Mom note:
P-Day (preparation day) is once a week and you get an hour at the most for emails so, I think it's pretty funny when the majority of pictures are laundry room selfies, haha, their email hour is typically spent in the laundry room while their clothes are running. :)
First off, I'd like to say that the new protein bars are AWESOME, so thank you mom, and also everyone else thinks the cinnamon roll one tastes like moon sand, which isn't wrong, but I still enjoy them and I don't have to share. Soeur Johnson says they're a lesson on sin. Looks good, smells good, tastes good for a second but then you get this weird taste that covers everything and just wont leave until youre filled with regret, looking to change, repenting, and going back to pure water. Soeur Todd is voicing her agreement as I write this, and questioning my sanity.
And the truffle popcorn was amazing and gave us a good half hour of comedy as everyone else tried to wash the taste out of their mouths while Soeur Marchant and I enjoyed it. So, thank you, and back to the main point of the email.
This last week in scripture study I've been learning from Nephi. He was patient and forgiving without sacrificing his morals, and I want to learn to pray like him, too. He doesn't just ask God to give him a boat, or to even show him how to build a boat, his first question is "where do I find the ore for tools?" He heard the Lord's command, was ready and willing to go and do, and he also used his brain and his talents to give his best effort. I also have some admiration for his wife, because if my old neighbor's youngest son showed up after disappearing in the desert for a while and told me to pack a bag because God said I should marry him and my whole family should pack up and leave everything, I'd probably have some questions. She had a lot of faith.
PMG study this week has been a lot of how to teach, and I've been learning about the Plan of Salvation in French. I'm trying to explain it simply, without the big unexplained vocabulary that our investigators have never heard before. Soeur Larson is teaching us how to get the main concept in French down to 45 seconds so if we're on a train or anything we'll be able to teach. Heavenly Father loves his children, and I have faith he'll help the investigators understand, but I'm still grateful for language plans.
Handbook study highlight was the "Match His Message" portion we got to practice in San Francisco Airport for an unexpectedly extended period of time. We worked hard to stay looking nice and cheerful, keep our volume down, be kind where we could, and generally be good representatives of Christ and not scare anyone. It was our first time out of the MTC with name badges and it was a little strange. People were determined to not make eye contact with us. We split the group of seven in half where we could, still keeping everyone in sight, and people talked to us more. We met some beautiful people who were incredibly helpful. There was one man I regret not speaking to more, we let ourselves rush to the airport instead of staying to speak with him. I should have listened. We told the elders to look for him, and we'll tell the sisters going next week the same thing. He helped us when we got lost, recognized us as sister missionaries, and gave us better directions to the Consulate.
(train to Consulate)
(Closest to the Golden Gate Bridge we could get...the sign)
(Delayed Flight Pic)
It was a reaaaally bad day in language classes. Like, holy dang. We're learning, a ton, but conjugating etre is still a bad time for everyone. And, We had the surprise trip to San Fran, weird p-day schedule, it was a mess. A good mess, like cake batter or something, but a mess. We were trying to rush through our laundry and emails and Sister Todd looked down so I went to buy her an ice cream. I was frustrated too but was trying to eat a salad, and praying for some way to chill out and get back to focusing, so... the vending machine dropped a second ice cream. I decided that was a sign and the whole day went better from there.
San Francisco had a crazy long layover and no real food but they did have all natural cardamom ice cream that made everything good again, and I'd remembered to bring origami paper to annoy the neighboring seats with butterflies (thanks, Liz from England/Park City, Katie from Idaho, Betty from NYC, and Frank-who-realized-he-cussed-i
I guess the morals of this story are, don't overlook the small blessings the Lord offers, and also I can get through anything with prayer and ice cream.
(morning after the LONG SanFran day which was up at 3:30 am, flew to SanFran for Consulate, back to the airport for waiting but then flight was delayed 5 hours, got back to MTC around 2AM)
Tell whoever in the bishopric sent me the origami dragons that they made my DAY and everyone else's too. I've been making cranes and butterflies for people and to memorize scriptures. I can teach the missionary purpose with a butterfly. I need more patterns because the cranes are taking over. (Funny mom story inserted, She hasn't gotten it yet but, I JUST sent her a small envelope yesterday that on apparent inspiration had an origami pattern for scriptures and a missionary dress. I'll have to let her know they were sent BEFORE I received her letter.) So, back to the start of that paragraph, the dragons were amazing and made everyone laugh.
I love the letters from the holidays, and a special shout out to Capri Anderson who drew a Christmas picture that is hanging up for the holidays in the residence. And Ana's drawings on the boxes and Alden's emails are also a big hit. Give them hugs for me?
One for a few people here: lesson we learned was just like on a plane, put your own oxygen mask on first. You're not helping anyone if you can't function, and Christlike looking outside yourself is different from burning yourself out.
(workout/pday shirt mom found and sent for "Gracie" as Grandpa says)
District 17 is all gone now except sister Maiava and I miss them! Tell the South Salt Lake and Lehi mission family and friends to keep an eye out for the elders going by them, and Phoenix family to look out for Sister Guzman.
I'm almost out of time to email but I love you all and I'm still alive out here. Temple this morning was great and rowing machines are still the worst. I love the emails and letters!
-Soeur Amott
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