June 4, 2015

It's so surreal that this is my first email home. It feels like I've been here for years and at the same time I feel like it was just yesterday that I got here! The MTC is a major time warp. I swear every time that I wake up in the morning I've only been asleep for 2 minutes, and yet somehow I stay awake and have enough energy to get through the day! It's freaky. So cool though. Ah. I just don't even know where to start because there's SO MUCH. 16 hour days crammed with learning every single second, yeah. You try and sum that up. haha

SO. I'm in a district of all sisters. 6 of us all going to Montana. We share a room that's about the size of a large closet. hahaha It's fun :) My companion is Sister Linney. She's an adorable, super sweet red head and I spend ALLLLLL day with her and LOVE it :) We have WAY too much fun here. There comes a point at about 9:30 at night where all of us have seemed to have gotten on the crazy train and have ran straight though the wall of insanity. Hahaha Sister Hodgson and I couldn't stop crying last night because we were laughing so hard about literally nothing. Don't judge. The MTC is great :) Definitely not prison, although it might look like it from the outside ;) The first few days were a complete blur! We met our teachers, Brother Hanson and Sister Milward. I. LOVE. THEM. SO. MUCH. They are amazing examples to me of teaching the way that the Savior taught. The spirit is so strong every single day in class with them. 

Let's see...umm... TEACHING. The very first day they put all of us new missionaries in a room (there was about 50 of us) and told us to teach this investigator. Ha. 50 eager missionaries against 1 investigator? Didn't end well. There's a reason the Savior taught one by one ;) BUT. I taught this man named Chad. And it changed my life. It was the first time I really felt like a missionary. The mandate to speak up and share the gospel is SO real. I am currently teaching three "Progressing Investigators." We're not supposed to know if they're real or not...buuuuuuut they tend to give clues and not notice. hahaha So all of mine are just pretending :) It's still an awesome experience and SO real even if they aren't :) Andre is role-played by Brother Hanson, and oh man. The spirit is so strong every single time. He is very honest and asks so many questions and somehow Sister Linney and I are led by the spirit and answer all of his questions. God teaches his new missionaries how to teach through role play, and he gives them the exact same spirit as if it were real. I'm telling you, role play is powerful. 

Mmmm. The branch presidency over our zone is AWESOME. I seriously cry every single time I talk to president Taylor. haha Actually, that's the only time I cry really. Shocker huh? His spirit is SO strong and he always knows exactly what to teach me. The presidency's wives always give us big hugs and ask if we're eating enough and if we're emotionally stable. I don't think they believe me ;) Darn President Taylor. Haha. They take really good care of us. We all had interviews with the branch pres our second night and he called Sister Linney and I as Sister training leaders over the zone. Since we don't have elders, we are basically the ZL's. Pray for us this weekend. We have A LOT to plan. Relief society lesson, sacrament meeting talks, sacrament meeting in general, and PI lessons. Haha, they keep us busy. :) We oriented the new missionaries that came in yesterday. I think we kind of freaked them out because we were so excited.

I've been saving the best part for last. :) MTC devotionals!!! So, we missed Elder Holland by 12 hours...terrible right? BUT all is well because the MTC did not disappoint. On Sunday we got to hear from Janice Kapp Perry. I got to meet her, she's hilarious and SO sweet :) When they tell you to make it til Sunday...they mean it. Hahaha, Saturday was such a crummy day, but then Sunday came and all of the sudden everything was sunshine and rainbows! Anyway! Sister Perry sang songs with us, we sang a medley of her songs and I BAWLED. In a good way? Hahaha, then her and her husband sang a song they wrote for their family. SO adorable.  She was telling us about how they met, and he stood up...walked to the podium...and laid a big kiss right on her lips! Then he fist pumped and sat right back down. Total chaos. Hahahaha all the Elders stood up and applauded. I couldn't stop laughing. :) After Sister Perry, we had "movie time" and my district and I watched The Character of Christ. Wow. President Bednar can THROW DOWN. I was sufficiently humbled. Don't be the cookie monster. Turn outward. It's not about you. 

On Tuesday I got the chance to sing in the MTC choir for....... ELDER CHRISTOFFERSON. :D Love. Him. What an amazing day that was! We had an awesome lesson with Michael, one of our PI's and then we walked into Devo to sing in choir to find out that an apostle was coming, again! :) My favorite part was when he spoke about Elder Perry. He sure loved that man. I was so sad to hear about it. I didn't know til a few days later. He talked about how Elder Perry was always the one to energize and set the pace for the 12. I want to be like that. It's SO important to be that person and lift up and get people excited about the Gospel. He answered a lot of questions. The love coming from Elder Christofferson was unreal. I wanted to sit there all day and just soak it all in. 

Alright. A list will have to suffice for the rest of my email because there is simply not enough time. :)

I get to go to the temple today! I am so excited. I've missed it SO much. 

Gym time is sacred time. Like really. Use it wisely in the MTC because it will get you through the rest of the day. I found an Elder the other day that is a BEAST at volleyball. Thank heavens we're allowed to play volleyball with the Elders. I would have died. 

I love my name tag. It freaks me out a little bit to look in the mirror and see "Sister Fletcher"

Funny story: SO. I'm walking back to my room from class and some Elders are walking behind Sister Linney and I. You'll die. This is so funny to me. 

Elder 1: Do you think your future wife is in the MTC right now?

Elder 2: *ponders for a while* Well, I mean maybe! But I just think I would feel her presence a little more. You know what I mean? Like.. I think if I shake her hand I'll know. 

Hahahaha c'mon elders. Focus ;) 

I fly out on TUESDAY!!! We have to be packed and ready by 5:30 in the morning, and then our flight leaves at 11am!!! SO STOKED. One of my PI's was from Montana, we drilled her with questions. :)

LOVE ALL OF YOU!!! Thanks for all the emails and packages and letters :) I look through them as often as I can. And my photo album. It keeps me going and happy to see all your smiling faces. :) The church is TRUE. I love being a missionary. :)

Love, Sister Fletcher :)