December 8, 2010

December 8, 2010

Hi family!!

First, thank you SO much for my cinnamon rolls, and beef jerky, and the lovely notes with each of those. It was the perfect sweet and salty combination. Thank you!

I hardly know what to say: so much has happened in one short week, but the moral of the story is that I love the MTC!

My companion is Sister Jane Thomas, from Sugarhouse, Utah. She is an English Major at BYU right now; she has 1 more year left, and then plans on pursuing an MBA. Sister Thomas is my companion, and roommate, and we are both going to Arcadia, English speaking. There are two other sisters in our district, Sister Arbogast and Sister Johnson, also our roommates, and going to Arcadia, English speaking. Our district also has 8 elders; 4 of them will go to Arcadia English with us, and the other 4 will be going to Billings, Montana. Our departure date is December 21st for Arcadia, and we are all excited!

Our district has two amazing teachers, Brother Snyder and Brother Terry. They have both returned from serving missions in Florida sometime this last year.

We are in Branch 7; all the missionaries in our branch beside our district are going to the Philippines I believe. We have 2 other roommates (there are 6 of us in one room, crazy!), headed to the Philippines. One of them actually left last night, Sister Bruno, so there are five of us now; Sister Brand is here for 6 or so more weeks I think.

Our branch presidency is very sweet, along with their wives. We haven't had a lot of chance to meet them yet, but that will come.

There are 52 languages learned at the MTC, so everywhere you go, you hear them, and it's really fun. The other day, two sisters learning Russian bore their testimony to me in the dinner line, and though I didn't understand anything besides Jesus Christ and Joseph Smith in their testimony, the Spirit was very strong, because the Holy Ghost manifests truth, no matter what the language is. I love that aspect of the Gospel.

Every day we are enriched with firesides, devotionals, classes, workshops, and study time. The Spirit is so strong here, stronger than anyplace I have ever felt it except inside the Temple. I feel very much at peace, and know that this is exactly what Heavenly Father would have me be doing at this time.

Can I just say how much I love my district? We have all bonded quickly; singing with my district is my favorite thing. We are not the best vocalists by any means, but I have never sung with a more sincere group of people in my life, and we all love to take any opportunity to sing our heart out. It's fantastic. Our districts other favorite activity is gym time! So far, we have played volleyball and basketball, and it's been so fun! We have gym period 4 times a week, and it is much needed, and much appreciated.

I love this Gospel very much, and my desire to help others find happiness through Jesus Christ's Atonement has at least tripled this week.

Love to all,

Sister Allysha Snow