Okay, wow. This week has flown by. And we now have our travel itinerary! So here is how it works:
We meet at the Travel Office at 7:50 next Tuesday morning.
At 8:50 our FrontRunner train departs.
Six stops and 48 minutes later, we get off at the Murray Central Station.
I am assuming that the Mission President will meet us there. It just tells us to get off. Scary. It will all work out, I'm sure!
So...
About the pictures...
I didn't have any cash on me when we went to the bookstore, so I didn't get the SD Card Reader. Sister Harvey, my companion got one, and said that we could share it until we got me one. But she left it. So now you have to wait another week. I'm sorry. It's okay though. You just won't get any photos while I'm actually at the MTC.
Oh yeah, that's another thing. My P-Day is Tuesday, but we are leaving next Tuesday morning. So I don't know if I will be able to email (or do laundry) at the Mission Home, or what... So you might not get another email for two weeks. Who knows?
So, you know how last Sunday we got our devotional from Elder Ballard? Well that Tuesday we got to here from Elder Cook! Two of the Twelve in two devotionals! This last Sunday was a District President and his wife from here in the Provo MTC. And not gonna lie, it was better than the two Apostles that preceded them. Well, Sister Mehr's was! President Mehr's was good too. Just not as good.
So right before the fireside, I started thinking again about how all these other missionaries are going to exotic, foreign places speaking different languages and I am going to Utah. I knew within ten seconds of reading my call that this mission is where I am meant to go, so that is not the issue. When I told people, one literally said: "Utah, Zandi? Really?" and that got me a little upset. Because why would someone get called to Utah? I started feeling that perhaps missionaries that aren't as good get sent to Utah missions, and since that is where I am meant to be, that perhaps that made me not as important or effective as those that get called to other places.
So I started having those feelings again right before Sister Mehr got up to talk. And then she started talking about the blessings of not being chosen. About how sometimes we feel over-looked, or not good enough because we are not called to do certain things. Then she talked about Holland's Lift Where You Stand talk from 2012. And then she shared this wonderful story about the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, which she had been a part of for years. They were performing on a stage where there was not enough room to seat all of the choir and the orchestra, so they split the choir in half. Half of the choir was in their uniforms, on the stage, on display. The other half wore whatever Sunday clothes they wanted, and stood in a large tent behind the stage, not visible at all. It was those in the tent that everyone heard. The choir on stage lip-synced, while those not in view of the audience were miked and were sharing their voices.
This just really stuck out to me, because I feel like no one cares about Utah missions, but we are going to do a lot of good here, if not by converting people, by strengthening the testimonies of those in the church that are struggling. It was awesome! So that is why her talk was the best one yet. It was for me. So it was cool to hear from Elders Ballard and Cook, but the Lord knew what I needed to hear before I did.
Alright. That was enough sap for me. The Questions await!
What did you learn this week?Read the three large paragraphs above. That's what I learned. I also learned my travel schedule. See the beginning of this email for that.
What did you share this week?Um... my testimony in a lot of lessons... I don't know...
What did you teach this week?Well, we taught the Plan of Salvation to our TRC "investigator" and she totally applied it to herself without any prompting. In her prayer at the end she even prayed that someone would find her grandpa and teach him in the spirit world. It was the neatest thing!
What is your favorite thing about the MTC?I think I would have to say the teachers. We have the best ones: Brother Ales and Brother Anderson. They rock!!
What is the goofiest thing your companion has done?She snorts when she laughs too hard, so we have been working hard to make her do so. Sister Fossum is up to fourteen, I am at five, and Sister Turner is at one. Good times.
What is the goofiest thing YOU have done?This is a great story that I will have to shorten for the sake of time. So this morning we were getting up early to got to the temple. And a wasp decided that this room was it's home. So it started flying around and dive-bombing things. It was terrifying. It finally chills out on the light, so we make our great escape. When we came back it was nowhere to be found. It felt like a horror movie.
The wasp lulled us into a false sense of security, letting us think it was gone, when THERE IT WAS AGAIN!!!! FLYING AROUND LIKE A MANIAC!!!!!!!!! So we freaked out, as can be expected. It settled down on the light again, but we didn't want to leave and have it disappear again, so Sister Fossum, Sister Turner and I made a daring effort to destroy Lucifer the Wasp. It is actually a movie now. We filmed it. It's a trilogy. Here's the summary:
Part one:
Us insulting the wasp, telling it to "get thee hence" and whatnot.
Part two:
I stole the water bottle from the ironing board out in the hallway as my sword, took my towel as my shield, and sprayed at the evil beast, trying to get it out. But, cliffhanger, it didn't go anywhere, just stuck there.
Part Three:
Sister Turner gets a broom from the cleaning closet. And wacks the wasp off of the ceiling. Then viciously strikes the ground it lay on. Before stomping on it and throwing its mangled corpse in the trashcan. This whole time I was backup with the bottle, in case it got angry.
It was a great experience.
What is the best thing your companion has done?Try and get the SD Card Reader so that I could send you all pictures.
What is the best thing YOU have done?I would have to say... make people laugh? I guess...
What are you looking forward to in the next week?Not getting attacked by wasps, and singing Hope of Israel at the devotional tonight
What are you looking forward to when you leave for Salt Lake City?Being able to exercise in the morning instead of in the middle of the day and having to shower at weird times.
What is something fun/funny that your district does/has done?We have to sing the musical number next week in sacrament meeting because we are the departing district. The first time we sang A Child's Prayer was just before a class, not for any reason. We decided that since we sounded good, we should sing that song. But the second time we tried to sing it - the first practice - it sounded soooooooo bad that we couldn't stop laughing. It was that bad.
What do you need us to send you before you head off to Salt Lake City?Nothing, I think I'm good!
Do you speak mostly Utahan now or do you still speak in English? (Remember I'm trying to replace Finnish questions!)I pretty much speak English, but the two Utah natives help us to pick up nuances of the language.
What is your favorite English phrase?"Get Thee Hence!"
Unasked Question: Was the sketchy vent a Narnia Hole?Yes! But there was nothing in it... I have pictures that I will show you next time. Unfortunately, We were informed by our Branch President that we can't put anything in them. So no fun adventures. Sad day.
Okay, That's all the time I have! Love you all bunches!
~Sister Milligan
