Email letter of 13 May 2009

13 May 2009

Hola mi Familia!!!

Well, here I am at the MTC! Right now I'm in the laundry room, emailing while I wait for my laundry. As of about 1pm this afternoon, I will have officially and successfully made it through my first full week in the MTC!!!

The MTC is really great. It's also ridiculously hard. The first week, especially. I knew it would be, but I really had no idea. I've been amazed at the extreme highs and lows that I have here. One day is terrible, and I don't know if I can make it, and then the next day is like the best day ever! The struggles and emotions are very, very real. Yesterday was kinda tough, but it occured to me that maybe it was like the saying that "it's always darkest just before dawn," because last night was my first MTC Devotional, and it was Elder and Sis Nelson!!!! And today is P-day, so I get to go to the temple!!! So yeah, dark before dawn. Overall, I'm really doing great here though! On the one hand, I think a lot of the struggle is the Lord teaching me, refining me, and helping me learn to "lose myself" in the work. On the other hand, I also know that a lot of it is Satan trying to get me to be discouraged and give up. I not going to though! I don't mean to scare or discourage anyone from going, especially David and any other young men who are preparing to go, but just know that it's hard. Hard, but good, and totally worth it!
I have a great compañera! Her name is Hermana Gregersen, and she´s from Provo. And yes, David, she is hot ;) No really, she's completely adorable, and really great! She works really hard, and definitely likes to be on time! Needless to say, I'm getting MUCH better at being on time! I've never taken such fast showers, or gotten ready so quickly in my life, I think. It's good. And it really does feel good to be on time for everything. I know, I know, what you've tried to teach/get me to do for the last 23 years, and within a week here, I finally get it!
Our district is really great too! Hermana Gregersen and I, and one other companionship of sisters (Hnas McBride and Westover) are the only hermanas in our entire zone, and we're all in the same district! We have 9 Elders, 8 of which are going to L.A. with Hna G and I!!! The other two hermanas, and one other elder are going elsewhere. We actually had 10 Elders, but one of them left yesterday. We were all so sad! He was really struggling with homesickness and such, and finally just decided to go home. Hopefully he comes back in not too long though! But yeah, our elders are awesome! I really admire them already - for the most part, they are very mature, and hard-working! Everyone is jealous that they have hermanas--EVERYONE (at least leader/teacher-wise) wants sisters!

The Spanish is coming right along! I can bear a basic testimony, and can kinda pray (VERY simple and basic prayer!), so it's coming! The hardest thing for me is just remembering all the new vocab. One of the other Hermanas on our floor last night told us that the trick is that as soon as you learn a new word, throw out the English one (from your mind), and completely replace it with the Spanish word. I'm going to start trying that, and hopefully it helps.
My P-Day here is Wednesday, so if you want to email me, try to do so by Tuesday night. I'll probably be on here by about 730 Wednesday mornings, and I only have a half hour. I can print out emails, but with only 30 minutes, I probably won't have much time to read AND write, so if you have any big questions you want me to answer right away, write me on dearelder.com a day or two before. You can email through them, then they print it out and deliver it to the MTC. Pretty cool!

I've never been so excited for 10:30 every night! The schedule and planning here is rigorous, but SO GOOD!!!

Well, I have 2 minutes before this kicks me off, so I need to wrap up. The MTC is awesome. I've never worked or struggled so much in my life, but it's SO worth it! The Spirit is so strong here! The church is true! Heavenly Father loves us!

Se que el evangelio y iglesia es verdad!
I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!

Te Amo,

Hermana Sallie Wilson