So....my last few days in the MTC were pretty eventful. We went down to Salt Lake one night to practice everything we had learned but it was crazy because it was Thanksgiving weekend so the lights had just been turned on a couple of days before. Because of that, we didn't have a chance to do tours, only contact, but it was still a good experience. Hermana Ivey and I also started teaching a 19-year-old kid named Matty from Hungary via chat last Monday, and I got six referrals from missionaries at the MTC that I can start contacting too! Visitor Center Training was so so great, and I think it helped me transition into the field a little bit better.And now the MTC feels like a lifetime ago and I'm finally here! When we got to Oakland last Wednesday, we had a very chill day - I didn't even teach. We went out to lunch with President and Sister Meredith and had a whole bunch of training and walked around the templegrounds and the visitor's center and didn't even meet our new companions until that night at 6. I'm glad I wasn't thrown right into it all right away.
Right now I'm in Castro Valley in an English-speaking ward. My trainer is Sister Ure - I'm her first American companion and she's from Parker Colorado too!!! We get along great - she's an awesome trainer and she's also a visitor center (VC) trainer so I get to do some exchanges during VC time. I'm a little worried about getting the language down when I'm not completely immersed in it. If I have to train a brand new missionary in 12 weeks - which is pretty likely since that'll be the EXACT time that all those new sisters will be leaving the MTC - I don't know how I'm going to hold my own in a Spanish lesson. But I did conduct a tour at the VC in Spanish by myself yesterday - Sister Ure was with me but didn't speak it so I was on my own. I knew more than I thought, and the visitors spoke a little bit slower for me so I could understand it pretty well. There are Spanish speakers in the ward - I just need to practice with them a lot. Oh and in terms of my schedule - I love it. We get two full days of proselyting per week, and then the other 4 days are half-days - half at the VC, half proselyting. Also, each sister gets an opportunity to do full-time proselyting for at least two transfers in an area further away from the VC. I'm still working on feeling comfortable teaching at the VC - there are just so many people there for the lights that it's hard to focus on one group and really help them. I have talked to a couple people that I hope were affected by what I said - or rather, what the Holy Ghost said through me. It's hard because they leave and sometimes you don't get in contact with them again - you don't know if they're going to remember the experience. There are a couple of phones and computers at the VC so we can call and follow up and get local missionaries to their homes, but it's hard to find the time because the VC is so busy this time of year.
Teaching hasn't been too hard for me because we've only been teaching investigators. We haven't done any tracting or gotten a hold of any referrals at this point. I had my first "first" lesson today and it's harder to naturally segway into talking about the gospel than I thought - it was easier in the MTC. But I will say, the ability to love people you've barely met is amazing. I thought that would be the hardest part for me - truly loving the people - but most of the people we're teaching are just in really dark times of their lives. It's amazing to see how the gospel is beginning to change them, and it's hard not to feel that love that the Savior has for them. It breaks my heart sometimes, but I know that every single person can be healed through the Atonement. One awkward story: this older single man in the ward brought me a flower on my first Sunday - HIGHLY inappropriate, but apparently that's normal for him. And I felt mega awkward. But nobody saw it - and we ended up giving it to our investigator that we saw right after church. Other than that little incident....the members are GREAT. They're all missionary-minded and we get so many referrals. We have a good number of progressing investigators - 7 I think.
In Parker's first email from the field, he described that he felt "at home." I didn't understand it then, but I do now. Waking up at the MTC wasn't always my favorite thing to do - but now, I get right up, even if I'm tired. I love being here and doing this work, and I'm so excited to learn more.Sister Jill Hunsaker
P.S. I forgot my camera at the apartment, but here are a couple of pictures from my companion.
Oakland Temple with the lights (a little blurry)
Me and Sister Ure in front of the Oakland Temple, first night
Our Friday brunch
I'm not a fan of all this rain
