Hi
Elder Burr and Elder Lynch are doing well. They may or may not be coming down with my cold though. :/
I started getting sick on Friday. Friday was a good day though. I saw Sarah Hamilton, who I went to Girls Nation with, and Chris Teuscher. We also got to tell stories in class and Elder Lynch fell asleep earlier in the day so then he bought a kilo of candy. Brother Newman bore us his testimony about how the Holy Ghost told him to put cinnamon on his fajitas and then he saw his favorite chef do that on the tv the next day.
On Saturday we had a somewhat impromptu zone meeting on planning. Our teachers all felt that we could plan better so they got us together and talking to us about the importance of planning. It was a great activity. I really liked when we talked about Ether 2 and how we should just go and do, not wait around for 4 years to receive inspiration. I took a nap at gym today (and did so on Monday and Tuesday as well).
On Sunday Sister Wixom, the primary general president came and spoke. She is such a cute fun lady. She talked to us about the song, Nephi's Courage. We told the Lord that we would go and do. The Lord will provide a way. He wants us to be obedient. It was really neat having her use such a familiar song. It has now taken on new meaning.
Elder Burr gave the lesson in our equivalent of Sunday School today. He did amazing speaking about patience. Elder Lynch and I were both wondering where this amazing-ness came from.
Monday's LGM was a hoot. We had my favorite speaker (think brunette Heath Ledger) who was teaching us about the importance of getting people to church and how we should basically sell it to them- give them a sample like Saturdays at Costco! He then had two elders put on curly gray wigs and try to sell Sister Bailey cookies. It was a hoot and a half.
On Tuesday I woke up and I could not talk. It was entertaining in that sad kind of way that I would freak out people when they heard me try to speak. We had to teach Brother Vehawn, but I didn't say much because I couldn't. The elders did so good working together though. I was really proud of them. I went to the gym with Sister Bailey at 6am so that she could run. I went to yoga and it was nice. A little too earlier for my liking though (no worries- I took a nap during normal gym time!)
Big news. Elder Lynch got a letter from his girlfriend. I think Elder Burr was more excited about this. It has been great for Elder Lynch. He has actually stepped it up a notch. He has also been more positive. It has been so nice. She should write him all the time.
After 45 days of having rootbeer every morning for breakfast Elder Lynch had juice instead yesterday morning. It was a miracle. And he liked breakfast. And lunch. This NEVER happens. It was epic.
So I got kicked out of class today. Ha ha. Brother Newman had finished teaching our last grammar principle (that is right- done learning Latvian) and we were switching gears to practice teaching him. He then proceeded to sigh and abruptly say, "Okay, Masa (that is what everyone calls me). You have two options. Either you can go to the health clinic now and have MDT later or you can teach me now and go to the clinic during your MD time. Just go get better." Needless to say we chose NOT to teach him and went on our grand adventure. I got right in to see a nurse who says I have a virus and gave me a ga-zillion recommendations of medication to take. We went to the outside world to go to the pharmacy. I got some Sudafed. I'm also taking ibuprofen and robitussen. It is quite the concoction. I do sound like a barking mad dog though. The elders were SOOOOOOOOOO ecstatic to be in the outside world. I think Elder Burr may have been prancing. "Masa, thank you for being sick! We are so glad you aren't well!" These were common phrases on our 2 block walk to the pharmacy.
I taught in the TRC with Elder Lynch. We did really well and you could feel the spirit when we were telling stories about praying to God. We taught our two investigators the first 5 commandments (out of the ten). We did well!
This morning I attempted to sleep in with Sister Huntington. She caught my cold. I didn't sleep very well, but we couldn't go to the temple since we'd infect everyone. We received some sad news this morning. Two elders from our zone went home today for various reasons. Hopefully they will be back though. We got two new sisters in the zone yesterday. One is going to Guam and the other to Independence, MO.
The church is true. Don't worry about me getting sick. I got a blessing this morning and as Elder Lynch said, "There! Now you'll be better!"
Love you lots! I'm praying for you!
Masa Mari
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Week 5 in the MTC
Hello all!
THURSDAY
Did I mention the temple waffles? They are enormous. I got one with blueberries and strawberries. It was even smiling like it was happy to see me.
FRIDAY
Brother Newman took us on a random walk today around all of the MTC grounds. It was really nice and even kind of sunshiny-ish. We also got to have "story time" which is a Friday tradition. In our class, we get to each tell a story to each other in Latvian. It involves lots of actions so it is pretty funny.
SATURDAY
We had our giant grammar review which actually wasn't too mind boggling. Sister Priddis taught us how to sing Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes in class today. Biggest MTC food surprise...They had TOFU. I know, unbelievable. And it was actually really good.
SUNDAY
Dun Dun Dun. So today I officially become the Coordinating Sister for the Branch. This is akin to Zone Leader. Except for there is one. And I don't really do anything except rat on the sisters in the meeting so the president knows what is going on. It also involves a lot of somewhat silly meetings. Oh boy! It definitely took up all of my Sunday. Luckily, it started out super well. For Music and The Spoken Word it was black-soul music themed because the next day was "Black Monday" as my elders decided to call it (aka Martin Luther King Jr. Day). It was great to hear some of the songs that Mark sang back in choir! Sister Madsen came and spoke to the sisters. She is another in the slew of people who have come to speak who used to serve in France. God enjoys mocking me. Sister Madsen was great though. She taught us about being charitable and how we shouldn't judge. A mote is a tiny splinter and a beam is huge- so fix yourself first! She told us how true charity is love in action. She had sisters come up and share experiences of acts of charity they had seen. One particularly impressed me. It was a senior missionary who, when she joined the church had her father estrange her. She continued to write him and tell him why she loved her father and after years of doing this he came and visited her and her family. They now have a relationship again because she never stopped loving him and trying to fix their relationship.
Gordon Brown is the new MTC mission president and he spoke in the devotional. He is older and has this cute lisp. He is also a very touchy person...he was hugging all the elders he was having come up to make comments during his devotional. President Brown talked to us about how we need to invite the spirit which converts. He also said that we should just be the best we can be. "Work without faith is just as dead" is a thought that impressed me a lot as well. Just think about that one.
Sunday there was this lovely rumor going around in the zone that we would be getting a solo sister that would be French speaking. Needless to say I was really excited to get a companion, nevermind one I could speak French to. But rumors are indeed, just rumors. No new sisters!
MONDAY
Monday was a really fun day. We got to clean 70s yellow showers which included using this crazy acidic spray and seeing how far we could slide in the bathroom. They then had us clean the floors. I don't blame them. Brother Newman taught us some really neat stuff today about Nephi and how he learned from the Holy Ghost. He wanted to know what his father Lehi saw and the Holy Ghost teaches him. This is a great example to how we should teach.
We had a good large group meeting about being missionaries and setting goals to achieve them. My favorite quote from this meeting was, "That black nametag comes with a price."
Today the sunset was beautiful. We got to see it because we had gym after dinner today.
More homework! Watch "Voice of the Spirit" on the Mormon Messages. I loved this one as well. One of my favorite things they said was, "You cannot travel through life on borrowed light." How true this statement is! We must grow our own testimony to make it through this life. It is our own faith in our Saviour Jesus Christ that will bring us through all the trials and tribulations that life will bring.
TUESDAY
I'm starting to bother Elder Lynch. He started it though. He decided he can burp all the time and I don't believe that fits under "quiet dignity" "acting like the Saviour" "being polite" "being a gentleman" or the 50 million other things we are supposed to live up to. Seeing as after asking him not to that there was a continuation of said bodily functions which are "normal" and therefore acceptable according to his knowledge, I've turned into Emily Anne. It makes me smile. Emily is my roommate who would always say, "Excuse me, I'm a pig!" If she ever burped. So I just say that to Elder Lynch, "Excuse you, you're a pig!" He has gotten rather flustered by this and asked me how he turned into a pig over night. Maybe he'll get it eventually. But until then his burps don't bother me nearly as much because it reminds me of happy roommate times at dear old USU.
For choir (did I mention that I am in the MTC choir?) today we sang "Ever Be Near Us" by David R. Naylor. I recommend looking this song up. I LOVED it and wrote down all the lyrics because it was just so inspiring.
Just as inspiring was cute little Garrit Gong of the 70. He is a genius and also terribly charming and witty as a speaker. His message was to be of good cheer! We can do this because: 1. We can be perfect in our Savior 2. The Book of Mormon 3. God's words are always fulfilled and 4. There is power and authority in our calling. He told us how QEDs (quintessential existential dilemmas) are really opportunities for eternal growth and that we can be perfect in some things.
WEDNESDAY
On Wednesday Brother Newman told us about this heart attack in a cake Lat cake. It sounded pretty good in its utter unhealthiness. In the Teaching Resource Center tonight I taught with Elder Burr. We taught two sisters who served in Latvia about the gospel of Jesus Christ. It went pretty well. It was nice to not have the pressure of last week and teaching all by myself. Elder Lynch taught by himself and did really well. And he didn't strangle anyone before hand which is always a plus.
I also learned that you shouldn't try to run really fast after dinner, it just doesn't agree with one's stomach.
THURSDAY
We woke up and went to the temple nice and early and then sat down for a lovely omelet in the cafeteria. Now I'm just typing away wishing the sisters weren't so lazy and that one of them would take me out to go running. Maybe in Latvia...I did buy some Yak Tracks for traction so I should be able to go running around on ice now!
Well my time is up. I love you all. Have a great week!
Bisous
Sister Lindstrom
THURSDAY
Did I mention the temple waffles? They are enormous. I got one with blueberries and strawberries. It was even smiling like it was happy to see me.
FRIDAY
Brother Newman took us on a random walk today around all of the MTC grounds. It was really nice and even kind of sunshiny-ish. We also got to have "story time" which is a Friday tradition. In our class, we get to each tell a story to each other in Latvian. It involves lots of actions so it is pretty funny.
SATURDAY
We had our giant grammar review which actually wasn't too mind boggling. Sister Priddis taught us how to sing Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes in class today. Biggest MTC food surprise...They had TOFU. I know, unbelievable. And it was actually really good.
SUNDAY
Dun Dun Dun. So today I officially become the Coordinating Sister for the Branch. This is akin to Zone Leader. Except for there is one. And I don't really do anything except rat on the sisters in the meeting so the president knows what is going on. It also involves a lot of somewhat silly meetings. Oh boy! It definitely took up all of my Sunday. Luckily, it started out super well. For Music and The Spoken Word it was black-soul music themed because the next day was "Black Monday" as my elders decided to call it (aka Martin Luther King Jr. Day). It was great to hear some of the songs that Mark sang back in choir! Sister Madsen came and spoke to the sisters. She is another in the slew of people who have come to speak who used to serve in France. God enjoys mocking me. Sister Madsen was great though. She taught us about being charitable and how we shouldn't judge. A mote is a tiny splinter and a beam is huge- so fix yourself first! She told us how true charity is love in action. She had sisters come up and share experiences of acts of charity they had seen. One particularly impressed me. It was a senior missionary who, when she joined the church had her father estrange her. She continued to write him and tell him why she loved her father and after years of doing this he came and visited her and her family. They now have a relationship again because she never stopped loving him and trying to fix their relationship.
Gordon Brown is the new MTC mission president and he spoke in the devotional. He is older and has this cute lisp. He is also a very touchy person...he was hugging all the elders he was having come up to make comments during his devotional. President Brown talked to us about how we need to invite the spirit which converts. He also said that we should just be the best we can be. "Work without faith is just as dead" is a thought that impressed me a lot as well. Just think about that one.
Sunday there was this lovely rumor going around in the zone that we would be getting a solo sister that would be French speaking. Needless to say I was really excited to get a companion, nevermind one I could speak French to. But rumors are indeed, just rumors. No new sisters!
MONDAY
Monday was a really fun day. We got to clean 70s yellow showers which included using this crazy acidic spray and seeing how far we could slide in the bathroom. They then had us clean the floors. I don't blame them. Brother Newman taught us some really neat stuff today about Nephi and how he learned from the Holy Ghost. He wanted to know what his father Lehi saw and the Holy Ghost teaches him. This is a great example to how we should teach.
We had a good large group meeting about being missionaries and setting goals to achieve them. My favorite quote from this meeting was, "That black nametag comes with a price."
Today the sunset was beautiful. We got to see it because we had gym after dinner today.
More homework! Watch "Voice of the Spirit" on the Mormon Messages. I loved this one as well. One of my favorite things they said was, "You cannot travel through life on borrowed light." How true this statement is! We must grow our own testimony to make it through this life. It is our own faith in our Saviour Jesus Christ that will bring us through all the trials and tribulations that life will bring.
TUESDAY
I'm starting to bother Elder Lynch. He started it though. He decided he can burp all the time and I don't believe that fits under "quiet dignity" "acting like the Saviour" "being polite" "being a gentleman" or the 50 million other things we are supposed to live up to. Seeing as after asking him not to that there was a continuation of said bodily functions which are "normal" and therefore acceptable according to his knowledge, I've turned into Emily Anne. It makes me smile. Emily is my roommate who would always say, "Excuse me, I'm a pig!" If she ever burped. So I just say that to Elder Lynch, "Excuse you, you're a pig!" He has gotten rather flustered by this and asked me how he turned into a pig over night. Maybe he'll get it eventually. But until then his burps don't bother me nearly as much because it reminds me of happy roommate times at dear old USU.
For choir (did I mention that I am in the MTC choir?) today we sang "Ever Be Near Us" by David R. Naylor. I recommend looking this song up. I LOVED it and wrote down all the lyrics because it was just so inspiring.
Just as inspiring was cute little Garrit Gong of the 70. He is a genius and also terribly charming and witty as a speaker. His message was to be of good cheer! We can do this because: 1. We can be perfect in our Savior 2. The Book of Mormon 3. God's words are always fulfilled and 4. There is power and authority in our calling. He told us how QEDs (quintessential existential dilemmas) are really opportunities for eternal growth and that we can be perfect in some things.
WEDNESDAY
On Wednesday Brother Newman told us about this heart attack in a cake Lat cake. It sounded pretty good in its utter unhealthiness. In the Teaching Resource Center tonight I taught with Elder Burr. We taught two sisters who served in Latvia about the gospel of Jesus Christ. It went pretty well. It was nice to not have the pressure of last week and teaching all by myself. Elder Lynch taught by himself and did really well. And he didn't strangle anyone before hand which is always a plus.
I also learned that you shouldn't try to run really fast after dinner, it just doesn't agree with one's stomach.
THURSDAY
We woke up and went to the temple nice and early and then sat down for a lovely omelet in the cafeteria. Now I'm just typing away wishing the sisters weren't so lazy and that one of them would take me out to go running. Maybe in Latvia...I did buy some Yak Tracks for traction so I should be able to go running around on ice now!
Well my time is up. I love you all. Have a great week!
Bisous
Sister Lindstrom
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Week 4
Hello all,
Another week has been survived at the MTC. The lack of outside-edness is starting to wear on me though. Some days when I see the sun I feel like in Monte Cristo seeing the sun for the first time in forever, or a cute little puppy that gets locked in a cage and is rarely let out to play outside. That being said, I'm quite the happy child when I do get to see the sunshine. Sometimes I just stare at it.
Scottish word of the day: Numpty- it means idiot/stupid
Zone word of our life: "Inadequate". Someone told the elders to stop saying stupid or retarded, so now you hear at least 5 times a day "Elder, stop being inadequate!" Or whatever.
District fun: I believe I told you about how Brother Newman has us play rock paper scissors lizard spock. Well, the elders and I decided to make our own version of this game and now play babusha, cat, pigeon. It is pretty hilarious and makes me laugh every time we do it.
Friday was a day of fours. Elder Newmann had us study four hours of grammar straight and so then I decided to run 40 minutes straight on my tiny little track. It was actually a pretty good run.
Saturday I learned that the food in Latvia is actually really good. They do like tea of all sorts though, and tend to get offended if you have some. Kirstin definitely should have been called to this mission. They also have a whole entire row dedicated to honey in the grocery stores. I am quite excited for this. It will be a nice change to MTC food (which is slowly growing on most of us....well, kind of).
Sunday we as a zone (Elder Burr, Lynch, and myself) had a companionship inventory. It was really good. They expressed how they thought that Brother Newman is sometimes inadequate in the way he treats me compared to the elders so that made me feel better about life because it was bothering me. We also had a complain-a-thon about the Armenians (those missionaries learning the Armenian language) who can be...inadequate.
Anywho, on to important things. Sister Clayton (husband in the 70) came and spoke to us in Relief Society. She gave a really great lesson/talk about how we are writing our own life stories. She told us that we should go back and erase all the bad parts, see challenges as opportunities, write others in as co-heroes, as well as to be a "certain woman" in our story. Every day is a new page. She told a cute story of a girl going into kindergarten who on being told to pick her favorite colored crayon and write her name. She wouldn't do it because there wasn't a pink crayon! Sister Clayton counseled us to just pick another color and start drawing a picture. She promised us that it will be the right color for us (even if it isn't what we thought was our favorite).
I sat by Brother and Sister Smith at lunch. It was fun sitting by them because they were telling all sorts of stories about Sister Smith's (who is a missionary going to Armenia) grandpa (the couple is related to the missionary). Sister Smith the younger's grandpa once bombed some pigs accidentally!
Today I gave the "Sunday School" lesson on virtue. It went extremely well. I was a bit nervous at first because some other districts joined us as well as Brother Smith. We all learned a lot about virtue and how it really is just all Christ-like attributes and should be our moral values. We looked at the last chapter of Proverbs and found over 30 characteristics of someone with virtue.
Homework for you all: Watch the latest Mormon Message which I believe is called Don't look back. It is really funny and inspiring. We really do need to remember that our future will be better than our past and taht we can choose to change.
I was forgotten by the sisters on Monday. It used to really bother me, but now it is getting more humorous. Someone forgets me at least once a week, so it is now my game to guess who and when. They forgot to pick me up for breakfast. We had a great large group meeting today. It was by the man who basically invented key indicators and doubled the amount of baptisms while he was a mission president in Mexico. He told us that good missionaries believe that they can baptize and that the Lord wouldn't put you somewhere if there weren't people to baptize. It reminds me of the 4 minute mile. No one thought it could be done so no one did it. Then someone believed in themself, prepared, were obedient to their schedule, had the capacity, believed and then did it. After that tons of people broke the 4 minute mile. We cannot let people pop our belief balloons (as he did with real balloons which left some sisters screaming). As missionaries we shouldn't prepare people for the telestial or terrestrial kingdom.
Sister Priddis is no longer sick and back in class with us as of Tuesday! She wasn't the only surprise on Tuesday. ELDER HOLLAND CAME!! He was incredible and had me just crying freely. Instead of trying to summarize his hour of speaking, I'm just going to make a copy of my notes and hope you can figure it out. This will be one of those talks that we as missionaries will look back on and say THAT changed my life. He talked about our lives changing forever and how we cannot fall away or it will break his heart. PMG was made to convert missionaries. In closing he told the story of the disciple Peter who finally left his nets to feed God's sheep forever. We should do the same.
Also on Tuesday I set two gym records. Sister Bailey decided that the records were pretty weak sauce and that we were going to go around trying to break them until we each had at least one. We both ended up with 2 new records set each. Sister Bailey in the bench press (for reps of lifting 50 pounds) and her incredible 7:30 wall sit. I broke the free throw (ha ha) record as well as the sit up record. My abs are still sore.
Wednesday I taught 3 pretend investigators about the plan of salvation in Latvian. By myself. It went really well! They were really nice and the Lord helped me to be able to testify and remember the things that I had prepared.
I love you so much. You are in my prayers. Tell Grandpa 'hi' for me.
Love,
Mari
Another week has been survived at the MTC. The lack of outside-edness is starting to wear on me though. Some days when I see the sun I feel like in Monte Cristo seeing the sun for the first time in forever, or a cute little puppy that gets locked in a cage and is rarely let out to play outside. That being said, I'm quite the happy child when I do get to see the sunshine. Sometimes I just stare at it.
Scottish word of the day: Numpty- it means idiot/stupid
Zone word of our life: "Inadequate". Someone told the elders to stop saying stupid or retarded, so now you hear at least 5 times a day "Elder, stop being inadequate!" Or whatever.
District fun: I believe I told you about how Brother Newman has us play rock paper scissors lizard spock. Well, the elders and I decided to make our own version of this game and now play babusha, cat, pigeon. It is pretty hilarious and makes me laugh every time we do it.
Friday was a day of fours. Elder Newmann had us study four hours of grammar straight and so then I decided to run 40 minutes straight on my tiny little track. It was actually a pretty good run.
Saturday I learned that the food in Latvia is actually really good. They do like tea of all sorts though, and tend to get offended if you have some. Kirstin definitely should have been called to this mission. They also have a whole entire row dedicated to honey in the grocery stores. I am quite excited for this. It will be a nice change to MTC food (which is slowly growing on most of us....well, kind of).
Sunday we as a zone (Elder Burr, Lynch, and myself) had a companionship inventory. It was really good. They expressed how they thought that Brother Newman is sometimes inadequate in the way he treats me compared to the elders so that made me feel better about life because it was bothering me. We also had a complain-a-thon about the Armenians (those missionaries learning the Armenian language) who can be...inadequate.
Anywho, on to important things. Sister Clayton (husband in the 70) came and spoke to us in Relief Society. She gave a really great lesson/talk about how we are writing our own life stories. She told us that we should go back and erase all the bad parts, see challenges as opportunities, write others in as co-heroes, as well as to be a "certain woman" in our story. Every day is a new page. She told a cute story of a girl going into kindergarten who on being told to pick her favorite colored crayon and write her name. She wouldn't do it because there wasn't a pink crayon! Sister Clayton counseled us to just pick another color and start drawing a picture. She promised us that it will be the right color for us (even if it isn't what we thought was our favorite).
I sat by Brother and Sister Smith at lunch. It was fun sitting by them because they were telling all sorts of stories about Sister Smith's (who is a missionary going to Armenia) grandpa (the couple is related to the missionary). Sister Smith the younger's grandpa once bombed some pigs accidentally!
Today I gave the "Sunday School" lesson on virtue. It went extremely well. I was a bit nervous at first because some other districts joined us as well as Brother Smith. We all learned a lot about virtue and how it really is just all Christ-like attributes and should be our moral values. We looked at the last chapter of Proverbs and found over 30 characteristics of someone with virtue.
Homework for you all: Watch the latest Mormon Message which I believe is called Don't look back. It is really funny and inspiring. We really do need to remember that our future will be better than our past and taht we can choose to change.
I was forgotten by the sisters on Monday. It used to really bother me, but now it is getting more humorous. Someone forgets me at least once a week, so it is now my game to guess who and when. They forgot to pick me up for breakfast. We had a great large group meeting today. It was by the man who basically invented key indicators and doubled the amount of baptisms while he was a mission president in Mexico. He told us that good missionaries believe that they can baptize and that the Lord wouldn't put you somewhere if there weren't people to baptize. It reminds me of the 4 minute mile. No one thought it could be done so no one did it. Then someone believed in themself, prepared, were obedient to their schedule, had the capacity, believed and then did it. After that tons of people broke the 4 minute mile. We cannot let people pop our belief balloons (as he did with real balloons which left some sisters screaming). As missionaries we shouldn't prepare people for the telestial or terrestrial kingdom.
Sister Priddis is no longer sick and back in class with us as of Tuesday! She wasn't the only surprise on Tuesday. ELDER HOLLAND CAME!! He was incredible and had me just crying freely. Instead of trying to summarize his hour of speaking, I'm just going to make a copy of my notes and hope you can figure it out. This will be one of those talks that we as missionaries will look back on and say THAT changed my life. He talked about our lives changing forever and how we cannot fall away or it will break his heart. PMG was made to convert missionaries. In closing he told the story of the disciple Peter who finally left his nets to feed God's sheep forever. We should do the same.
Also on Tuesday I set two gym records. Sister Bailey decided that the records were pretty weak sauce and that we were going to go around trying to break them until we each had at least one. We both ended up with 2 new records set each. Sister Bailey in the bench press (for reps of lifting 50 pounds) and her incredible 7:30 wall sit. I broke the free throw (ha ha) record as well as the sit up record. My abs are still sore.
Wednesday I taught 3 pretend investigators about the plan of salvation in Latvian. By myself. It went really well! They were really nice and the Lord helped me to be able to testify and remember the things that I had prepared.
I love you so much. You are in my prayers. Tell Grandpa 'hi' for me.
Love,
Mari
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Week 3: Jan. 6, 2011
Hi and hello! Happy New Year! I hope that you all had a smashingly good time. In the spirit of dad and myself, I went to bed at 10:30 pm and did not stay up for New Years. I did wonder what marvelous adventure Amber and I would have been on. Maybe we will have to do one of those "Run in the New Year" races in 2012/2013. I did wake up magnificently early New Year's Day to go and kick box. It was quite fun and I was rather sore.
This Sunday our old zone leaders, Elder Greciano and Baret sang. They had quite a few people in tears regardless of their below Mo-Tab singing skills. Many of the testimonies this fast Sunday were about our love for them and admiration for their example. They truly will be missed. Especially by myself. Elder Baret and I (and Elder Greciano who knows 7 languages) would speak French, which brought happiness to my heart. We got to walk around the temple as a zone on Sunday. Poor Sister Burnham stepped in a puddle so Elder Steggel, who is going to Georgia (the country), traded a shoe with her. They were both quite the sight. Elder Offut and I (another Georgian going elder) have been switching around people's name tags and seeing how long it takes them to realize that they are no longer themselves. It is quite entertaining seeing elders with sister tags on.
On Monday our serviceableness was even more epic. We mopped 10 flights of stairs. Luckily their was some Oldies singing by ourselves going on to keep it fresh. We weren't the only ones singing today though. My elders (by my elders I mean the elders that have to escort me everywhere, that I teach, eat, and learn with, but am not allowed to call my companions, so to make it short are my elders [or bodyguards, your pick]) both lost it Monday night and were monologuing Les Mis. I really wish that I had my camera, it could have had me in tears from laughing so much.
On Tuesday Brother Baxter of the 70 came and spoke to us about not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He told us that we need to live as disciples and that we have to find Christ ourselves before we can lead other people to Him. He said, "There must be alight shining from your eyes because of the burning testimony in your soul." He proceeded to doctrinally/scripturally show how we are different from other Christian religions and how we are correct. Check out "Lost Books" in the Bible Dictionary...who knew that there were so many lost scriptures!! My favorite quote from Elder Baxter was at the end when he finally started to testify and said, "It is true. It is all true." He said this very powerfully and it touched me.
Lately at gym I have been running a lot with Sister Bailey. It is nice to have someone to talk to because it helps me to zone out. Hopefully my knees won't hate me for making 120-some odd really sharp turns on them every day.
Brother Newmann shared a really neat thought with us yesterday about the difference between Satan's lie of good AND evil, and God's truth of knowing good FROM evil. You can check the two out in 2 Nephi 2:18 and 26. Good AND evil implies equality of the two and thus no need to be saved or have agency. Good FROM evil implies that you know evil because you have resisted it. So therefore people who give into Satan don't know evil as well as Christ because He has seen how hard it is to over come it so he knows how truly evil it is. For those of you who are temple goers, pay attention in the film for this, it is quite interesting that the difference with and/from is there as well. Yesterday I taught the Restoration in Latvian with Elder Lynch. We didn't know how to say much, but we were able to testify and invite the Spirit. The two sisters that we taught were very kind and helpful as we were trying to teach them. I am currently speaking Fratvian, this odd combo of French and Latvian. If I don't know a word in Latvian I tend to try to say it in French instead on English. I was praying last night in French and started putting in Latvian words as well- uh oh!
MY ELDERS
Elder Burr is doing most excellently with the language. We had a practice teaching session in Latvian last night and he was by himself teaching a returned missionary who speaks Latvian. This RM told Elder Burr that his language is at the level of someone who has been in the MTC for 8 weeks. Elder Burr is truly a grammar pro.
Elder Lynch is lucky to be Scottish. No one can recognize that he has an accent and he is often applauded for this. Brother Newmann, one of our teachers also feels that his teaching style is perfect and that he just needs to learn how to do it in Latvian. Elder Lynch is showing his 18-year-old age right now. He has a hard time studying because he doesn't really know how, nor has he had to. Some days he is a lot more negative (I want to punch you both in the face kind of negative) then others. Regardless, we had a companionship inventory and are now trying to cator to his needs as we study. This includes 5 minute walking breaks every half hour, which I enjoy greatly. They are good for Elder Burr too, his Arizona skin isn't too thick in this cold!
FOOD
The food is getting better, my stomach is desensitized, or I just know what NOT to try. But this is from the girl who had toast and ice cream for dinner last night...
TEACHERS
Sister Priddis got back from her mission to Latvia a few years ago is married and has a 6-month old boy, William. She is very kind hearted and we normally end up telling her stories about Brother Newman.
Brother Newman is...different. He is wicked smart, going into sound technology stuff. He grew up hindu and is very quirky. He knows lots of random facts and is rather opinionated. He likes Latvian idioms and the game rock paper scissors lizard spock (this is rock paper scissors on steroids). Right now he is doing a lemon/maple/pepper drink cleanse. He loves to cook and even makes his own feta cheese sometimes. I definitely would like to try out some of his creations. Pizza is supposedly his specialty. He called me weird the other day because he didn't think I sat close enough to everyone in prayers....
Anywho...
Love you!
The Church is true and God is our Father!
Sister L
This Sunday our old zone leaders, Elder Greciano and Baret sang. They had quite a few people in tears regardless of their below Mo-Tab singing skills. Many of the testimonies this fast Sunday were about our love for them and admiration for their example. They truly will be missed. Especially by myself. Elder Baret and I (and Elder Greciano who knows 7 languages) would speak French, which brought happiness to my heart. We got to walk around the temple as a zone on Sunday. Poor Sister Burnham stepped in a puddle so Elder Steggel, who is going to Georgia (the country), traded a shoe with her. They were both quite the sight. Elder Offut and I (another Georgian going elder) have been switching around people's name tags and seeing how long it takes them to realize that they are no longer themselves. It is quite entertaining seeing elders with sister tags on.
On Monday our serviceableness was even more epic. We mopped 10 flights of stairs. Luckily their was some Oldies singing by ourselves going on to keep it fresh. We weren't the only ones singing today though. My elders (by my elders I mean the elders that have to escort me everywhere, that I teach, eat, and learn with, but am not allowed to call my companions, so to make it short are my elders [or bodyguards, your pick]) both lost it Monday night and were monologuing Les Mis. I really wish that I had my camera, it could have had me in tears from laughing so much.
On Tuesday Brother Baxter of the 70 came and spoke to us about not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He told us that we need to live as disciples and that we have to find Christ ourselves before we can lead other people to Him. He said, "There must be alight shining from your eyes because of the burning testimony in your soul." He proceeded to doctrinally/scripturally show how we are different from other Christian religions and how we are correct. Check out "Lost Books" in the Bible Dictionary...who knew that there were so many lost scriptures!! My favorite quote from Elder Baxter was at the end when he finally started to testify and said, "It is true. It is all true." He said this very powerfully and it touched me.
Lately at gym I have been running a lot with Sister Bailey. It is nice to have someone to talk to because it helps me to zone out. Hopefully my knees won't hate me for making 120-some odd really sharp turns on them every day.
Brother Newmann shared a really neat thought with us yesterday about the difference between Satan's lie of good AND evil, and God's truth of knowing good FROM evil. You can check the two out in 2 Nephi 2:18 and 26. Good AND evil implies equality of the two and thus no need to be saved or have agency. Good FROM evil implies that you know evil because you have resisted it. So therefore people who give into Satan don't know evil as well as Christ because He has seen how hard it is to over come it so he knows how truly evil it is. For those of you who are temple goers, pay attention in the film for this, it is quite interesting that the difference with and/from is there as well. Yesterday I taught the Restoration in Latvian with Elder Lynch. We didn't know how to say much, but we were able to testify and invite the Spirit. The two sisters that we taught were very kind and helpful as we were trying to teach them. I am currently speaking Fratvian, this odd combo of French and Latvian. If I don't know a word in Latvian I tend to try to say it in French instead on English. I was praying last night in French and started putting in Latvian words as well- uh oh!
MY ELDERS
Elder Burr is doing most excellently with the language. We had a practice teaching session in Latvian last night and he was by himself teaching a returned missionary who speaks Latvian. This RM told Elder Burr that his language is at the level of someone who has been in the MTC for 8 weeks. Elder Burr is truly a grammar pro.
Elder Lynch is lucky to be Scottish. No one can recognize that he has an accent and he is often applauded for this. Brother Newmann, one of our teachers also feels that his teaching style is perfect and that he just needs to learn how to do it in Latvian. Elder Lynch is showing his 18-year-old age right now. He has a hard time studying because he doesn't really know how, nor has he had to. Some days he is a lot more negative (I want to punch you both in the face kind of negative) then others. Regardless, we had a companionship inventory and are now trying to cator to his needs as we study. This includes 5 minute walking breaks every half hour, which I enjoy greatly. They are good for Elder Burr too, his Arizona skin isn't too thick in this cold!
FOOD
The food is getting better, my stomach is desensitized, or I just know what NOT to try. But this is from the girl who had toast and ice cream for dinner last night...
TEACHERS
Sister Priddis got back from her mission to Latvia a few years ago is married and has a 6-month old boy, William. She is very kind hearted and we normally end up telling her stories about Brother Newman.
Brother Newman is...different. He is wicked smart, going into sound technology stuff. He grew up hindu and is very quirky. He knows lots of random facts and is rather opinionated. He likes Latvian idioms and the game rock paper scissors lizard spock (this is rock paper scissors on steroids). Right now he is doing a lemon/maple/pepper drink cleanse. He loves to cook and even makes his own feta cheese sometimes. I definitely would like to try out some of his creations. Pizza is supposedly his specialty. He called me weird the other day because he didn't think I sat close enough to everyone in prayers....
Anywho...
Love you!
The Church is true and God is our Father!
Sister L
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Christmas 2010
25 Dec 2010
Labdien (Hello)
Priecigus Ziemassvetkus! (Merry Christmas)
First off, let the Las Vegas clan (Linda & Robert) that I met Sister Stoker. Secondly, mate (mom), can you send my black skirt with the wide band from Julie’s wedding that is in my closet. The one I brought is too big. Thanks!
Christmas has been awesome here (although really tiring). We had a Christmas devotional Christmas Eve that included talks about gifts and music. My favorite performance was “The 12 days of Christmas MTC style. It goes like so:
A rock solid testimony / 2 haircuts free / 3 new companions / 4 chocolate milks / 5 hours of gym / 6:30 wake up / 7 lukewarm showers / 8 hours of rest / 9 vaccinations / 10 more commandments / 11 loads of laundry / 12 hours of class.
After the devotional they passed out kettle corn and we got to watch “Mr. Kruger’s Christmas.” I really enjoyed it, especially when Mr. Kruger is talking to Jesus and mentions that he can hold his head high because he knew Christ.
On Christmas morning we woke up at our usual 6:30 am. Sister Huntington, Bailey, Smith, Burnham, and I (my roommates) opened presents together and then got ready and went to breakfast.
After breakfast we had a talent show that lasted until lunch. It was really fun. We had some really talented pianists, singers, cellos, and even ukulele players. My favorites were all the potential boy bands with their cheesy lyrics and actions. I think the Elders from Russia took the cake. They changed the lyrics and did all the actions too. It was epic with their accents.
We than had Thanksgiving dinner for lunch and met up for a devotional. Elder Russell M. Nelson and his wife spoke!
They were both so great. Sister Nelson talked about how the gospel is a one-size fits all and that we should do all that we can and then wait for God.
Elder Nelson said, “I love your families.” So congrats fam! He first talked to us about the doors of nations opening and how exciting it is . He gave us some advice as well. He told us to look for the bright young people and to practice concisely telling our story in as few words as possible. He then told some stories about some of his 30-second teaching times. My favorite quotes include:
“Of course we believe in the Bible, our members wrote it.”
“The quickest way to get excommunicated is to practice polygamy. The other sins take longer.”
Elder Nelson is so smart, cute, and funny. He Knows Christ. You can tell by the way that he talked about Him.
He read to us from Matthew 1, Luke 1, and 1 Nephi 11. He would stop and explain things about word meanings in Hebrew or Greek. He is so smart!
He also blessed us to feast upon the words of Christ, to apply His actions, to be safe, and that we’d return great and continue serving among our own people.
We then had a picnic-esque dinner and I watched the Armenians (missionaries going there, not from) in my district.
Sunday night we had yet another fireside. We had two people perform “A Christmas Carol.” They did a great job and Elder Nelson stayed and watched it. He closed by telling us that our mission is not only for the people on this side of the veil but those that have already passed on as well.
Well, I love you mucho much.
Jesus is the Christ. He lives and through Him we are not only saved but can succeed.
Labdien (Hello)
Priecigus Ziemassvetkus! (Merry Christmas)
First off, let the Las Vegas clan (Linda & Robert) that I met Sister Stoker. Secondly, mate (mom), can you send my black skirt with the wide band from Julie’s wedding that is in my closet. The one I brought is too big. Thanks!
Christmas has been awesome here (although really tiring). We had a Christmas devotional Christmas Eve that included talks about gifts and music. My favorite performance was “The 12 days of Christmas MTC style. It goes like so:
A rock solid testimony / 2 haircuts free / 3 new companions / 4 chocolate milks / 5 hours of gym / 6:30 wake up / 7 lukewarm showers / 8 hours of rest / 9 vaccinations / 10 more commandments / 11 loads of laundry / 12 hours of class.
After the devotional they passed out kettle corn and we got to watch “Mr. Kruger’s Christmas.” I really enjoyed it, especially when Mr. Kruger is talking to Jesus and mentions that he can hold his head high because he knew Christ.
On Christmas morning we woke up at our usual 6:30 am. Sister Huntington, Bailey, Smith, Burnham, and I (my roommates) opened presents together and then got ready and went to breakfast.
After breakfast we had a talent show that lasted until lunch. It was really fun. We had some really talented pianists, singers, cellos, and even ukulele players. My favorites were all the potential boy bands with their cheesy lyrics and actions. I think the Elders from Russia took the cake. They changed the lyrics and did all the actions too. It was epic with their accents.
We than had Thanksgiving dinner for lunch and met up for a devotional. Elder Russell M. Nelson and his wife spoke!
They were both so great. Sister Nelson talked about how the gospel is a one-size fits all and that we should do all that we can and then wait for God.
Elder Nelson said, “I love your families.” So congrats fam! He first talked to us about the doors of nations opening and how exciting it is . He gave us some advice as well. He told us to look for the bright young people and to practice concisely telling our story in as few words as possible. He then told some stories about some of his 30-second teaching times. My favorite quotes include:
“Of course we believe in the Bible, our members wrote it.”
“The quickest way to get excommunicated is to practice polygamy. The other sins take longer.”
Elder Nelson is so smart, cute, and funny. He Knows Christ. You can tell by the way that he talked about Him.
He read to us from Matthew 1, Luke 1, and 1 Nephi 11. He would stop and explain things about word meanings in Hebrew or Greek. He is so smart!
He also blessed us to feast upon the words of Christ, to apply His actions, to be safe, and that we’d return great and continue serving among our own people.
We then had a picnic-esque dinner and I watched the Armenians (missionaries going there, not from) in my district.
Sunday night we had yet another fireside. We had two people perform “A Christmas Carol.” They did a great job and Elder Nelson stayed and watched it. He closed by telling us that our mission is not only for the people on this side of the veil but those that have already passed on as well.
Well, I love you mucho much.
Jesus is the Christ. He lives and through Him we are not only saved but can succeed.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Week 2
Hola familia!
CAFETERIA
Mark and his food-loving friends will love the cafeteria. This is how it goes down. You can have milk, chocolate milk, juice, soda, etc. at every meal. Wednesdays and Sundays they have ice cream from the BYU creamery. You can have cereal, toast, or pb&j at every meal. Every Friday night they order pizza. Breakfast always includes bagels and fruit, over-sugared yogurt (which makes me sick dad :( ), and then waffles and pancakes, and some form of hashbrown, eggs, and sausage or bacon. They also have some hot cereals that they change out but it isn't the same as making your own oats.
Lunch and dinner are almost always filled with fun things like hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches, chicken nuggets, etc. They also have lots of meat and potato dishes and so on a so forth. There are a vast multitude of desserts including pie, cake, brownies, and cookies at each meal. They also have soups on occasion and a salad bar as well as a bar where you can get a wrap made to your desire.
And it is all that you can eat. It is no wonder that people gain wait here. (Don't worry, so far so good).
GYM
The gym isn't very gym-esque. They have volleyball, foursquare (HELLO fourth grade), and basketball. They have maybe 10 weight machines and about 6 ellipticals and 4 stationary bikes. We aren't allowed to go outside so most of my time is spent running around the track and stretching.
LATVIAN
The language continues to blow my mind. There are over 100 possible noun and adjective endings. The words can sound really similar and you see them with so many different endings that it is hard to point out that it is the same word. Entertaining story: my name tag is wrong. They put the long a sound over the wrong a and so instead of sister it says large mass. On other noteworthy namecalling, the elders in my district have a tendency to call me Elder Lindstrom when they are talking about me to the zone...I don't know if this is a good thing.
LATVIAN CURSE
This week we were informed of the dreaded Latvian curse. Apparently we have a very special and different mission. Not only are there very few people who serve, they all get very close, still hang out for an obnoxiously large amount of their post-mission lives, and get married to each other. My group intends to break this curse (especially since the elders have girlies). Don't worry mom, I DON'T flirt with the elders. I realized how young they were when I say Allen Conners the first day....weird!
TRC
The TRC is the teaching resouce center and generally a missionary's worst nightmare. It is where you practice teaching investigators (and in your language if you are learning one).
DEVOTIONALS
My favorite devotional was on this Tuesday (we have devotionals Tuesday and Sunday nights). Brother Snow of the 70 came and spoke very simply but powerfully. He talked to us about how we bring the message of the Son of God as the shepherds did and how we invite others to come unto Christ. He talked to us about how we are just the conduits that help investigators feel the spirit. He told us that we preside over the changing of hearts.
STUDY
I have been reading conference talks and came upon a really great one that reinforced the idea in my mind that we need to act like what we want to become today. If we sit around waiting to become something then we will become nothing. We should all try to be good people now and be who we want to become.
TODAY
We got to go and clean the temple for three hours. Dearest mother, I luckily didn't have to clean the toilets. I did clean things with a q-tip though. Feel free to check any of the fake ferns for dust. They won't have any because I had the honor of cleaning them. :)
PEOPLE
Ok, here we go
SISTER BAILEY Is this cute blonde southern girl. She has a boyfriend who writes her every day. She has a very strong testimony though her parents are less active. This makes SISTER HUNTINGTON, a wild brown haired very not Californian California girl upset that the boy she is planning on marrying right when she gets home only writes her 2-3 times a week hand written. SISTER SMITH is from Canada and takes being a missionary very seriously. She has graduated from school and doesn't like to be late. Her companion is SISTER BURNHAM from Oregon. She loves politics and doing her hair. I don't think I've seen anyone fix their makeup/hair so much in one day. ELDER BARET was our zone leader. He leaves for Greece with his companion tomorrow. He is this super tall teddy bear. His companion is Elder Greciano. He's Spanish but doesn't look it. He is awesome as well. ELDER MOYE is a Texas sweetheart recent convert. He is definitely from Texas. And that is about all I have time for. You'd be surprised how many elders have girls though. It is nuts!!
Alex left this week. Fun stuff!
Elder Russell M. Nelson and wife with us all weekend and spoke in RS and Priesthood Sunday morning.
I have a testimony of this church. I know that the gospel is true and that this is God's work. He loves us and has created a plan for us to return to him.
Random thought from Elder Baret (Belgian elder going to Greece) "It doesn't matter where you serve, but how."
Dad, Scotland is over his jet lag and we don't let him eat sugar anymore. I'm praying for him lots. I have a hard time teaching with him because he doesn't really study and doesn't like to practice or anything. I am working on loving him and serving him and praying for him though. Gotta love learning experiences.
XOXO
Masa Lindstroma
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Week One
Well hello family and friends,
I have survived my first week and the Empty Sea in Provo. It is definitely not what I expected. You have a lot of "Missionary Directed Time" aka teach yourself, so in that sense it is nothing like seminary (I thought they'd teach us gospel things like in seminary). I still think that the food here is rubbish, but it would be heaven for starving 19-year-old boys. As for girls who like to cook and don't like having hamburgers every day at lunch, it is not our most favorite. Gym time is a God-send. I think it is the only time that my brain turns off. Every time I go to sleep I'm teaching investigators or practicing Latvian in my head. We always have gym after lunch or dinner and I have somehow managed to run without puking (albeit the track is 10 laps = a mile so I go rather slow).
I am in a room with 4 other sisters: Sister Smith, Burnham, Bailey, and Huntington. They are all headed off to Armenia. I mostly see them after 9pm. Most of my days are spent with Elder Lynch and Elder Burr. Elder Lynch is having a hard time with the time change so he will stock up on sugar (aka Swedish fish, he's eaten 5 bags or so already) between lunch and dinner. This leaves him totally hyper and quite useless. So far he's sang us Lady Gaga and Metallica on said sugar rushes. Needless to say we are going to ban sugar for him although he still has his 2 glasses of root beer at EVERY meal (yuck!). Aggie ice cream totally beats the BYU creamery.
The Latvian language is crazy intense. There is this evil thing called declension. This means that depending on how you use EVERY noun and EVERY pronoun and EVERY adjective you have to congugate it differently. Talk about thinking before you speak. Luckily Elder Burr has studied German which has cases as well so he is really helpful. The language sounds a lot like Russia meets Italy (at least with the numbers) and then throw in some odd garb and some nordic sounding stuff and voila! Our teachers are really great. We have two teachers who come. They both served in Latvia several years ago. They teach us Latvian grammar concepts as well as gospel things. We are expected to memorize 20 vocabulary words a day as well as memorize 20 scriptures (in Latvian...ha ha) and be speaking in Latvian 24/7 by week six. We'll see how that goes. Right now we can pray in Latvian, ask someone their name and how they are, and we are learning how to congujate things so I could theoretically make my own sentences. About 55% of the people in Latvia speak Latvian, the rest Russian.
My P-days are on Thursdays. We get 30 minutes of email time, as well as time to do laundry and go to the temple.
Some days I like being a "solo" sister more than others. It is nice to not have to deal with a moody girl all the time, but I also have no real agency in where I want to go, I have to follow around whomever is escorting me so I don't even get to plan what I want to do when on P-days. I suppose it will make me appreciate those 3 sisters that I will serve with in Latvia and that when you have a companion you can make decisions together. I definitely wanted a companion last night. On Wednesdays we go and practice teach volunteers for about an hour. I had to teach the first lesson on the restoration all by my lonesome with out a companion to help answer their questions (and they were asking TOUGH questions). Let's just say that I have learned this week that none of my mission experience is for me. Latvian is messing up my French, I don't have a Brother Caldwell or Merrill-esque teacher to teach me more about the gospel, and teaching last night was definitely not fun (and I normally love teaching). Good thing that the church is true! The whole Latvian thing is getting a little bit better as I am trying to submit my will to the Lord, but some days it is still really hard because I still feel this urging need to go and teach the people in France. I feel like my work isn't done there. I think of my experiences of my mini-mission a lot and they help me through the harder days. If Elder Lazarev can learn Chinese, gosh dang it I can learn Latvian. These people deserve to hear the message in their language.
I actually had a really neat thought on my way to the MTC. I was thinking about the Roundy's and Daniel and how all the girls went on missions. I thought about how I was going about to finish my brother's work as well. My brother Jesus Christ is not physically on this earth anymore, but His work isn't done and I need to finish it.
My time is about out. I love you all. Make good choices.
Masa Lindstroma
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