Week 5!

MTC Week 5:

Familia y amigos! 

At some point, I might write more of my email in Spanish, but not yet. 

As for this week, there are so many good times! And Christmas... Oh man, so good! 

As for a goofy moment this week, the elders in our district after it snowed one day, woke up extra early and made a snowman and put it right outside our apartment door. Doesn't sound like too big of a deal, but it was huge, like Kelsey-life-size, and we live on the third floor! Yeah, they put some effort into it. So right off the bat, that made my day. Love them. 

Also this week, Spanish is coming. It's a lot of work, but I usually understand things we're learning. Now is just the 

practicing to actually get it. We're learning subjunctive. Yep. Subjunctive. 

I also had a moment this week when I realized how close we all are to leaving the MTC. Less than 2 weeks! It does NOT seem like we've been here this long. But it's true. I have to face the facts. Being here at the MTC is kind of like we're all pseudo missionaries. I realized on Tuesday that this is going to all change in 2 weeks and we're going to a whole new place and teaching real people. AH! I can't even believe it. I'm SO excited but also want to hold up and keep learning here. 

Anyways, so what you're all wondering about: Christmas. It was seriously one of the most interesting, best experiences. I was able to sing in the choir for the devotional and there was a Christmas talent show that Hermana Mansfield shared an amazing poem she wrote with the WHOLE MTC, west and main campus. She did so well. It was an interesting Christmas because it was so different than I expected. I still thought it would be a lot about the commercial Christmas stuff. But, for me at least, it wasn't. I really had the chance to reflect on what Christmas means to me and the WHY of Christmas. It was amazing to focus the whole day on Him. To really ponder His life and atonement for us. To get over myself and truly be humbled by His sacrifice for me. That was a really cool experience. It was also an amazing experience because for the devotional, Elder Bednar came and spoke to us. He's one of my favorite apostles. He is always SO based in doctrine that whatever He says always touches me and the Spirit testifies of the truth of what He says. I LOVE THAT. So his talk was really different than anything that had ever been done before. It was a "question and answer," but he wanted to do it anonymously, so they passed out cell phones and gave us all his ipad number so we could text him and he'd receive questions from us randomly. It was really cool because all of the other MTCs who were watching the devotional live, by broadcast, were able to participate as well. He spoke on a lot of different topics, but my favorites were more about the Atonement, and how Christ loves us individually. Something he said that I really liked is that we are blessed with agency through the Atonement of Christ. Because he atoned for us, we can act how we choose and He will always love us. He will accept us back in if we accept Him and turn to Him. We are able to choose our actions and still have the opportunity to return to live with our Father in heaven and Jesus Christ. We are agents to act for ourselves and not to be acted upon. 

That lead into one of my favorite topics of action. We have agency and are able to be proactive about our lives. We must choose to do things for ourselves and seek our own answers. We need to put in the work if we can expect blessings and answers. Another thing Elder Bednar said was that the Atonement has 2 main functions: cleansing and strengthening. We can be clean through Him, but He also gives us strength. The strength part is something that I desperately need throughout my life, but especially now. I think that is SO cool, that we can derive power from Him. In anything we're going through, we can be strengthened through Him. Ah! I love that so much. I feel like that's a perfect Christmas devotional. Learning of Christ and His atonement. It just rings so true to me. 

I love this gospel SO SO much. Jesus Christ gives us power and strength. He blesses us in every thing we need. All the time. I know it's true. It has blessed my life and it will bless yours. 

I love you all and hope you are doing well! 

Con amor, 

Hermana Shirley

Picture 1: Our snowman. 

Picture 2: Our district when we did a secret santa exchange. With our little tree branch that we smuggled for our party. 

It's an MTC Christmas.

Familia y Amigos!

Merrrrrry Christmas! Feliz Navidad! Today's the day. The day the Savior was born. A day where we have the special opportunity to celebrate Christ's birth unlike any other day! Isn't that so cool?

I think so.

I've been thinking a lot about Christ and HOW to celebrate His birth and life this season. What I've thought about is what would He want? How would Christ want us to celebrate? The answer is simple.

Service. Giving. Not of big gifts or fancy things, but of ourselves. How can we give of ourselves this Christmas season and throughout the year? For me, this means love and time. Express to others how much you love them and are grateful for them. Love unceasingly. Try to see people how Christ would see them.

That's what this season is all about.

Jesus Christ is our Savior and perfect example. He died for us so we might live. We can be clean through Him. That is the most liberating feeling. I know this gospel brings so much happiness, and not only that, but true joy and purpose in life. I know this is true with all my heart.

I love you all and hope you have an AMAZING Christmas!

Con amor,

Hermana Shirley

Week 4!

MTC Week 4:

Hola Familia y Amigos! 

The days (and weeks) are starting to blur together here. It seriously seems like we just got here, but it was more than 4 weeks ago! I can't even believe it! Because we do a lot of the same stuff every day, the days go by so fast. 

This has been another good week here at the MTC. I'm still having so much fun with my district and zone as I get to know them more. I love them so much and I'm grateful these are the people I'm sharing this experience with. 

This week, a couple of random things happened. The MTC came out with a rule that we can't have Christmas trees, which is kinda sad, but makes sense because they're a fire hazard and all that. So we got rid of our little tree. :( But it's in a better place. And we took a string of Christmas lights Hermana Jacob got from her family and taped it to our apartment wall in the shape of a tree. It's a decent substitute. So whenever we get Christmas gifts, we still have a tree to stick them under! 

Also, I had an interesting experience of being a solo Hermana missionary for a day. The three other Hermanas (and 2 elders) in my district got their visas approved, but they had to go to the Las Vegas Consolate to get them. They were just gone for a day, but it seemed like forever and it was SO weird and different being by myself. The night before, I actually slept with a different apartment of Hermanas in our zone because my Hermanas had to leave at 4:30 in the morning and I couldn't be alone. I stayed with these other Hermanas for meals and gym and other stuff, but for class and study time, it was just the 4 of us left with our teacher. It was actually a really helpful day in class because the learning was just for our benefit. We had the opportunity to ask the teachers any questions we had about Spanish and get things cleared up. It was really relaxed, which was nice. But the whole time during class and study, us 4 had to stick together because there was no way 1 of us could leave without it breaking the rules. Anyways, it was a random day and I got to know the elders who were here a lot better. They're pretty cool. 

A joke that we came up with this week was about the Spanish. It's super dorky and you'll get it if you know a bit about Spanish. It's called "missionary flirting." Because we're missionaries, we use the "usted" form of verbs to be more formal. One day, us Hermanas were just commenting on how some of the new missionaries say "Como estaS?" instead of "Como esta?" because that's what they may have been taught in school and wherever. Because the "tu" form is more intimate and informal, we joked that as missionaries, if you wanted to flirt while not reaaally flirting, you'd just ask people "Como estas?!" Ooo "Y tuuu?" Anyways. It was a dorky Spanish joke that we laughed super hard about. I'm talkin' tears. Flowing tears. 

On Tuesday, the devotional was by Ronald A. Rasband (I think the president of the 70?). It was seriously amazing. I feel like so many talks, especially the ones I don't expect to be that amazing truly are exactly what I need to hear and uplift me so much! With the Christmas season in our midst, he decided to take a different route and talk about SPIRITUAL gifts. I thought that was really cool. And really special for each of us individually. He told us to meet with our districts and share our spiritual gifts, which we did after the devotional. That was a truly humbling and gratifying experience. To know that Heavenly Father knows each of us so well and loves us enough to bless us each with special gifts is really cool. A supreme being pays attention to us individually. How amazing is that? Ronald A. Rasband also challenged us to turn our gifts outward. Sharing what we have and serving those around us, even in just the littlest ways, makes a world of difference. I hope that we all remember what we've been blessed with and do our best to bless the lives of those we come in contact with. Because that's exactly what Jesus Christ did. His whole life was about others. At exactly the times He was in need, he turned outward. Amazing, huh? 

I know Jesus Christ is our savior and through Him, we can be truly clean. To have all the guilt in our lives erased. Wow. I know He died for us and was sent to this earth because of a loving Heavenly Father who wants us to return to Him. He wants us to BECOME. Become the best we can be and become like Him. That's what this life is about. I know this gospel is absolutely true and I know it with all my heart because of how I have seen it change lives already, including my own. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. With the Bible, men can come closer to Christ. The feeling I get from the Spirit when I read testifies to me of its truth. I know it blesses lives in so many different ways. 

Thank you all for your support and love! Remember to be happy and choose to do what's right this week. Love you all!

Con amor, 

Hermana Shirley

PHOTOS

1. Us with our tree! Right before the funeral. 

2. Self explanatory. Things like this show up on our classroom board all the time. 

3. We found an elder that looks just like Cato! So obviously Katniss and Cato had to take a picture. 

Pictures!

1. Me and my companion, Hermana Corbridge. She's the best! 

2. Us Hermanas at main campus on Thanksgiving. They already had lights up. 

*Hermana Corbridge let me use her pictures since my camera died. :( 

Week 3!

MTC Week 3:

Familia y Amigos! 

Thank you so much for all your support! I feel like this is all just a dream or something. There are moments when it's all kind of surreal. It's definitely all people told me it would be and more. There are so many ups and downs. Mostly ups, though. It's getting better each day and I'm learning a CRAZY amount. I definitely would not be able to do this all without the help of the Spirit and the blessings of my calling. I love it so so much! 

As for randomness, I am surprised by the funniest things. We have gym time every day, right? I thought I would for SURE be playing volleyball everyday, but my hermanas and I have discovered 4-square and we are IN LOVE. It's funny because when we first went, people would tell us, "Oh, the elders get really into it and they're crazy good," and things like that, but we went in there and started playing. We're the only hermanas of probably 20+ people who play every day and, not going to lie, we're pretty good. They all respect us now and we've gotten the elders in our district to play with us pretty regularly. It's really cool. Who would've thought I'd be so obsessed with 4-square! hah 

Last P-day, after I had emailed, we went and bought a Christmas tree at the tree farm that is literally just outside the apartments. (still in our area, don't worry) So we have this little tree (that's taller than me) in our apartment and we turn on the lights every time we're home. 

Another funny thing, we started a quote board in our apartment last night. One of the things we've kinda jokingly been doing is when we want to say something snarky is we'll say "Como se dice...?!" So on our quote board, we have this quote that Elder Toala said "Como se dice nobody cares?!" It doesn't sound too funny when I type it, but it cracks me up every time I hear it. Ahh He's very forward but goofy. It was said with love, but kinda real. 

As for Spanish, I'm actually getting it. Mostly. I told my branch president this week that before my mission, I couldn't fathom reaching the point where I'd be able to speak fluently or think in Spanish or any of that, but this week, the idea didn't seem as ridiculous. I could actually see myself being that good in the future. (In the future, KEY WORDS here). So it's coming. And I'm starting to say simple things without really thinking too much. Progress, right? 

This last Tuesday, we finally got to sing in the choir. We went to the very first choir practice on our first week, but they were full to capacity that week and they asked the new people if they could spare giving their spot for missionaries who were leaving. Of course the first time we sing, a general authority comes. I'm not complaining. It was Elder Cook. He said so many good things. He spoke a lot about faith and that if we have more faith, we will have more success and see miracles. I know this is true. When we trust in our Father in heaven and speak to Him sincerely, He WILL answer our prayers. Already since I've been here, I have felt that. It won't always be in ways we expect, but we will feel His love. 

Also, a scripture that has helped me in my life and that came up this week is Moroni 7:12-19. Anything good is of God. Truly. 

I love you all so much and hope all is well! This gospel is true. Jesus Christ atoned for us. 

Con amor, 

Hermana Shirley

Of Tic-Tacs and Thanksgiving

MTC Week 2:

Hola everyone! 

Now that I have my act together and things have settled down a bit, I'm going to tell you a little bit about life here. We only have a little time for emails, so I'll keep it brief. 

In our district, we have 9 missionaries (including me). There are 4 of us Hermanas and 5 elders (one trio). 

My companion is Hermana Corbridge. She is seriously amazing. I feel like already she knows so much about me and we are best friends. I have learned SO much from her and she keeps me on task. In some ways, we are the exact same person. 

There's Hermana Jacob and Hermana Mansfield. Hermana Jacob is tiny and a little firecracker. We get along well. :) Hermana M. is seriously so sweet and innocent. And her voice sounds EXACTLY like Jennifer Lawrence. It's kinda creepy. She kind of looks like her too. (We found a Cato here at West campus and they're going to take a picture together at some point.) 

For the elders, there's Elder Packham from Portland, who I instantly have this Northwestern connection with. Elder Toala is from Samoa and plays football. He has a scholarship with UDub when he gets back. He gives us pep talks a lot. Elder Bonati is seriously so quiet and humble. He knows Portugese fluently, but he wanted to be with us beginners because of how different the languages are. He's also going to Nampa, the rest of the missionaries in our district are going to Mexico Guatalahara East. For the Hermanas, they're KINDA the first group of American Hermanas going to that mission. I think that's SUPER cool. Elder Ball is from California and has helped me realize how different people are and how people grow up are so different. I'm really glad he's here. Elder Ricks is super smart and, let's just say, we go to him whenever we have questions about the language. 

Our district is SOO different, but we get along really, surprisingly well. We are the only district with Hermanas in our apartment where our classes are, so the second day we were here, some of the other Elders came and told us that we make the rooms smell TONS better. I thought that was pretty funny. Our teachers Hermana Valdez and Hermano Bond are seriously so amazing. They are SOOO sensitive to the spirit and what we need to learn. I'm grateful for them. One thing that surprised me is that we all like to sing. H. Corbridge is amazing and has taken lessons for 9 years. E. Ricks is a good bass and E. Toala is really soulful. The rest of us are alright and we have fun singing along with them. We've had a few moments where we all just broke out in song. Knowing me, it's kinda weird. But it must be the spirit here or something. 

As we have gotten to know each other better, we have more and more HILARIOUS experiences. There have been SO many times when I've started crying because I was laughing so hard. Just yesterday, I was getting a tic-tac out for myself and E. Packham asked me for one. Knowing me, I threw it at him like a bullet. I was just going to do it jokingly then give him one for real, but he opened his mouth real quick and SOMEHOW caught it. It was like a bullet and he caught it. It was one of the craziest moments. 

Anywho. You're probably wondering how my Thanksgiving was. IT WAS AMAZING. It was really really fun and relaxing. Elder Nelson came and spoke to us. It was really good and I loved the spirit he brought. We did a service project--putting together meals for hungry kids in Utah. All of us missionaries put together more than 350,000. It was actually really fun. For once, we had some down time. Us Hermanas got started playing this little game of Table Phooseball (no idea how to spell that) with an orange. It was another one of those cry-laughing moments. We had another little fireside thing that day and it was completely different from how I expected. They made it really funny and entertaining. There was an elder who played this amazing rendition of the Harry Potter theme song. And we sang "Over the River and Through the Woods." Can you say random?! But it was so fun. Then there was a little Thanksgiving skit and a speaker. So good. The food was good. They had all the classic Thanksgiving things, so it was really nice and felt like home for a bit. 

I think I might say this every week, but I love it here. I KNOW this gospel is true. I have felt it and seen it change lives, including mine. We had an experience with prayer this week. Hermano Bond was teaching us about prayer and how to better teach it to people so they can truly receive answers RIGHT THERE. We tried it out. One of the most spiritual moments of my life. When we forget all the technicalities and just talk to our Father in Heaven as a friend and ask Him what we need to know, truly desiring to know, He WILL answer. The moments after the prayer, when we just sat there, waiting for an answer were amazing. I suggest trying it out. Heavenly Father loves us all SOO SOOOO much and wants to talk to us. Test it out. 

Yo sé que Jesucrist es mi Salvador y la Evangelio de Crist es perfecto. Yo sé gue José Smith fue un profeta y él tradujo el Libro de Mormon. Yo sé que las familias son eternas. Yo sé este porque hace me feliz y tenía cambiaba me vida. 

(That may not be proper, but I know it's true)

I love you all, family! 

Con amor, 

Hermana Shirley