I know we are supposed to be separate, but I feel like some stuff...like bombs...should be told in order to keep a person properly informed. Please and thank you!

Alright, story time.  So there is this guy from Quebec who speaks only French and has class on our floor. He stalks me. You think I am kidding. I wish.  He started leaving drawings and notes in my scriptures and follows me around when I am in the hall or waiting for Sister Butler in the bathroom.  At first I thought to just be nice and talk to the fellow, but then it started getting weird, He sits at a table across from us at lunch and literally just stares.  The elders in my district are getting super protective about it.  They don't let me sit facing him and have started to escort Sister Butler and myself to the bathroom or wherever we need to go.  Like, when we go upstairs, we have to have elders with us because otherwise he will literally sit at the bottom of them and wait for us to come back down.  But the best part happened yesterday.  So I was just being my usual healthy self at gym and running around the track when I hear these keys jingling behind me. French guy.  So I started running faster and then hid in the bathroom for a bit.  I thought the coast was clear, and so I went back onto the track. I was running around and when I passed a guy who is in French guy's district, he yells "FORTIER!!" (French Guy.) then I hear these keys coming behind me...again. So I pick up the pace. And every time I passed the other guy, he would yell "Fortier!" to let him know where I was! This continued for like five laps until he was literally right behind me and then I bailed and hid in the bathroom for the rest of gym.  Elder Hanna, in my district, saw the whole thing and thought it was the funniest thing of his life, but definitley said it was a new level of creepy. All is taken care of though, so no worries!

Ok , I should be able to send some pics home today so I hope they work! Thanks for the luggage strap package! I got it and we should be good! JACQUE: I LOVE YOU AND MY DISTRICT LOVES YOU!!!! Thank you for that package! It was seriously like Christmas and our elders have done a number on all the food...but it was the best thing ever!

Mom: That is so cool about EVMCO! I seriously freaked out when I got your letter! So So exciting!! Also, do whatever you'd like with that poem.  It was just something I felt like needed to get out of me, and now that it is, I don't really care where it goes! Just make sure my name is on it ;)  I love you and thank you so much for the dearelders! Keep them coming, please!

Dad: You're not the new Stake Pres?! rats....just kiddingggg. It'll be so weird when they get released! And it'll be wayyyy weird not to be released by President Ahlstrom! And I almost can't remember Leslie's daddy not being up on the stand...but they have done a fabulous job and deserve a break I think! Pretty sure you'll be a stake pres at some point, so here's to hoping you get those tears under contol.  Love you:)

Cooper: WRITE ME. I have almost been here a month and haven't heard from you. What! I even wrote you a letter by hand! That takes some real effort! WRITE YOUR MISSIONARY SISTER. IT IS A BIG DEAL.

To my roomies at USU- Good luck with finals! I sent you a letter...to the wrong address. I am ashamed!! So you'll be getting one this week.

I love you all and hope you have a great week! I'm about to go to the temple with my district:) Loveeeee you!

Tudo Bem!

-Sister Dana

MTC District

With Elder Harris

This is how she remembers home (above her bed)

Shelby says "This is why I love Elder Blanchard"  it's the tie

With Elder Garrett Turley (from Mountain View)

Elders Hendrickson and Blanchard

Elders Hoyt and Dean

Elder Jefferson (friend from USU)

District Elders with coordinating ties

Elders at Sister Orr's Birthday Party

Happy Birthday Sister Orr

"I love packages!"

MTC Bed

MTC Room

MTC Room

MTC Room

MTC Sisters

MTC District

MTC District

Mountain View HS Missionaries

Mountain View HS Missionaries

MTC Sisters

Really Cool Picture

MTC District

Shelby and her cousin Maddie Hunsaker

Shelby and Sister Butler (her comp)

Samoan Volleyball friend

Sister Orr's Birthday

Sister Orr, Sister McCleve, Sister Remy "this is normal"

Shelby with Elder Chris Cluff (HS friend)

Shelby and Elder Cluff

Shelby and Elder Nickel

MTC District

Elder Turley again