Oooookay tons happened in between last email and this one, so I'll just sum up.
Last few days at the MTC were so great! I forgot to mention in emails/previous phone calls about gym time...so basically let me tell you about it, because it's great.
So my district in the MTC loved volleyball. I, however, am so bad at volleyball. So I would play basketball by myself, which is fine, and I did not feel left out at all - it was actually kinda nice. But after the first couple days of PE, I think all these elders must have thought that I was feeling forlorn or something, because they would come shoot around on my court. The first group of elders just started playing and they were like not good at all. So I had been drilling in a corner spot that was giving me trouble, and I'd gotten pretty darn good at draining shots from that spot. So I just stayed there and kept shooting, making a good 75% of the shots I took, and those elders left real fast. The next day, however, I was shooting around when this very nice elder dribbled over and struck up a conversation. His name is Elder S and he and some of the elders in his district came to my court and talked with me while they shot. They are going to Korea but none of them has Brother Reynolds (our hometeacher who goes to BYU) as their teacher, so darn it. But anyways, Elder S and his buddies were also impressed with the amount of shots I was making. One of them, Elder S2, even told the rest of them that he usually plays four square and he'd occasionally look over at me while I was shooting by myself and see me just draining shots. He's all like, "you are super good!" I felt pretty good about that!
Soooooooo, after that, they invited me to play speed with them, and I got quite a few of them out. It was so much fun. I didn't win, but I was in the top 2 at least once.
And apparently the news spread. I went to gym next day and there were like 7 elders wanting to play speed again. And the next day. Fast forward to the 29th or so, and there's like 10 elders and 3 sisters who play with me. I was almost always in the top 3. Later on that week, the new years package in that huge box arrived. I was carrying it to my room when I passed an elder I'd gotten out in speed. His companion started elbowing him and goes, "she plays ball and carries huge boxes!" So I apparently have a reputation now, because his companion wasn't playing with us. So that's the story of how I became a legend in gym. ¡Que va!
That took a long time to explain. So, last week before I left I:
-Committed 2 investigators to baptism
-sang for one
-was asked to whip out an arrangement of God Be With You Til We Meet Again for my MTC district & district 36b to sing, which I did, and played the piano for it
-bore my testimony and cried
-went on a temple walk with my zone
-got to know the new district
-fell in love with alllllll of them
-said goodbye to my district
-said goodbye to the best teachers in the MTC, Brother Elg and Sister Jacobsmeyer
-cried a lot
And then I left the MTC, and
-talked to everyone in the airport, and told them all that God loves them
-gave away 5 ish passalong cards
-ARRIVED IN SOUTH CAROLINA!!!!!!
Last few days at the MTC were so great! I forgot to mention in emails/previous phone calls about gym time...so basically let me tell you about it, because it's great.
So my district in the MTC loved volleyball. I, however, am so bad at volleyball. So I would play basketball by myself, which is fine, and I did not feel left out at all - it was actually kinda nice. But after the first couple days of PE, I think all these elders must have thought that I was feeling forlorn or something, because they would come shoot around on my court. The first group of elders just started playing and they were like not good at all. So I had been drilling in a corner spot that was giving me trouble, and I'd gotten pretty darn good at draining shots from that spot. So I just stayed there and kept shooting, making a good 75% of the shots I took, and those elders left real fast. The next day, however, I was shooting around when this very nice elder dribbled over and struck up a conversation. His name is Elder S and he and some of the elders in his district came to my court and talked with me while they shot. They are going to Korea but none of them has Brother Reynolds (our hometeacher who goes to BYU) as their teacher, so darn it. But anyways, Elder S and his buddies were also impressed with the amount of shots I was making. One of them, Elder S2, even told the rest of them that he usually plays four square and he'd occasionally look over at me while I was shooting by myself and see me just draining shots. He's all like, "you are super good!" I felt pretty good about that!
Soooooooo, after that, they invited me to play speed with them, and I got quite a few of them out. It was so much fun. I didn't win, but I was in the top 2 at least once.
And apparently the news spread. I went to gym next day and there were like 7 elders wanting to play speed again. And the next day. Fast forward to the 29th or so, and there's like 10 elders and 3 sisters who play with me. I was almost always in the top 3. Later on that week, the new years package in that huge box arrived. I was carrying it to my room when I passed an elder I'd gotten out in speed. His companion started elbowing him and goes, "she plays ball and carries huge boxes!" So I apparently have a reputation now, because his companion wasn't playing with us. So that's the story of how I became a legend in gym. ¡Que va!
That took a long time to explain. So, last week before I left I:
-Committed 2 investigators to baptism
-sang for one
-was asked to whip out an arrangement of God Be With You Til We Meet Again for my MTC district & district 36b to sing, which I did, and played the piano for it
-bore my testimony and cried
-went on a temple walk with my zone
-got to know the new district
-fell in love with alllllll of them
-said goodbye to my district
-said goodbye to the best teachers in the MTC, Brother Elg and Sister Jacobsmeyer
-cried a lot
And then I left the MTC, and
-talked to everyone in the airport, and told them all that God loves them
 |
| A stewardess texted this picture to parents from the Atlanta airport. |
-gave away 5 ish passalong cards
-ARRIVED IN SOUTH CAROLINA!!!!!!
 |
| Made it to the mission! |
and that's as far as I can sum up because I haaaaave to tell you everything about it. It's been less than a week in and I have already seen so many miracles.
Some information about the South:
▪nobody has teeth and a lot of people don't have hair
▪everyone calls you "baby" or "honey"
▪everyone has an accent, not just some people
▪everyone has been married more than once
▪everyone loves Jesus, which is great because they are super open to letting us come into their homes just to talk about Him.
*the basketball courts are carpeted (?????)
*Everyone loves Clemson or HATES Clemson but the entire state is freaking out today
It's just a super weird place, but I love it. The people are very kind and open.
Okay so we went to the mission home right after we made it in. We met the APs, one of whom is from Springville and knows Elder C. He was very pleasantly surprised to hear that he was on a mission. That was a super awesome miracle because Sister Cordon and I were super missing District Kun Long. (Side note: people keep telling me I'll forget my MTC district but they're wrong. I won't. They're family.) That night we had dinner at the mission home with president. Elder H, one of the APs, took one look at me and said, "I bet you're super funny." And then the whole rest of the night he was like, waiting for me to be funny. That was way too much pressure, so I didn't talk pretty much the whole time. What a disappointment. There were 19 of us who arrived that night so we were a little squished. Sister Cordon, Miss Show No Emotion Ever, got really, really sad when we were going to bed. We were sleeping next to each other and she grabbed my hand and just held it for awhile. It was so tender. I was at peace though. I know through revelation that I will see them all again. Sister Cordon and Sister Janke especially, though. Those two are permanent parts of my life now. When President Arnold set me apart, he promised that I would make lifelong friends. He was so right and I know it because of those two. I can't wait to see who else I find.
Okay so the next day we went to training and transfers. Sister Janke got put with someone who knows Caden Lundquist, Sister Megan Baxter, and Sister Willmotte, so she's in another trio, and she's in S! Sister Cordon is with Sister Pickett in I. I am with Sister Hansen in B. I love it here. It's one of the most ghetto places in the mission, so that's awesome. I'm a little proud of the fact that my very first area, they stuck me right in the worst spot in the mission. The APs must think that I am super tough. So here I am in B. Everyone here is not white. We get lots of weird looks. Sister Hansen is the sweetest ever, though, so it's all good, because everyone who meets her loves her. That night I got acquainted with the area, and met our landlady Sister P who is cute and a member, and her husband K who is cute and not a member. Our apartment is cute, it's above a garage. I met P. She's in love with Joseph Smith. He apparently appears to her in visions and chastises her for being angry with her kids. At least he gives her good advice...Then we went to ward coordination at the ward mission leader's house, where I got to meet the ward mission leader, Brother T, and the district leader, Elder M, and his companion, Elder L. So we talked about the ward and missionary work. Apparently the work is going slower than he would like (he's a convert and really loves missionaries). He's super blunt and vocal. He's awesome though. Love him. He promised to talk to the bishop, which apparently was very needed. Also, over the course of the day, Sister Hansen had me teach some lessons to real investigators! She's so great throwing me in the water and expecting me to swim. That wasn't sarcastic- I'm actually really grateful that she just wants me to learn by doing. She's wonderful.
Thursday. Miracles everywhere. One of our investigators ASKED US to be baptized...so that was incredible. Her name is V. She's been through a lot of things, especially with relationships. Please pray for her and her family. We invited them all to church, which thing they did. She lives with her boyfriend, though, and she has a word of wisdom issue, so please, please pray for her, her boyfriend F, and her daughter J. She's amazing though, she has such faith. We visited lots of less actives later that night..
Friday, we visited more less actives. We had a pretty great day. We found new investigators...we did lots of thingggssss...we did weekly planning which was so long....I met Brother W who is the cutest old man ever. He greets us with a verrry slow, "hey, lady" which is adorable. He was reactivated after 60 years of being inactive. We also visited an investigator, D, with him. She lives wayyyy out in the country. We also saw E, a recent convert working to go to the temple in 6 months. We read the Book of Mormon with him, which was awesome. It rained, which was nice, but the whoLE ENTIRE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA was in a state of UPROAR because apparently it was supposed to SNOW. *gasp* Which it did, later that night. Because of the weather, we had a couple of sisters stay over in our apartment, and I made them put mud on their faces. It was great. But they stayed over becauuuuuse....
Okay so we went to the mission home right after we made it in. We met the APs, one of whom is from Springville and knows Elder C. He was very pleasantly surprised to hear that he was on a mission. That was a super awesome miracle because Sister Cordon and I were super missing District Kun Long. (Side note: people keep telling me I'll forget my MTC district but they're wrong. I won't. They're family.) That night we had dinner at the mission home with president. Elder H, one of the APs, took one look at me and said, "I bet you're super funny." And then the whole rest of the night he was like, waiting for me to be funny. That was way too much pressure, so I didn't talk pretty much the whole time. What a disappointment. There were 19 of us who arrived that night so we were a little squished. Sister Cordon, Miss Show No Emotion Ever, got really, really sad when we were going to bed. We were sleeping next to each other and she grabbed my hand and just held it for awhile. It was so tender. I was at peace though. I know through revelation that I will see them all again. Sister Cordon and Sister Janke especially, though. Those two are permanent parts of my life now. When President Arnold set me apart, he promised that I would make lifelong friends. He was so right and I know it because of those two. I can't wait to see who else I find.
Okay so the next day we went to training and transfers. Sister Janke got put with someone who knows Caden Lundquist, Sister Megan Baxter, and Sister Willmotte, so she's in another trio, and she's in S! Sister Cordon is with Sister Pickett in I. I am with Sister Hansen in B. I love it here. It's one of the most ghetto places in the mission, so that's awesome. I'm a little proud of the fact that my very first area, they stuck me right in the worst spot in the mission. The APs must think that I am super tough. So here I am in B. Everyone here is not white. We get lots of weird looks. Sister Hansen is the sweetest ever, though, so it's all good, because everyone who meets her loves her. That night I got acquainted with the area, and met our landlady Sister P who is cute and a member, and her husband K who is cute and not a member. Our apartment is cute, it's above a garage. I met P. She's in love with Joseph Smith. He apparently appears to her in visions and chastises her for being angry with her kids. At least he gives her good advice...Then we went to ward coordination at the ward mission leader's house, where I got to meet the ward mission leader, Brother T, and the district leader, Elder M, and his companion, Elder L. So we talked about the ward and missionary work. Apparently the work is going slower than he would like (he's a convert and really loves missionaries). He's super blunt and vocal. He's awesome though. Love him. He promised to talk to the bishop, which apparently was very needed. Also, over the course of the day, Sister Hansen had me teach some lessons to real investigators! She's so great throwing me in the water and expecting me to swim. That wasn't sarcastic- I'm actually really grateful that she just wants me to learn by doing. She's wonderful.
Thursday. Miracles everywhere. One of our investigators ASKED US to be baptized...so that was incredible. Her name is V. She's been through a lot of things, especially with relationships. Please pray for her and her family. We invited them all to church, which thing they did. She lives with her boyfriend, though, and she has a word of wisdom issue, so please, please pray for her, her boyfriend F, and her daughter J. She's amazing though, she has such faith. We visited lots of less actives later that night..
Friday, we visited more less actives. We had a pretty great day. We found new investigators...we did lots of thingggssss...we did weekly planning which was so long....I met Brother W who is the cutest old man ever. He greets us with a verrry slow, "hey, lady" which is adorable. He was reactivated after 60 years of being inactive. We also visited an investigator, D, with him. She lives wayyyy out in the country. We also saw E, a recent convert working to go to the temple in 6 months. We read the Book of Mormon with him, which was awesome. It rained, which was nice, but the whoLE ENTIRE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA was in a state of UPROAR because apparently it was supposed to SNOW. *gasp* Which it did, later that night. Because of the weather, we had a couple of sisters stay over in our apartment, and I made them put mud on their faces. It was great. But they stayed over becauuuuuse....
SATURDAY WAS THE BEST DAY EVER IN THE WHOLE HISTORY OF MY LIFE.
We had a mission conference with Elder Stevenson of the Apostles! It was so great and basically life changing. We also got to be with the whole mission, which a) never happens and b) meant that I got to see Sister Janke, Sister Cordon and Elders P and C again. What a time to be alive. I actually got to sit next to Sister Cordon during the talks which was awesome.
Elder Stevenson gave us an apostolic blessing, SO THAT WAS EXCELLENT. He blessed us to have the spirit with us and to teach with the power and authority from God. That night when we went out proselyting, *everyone was home*. EVERYONE. The power of God is so real, oh my heck.
 |
| Sister Pew and fellow missionaries with Elder Stevenson. She is in the green jacket, 3rd row, right side. |
Sunday, we had 4 investigators at church, V and her boyfriend F (and their 3yo daughter J), C, a dude from Honduras who refuses to be taught in Spanish, and S, the nonmember wife of a less active member. We also had ward council, which was great, because Elder Stevenson had also met with all the bishops and stake presidents in the whole state of South Carolina, so Bishop told us that he basically called out bishops for not being more involved in missionary work (!!!!) and Bishop apologized and told us he would be more willing to help us, which made Brother T almost pass out. Those two have a very interesting relationship. Bishop also decided that he will be making assignments for people to go on splits with us (hallelujah!!!). He also invited us to dinner with one of the Elders' investigators, L. His wife made tacos, which I still do not like, but which I ate with no complaint because I have been living off of naan bread and craisins.
Overall, this week has been great. We got 10 new investigators, which is a miracle (usually we get 3 or 4). I am working hard, I am having fun, and I am growing (not physically, lol).
Don't let the muggles get you down!
I love you all!
Sister Pew
Extra stuff from other emails she sent me:
Where is your companion from? Arizona, Glendale. She's super familiar...it's freaky.
It's COOOOLD right now. Very cold. Humidity is no fun!
I love my trainer! I love this place! I'm staying safe, although I know you're not worried about me.
Oh! Also! I sing all the time for people, and I already have an accent. After being around southern people all the time especially.
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