I AM A MISSIONARY!! hello hello hello!! Greetings from the MTC! Things here are going so well! I am loving every minute of it!! I have never been more tired and more stressed in my life...but I have also never been so happy!! I think I have prayed more, studied more, learned more and ate more in these past 3 days than I have my whole life! It's wonderful!! The first thing i thought as i was walking away from mom and dad was...wow..i'm really doing this!! We got the room and i saw the bunk beds and i just laughed! this is what all the boys had been through! so great. The first day was so busy! we had meeting after meeting and pictures and orientations and classes. We were put on overload for sure. But it was good to keep us busy so we couldn't get too emotional! It's amazing how much love I have for the people i am serving with already!! i now understand how you can love instantly. My teachers are so great. They really listen and follow the promptings of the spirit and have taught us great things. I am so blessed to have them. My companion is Sister Wennerlind (sounds like winner-lind) She is from Washington...right up by Steve! We have a lot of the same interests and have been getting a lot really well. I know that the Lord places us with who we need to be with! It's really a testimony that He knows us individually and knows exactly what our needs are. There are two other sisters in the district...we are all roommates. Sister Cordon is so stinkin great. She's has a very tender heart and is very sweet. We are a lot alike in that way. We can just look at eachother and know exactly what we need!! The other day we both just looked at eachother and just gave eachother the biggest hug! Sister Stewart is from Utah! She is such a strong sister! She really knows her stuff and is very brave and not afraid to share the things she has learned or her thoughts! She takes care of all of us and makes sure we are all doing well!! There are 10 Elders in our district!! We were told that we are to not think of them as brothers...which is so hard for me because it feels just like home being surrounded by all these men!! Each one of them has such a strong testimony and a love for the gospel and the Savior. It is so neat to see how much each of them, along with myself, have grown over these couple of days. Our relationships have grown as well...we are each feeling more comfortable with one another and our personalities are starting so shine forth! It's wonderful. I couldn't have asked for a better district. I did commit my first missionary sin....we had just gotten to breakfast and we saw some of the elders in our district...so we went up to say hello and i automatically just patted one of them on the shoulder! I have never felt more guilty in my life!! I turned and said..wow i am So sorry!! I guess that's a good sign that the missionary spirit is in me! the showers are freezing!! haha. i had fmy first hot shower yesterday!! haha. so great. gotta love it. the food is WONDERFUL! haha. i greatly enjoy my chocolate milk! :) don't worry i'm being careful!!
I have seen several people here that I know. SIster Alicia Sturgess, Sister Chandi Cox (from downeast) Sister Cody Skroski (spell check that one) Sister Meridith Jacobson (from school), Brother Andy man Larsen. It is nice to see a familiar face around!
We have started to get into the teaching a little bit. My companion and I have set up appiontments at the teaching evaluation center to practice the beginning of teaching and questioning this week. I am really excited but nervous to get started. There is so much to rememeber and so much to learn. But I find myself just wanted to know more and more. I am hungry for it. And I have also been blessed with the ability to retain my knowledge and be able to understand what I am reading. It use to be that I would read something, especially the scriptures, and have no idea what it just said...but already I read the scriptures and I can retell the story that I had just read and grab a principal out of it. It makes it so much more meaningful!! I love it!
I was reading about Lehi's dream the other day and I found it interesting that Lehi describes the fruit the same way Adam and Eve described the forbidden fruit...maybe that is a common knowledge thing but it hit my when i read it! We've talked a lot about baptism and the importance of baptism.
Here is my big thought for the week: Why is baptism necessary? It seemed to me that repentence and baptism were pretty much the same thing when you read about them, you repent to become clean..and you get baptized to become clean..so why is that we must do both? Study up on it.
Here is what I found. Baptism is the action. Our Heavenly Father asks us to be WILLING to do all things...by being baptized we are taking action..showing Him how willing we are to follow in the Saviors footsteps. If we didn't get baptized, we wouldn't be able to complete the cycle of faith and repentance. We would be stuck at the faith. That is where the sacrament plays such a key role as well.
Well,...another big thing has happened this week. We had to opportunity to meet our branch presidency. We all got one on one interviews with the president and were able to go around and meet their wives and them. THat night, the President called a district leader and a coordinating sister for the branch (coordinating sister is basically equivalant to relief sociaty sister for the branch). The sister also goes and takes new missionaries on tours and does lessons with them to teach them when they first get to the MTC I have been called as the coordinating sister for my branch! what an honor!! it comes with a lot of responsibility and work. it was very humbling experience to be able to hear how the branch president was inspired to call the district leader and the coordinating sister. I am so grateful for the opportunity i ahve to serve in this position and i know i have a lot of growing to do but I am so excited to have this extra time to learn and grow and to know of what the Lord would want me to know.
There is just so much to say but so little time to say it all!! I'm sure i'll remember so much more i wanted to say as soon as my timer runs out!! Don't worry...the Elders and Sisters have caught on to my lingo...fancy dancy...oh so stinkin great...love it...ooooh reaaaaaaalllllyyy....it's so great! :)
I am so thankful I am here and I know that I am suppose to be here. Theres is not a doubt in my mind that the Lord is mindful of me and is aware of my needs and my family. I KNow my Savior lives. I know of the infinate atonement and am so grateful to be able to use it on a daily basis. I know the Lord will not give us any challenge we cannot handle. I am so blessed. I am so thankful for all of the support and letters and love that I have already received. It's a great day to be alive! Be good! remember who you are! live it. love it.
Love always
Sister Jessica Smith
Yeah! Good to hear that you are doing good jess!
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