Nov.
15, 2013 10:16 AM
Hello dear family and
friends! I miss you all so much! It's hard being away from home and
the people I love, but I know it's the right place for me at this time.
Wednesday: After
finishing last minute packing Mom and Dad drove me to the MTC in Provo.
After being set apart the night before I was feeling so excited! Of
course, being the worrier and home-body that I am I was still a bit nervous.
We made time for a few pictures on the field below the temple before
pulling up to the MTC curb where I was met by a sweet sister going to Japan.
Her companion was there and it turns out she was good friends with one of
my roommates from Rexburg! It was so good to see a familiar face! I was
led in and out of buildings (which all basically look the same! We still get
them confused sometimes!!! I also ran across an Elder who went to
Sky View. Elder Chertkow! It was fun to see him here!) picking
up my name tag, books, and other items. When a sweet sister put my name
badge on my sweater she told me it would be the best accessory I would wear
while I serve as a missionary. I love knowing that I represent Christ,
and that His name is with mine on my tag for the world to see.
Then it was time to meet
my district. After a short hello I got to watch an orientation on one of
the computers. Knowing my luck with technology I should have guessed my
computer would stall, but the third one I tried worked! My district is
made of four sisters going to Jacksonville, Florida, and six Elders going to
Columbia, South Carolina. My companion is Sister Yeakley! She is
amazing! Her name is pronounced just like you were saying
"Yea!" She's one of the "youngsters" at age 19.
She is from Eagle, Idaho but is originally from Haiti. Her story is
so neat! She was adopted when she was about 8 to a family with 22 kids!!!
Half of them are adopted from various countries! She is just
adorable! She's very bubbly, LOVES to exercise, she loves the color pink
(a LOT), and she has gorgeous hair (you wouldn't believe how many sisters ask
if they can play with it). I'll try to get a picture of us to you.
The other sisters in our district are Sister Hillman, from Orem (the one
I met on facebook and was able to meet in person last month) and Sister Despain
from Thatcher, Arizona. We have too much fun together! I love these
sisters, and I love that we get to call each other sisters!
That night we had
chicken cord on blue (your favorite Janese!) and they have BYU ice cream in
honor of the new missionaries. And yes, the newbies still get beautiful
orange dots on their name tags so everyone is super super friendly! That
evening we sat in a room and were told basics about an investigator. Then
this person came in and two Elders began to talk to him or her. After a
couple minutes it was turned over the group of new missionaries. I was able to
make a few comments, and guess what! I found out that while it's a bit
scary, and my words still get all mumbled up sometimes I love teaching! I
love sharing my testimony of Christ, and of Heavenly Father's love for his
children.
Thursday: It was a
busy day, which is good. It keeps my mind focused instead of letting me
think about the people I miss. I love the story from President Hinckley
when his dad told him to "forget himself and go to work."
That's what I've been trying to do, and I've found that when I'm busy I'm
happy. The day was busy with introductions to teaching. We did an
exercise where we were shown clips of people talking about their lives.
We discussed with our companion what we learned about the person's life
and what we thought the Lord sees and feels when he looks at this person.
What I am learning the most is how to see people as Heavenly Father does,
how to recognize where they can be and what they need to hear. I know
that Heavenly Father knows each of his children and what they need as an
individual. If we trust him and follow the spirit we will know what to
teach.
In my district class my
teacher pointed out that when Christ told the apostles to follow him he said,
"I will make you fishers of men." We can just become fishers,
He makes us such. I remember fishing early one morning in July with Dad
in Tony Grove. He told me that I was going to be fishing next year, just
a different kind. It is true! In the same class we were divided to
role play. Somehow it worked out that the other three sisters got to be
together to role play in the hall, and I was left with the Elders... that was a
little strange. But it was a really good experience to practice teaching,
and to see what it's like to be taught. We were told that role playing
isn't really practicing to teach, it's practicing to feel the spirit and find
what our investigators need to hear.
That evening we met our
Branch presidency. We are with one other district (4 Elders and 4 Sisters
all going to Jacksonville). I love the presidency! President Boone
was born in Jacksonville! He told us it's the biggest city in the US
geographically and where the first stake in the South was made. The
opening hymn was How Firm a Foundation. President Boone asked who could
play piano. Only one Elder and I raised our hands. President asked
if I could play that one and I told him it was my favorite hymn. I was so
grateful to have the chance to play my favorite hymn. I needed a tender
mercy like that! Of course, then I realized that all of they hymn books
on the piano were in languages other than English and I couldn't find the music.
Gratefully one of the Elders gave his book up for me! (Speaking of
which the Elders have all been told to be super nice to the Sisters and it
shows.) The counselors each took a district to meet with us one at a
time. After discussing some upcoming schedules and plans some of us were
asked to fill special roles such as District Leader. I've been asked to
be the music coordinator for my district. I'm so grateful for this
calling! It will be good to keep extra busy, and I love choosing music to
invite the spirit. Basically the other district music co and I will
choose hymns for next Sunday's meeting and we need to choose a farewell hymn
for our district to sing before we fly out. I also get to decide to sing
a hymn in class if we need to wake up a bit!
Friday: Happy
first P-day! We did a service project at 6:05 this morning, which
consisted of cleaning one of the buildings on campus. I enjoyed the work,
and was glad the Elders get to clean toilets (my toilet cleaning loving days
are past. Clean away Janese! ;) ) Sister Yeakley and I
tackled sweeping bathrooms and stairs, and then cleaning the teacher's prep
room. Now I need to go finish laundry!
I love you all!
And miss you so much! I am happy to be learning and growing!
Thank you for your prayers, I feel the power from them!
With Love,
Sister Alyson Murray
