Hi everyone!
It's officially been three weeks.....which also means my brother Parker is finally here!!! I haven't seen him yet, but I'm sure I'll run into him sometime in the next few days. Things are good here - I don't know, there isn't much to say. Every week is pretty much the same, but Conference made this week a little different. It was quite extraordinary to be at the MTC when President Monson made the historic declaration that 18 year-old men and 19 year-old women can now serve missions. Right after he sat down, the entire auditorium was bustling for a few minutes during the choir number. The news doesn't affect me much at all; after all, I'm already here and Parker just got here today and most of my guy friends have already gone and most of my girl friends are already married. But it had been a hard week - I felt I had learned so much and progressed so much in the first two weeks, and so last week I felt like I wasn't going anywhere or getting any better. As President Monson spoke those words, words that I know came directly from our Father in Heaven, I was reminded at how much joy I feel in the privilege and opportunity I have to share the gospel. I was again reminded why I am here - I feel like that reminder comes at least once a day. I need it to; it would be hard to do everything I do without it.
But I am so grateful that the Lord gives us living prophets. As we've been learning how to teach the first lesson, which is all about the restoration of the gospel, we often tell investigators that one of the ways that we know God loves us is through prophets. I never really looked at it that way until this conference. I loved many of the talks focused on the fact that if we are truly converted, if we really love the Lord, we will change for him - we will do the things he wants us to do, we will become the people he wants us to become. I know that's the only way I will be able to be a successful missionary.
For Conference, we had to sit in the auditorium for EVERY SESSION. Classes were cancelled, so it was a nice break, but it was still a long weekend. I loved President Uchtdorf's talk; he is particularly good at talking about temporal things in spiritual ways, and it reminded me that I don't want any regrets: on my mission, in my education, in my entire life. I especially loved the Saturday afternoon session of conference: it's always my favorite session - all of the talks were great. While the elders all watched the priesthood session, all the sisters watched the Relief Society session. I loved how much it focused on the Atonement and how it's not just for our sins and our mistakes. It was probably the most powerful General Relief Society Meeting I have ever seen.
The Sunday sessions were great too, especially Holland's talks. He always gives me a different perspective on things. And then, after having conference all day, we had one of our regular Sunday night firesides where Chad Lewis came and spoke to us. Apparently he played football for BYU and played in the NFL for 9 years - I can't remember what team. He had some really ineresting stories that he was able to relate back to the gospel, and it was really interesting. It was mostly geared towards the elders - obviously - but it was a good message. Then we had our normal Sunday night routine, where we attend a rebroadcast of a certain MTC devotional that we pick. My district all saw a talk by Elder Bednar entitled "The Character of Christ" which was very similar to the message he shared at our special stake meeting a few weeks ago before I came here. So I'd heard from Elder Bednar three times in the past month.
AND THEN.....Elder Bednar came and spoke at our Tuesday night devotional last night. So....he's obviously got something to say that I need to hear. I hope I finally picked up on it last night. But anyways, that was really cool. He talked about how to study the things we learned from Conference. It felt good to be in the presence of an apostle of God, and I felt the same thing I felt when I went to a session of conference last spring, and when I went to that special stake meeting.
I welcomed the new district last week so that was fun - there are three hermanas and they leave in three weeks for the MTC in Guatemala. I got to skip a few hours of class for orientation so that was a nice break. Also, my companion and I have been counting - here at the MTC, we have sung "Called to Serve" five times as a collective whole, and we only meet together twice a week. It's obviously the song of choice.
Anyways, P-day is almost over and we have a lesson tonight and then another one in the morning. And between that, we have a little goodbye party for Hermana Dalia in our district who leaves tomorrow for the Dominican Republic MTC. But I hope everyone enjoyed General Conference and learned something - I know I did.
Love, Hermana Hunsaker
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Week 2!
Hello everyone!
I made it through week 2! Things are much calmer now. We finished teaching our first investigator last week....and then he ended up becoming our second teacher. On Monday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, I have 6 hours of class, 3 with one teacher, 3 with the other. But now that I've gotten the hang of the schedule, it isn't too hard. I have no idea what I said in my last email so hopefully I don't repeat anything - I don't have to time to go back and reread it.
My companion Hermana Ivey and I are still getting along really well, even though we're not doing so great at getting up early to go to the 6am workout classes for the sisters. We've gotten to know the elders in our district a little better too, so that's been fun. We usually all play volleyball as a district every day during our gym time. It's funny to think that most of the elders here are younger than I am - that's not very common considering that I've been at BYU for the past couple of years. It's also weird being in an environment where you are not just discouraged but FORBIDDEN to flirt with boys. I mean, it makes total sense and I totally agree with it....but it's a weird change from college, especially since I went to BYU. But....they're all Parker's age so I have no problem with that rule. I can't believe he comes in one week! I've been counting down my time here based on when he gets here.
As excited as I am to get out there to San Fran, I really love it here at the MTC. It's busy but I always feel like I'm learning something, and I can almost always feel the Spirit. If I don't feel the Spirit, I know it's because of some rule that I'm not keeping because the Spirit is so strong here. At most of the devotionals and firesides, they always talk about obedience. The MTC slogan or motto, as you could call it, is "Obedience brings blessings; exact obedience brings miracles." There are a lot of rules and it's easy to dismiss one for something else that's good, like staying up past curfew to write in my journal (which I must admit that I did last night), but I'm trying my hardest. The days are long and busy, but we have so much time to study and learn more about the gospel and the language.
Spanish is hard, but I really love learning it. The hardest part is knowing what I want to say, recognizing what the Spirit wants me to say in a lesson, but not being able to put it into Spanish words. I know if I keep working at it, I will be blessed with the gift of tongues, but sometimes it's hard to have that perspective. But I do know that there is no other way I could have learned as much as I have in these two weeks any other way. I've learned more than I would learn in at least a year of high school Spanish. And I know that the only way I've done that is through the Lord.
Things have been kind of stressful, but the world keeps turning. On Sunday, I was called as the coordinating sister for my zone, meaning that I welcome the new hermanas and help the zone leaders with the orientation for the new district. We had a new district come in today, with four hermanas who are here for three weeks before going to the Guatemalan MTC. I haven't met them yet, but I'm kind of excited to take on this responsibility. I was really stressed a few days ago and didn't know how I was going to do everything - and then my branch president called me to this calling. It actually made me feel more relieved because I was reminded that Heavenly Father knows that I can do anything and everything he asks for me, even if I doubt that I can at times. And I do get to miss a little bit of class tonight and tomorrow, which will give my head a rest. My only concern is that I've been a little more quiet and introverted since I've been here at the MTC and I'm not sure if I remember how to be social.....but it's something I need to learn again if I've forgotten, considering I'm going to meet new people everyday for the next 18 months.
I'm almost out of time but I want to talk about one more thing. Yesterday was the first time our class went to the TRC. The TRC is just a program where member volunteers come and we teach them more about the gospel. We don't act like they are investigators, but it just gives us experience meeting other people who speak the language and learning to understand and get to know them. I can understand practically every word that my first teacher here, Hermano Goodman, says because we've had class with him for two weeks, but it's still hard for me to understand my second teacher, Hermano Rhoton. I was surprised at how much I liked TRC - my companion and I taught two ladies, one originally from Argentina and one who served her mission Spanish-speaking in Boston. For the most part, I understood them and we had a really good, normal conversation with very few awkward pauses. So that boosted my self-esteem a little bit.
I'm excited for this next week, especially the chance to see Parker here next Wednesday! Adios!
Hermana Hunsaker
I made it through week 2! Things are much calmer now. We finished teaching our first investigator last week....and then he ended up becoming our second teacher. On Monday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, I have 6 hours of class, 3 with one teacher, 3 with the other. But now that I've gotten the hang of the schedule, it isn't too hard. I have no idea what I said in my last email so hopefully I don't repeat anything - I don't have to time to go back and reread it.
My companion Hermana Ivey and I are still getting along really well, even though we're not doing so great at getting up early to go to the 6am workout classes for the sisters. We've gotten to know the elders in our district a little better too, so that's been fun. We usually all play volleyball as a district every day during our gym time. It's funny to think that most of the elders here are younger than I am - that's not very common considering that I've been at BYU for the past couple of years. It's also weird being in an environment where you are not just discouraged but FORBIDDEN to flirt with boys. I mean, it makes total sense and I totally agree with it....but it's a weird change from college, especially since I went to BYU. But....they're all Parker's age so I have no problem with that rule. I can't believe he comes in one week! I've been counting down my time here based on when he gets here.
As excited as I am to get out there to San Fran, I really love it here at the MTC. It's busy but I always feel like I'm learning something, and I can almost always feel the Spirit. If I don't feel the Spirit, I know it's because of some rule that I'm not keeping because the Spirit is so strong here. At most of the devotionals and firesides, they always talk about obedience. The MTC slogan or motto, as you could call it, is "Obedience brings blessings; exact obedience brings miracles." There are a lot of rules and it's easy to dismiss one for something else that's good, like staying up past curfew to write in my journal (which I must admit that I did last night), but I'm trying my hardest. The days are long and busy, but we have so much time to study and learn more about the gospel and the language.
Spanish is hard, but I really love learning it. The hardest part is knowing what I want to say, recognizing what the Spirit wants me to say in a lesson, but not being able to put it into Spanish words. I know if I keep working at it, I will be blessed with the gift of tongues, but sometimes it's hard to have that perspective. But I do know that there is no other way I could have learned as much as I have in these two weeks any other way. I've learned more than I would learn in at least a year of high school Spanish. And I know that the only way I've done that is through the Lord.
Things have been kind of stressful, but the world keeps turning. On Sunday, I was called as the coordinating sister for my zone, meaning that I welcome the new hermanas and help the zone leaders with the orientation for the new district. We had a new district come in today, with four hermanas who are here for three weeks before going to the Guatemalan MTC. I haven't met them yet, but I'm kind of excited to take on this responsibility. I was really stressed a few days ago and didn't know how I was going to do everything - and then my branch president called me to this calling. It actually made me feel more relieved because I was reminded that Heavenly Father knows that I can do anything and everything he asks for me, even if I doubt that I can at times. And I do get to miss a little bit of class tonight and tomorrow, which will give my head a rest. My only concern is that I've been a little more quiet and introverted since I've been here at the MTC and I'm not sure if I remember how to be social.....but it's something I need to learn again if I've forgotten, considering I'm going to meet new people everyday for the next 18 months.
I'm almost out of time but I want to talk about one more thing. Yesterday was the first time our class went to the TRC. The TRC is just a program where member volunteers come and we teach them more about the gospel. We don't act like they are investigators, but it just gives us experience meeting other people who speak the language and learning to understand and get to know them. I can understand practically every word that my first teacher here, Hermano Goodman, says because we've had class with him for two weeks, but it's still hard for me to understand my second teacher, Hermano Rhoton. I was surprised at how much I liked TRC - my companion and I taught two ladies, one originally from Argentina and one who served her mission Spanish-speaking in Boston. For the most part, I understood them and we had a really good, normal conversation with very few awkward pauses. So that boosted my self-esteem a little bit.
I'm excited for this next week, especially the chance to see Parker here next Wednesday! Adios!
Hermana Hunsaker
First week at the MTC!
So....We only have 30 minutes every preparation day to do email. It counts down and if we go over time, it starts counting up again and sends the report to my branch president - so I'll have to make this quick. Every day here seems really long but this first week has gone by pretty fast. In just a few hours, my district won't be the new missionaries anymore. The first day here, last Wednesday, was pretty crazy. It was nice because you had a little sticker on your nametag so everyone knew that you were new, and everyone was really friendly. The elders help you grab your bags from the car, and then they introduced me to my host sister, who showed me around the dorms and took me to pick up my books and everything I needed to do.
Then I met the people in my district. My companion, Hermana Ivey, has been going to UVU so we're kind of both Provo girls. I never wanted to claim myself as a Provo girl - and I still tell people I'm from Colorado - but Provo's my home now too. Kind of. Oh well. She's really nice and has a really strong testimony, being the only active member of her immediate family. She's taught me a lot already There are three other sisters in my district - Hermana Dalia, Hermana Riter and.........Hermana Johnson! I knew Hermana Johnson when we lived in Dublin, CA when I was four or five, and our moms are still really good friends. I knew she was coming into the MTC on the same day as I was and that she is serving Spanish-speaking, but it was total chance that we are in the same district. I also live in a room with these four sisters and Hermana Judy who is going to Spain. She's a solo sister because her visa is taking a while to be approved so she's going to be reassigned temporarily and she leaves next week.
So the first day was a blur. And I can't even remember most of it at this point. Thursday was the longest day of my life, probably because we didn't have gym time. Just class and meetings and study time and everything. The schedule here is crazy. They pack so much into one day, it's not even funny. I've also had a hard time falling asleep every night so that makes it harder. I get 6.5-7 hours of sleep a night though still, so I'm surviving. It's nice being busy - without having school, I would come home and have nothing to do at night and I'd be completely unproductive. Now, I'm busy from 6am-9pm at night. In a way, the MTC is just like school, except you're only studying two subjects ten hours a day - the gospel, and Spanish. So I like it in that way.
But sometimes it's hard not to have a choice. I mean, I always have a choice. But I've always been the kind to take a break when I need it. And that's not how life works here. You have to push and push and push - and then you can finally rest at the end of the day. I'm also surprised at how well I'm picking up Spanish. Sometimes I mix up Spanish and French, and I couldn't speak AT ALL in our first lesson, but it's coming, and I understand a lot of it already. We gave our first lesson - get this - on FRIDAY NIGHT. IN SPANISH. Our THIRD DAY at the MTC. It was insane. And then we gave one the very next morning. I felt much better after the second one - after the first one, I was really doubting myself. But "whoever the Lord calls he qualifies." I just need to remember that every day.
I've loved the firesides and devotionals and spiritual workshops that I've attended - they've all helped me learn a lot. I just know I need to rely on the Lord completely and seek to have the Spirit with me all the time. I've felt good this past week. It's been hard, but I know I'm where I'm supposed to be. We watched the broadcast of the temple dedication, and I loved seeing that as well.
Anyways, I'm really out of time. I can't wait for Parker to get here in two weeks!!! He is going to love it - if he works hard. I got a package from my co-workers the other day which was really nice and needed. I haven't gotten much mail, but the mail I got came on Friday, which was the really hard day. So that's all I needed. But if anyone wants to write, my address is on my facebook page and you can write me at dearelder.com FOR FREE while I'm at the MTC. And Mom - you're slacking on the packages if I'm getting packages from Uncle Steve before you!!! Haha. Love you all and hope everything is great at home!
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