I'm having the Time of my Life...Just Saying

Dear children of God [that means anyone reading this post],

My dear sister has finished her second week of the MTC… probably did that last Wednesday… and she sends her love. As always.

However, this love comes at a price. Apparently, she wants something called a Dear Elder. I know. The demanding child. She asks so much.

But really, we can’t complain. Dear Elder is a website that allows you to send letters [for free postage] or packages [for not free] whilst she is in the MTC. So, really, letters cannot be any easy. So how about all of us just heading on over to the site, and typing up a few words that will make their way to her during the day. And I mean all of you, because I definitely won’t be—I mean, I definitely WILL be setting that good example there. Yes.

Jokes aside, let’s do something simple to make a sister happy.

Now here’s sweet Soeur Chisholm with the weekly MTC madness.

*

This week has been pretty great…kind of. It started out a little rocky. Ma collegue and I had to teach Murielle on Wednesday and neither of us felt super prepared. One of the teachers totally stressed me out, and I had a little bit of a breakdown…We went into our lesson, and both of us kind of just gave up. After our lesson, we were talking about it, and we decided that we were relying way too much on ourselves and not trusting in the Spirit to lead and guide. We asked our zone leaders for blessings. They were busy that night, but told us that they could help us Thursday morning before breakfast. So, the next morning at 7 am, we met the zone leaders in our classroom. We sang “A Child’s Prayer.” Then, they gave us our blessings. After that blessing, I knew without a doubt in my mind that priesthood blessings come directly from our Heavenly Father. While Elder Landry knew I was stressed, he had no idea why, and he was still able to say exactly what I needed to hear. It was awesome.

After that, my week has been much better. We got another teacher, so now we have Frere Adams and Sister Worsham. We are dropping Murielle, though, and picking up two new investigators, Anthony and Torie, on Wednesday. We also get to start teaching TRCs (learning how to give members lessons after dinner and stuff). So yeah, prayers would be great since they all have to be in French.

Half our zone left yesterday for their various locations in France. We lost 19 missionaries, and we have about 25 left, je pense [I think]. We also got 5 new Creole speakers, 3 elders, and 2 soeurs. The 2 soeurs are the first sisters EVER to learn Haitian/Creole in the MTC. Any other sisters have been native speakers. We make History in zone 46.

I LOVE MY DISTRICT!

Les soeus dans ma districte

[Has anyone else noticed that a certain Elder can't stand up straight?]

We have had a little bit of sickness in the zone, but my district has been safe so far…fingers crossed. As for nutrition…my pants are a little tighter this P-day morning. The cookies here are way too good for my own good. I wouldn’t say the food here is awesome…but it’s not terrible. I prefer Mom’s cooking, that’s for sure. And not having taco salad on fast Sunday really threw me for a loop. So, the food isn’t that great, but seriously, the cookies are the BEST! They have one type of cookie that is chocolate with white chocolate chip…anytime those are out, me and Soeur Ulrich have to eat at least two. 

Ma collegue <3

I have, however, found a new love for playing soccer. What are the odds? I’m not too shabby either. I can kind of keep up with the sisters who have been playing for a long time. I seriously love it! That and throwing around a lacross ball with the rinky dinky plastic lacross sticks. They are both fun. So, hopefully, my pants don’t get any tighter. That would not be fun.

This past Sunday, Sister Bonnie L. Oscarson [president of the Church’s Young Women’s program] came and talked to all the sisters in Relief Society! How awesome is that? She is seriously the sweetest lady I have ever seen. She is so bubbly and cute. She gave us advice and ways to not have regrets after the mission. Then, we had choir practice later that night. We are singing “Praise to the Man,” the same one that the MTC choir sang in General Conference a couple years ago with David Archuleta. We are singing it tonight in a devotional that will be broadcast to the other MTCs. How awesome?! I think that means that someone big is going to come…we’ll see though! According to one of the head people at the MTC this is the season of the brethren. They like to come around Thanksgiving and stuff. YAY!

After Sunday’s devotional, we watched Legacy. We hold all the big meetings in the gym. They cover the floor with a tarp, bring in an organ, piano, stage, and a zillion chairs, and pull out the bleachers. So, it suddenly becomes a huge meeting hall. But, people have gym time Monday morning, so we had to help break everything down. Guess what! Putting away the tarp was just like folding up a winter guard tarp. Putting that tarp away was probably my favorite part of the evening…hehe. Oh, the memories.

I’m catching on to the language faster than I thought I would. I almost have the first vision memorized in French. I am remembering the verbs and stuff. I have “notre objectif” [our purpose] memorized. Me and Soeur Ulrich read from Le Livre de Mormon [The Book of Mormon] every night. It is definitely not easy, but I’m working hard.

I can't survive a day without these

The Spirit here really is so strong. I feel it all the time, especially during the personelle and equipe [companion] studies. It is hard to remember that I don’t have to do this work alone sometimes. I rely too much on my own knowledge that I forget that I have angels that want to help me. As I remember that, though, I can feel myself becoming a better missionary. Someone in the branch presidency told us to ask in our prayers to have our testimonies be stronger tomorrow than it was today. That is my goal. Conversion is not a one time thing.

I love missionary work, and I am starting to find my real purpose as a missionary. Inviter les gens a venir au Christ at les aident a recevoir l’evangile retabli [Invite others to come to Christ and help them to receive the restored gospel]. That is only the beginning of my purpose. I’m not here to change the world, or baptize all of Paris. I am here to help them find Christ and help them see that this gospel changes lives and can bring them more happiness than they can imagine.

I go here

I love you all so much! Keep working hard and you all will find missionary opportunities. 

[As I know very little of you who read this blog, I will say that I am sure you are a fantastic bunch. Keep coming back to read about her next email filled with Franglish and spiritual journeys. And I bid you all a lovely week.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact any of the Chisholms. You can also turn to any Mormon in your area, especially those Mormon missionaries. They’re always willing and happy to help.

Possibly too happy.]