November 24, 2014
Hey guys!!!!!!!!!!! I'm sooooo sorry I wasn't able to send you an email
the night I got here, they didn't allow us to. I was going to send a
letter but by the time I got around to writing it it was already Friday
and it wouldn't have gotten there in time anyway. So sorry about that...
Well,
wow where do I start it has been soooo super busy here!!!. The first
day when I arrived they pretty much grabbed me from the parking lot and
pushed here and there . It was very crazy but exciting! My companion's
name is Sister Moulton and she is also from Arizona! Crazy right?? I
love her to death!! I know we were meant to be companions because we are
so alike. I feel sometimes like we have the same brain which is really
cool!! She is 6 ft and almost sounds like Sister Phelps at times haha:)
Anyway my district is amazing!!! There are 6 Elders and 4 Sisters and we
all get along so well. It's like we have known each other for years.
One Elder in our district is from England so he has a really nice
British accent and he's coming to Canada also so I will get to hear it a
lot!!! All the sisters are going to the Canada Calgary mission and most
of the Elders except three. They are going to the Colorado Springs,
Colorado mission. So its's really exciting that I will be staying with
most of the same people I know here! The other two sisters I room with
and that are in my District are Sister Creech and Sister Wagner. Sister
Creech is the cutest person I have ever met! She just has one of those
personalities that make your day so much brighter and happier. I will
try and send pictures before I leave the MTC but I have to figure out
how to put pictures from my camera to the computer first.I might just
have to wait and send them in Calgary because you can't do much on these
computers.
The MTC has been completely different from what I
was expecting in a good way. Everyone is super welcoming and loving
towards each other so you never feel out of place or scared. I haven't
really ever been nervous once since I got here. I feel closer to God
more than ever before in my life. When we go in to teach our
"investigators" I have so much confidence that I know just comes from
the Spirit. I'm by no means perfect at following the Spirit yet but I
have definitely learned how to more in these last couple days. Saturday I
was getting a little down on myself and felt very overwhelmed by my
responsibility as a missionary, but that night the Elders in our
District were able to give the Sisters priesthood blessings because some
sisters were having trouble sleeping and different things. But it
really helped to comfort me and get me focused back on Christ and
relying on him and everything we do. Sunday we were able to take a walk
around the Temple which was very nice, just to get out of the classroom
and get some fresh air. It snowed yesterday and today so it was fun
being outside and seeing the beautiful snowy mountains behind the Provo
temple. We were also able to hear from Sister Marriot from the General
Young Women's presidency! She talked about her conversion story and
turning your heart over to the Lord in your service. Then later that
night President Allen, who is president over all the missionaries around
the world I think (don't quote me on that) spoke at the Sunday night
devotional. His talk was about being self reliant and how to teach your
investigators to be self reliant because nobody can gain a testimony of
their own without searching it out for themselves. And then right after
the devotional we were able to choose a "movie" to watch just before we
went back to get ready for bed. We were told that the Characters of
Christ one was the best so my companoin and I went and saw that one. OH
MY GOSH WAS IT AMAZING!! If you ever get a chance to go watch it I would
think it would be on lds.org but I don't know, you should
definitely watch it. It's a talk given by Elder Bednar to missionaries
in the MTC over Christmas and it just talks about how we need to look
outward and forget the natural man. This mission is not about us so we
need to forget ourselves just as Christ did throughout His whole life.
SO AMAZING!! Go listen to it!!!!!
This morning we were able
to go through the a session at the Provo temple which was amazing also!!
It was so nice to be there with so many missionaries and feel the
spirit so strong. Apparently most temples let missionaries rent temple
clothes for free so I didn't need to bring my temple clothes but oh
well... Just in case...
I already recieved a calling as Sister
Training Leader which just means that I need to look out for the
Sisters in my Zone and pray for their needs. It's pretty much like Zone
leader but just the sister version. My Branch President said it is
pretty much a Priesthood calling because we work with the Elders in
helping the Zone which is really coolI already received a package from
Elizabeth which was so sweet. I need her email so I can thank her. Other
than that I am doing great. I packed very well and I don't need
anything yet. The bookstore here has everything you could possibly
imagine needing so if I need something I can just get it there.
I
wish I could tell you so much more but I have to go do my laundry so I
will talk to you next week!! Thank you so much for emailing me I feel so
loved!!! I love you all so much have a super Thanksgiving and Happy
early Birthday mom!!!!!!!!!!!
Love,
Sister Hatch (still trying to get used to that:))
