July 17, 2012

Dear Family!!!

Sorry for the confusion as to whether or not I would have P-day today. I start visitors' center training tomorrow and that schedule lists P-day on Friday. We went and talked to scheduling and they told us to just follow the schedule so we have two P-days this week! Ha ha. The next one will mostly be spent getting my bags packed as much as possible.

I got my travel plans the other day! I leave the MTC at the bright hour of 4 a.m. next Monday. There will be 8 of us traveling to our mission (Sis. G and I and then 6 elders). Our flight leaves at like 7:45. We have a layover in Detroit and get there around 12:30. I think our layover is like an hour and a half and then we fly to Rochester and will be ther by 3 p.m.!!! AHHHHHH! I can't believe I will be IN THE FIELD in less than a week! This is blowing my mind!!!

Sorry for the confusion too that I'm not on Temple Square today. Based on the letter Mom sent it sounds like I accidentally said Tuesday, but I will actually be there tomorrow instead but I won't tell you the time so none of us are tempted to make a little stroll down there ;-) I love you all though

Now for the stream of MTC randomness. We had our last classes with our district yesterday. It was way sad to say goodbye to our teachers. They have taught us so much. It's cool to see how much our teaching has improved since we very first met them, but scary to think how much improvement we still need to make. We just have to be optimistic!

Last Friday we had in-field orientation where we were in workshops all day. It was sooo  helpful! They went over stuff we will use in the field that is pretty much impossible to practice here like finding people, planning properly and working with members. They had a member volunteer come in that when I first saw him I could have sworn it was Chandler!! It wasn't obviously but he was really funny like Chandler so it felt like part of the family was here ;-)

We finished up teaching our progressing investigators this week, and we had a couple more great experiences with "Steve." One of his number one concerns was that he didn't think God requires us to be more than just good to return to him (he didn't understand the importance of ordinances if I haven't already explained that). We went over Alma 32 with him and he brought up the point that any church could create the feelings of a good seed. At first, we didn't really know what to say, but then I felt this overwhelming prompting to have him look at verse 42 where it talks about this particular seed being the most delicious. I was able to testify to him that many churches have aspects about them that make them good seeds, but none of them will ever produce the fruit of eternal life that is most desireable. Wow. The Spirit knows what he's talking about, even when I certainly do not!

Random thought, the MTC has about a gazillion paintings on the walls and they are all so pretty! There are quite a few that I've never even seen before so it's cool to see those.

During Relief Society on Sunday the wife of one of the district presidents gave us a presentation on how to act like a lady. It was so hilarious! It was a lot like that scene from the Princess Diaries where the queen is teaching her how to sit and eat. At the end of it Sister Gillespie and I felt like barbarians. We've been working at making it look like we "glide" as we walk as per instruction. And we need to learn to eat slower because she said we should only take bites the size of a wheat thin! Ha ha. It was a nice reminder that everyone will constantly be watching us so we need to make sure we put off a good impression.

So a couple of funny things. Every mealtime when Sister Gillespie and I walk into the cafeteria we kind of look at people's plates to see what looks good. We didn't really realize it at first but we kind of make people feel uncomfortable when we do that. Ha ha we kind of stare at their food and talk about it while they are sitting right there! Our district observed us doing it one day and they said we looked like the lunch creepers. Ha ha ha we just want to be sure we like what we are about to eat!

This Sunday's fireside was a performance/talk by Jenny Oaks Baker! It was so cool to see her in person for the first time! (Remember how I wrote an article about her when she released her Disney CD?) She did an awesome job and she even had her kids play a song and it was ADORABLE!! Her 5 year old son plays the guitar and he was so cute! I wanted to go up and talk to her after but the line was sooooo long so I didn't get the chance to talk to her. Bummer. We went and watched an old Elder Uchtdorf fireside after that and it was really funny because he joked that in the Celestial Kingdom we will all speak German. Ha ha ha

During Zone Teaching yesterday I was being my investigator profile and one of the Rochester elders was teaching me for the third time. He felt prompted to sing "I Am a Child of God" to my investigator and it was soooo great! It totally brought the spirit and he was a really good singer too. I was just really impressed because he's sometimes a bit more shy so it took A LOT of guts for him to do that, but he knew he was listening to the Spirit so he didn't have much to fear. I was proud of him! It's been fun to watch him progress.

I can't believe my district is leaving in the morning! It's so sad! In a way I feel like we just got here but at the same time it feels like I've known them forever. It's been so fun to watch especially the elders progress. I remember our first studytime they wouldn't have been able to be quiet if their lives depended on it, but now they have so much more focus. All I can say is way to go for them!

We went to the departure meeting with our district this week even though we aren't departing quite yet. Our branch president gave us each 2 passalong cards and told us to give them to someone in the first 24 hours in the field. It sounds scary but so much fun! Ha ha. He said a great way to talk to people is to comment on something they are doing that you can't do as a missionary and transition from there. Ha ha he said that since there's a lot of things we can't do as missionaries that it will be an easy "hook." ha ha. Maybe you had to be there but it was funny.

Another funny thing was when my district was taking pictures with our teachers we had to have a bunch of elders from another district take it and they were having a few issues. Our teacher made the joke of "How many elders does it take to take a picture? One sister." Now we make that joke about everything. Ha ha. sisters are awesome ;-) But elders are just as great, we just like to tease them.

I'm running out of time now but I will try to write more in a handwritten letter. Just know that I'm doing well and I'm happy here doing the Lord's work! I know I have so much to still improve on, but it has been amazing to feel the Spirit in my life. I'm so excited to get out into the field and know that the Lord will help me to not fear if I have faith. D and C 68:6! It's my motto!

I love you all more than words can express and I miss you! Thanks for all of the support. I couldn't do this without you!

Lots of love!

Sister Butters ;-)