Hi Everybody! I sent you an awesome letter in the mail, did
you get it yet? Sadly I have NO time to write and after I wrote the first
letter I found out I wasn't supposed to write any more until p-day so I sent it
off and waited semi-patiently to write everyone today! May I just say that the
DearElder letters made my day? They're delivered several times each day and
they're just absolutely awesome to receive!
I'm currently in the laundry room waiting for my clothes to
dry. I'm SO HAPPY to have a laundry day. Laundry here only costs $.10 which is so great
compared to prices at school.
I'll spend some time answering all your questions in one
joint email, except for the handwritten letter's you guys sent me. I'll reply
by hand to those. Also, this computer doesn't have spell check...so if I spell
words wrong, please forgive me!
Mom:
Yes, I'm getting used to being called sister Draney, but if
I ever refer to myself in 3rd person then I always say Shaela on accident.
You're right! Sunday is just like every other day except we
have Sacrament meeting. It's a little more relaxed. We go to a big group relief
society (I haven't seen Samantha Smith anywhere!) and then we had to stay for a
new sisters meeting where they went over modesty things and they impressed upon
us the importance of bathing every day. I guess that's a problem for some
sisters...eww. We have tons of study time on Sundays, which is realyl nice. And
we have interviews and meetings with our branch president. Then we have a
Sunday night devo with some sort of general authority. Then we go back to our
classrooms to talk about what we've learned as a district.
I was worried about you when
you left and I hoped you weren't too sad. I only cried once when my branch
president asked me about you. So now he doesn't anymore. However, I'm too busy
to be really homesick, so luckily it hasn't been too much of a problem. But I
think of you often and miss you!! I miss everyone! Keep the letters coming! I
love hearing the things that are going on at home.
Tons of love!!
Please tell Tanner thank you
for me! I definitely needed the blessings! and tell Michael to write me!
Everyone else has!
Dad:
I'm not only surviving my first few days at the MTC but I am
rocking it! (For the most part) Every day I have really good times where I am
so happy, then something could happen that makes me feel like I know nothing
and it's depressing. So it's a lot of highs and lows every day and every night
I'm emotionally exhausted by the time I make it to bed. I'm so glad for gym
time because it gives us a physical release from all of the mental stress
throughout the day.
Getting up early isn't too bad once I actually make it out
of bed. It's simply getting up the motivation to move that's difficult.
I have 4 sisters and 4 elders in my district and we're all
going to Montana
The food here is really good, but it does funny things to
your stomach and our digestive system. Everyone here is constantly burping and
farting (quietly, you know, silent but deadly). Everyone wishes we had brought
pills to help with gas! One elder here has already gained 7 lbs! I haven't
gained any weight, or lost any. Oh well. There aren't many choices when it
comes to food here.
I love you!!
So, here are the general
details of the MTC:
The bookstore is wonderful if you forgot things (like
laundry detergent) and we get a HUGE discount which is so nice! We get so much
food at meal times and we sit for so long that I'm rarely ever hungry for the
meals, I'm just grateful for the chance to have a little break because all of
our classes are so highly-intense! They really push you here and they don't
have much simpathy, but they do help us a lot.
I have learned so much that my poor brain is about to burst!
I could have never done this much growing at home in years. I already feel so
different from when I left.
It is so dry here that I'm itchy all of the time and I wish
I had more tights! I keep realizing things I forgot that I should have brought,
but I'm trying to keep track of them so that I don't forget them all. I
included some of them in the letter so that you could tell Kistie for Tanner
and her young friend. ahhh! I'm almost out of time!
The showers are great and there is a lot of hot water but
I'm so grateful for my shower flip flops because the floor is gross and I'm
such a germ-a-phobe
We have two investigators (well, one now) the other one
didn't show up for our last teaching appointment, so we never get to see her
again since we're being transferred out. But our investigator, Billy has been so
tough! he's 60 and super nice but he knows nothing about religion, or God, or
anything! So it takes us forever to get anywhere. But, yesterday was our third
lesson and we got him to agree to be baptized! It's incredible because he has
been making so much progress even though it was slow at the start and we got so
frustrated because it felt like we were bad missionaries because he was making
no progress, but finally he prayed and that did the trick! He's been reading
the Book of Mormon and praying and he's developed faith in God and because he
has so much faith he's agreed to be baptized! Yes, I know he's nowhere near
ready, but just the fact that he had so much faith to say yes makes me so happy
and hopeful! We have a lot of work to do with him, but it has been such a
learning experience. (He was a fake investigator played by our teacher, based
off of a real person our teacher taught, but it is so realistic and
frustrating! They don't soften the person at all for us and it was frustrating
because the real Billy hasn't been baptized yet either and they use our lessons
for ideas and inspiration.)
Teaching gives you so much motivation to study as hard as
you can because you realize how little you really know. We have to rely a lot
on the Spirit here because sometimes they can ask you a question and you just
get STUCK and there's nothing you can do but plead for help or tell them you'll
answer their question next time. We try to use the Book of Mormon so they build
their faith on that, rather than on us. We're teaching Billy to find his own
answer in the BoM and I think it's really helping him.
I may have to get some thicker skirts later, or more tights,
it's already freezing here in Utah
We have bunkbeds in our rooms here and little closets with
no hangers, so I have to iron my shirt every morning and it can be kind of
irritating. The sweaters we bought are my favorite! They don't really wrinkle
and they're so cute! And the scarves are amazing! I need to get more white
undershirts later because I've been using them all of the time and they get
dirty really quickly.
My time is up but I'll tell you more later. This has been
such a wonderful experience and I've never received so many answers to my
prayers. I hope I can make the rest of my mission just as wonderful!
The elders just delivered a letter from Samantha and a note
to go get a package! I'm so excited, and my laundry is done and others are
waiting for this computer, so I have to go. But maybe I'll have a chance to
send you another email later!
If not, I love you all SOOOOOOO much!! And tell Natalie I'm replying to her letter by hand today!
If not, I love you all SOOOOOOO much!! And tell Natalie I'm replying to her letter by hand today!
Always choose the right and don't forget to not just read
the scriptures but really pay attention. I love you!!!!
I'll send pictures soon,l hopefully I don't have to buy a
chord! :/
Lots and lots and lots of love!!!
Also, Mom, I'm flying out on Tuesday, not Wednesday and I'm
going to have to buy a phone card at the bookstore, but they're way cheap here.
xoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxooxoxoxoxox
(and make sure and kiss Michael! heehee)
Love,
Sister Draney
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