MTC Letters

Jan 9, 2012

Good afternoon mom!

How are you doing? I hope that you are well. I am doing just great. We have
a normal/pday schedule today. Any free time that we have, we can use to get
laundry done, check email and send emails home, pack, and other activities.
I decided that I am just going to send the box of things home to you. Felicia was telling me that the MTC has a deal with them
where you can send things home for only 7 dollars so I am going to try to
do that.
So how are things going with you and Mandy? Are you both enjoying work? Has
anyone come to see the house at all? I've been praying for there to be
people coming to look but maybe I shouldn't do that. Just let me know. I
just want to do what is needed for you all.
Sister Fluckiger and I had an amazing experience in the TRC (it's a place
where we teach progressing investigators, less-actives and referrals). We
were teaching a young woman named Hannah who was referred by her friend
Celeste. She was very open to what we were saying and even though she
didn't have any religious background, she was willing to read the Book of
Mormon and pray about the things that we taught her and pray when she read
the Book of Mormon. It was so amazing! Also during a less-active lesson, I
met some people who know Cynthia Bingham's parents. Their names are Don and
Barbara Dowd. You should ask her if she knows them or not. He was so
excited to hear that I knew her. He took down your name and also mine so
that he could ask about us. I told him that you are really good friends
with Cynthia. Also, they weren't really less actives but they volunteered
to be for our practice. It went so well! They both got really teary-eyed
and the wife said that Sister Fluckiger and I are "darlings". They are both
such amazing people.
Anyways, I will be calling in the morning probably between 7 and 8 my time.
So be listening for the phone. :) And don't forget to call dad so that he
can hear. Also, make sure to be saving my emails so that I have them for
when I get home.

Love you lots!
Sister Chord


Jan 3, 2012

Good afternoon Mom!

Thank you so much for the package! I just picked it up at the mailroom. I haven't opened it yet so hopefully I will get to do that soon. Hangers would be great to send in my package and my comforter. I haven't used any of my bedding because they actually provide all that you need for bedding here in the MTC so I have just kept my bedding in the vacuum sealed bag. Also if you could get me some liquid eyeliner and send my other headbands and flowers that I put into my hair. I found out that I can wear them out on my mission. 

I will definitely give Felicia a hug for you. She hasn't been feeling very well. She is pretty sick. I hope that she gets better soon because I heard that if you are sick, you aren't allowed to travel. And she is supposed to be leaving Monday for Poland. I'm happy to hear that Eileen did well on her talk. She is such a wonderful girl and I can't wait to see her while she is here.

And the reason that I stuck my tonge out at you was because I didn't want to have to keep saying goodbye to you all so I did that instead of crying or anything else. I am happy here and there have been so many wonderful experiences that I have had. It would take too long to write them all and so I will just have to tell you about them later.

I saw Chris today and he let me know that today was his last day and that if he couldn't pick up my package, he would ask Alex Herd to do it for him and bring it home. So it will work out in the end. Also, the Provo temple was closed when we first got here and it just opened up today and so we were able to do an endowment session in the Provo temple. It was so wonderful mom! It was great to be able to remember how it felt the first time when I went through for myself and then also to feel the happiness of the person that I went through for. I love going to the temple and feeling the peace that comes with it. It is wonderful.

Things are going great this week. I have learned a lot in the last week of knowing how to teach with the Spirit and allowing the Holy Ghost to enter the lesson and teach the investigator. I had a crazy experience with my teacher when we were learning how to use prayer to convert our investigators. I was pretending to be an investigator for him and I was just overwhelmed by the Spirit as I was praying as this investigator and it was so powerful that I wept with joy. It was amazing! Now I know how I want my investigators to feel. We still have PE. Our district plays a basketball kind of game together every time we have PE.

There is only one Phoenix Mission that I know of. So I don't know what to tell you. Anyway, I need to email dad before my time runs out.

 

Love you!

Sister Chord

December 27, 2011


Good morning mom!

 

I was so happy to see that I got an email back from you. It made me so happy. You will have to tell everyone hello for me and tell them that I love them very much. Elder Bednar is seriously an awesome Apostle! He really hits on the important things that we need to know and he is really blunt about the things that he says to you. If you are feeling guilty about something he says, then you are probably doing something wrong and it made me realize that I need to be more serious about the work that I am doing and am so excited to be able to teach the gospel to others. And it is true that you will be able to see devotionals when you move down to Utah. It will be so awesome! I am actually really excited for our family to be moving to Utah. It is a beautiful area and I feel like it is so wonderful. Don't get me wrong, I really love Anacortes but I feel like moving to Utah will be a positive experience for our whole family. And I am super excited for my letters from everyone. I can't wait to read them. I'm really glad that Morgan and Vanessa liked their gifts. They deserved them. They are such wonderful girls and have so much love in their hearts for others. And I can totally see Mandy staying up really late playing her game with her new Wii and her Gold Wiimote. She is so silly but I love her so much! I'm glad that she is moving upstairs with you. You two will be able to see each other more and I feel like that will be a good thing. I hope Dad made it safely to Minnesota. That seems like a really long drive! I'm glad that it was good going through Grandma's things and that it wasn't too hard. Did everyone get what they wanted of her things? I hope that the garage sale goes well. I think that will definitely help you all out with the funeral.

 I can't believe that it has already been a week! I have learned so much here! It is so cool!

I am doing good. I have my ups and downs but I stay positive and enjoy the experiences that I have here. The food really isn't that bad. I haven't gained any weight. I actually think that I have lost a little weight which is good. I really like all of my teachers. They are inspired men and women. They are so positive and know exactly what to say to make me understand. All of my roommates are awesome and we get along really well. We are a close knit group. We do everything together. It is really fun!

I am glad that Sunny it doing so well and I can't wait to see pictures of him and everyone! I need to send an email off to dad so I will talk to you later!

 

Love you mom!

 

Sister Chord

December 25, 2011


Hello Family,

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

 

How are you doing? How is the family? Are you having the family brunch right now? I'm sure that you are :) And I am sure that the family is laughing and having a great time together. Chris and Maressa, I hope that you are enjoying your Christmas day with Maressa's family as well. I am sitting in one of the computer labs in one of the teaching buildings writing this email to you. I am sure that you were really busy these last couple of days and were not able to write me an email yet and that is ok. I have gotten so many reminders that I am loved. I got a letter from my friend Katelyn Ericson from DearElder.com and it was so nice. It was short but I felt so much love from her in those few sentences. Then I got a package from Erin and Alex Herd that had a little note and some homemade cookies. They were really good! Then I also received my package from Grandma and Grandpa Gilson filled with so many homemade goodies. I tried a few and they were really good! Then I opened all of my presents from you and I am so thankful for them all. I was wondering where my sewing kit had gone. Now I can fix a couple of things that have hem problems and things like that.

 

So I'll let you know what happened in the last few days since I have already written you a letter and I'm not sure it you received it or not but I will tell you about the things that I didn't write about in my letter. So I ran into Elder Jordan Reed, Brother Reed's son who is going to Texas on his mission. I didn't have my camera so he took a picture on his so maybe it will show up when he sends home his memory card and his family will put up pictures. I have been really bad about having my camera with me so that I can take pictures so I am going to work on that now. Anyways so in our class instructions, we have been doing a lot of role plays of pretending to teach to investigators and then assessing with our companions after about how we did and where we can improve. My companion Sister Fluckiger and I work really well together. We both follow the promptings of the Spirit and can understand where the other is going with the lesson. It is so amazing! I have seen myself grow so much in the few days that I have been here. My teachers are so amazing. Their names are Brother Yorgason and Sister Woahn. Ohh and Chris, Sister Woahn said that she ran into you on Thursday. She said that you seem really cool. Then last night we had a Christmas Program that included the nativity and a whole lot of singing. There was so much talent shown by other Elders and Sisters. I could really feel the Spirit so strongly. Then we were given yogurt covered popcorn to eat while we watched an older version of The Christmas Carol. Then we all went to bed. This morning, we got up, got ready, went to our classroom to open presents with the rest of our district, and then went to breakfast. Then we had a Sacrament Service in the huge gymnasium with 2,120 other missionaries. It was a crazy experience to say the least. They were so efficient and got it done really quickly. Then we had a Christmas Devotional with Elder David A. Bednar. He spoke to us about how we need to forget about ourselves and think about how Christ would have been when he was serving the people on this earth and about how we need to have the Character of Christ. It was so emotional and a great experience to feel of the love that Elder Bednar and his wife have for us. Then we had a huge lunch that was so filling. And don't worry mom, I am eating healthy while I am in here. :)

 

So that's about it for me. I will get to write again on Tuesday since that is our P-day while we are here. I hope that you are all having an AMAZING CHRISTMAS DAY and I will talk to you all later!

 

Love you!