Hello all!
I'm just starting "Week 3" here at the MTC! They count the 3 days that I got here as week one, so technically it's week 3. But it's only been 2 weeks that I've been here. :) I'm loving it. Everything here is busy and crazy and there is no spare time at all, so it's great but P-Days are something that we really look forward to around here. :) The new Hermana's in our district said this morning that last night was like Christmas Eve, because it's just a very exciting day. And we told them that the day is about as fast a Christmas too, so use every minute wisely! :P
I had a little thought the other day that I wanted to share. So in August, I started my first day of college. That day was the first time I had ever picked up a pencil to actually draw... I was scared to death. I spent 3 hours drawing a tea pot, and it didn't even really look like the tea pot I was trying to draw... So I was discouraged for a little bit, but I went back 2 days later and tried again. By the end of this school year, I could draw something that resembled a human face, which was a HUGE improvement for me. I never thought that day would come that I could draw semi-well. So I was thinking about that as I got discouraged in class the other day. Taking drawing has thus far been the hardest, most ambitious thing that I've done. Now, I can say that learning a language is by far the hardest thing I've done. But I just have to wake up each day, pick up that pencil, and continue to improve. Hopefully by the end of my mission I can speak a language that sounds semi like Spanish. :) And I know that day will come!! Which is such a testimony builder for me and I am so so grateful. I know I could not do this alone. The Spanish is coming along, it is just slower than I wish it was. Yesterday, we had the opportunity to go to something called the TRC (teaching resource center) where we get to talk to members for 20 minutes, get to know them, and leave them with a short message. It was so much fun! They were very patient with our choppy Spanish, but it was so great to have a semi-conversation with a native speaker. Hermana Heslop and I really loved having that experience. And we get to do it once a week! So that should be a lot of fun. :)
We also have two new "investigators" named Pedro and Victor. We haven't had the chance to teach Pedro yet, but we got to teach Victor on Monday. It was such a heavy experience. Victor is a dad/husband that only has a job on the weekends, is looking to find more work to support his family, and he is just a very sad person. It was hard because whatever we said to him or asked him, he would give one word answers and acted like he didn't want us to be there. Our next lesson we are going to talk more about happiness and prayer, so I hope that it will go better. It's harder I think to know that's how some people will be in Chile... I'm excited to share the gospel with them, and hopefully they can accept it and become truly converted to see the happiness that it can bring them.
Last week I didn't get to say much about my teachers, or my district, or my zone, etc. So I'm going to do that today! :) We have 2 main teachers, Hermanos Lounsberry and Staples. (Hermano Lounsberry was Matias ps... :)) One teaches half of the day and the other one teaches the other half of the day. They're both great! They try to speak to us in Spanish all the time, which sometimes is a little slower for us to understand, but I can mostly understand what they're saying all the time now! I know that they aren't speaking as fast as they normally would, so that'll be an adjustment once I'm gone, but it'll come. :) I love my district!! We have all the different personalities possible, but it makes it fun and we all get along so well. They boys are so goofy. Sometimes I forget that they're only 18 and 19, but other times it's hard to forget. They put our purifying water bottles to "the test" this week. It was disgusting. But they work! Yich. I honestly I am still grossed out by that one. And I will just leave it at that. :) Elder Funaro is the only other one in our zone (and I swear the whole MTC) that's going to Antofagasta. I hear different missions in Chile all the time, but I have yet to meet another going to Anto. :P
Also, random little side note, I've been looking so hard for Elder Willmore that got here last week and I haven't been able to find him! I have an Elder Jackson in my district that was roommates with Matt Fitzgerald and Jacob. Small world. :) There is one other district that's been here longer than us and they leave on Tuesday. They all went to Vegas and Boise last week to get their visas so they're actually leaving! (They're all headed to Mexico City Northwest, Kyle!) And our branch presidency is also fantastic. :) I didn't say much last week, but I am so so grateful to have a couple familiar faces a couple times a week when I get to see President and Sister Caywood. Megan wrote and said how much of a miracle it is to have them as my presidents, and I have to say it truly is. The Lord works in mysterious ways. :)
Last night we had the chance to hear from Elder Nash of the Seventy. It was such an inspiring talk! It was one of those powerful, "go gettum" talks. He talked a lot about the Doctrine of Christ, and focused on the Atonement. He said, "The Atonement is the hinge on which all eternity swings." How true that is! I never thought of it like that before. At the beginning of his talk, he had us raise our hands to show what different continents we were going to. I thought that there would be a ton for South and Central America, but the most hands went up for Asia!! I would say about 1/3 to 1/2 of the hands were up for Asia. It was crazy! There was a buzz of excitement with that one. The work is hastening very quickly, and it is fun to be here in the middle of it. One of the other things he said that hit me pretty hard was when he read 3 Nephi 27: 13-19. He said, "The Father sent [His Son], and he knew he would be obedient and do his will. Is it any different for us? Submit your will to the will of the Father. If you're too tired to get up, you get up anyway. If you're too hot to keep working, you keep working anyway. If you'd rather take a nap than study, you study anyway. Miracles will come." That was one of those "WOW" moments. It is hard to get up every morning, but on Sunday we had a speaker for Devotional (Mary Ellen Edmunds) and she encouraged us to wake up every morning and re-accept our mission calls every morning. That honestly has helped me keep the best attitude. It makes me remember why I'm here and also that there are people that I promised in our pre-mortal life that I need to go find and keep that promise. It just makes me so excited! :D Love life. :)
And I have my notes from Elder Nelson, so I'll share a few of those with you (thanks Dad for reminding me! :)) The first two are from Sister Nelson:
That's about it for this week! We're finally getting into the swing of things, so it's nice to have a set schedule and study as much as possible. I just have to remember I wasn't meant to learn a whole language in 2 weeks. I've learned a lot, but I have a long way to go. :) Patience and diligence is key. :)
Love you all! Thanks for your love and support and letters! :)The church is true!!!
Much love,
Hermana Tuft
Last night we had the chance to hear from Elder Nash of the Seventy. It was such an inspiring talk! It was one of those powerful, "go gettum" talks. He talked a lot about the Doctrine of Christ, and focused on the Atonement. He said, "The Atonement is the hinge on which all eternity swings." How true that is! I never thought of it like that before. At the beginning of his talk, he had us raise our hands to show what different continents we were going to. I thought that there would be a ton for South and Central America, but the most hands went up for Asia!! I would say about 1/3 to 1/2 of the hands were up for Asia. It was crazy! There was a buzz of excitement with that one. The work is hastening very quickly, and it is fun to be here in the middle of it. One of the other things he said that hit me pretty hard was when he read 3 Nephi 27: 13-19. He said, "The Father sent [His Son], and he knew he would be obedient and do his will. Is it any different for us? Submit your will to the will of the Father. If you're too tired to get up, you get up anyway. If you're too hot to keep working, you keep working anyway. If you'd rather take a nap than study, you study anyway. Miracles will come." That was one of those "WOW" moments. It is hard to get up every morning, but on Sunday we had a speaker for Devotional (Mary Ellen Edmunds) and she encouraged us to wake up every morning and re-accept our mission calls every morning. That honestly has helped me keep the best attitude. It makes me remember why I'm here and also that there are people that I promised in our pre-mortal life that I need to go find and keep that promise. It just makes me so excited! :D Love life. :)
And I have my notes from Elder Nelson, so I'll share a few of those with you (thanks Dad for reminding me! :)) The first two are from Sister Nelson:
- "Pray to be led to the people whose ancestors are praying for you! We will then be helping those ancestors in turn by getting their work done.”
- "Tune out the world. We have to realize that one; they're more alive than we are. Two, they are eager to receive their ordinances vicariously, and three this church is the only church with the power and authority to perform these ordinances."
- "You are baptizing to help them qualify for exaltation, not just to bring them into the church.
- "[This earth] is not a place to rest; if we wanted to rest, why bother with mortality?”
- "Having character is better than being one."
That's about it for this week! We're finally getting into the swing of things, so it's nice to have a set schedule and study as much as possible. I just have to remember I wasn't meant to learn a whole language in 2 weeks. I've learned a lot, but I have a long way to go. :) Patience and diligence is key. :)
Love you all! Thanks for your love and support and letters! :)The church is true!!!
Much love,
Hermana Tuft
To the Family:
Oh how I miss you all!! :D Congrats Spencer on your choir award!! That is so awesome, I wish I would have taken the time to hear your song before I left. You better keep singing so you can sing to me when you get home. :) I loved getting the family pictures! They look so good! :D I realized last night as I was bearing my testimony how much I missed you all, but these 18 months will just fly by. The past 2 weeks definitely have! It works better if I just write you all back snail mail style for now, we'll see what'll work best in Chile, but for now I'll just keep writing that way. :) I'm so sad to hear about Sister Monson. They didn't even tell us here! I thought that that might be news they should share... Oh well. We all found out one way or another. :P And crazy tornadoes!! That's nuts. It's good to hear about things going on in the world. And are they really trying to impeach Obama, or is that just rumor...? If possible, can you send me the weather for the week...? I really miss not knowing the weather. :) I hope your dress turns out well Lindsay! I'd love to see a picture when it's done. :) Mom, it depends on when our DL, Elder Noe, gets our mail. The mail room closes as 7, so if he gets it after dinner than I won't get it until the next morning, so it all just depends. But for the most part I get them the same day! Thank you! :) The whole zone says you're the best mom ever. And I agree. :D Dad, one more thing I wanted to share that Elder Nelson said is that we are never alone. Our ancestors are constantly with us. e said something that might give us comfort is that we can pray and ask Heavenly Father to send us specific people, or specific attributes to help us in our lives. When he said that I thought of Peter. I think he is with you more than you think, just helping you find everything and helping everything work together so smoothly. Have you heard anything else from Jack? I'd love to be updated every once and a while on how things are going. :)
I've got to get off now, but I'm going to try to send pictures again. Let's hope it works! I'm going to send it in a different email this time... If not I'm just sending my card home. :P I'd love it if you kept your eye out for a lightweight robe, Mom! Just one kinda like what you wear around sometimes. That would be fantastic. :) Thanks for the sun burn stuff, I didn't get a chance to read the whole label, but it looks great! And the picture made me laugh. :P I'll be talking to you all soon!!
Oh how I miss you all!! :D Congrats Spencer on your choir award!! That is so awesome, I wish I would have taken the time to hear your song before I left. You better keep singing so you can sing to me when you get home. :) I loved getting the family pictures! They look so good! :D I realized last night as I was bearing my testimony how much I missed you all, but these 18 months will just fly by. The past 2 weeks definitely have! It works better if I just write you all back snail mail style for now, we'll see what'll work best in Chile, but for now I'll just keep writing that way. :) I'm so sad to hear about Sister Monson. They didn't even tell us here! I thought that that might be news they should share... Oh well. We all found out one way or another. :P And crazy tornadoes!! That's nuts. It's good to hear about things going on in the world. And are they really trying to impeach Obama, or is that just rumor...? If possible, can you send me the weather for the week...? I really miss not knowing the weather. :) I hope your dress turns out well Lindsay! I'd love to see a picture when it's done. :) Mom, it depends on when our DL, Elder Noe, gets our mail. The mail room closes as 7, so if he gets it after dinner than I won't get it until the next morning, so it all just depends. But for the most part I get them the same day! Thank you! :) The whole zone says you're the best mom ever. And I agree. :D Dad, one more thing I wanted to share that Elder Nelson said is that we are never alone. Our ancestors are constantly with us. e said something that might give us comfort is that we can pray and ask Heavenly Father to send us specific people, or specific attributes to help us in our lives. When he said that I thought of Peter. I think he is with you more than you think, just helping you find everything and helping everything work together so smoothly. Have you heard anything else from Jack? I'd love to be updated every once and a while on how things are going. :)
I've got to get off now, but I'm going to try to send pictures again. Let's hope it works! I'm going to send it in a different email this time... If not I'm just sending my card home. :P I'd love it if you kept your eye out for a lightweight robe, Mom! Just one kinda like what you wear around sometimes. That would be fantastic. :) Thanks for the sun burn stuff, I didn't get a chance to read the whole label, but it looks great! And the picture made me laugh. :P I'll be talking to you all soon!!
Lotssss of love! :D XOXOXO
-Kristen
P.S. Can you please send Grandma and Grandpa's address? That would be fantastic. :D
I can help Mom!
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