We have a tree that smells like Grape Soda!! WHAT?

HEY!!!!!!

Oh my goodness. I have been looking forward to writing home for what feels like THREE WEEKS! Time is so crazy here at the MTC. I can't believe that this is only my 5th day. I have SO much I want to say and I hope that I will be able to fit it all in for the amount of time that I have!

First things first, my P-days will be Monday's as far as I know right now. So writing me on Sunday's is a safe bet. Mom, if you look in my packet that came with my call it will have the correct zipcode. Maybe one of us wrote it down wrong. Also... I got the package today!!! I was really excited. I was the only one who got mail today so my district was pretty jealous. Also mom, hoping you didn't forget to stop my automatic payments from happening at Wells Fargo.

Okay, so my first day seems like forever ago. But it was crazy. As soon as you guys dropped me off they shoved me into a room to get my name tag! AHHH! I am a real missionary! With a name tag! Then I got a ton of paperwork and a meal card and they sent me with an escort and a bunch of other sisters to go find our rooms. I got to my room and dropped all my stuff and then it was time to go to class. I was the last one to arrive. As soon as I walked in I got attacked with a hug! It was my companion Sister Aguilar. She is great. She is from Bastdrop ( I don't know if that's how you spell it.) Texas. So we jumped right into a short lesson. I wish I could tell you what it was about but I can't remember. So everyone in my class in my classes is a part of my district. All of the people in my district are really awesome. The two other sisters we room with are Sister Vance (from Farmington) and Sister Heidden (from Draper) They are wonderful and both my companion and the other two sisters are going to Oregon together! We are the only ones in our district that are going to Oregon. (I am going to attempt attaching a picture of all of us.)  I wish I would've had Kiela or Heather explain more to me about the MTC, because turns out I know NOTHING about how any of it worked/works. We had a devotional with the MTC presidency and then we went to this group meeting, where we taught (as a group) missionary discussions with three investigators. Crazy right?! The first day! By the end of that meeting I just wanted to go to my room and cry because I was feeling to inadequate. Somewhere in there we ate dinner and met our zone. I shared my talent of making bubble noises with my mouth and now my zone refers to me as Sister Bubbles. It has stuck. (Also I'm the only one with a nickname, so I think I'm doing pretty good, eh?)

The second day was not my favorite. I was SO tired all day and could barely stay awake in any of my classes. Luckily my companion was feeling the exact same way so I didn't feel so bad. What was really hard for me was that up until that point, I hadn't felt the spirit once since I had arrived at the MTC. It was so hard and I felt like I was just going through the motions and I wasn't completely connecting with my companion. To make it worse, we had a meeting with our Branch President and we all got interviews and Sister Vance and Sister Heidden got picked to be the Sister Training Missionaries. For some reason that was really hard on me. (I WAS BEING SO PROUDFUL.) So that evening, Sister Aguilar and I were studying and I looked up at her and told her I was struggling and not feeling the spirit. Who would've known that she was feeling the EXACT same way I was! We both cried together and decided to pray and work together on being happy. IT WORKED. Things with Sister Aguilar have been great ever since. :)

The third day we had to wake up early and do service. Which basically just means we get assigned to a building and get a bunch of tasks and clean it. So it wasn't too bad. But I will tell you what, I drank some water from a drinking fountain while we were cleaning and it taste so bad that I puked it back up!!!:/ EW! So I barely made it to a trashcan. Also.. funny story. Sister Aguilar and I got assigned to vacuum ALL the halls of this building we were assigned to and I laughed so hard because when we received our vacuums, they were the EXACT same ones that my girls at Maple Rise (my work) used to clean the school and the house! Who would've thunk. HOWEVER... this day was also awesome because we taught our first investigators!!!!! So cool. Well.. our investigators are actually our teachers. (Sister Gweyn and Brother Weeks) However, they portray real people in their personal lives who need the Gospel. They go into a small room that represents their house and then we knock on the door like real missionaries and go in and teach them! So I taught Scottie today. It was amazing. I LOVE teaching. It's like teaching relief society, but a hundred times better. I know you might think that us teaching our teachers is kind of strange, but it actually isn't for some reason. They are like real people to us that are separate from our teachers. We pray for them several times a day and we plan lessons based around their needs as our investigators. It is such a cool experience. Okay also something that was important about this day was that I was feeling so sad that it was Pizza Friday and I wasn't getting pizza, but then we walked into the cafeteria and guess what!!?! PIZZA!!! Hunter was right, the MTC just feeds you so much food. It's the best. ALSO the MTC has de-caffeinated Coke!!!! I have been in heaven. Also I got a Dear Elder from Hill on this day and it made me SO HAPPY. I wish everyone would send Dear Elders!! They print them off and give them to us everyday and it was the best thing to get one! And to answer your question Hill, the MTC is EXACTLY like my freshman year at BYU. So many babies running around and being super immature... however there is one Sister in my zone named Sister White who is also 23 and she is the best. I love her. And her awesome companion, Sister Whitmarsh is my favorite. She coined "Sister Bubbles" and she's from Australia so it sounds so cool when she says anything. ALSO... I ran into Wilson Parson on this day! And it was so random and fun and made me so happy to see a familiar face!

Okay day four was... Saturday? There was a mixup and we had to do service two days in a row. Which... isn't horrible. But you have to wake up a half hour earlier and that is just the worst. Waking up at 6:30 is already hard enough. So waking up at 6:00 isn't my favorite thing in the world. Also it is important to note that this day was my FAVORITE day so far in the MTC. So many wonderful miracles. I felt the spirit stronger than I ever had in my life. We taught Scottie again and our other investigator David. We are really started to make strides with both of them as they are starting to agree to pray to their Heavenly Father. God is working miracles with them. We gave Scottie a Book of Mormon and she agreed to read it! WOO. We follow up with her and teach her another discussion tonight so hopefully all is well and the spirit is testifying to her. The spirit really testified to me while I was teaching her that I have a purpose and that I am on a mission for a reason. I love that! Also my favorite part of the day was that we got to create a discussion for a volunteer member in the community. So we met with an RM who goes to school at UVU. Her name was Hayley. We taught her about having REAL intent in her prayers and testified of the Savior's love for her. It went to good! She even got really emotional. It was great. I love seeing how Christ changes people. And she is a REAL HUMAN with REAL PROBLEMS. I love the Gospel so much. Sister Heidden, Sister Vance and Sister Aguilar and I laughed SO much at dinner on this night and it feels like we have been best friends for years. It is so fun.

Sunday!!! The best day of all the days! We started off with breakfast and a district meeting with Brother Meredith (in our Branch Presidency) Then we got to go on a walk around the temple!!! We took lots of pictures and it was great to get out of the MTC and see some sunshine. After that we went to a womens conference about dress and grooming. (Basically the MTC is just a million classes where you study all day and eat. That's it. Hahaha.) Then we got to go to sacrament meeting. The piano playing was REALLY bad... so turns out I am the new pianist for next week. I have to play in sacrament. Not intimidating at all..... YIKES. Then the sisters in our district all joined the MTC choir. So we went to practice and that was a great experience. We also went to a couple of different devotionals that were amazing as well. But what was really amazing was a film we watched of Elder Bednar giving a talk at the MTC on Christmas Day titled The Character of Christ. Let me tell you what... that is a lifechanging talk. LIFE CHANGING. The word on the street at the MTC is that you can ONLY listen to that talk AT the MTC. I don't believe that. So hopefully someone can find that at home and let me know. Also so many happy things happened. I ran into THREE people I know! Sister Porter (Madi and Braedon's sister who is going to Japan! We chatted for a bit.) I also ran into Sister Dawn Dimick who I was in LDV with last year! When I ran into her she told me she was leaving for Russia in only TWO HOURS!!! So cool that I saw her. I also ran into Catherine Smith's little sister (who I went to BYU with) who is going to Thailand! So fun to see people you know in the MTC. It's magical, really.

Today is P-Day and we went to the temple as a district!!! It was so happy.

So... this is a long email. I will try not to make them so long in the future, but so much has happened!! I had to get it all in. The MTC is the coolest thing ever. It is really hard. Like... really hard. You have to rely on the Savior so much and put your complete trust in Him. But it is so worth it. I can't even tell you. I love the Gospel more than I ever thought I could and am growing so much already. Also... I played volleyball. With Elders during gym. AND THEY ARE ACTUALLY NICE TO YOU WHEN YOU COMPLETELY SUCK. So.. that's a win. I was super homesick the first night, but I am so happy to be here now and haven't thought of home too much! But that doesn't mean I don't miss and love you all SO much. I can't wait until I get to go to Oregon!!! I am flying out on Tuesday morning of  next week (the 21st). It is going to be so cool. PLEASE write and send letters or emails. It makes me so happy!! The church is true!!

p.s. It's the best thing in the world that I am not learning a language. That would be so hard. There are some Elders behind me studying some language that sounds like a lot of spitting and hacking and I am just so happy I get to speak English.

p.p.s I can't figure out how to send you pictures:/ Sorry. I will try to learn by next Monday!