(Sister Slade)
Hello Friends!
I can hardly believe it! I'm a missionary! I decided that I wanted to serve a mission when I was 13, and now here I am 6 years later! It still hasn't hit me full force yet. It's kind of hard for me to believe. I apologize in advance for how disorganized this email may seem. So much has happened that I don't really know where this letter is going to go. To explain the subject, every morning everyone's alarm goes off at 6:30. because the walls are thin, we can hear pretty much every single person's alarm clock go off every morning. It is quite the wake up call.
Anyway, the last two days have been absolutely crazy! On my flight to Utah, there were 4 other missionaries headed to the Missionary Training Center. I sat next to an Elder Oxenden who is assigned to labor in Washington. When I checked into the MTC later that day, we were both surprised to learn that we would be in the same district.
When I emailed all of you on Wednesday to let you know that I had made it here safely, I had met my companion Sister Allison literally 2 minutes before. At that point, I hadn't even been in the MTC for half an hour. I absolutely love Sister Allison!!! She's from Arizona and is also headed to Bentonville Arkansas. In our district there are 5 companionships, but Sister Allison and I are the only set of sisters. All of the elders in our district are going to either Washington or Oregon, and then there are Sister Allison and I. We know of 4 others headed to Arkansas, but they're basically in a different world from us because they're not in our district or zone.
Wednesday was exhausting! So much happened, and there was so much new information to take in that I barely remember anything that happened. A couple things that I do remember though are the MTC presidency teaching us and the rain. When the MTC presidency welcomed us, they taught us about the 5 loaves and the 2 fishes. They said that even though our efforts may seem small, like the 5 loaves and 2 fishes seemed to the 5000, if we bring our all, then the lord will bless our efforts and it will fill all that need to partake of our efforts. Also on Wednesday, it decided to rain. Because none of the new missionaries had unpacked yet, none of us had umbrellas. The rain wasn't just a light sprinkle. It was pouring. At least it was pouring whenever we had to go outside. We would watch the rain, and whenever we were in class, it would stop raining, but as soon as we went outside, it decided to pick up again. So as a result, we appeared to every meal and class with dripping hair and shoulders.
In one of our classes yesterday, we talked about our missionary purpose which is to "invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end." The teacher told us that we can't really fulfill our purpose unless we love the people. He then said that that was the purpose of a missionary, but the best part of being a missionary is having a front row seat for watching the lord do his work.
I've decided that one of my favorite parts of having a companion is companionship study. Yesterday, Sister Allison and I decided to study Doctrine and Covenants section 4, specifically the line, "If ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work." We talked about the word desire and looked it up in the topical guide. something that we learned was that in the scriptures, the word desire is synonym to purpose. Because we spend so much time talking about our purpose, and how to magnify it, this struck both of us really hard. So now, instead of saying, "My purpose is to invite..." we say, "My desire is to invite..." It makes the whole thing mean so much more to me now. Later that night, our branch presidency was teaching us more about our purpose. At the same time, Sister Allison and I turned to each other and whispered, "No, our desire." It was so unexpected and completely unplanned, that both of us started to laugh right there in the front row while our branch president was teaching. I don't think it would have been so funny if we weren't both so exhausted.
In the MTC, our branches and Zones are the same thing. Yesterday we had our first zone meeting where the presidency called missionaries to different callings in our branch. Sister Allison and I were called to be the branch music directors. Almost as soon as the calling was extended, I thought about the multiple blessings I've had that tell me that my musical gifts will bless others and help them come unto Christ no matter where I am. I think it's interesting that I am here in the MTC for only three weeks, but I have the opportunity to share my testimony of the gospel through music.
Also last night in the zone meeting, President Dyck interviewed each of us separately. In my interview, he told me that he was prompted to tell me that I was one of the lord's miracle missionaries. He said that the lord loves all of his missionaries, but He can only trust a few and I was one of those. He said it was because I had an obedient spirit. This was amazing to me, because at this point, we had talked for a full 2 minutes, and he could tell that about me. I've never seen a need to rebel against rules or God's commandments. I like being obedient because it makes other choices so much easier because you don't have to deal with bad consequences from bad decisions before. He told me that obedience brings blessings, but exact obedience brings miracles. Then he told me again that I was one of the Lord's miracle missionaries and also that when I smile, it lights up the room. It basically made my day to be told that that's what the lord thinks of me.
Our district is going to the temple later this afternoon, and I'll be sure to get a picture of all of us so you can put faces to names in the following weeks as I mention everyone. I love all of you!
God is Good!
Love,
Sister Slade
P.S. the chocolate milk here is the BEST.
