WHAT A WEEK MY DUDES!

WHAT A WEEK MY DUDES!

Sister Marlowe…Week #1

Tuesday, December 13^th, 2016

WOW! 

What a week!! I have never been so tired in my life, but I am having soooo much fun!

So for those who don't know, when you get to the MTC, they bring you inside, put a tag on ya, you throw your luggage in a room real quick with your comp, and then you go to class until 9;30 that night and then your life is just never ever the same ever again. Just kidding. Actually not at all. So honestly... Last Wednesday is a complete blur to me. I'm pretty sure I've been here for 40 days instead of 6 but really every night I have to look at a schedule of the day to even write in my journal because breakfast feels like it was a week ago.

Thursday, we spent a lot of time in new missionary orientation classes, then our regular classes, and we met our Branch Presidency and their wives. They are wonderful! When we met them all their wives gave us big hugs... I think it's  because they knew I was literally suffering from hug withdrawals cuz y'all know that I love hugs almost more than air to breathe hehehe sad.

ALSO your girl SisMar and my comp Sis. Pope are the new Sister Training Leaders over our Zone of two districts, soon to be three (tomorrow)! But we got this wicked flip phone that only calls one number for the front desk, so y'all know that we're the top of the top for reals. It's great. Mostly we have no idea what we're really supposed to do, but I guess we're supposed to have a welcoming meeting for the new mishie district of our zone tomorrow night lol. So we got assigned to be STL's over a zone of soon to be like 28 people within 30 hours of being in the MTC. Rockin right?

Friday was greaaaaat. We got friday night pizza so that was fun! Basically it was our first really normal day since we were done with the orientation stuff! So we get an hour of gym time in the morning (just to let everybody know, even when you're graduated from High school and on a mission, you never get away from PE), and then we have between 5-7 hours of personal and comp study every day--studying preach my gospel, book of mormon, watching mormon messages, and mostly planning lessons for investigators! And yes we DID start teaching investigators Friday I think. There is no easing into stuff here in the hood. (The investigators are fake tho)

Saturday was a blur a lil'. I'll check my journal for if there were any juicy deets.

Sunday was GR88888. With being new to the mtc AND sistrainingleaders, me and my comp had about 6 or 7 meetings on Sunday! But they were all good. Sundays really are wonderful. So sunday night we had a Sunday devotional and normally they're secret, but I got a tip off that BYU MENS CHORUS WAS COMING TO SING. I know exciting choir stuff right? No I was freakin pumped because my cousin Tyler was in the choir and had told me he'd be in my first sunday Devo. So anyways, I'm in the MTC chillin, haven't cried at all since before even getting dropped off at the doors because I AM STRONG. but then I saw Tyler walk in and I was like a little puddle for a second and then I was fine. The concert was sooooo good though, and then after  Itried to get close enough for Tyler to see me, and  I was all fine and smiling and great, and then he saw me and we waved at each other and then all of a sudden it felt like a giant bag of bricks or something hit me in the chest and I was wrecked and crying and everybody was lookin at me funny, like "why is this crazy girl crying, it's just a choir"

So yeah. It was fantastic. Also we watched a talk by David A Bednar that night, called the Character of Christ I think. It's from 5 years ago at the MTC, the last time Christmas landed on a Sunday. It's a longie but a goodie so look it up!!!!! (Also that means we'll probably have a  killer Christmas Devo this year again since it's on sunday again!)

yesterday (Monday) was a littel craaasyyyyy! We taught our first *real* investigator, so SCARY and the lady kept asking questions about a lesson that was way further than the lesson we'd actually prepared for her and it was ridiculoussssss. But then later we taught this little Korean lady who speaks only a little english, and the lesson went way good. It's hard to explain, but the lady really struggled to believe what we were telling her, and she thought we were a little crazy, but we both felt sooooo good about the lesson. 

That's the thing about being a missionary, is people have their agency and can really do/believe whatever they want. But our job as missionaries is to "INVITE others to come unto Christ, and HELP them to receive the gospel...." So once we do our best and put our all on the table, it's in the investigator's hands. It's kind of a comforting concept. 

And nowwww it's Tuesday. P-day. Been here for 6 days. It's quite funny actually, because tomorrow new people will come and we will be the veterans of this place (I still feel bad for people who are learning languages and way more veteran-y than me)

My companion is Sister Pope, who came from SLC but she was actually born and raised in Adelaide AUS and lived in Australia until she was 12. She's great and coming to my mission! My other roommates are Sister Walker and Sister Boardman, (who's from England, and I love her) and they are so wonderful hahahaha. Both going to AUS Sydney North. Seriously between having an australian companion and a British roommate in my district, I don't even think in an American accent anymore its hilarious. Also sister boardman is the best storyteller ever and everything sounds 79% funnier and better in her accent. The rest of my district is Elder Klassen, Elder Cloward, and Elder Sirrine who are headed to Washington, and Elder Talbot going to Trinidad, Port of Spain. They are the funniest ever!!

SO. I have a little journal that I try to write my "Laughs of the Week", "Tender Mercies", and just all around fantastic quotes in.

here are a few of them

LofW:

1.Thursday I decided during lunch that I was going to break an apple in half with my head, and my district was super pumped to see me try, so we took an apple to our class room and I didn't quite get it in half, but I got apple juice allllll over my dress, my face, my hair, and the desk. And a bruise on my forehead for a couple days, but it's all in the name of fun, and I think my district all knew I was a homie after that. 

2. The door to the laundry/emailing room seriously is just a door to a cement room in the basement here and it seriously looks so "dodgy" as Sis Boardman would say hahahah. It honestly looks like what I imagine a sketchy nightclub to look like and I just want to stand outside and act like a bouncer sometime. Maybe I'll send a pic next week.

3. Related to #1, we actually decided to start a zone sister initiation, which is breaking an apple with your head and eating a bite of it. Like how people used to eat the heart of their victims, but much less gory and a lot funnier.

Quote:

1. We were watching a video last night about stress management and they were interviewing mishies here at the MTC, and one kid was like "Being in the MTC is like trying to get a drink from a fire hydrant--you get a little bit of water in your mouth, but it also just really hurts your face." And I was like..... "SAME ELDER SAME SAME SAME" But really. We work so hard  from 7am to 9:30pm that sometimes in my afternoon classes I doze off and hit my head on the wall. So as  much as I relate to that quote figuratively, I definitely relate literally as well.

2. So they try to discourage slang like saying "hey guys" because we're all missionaries and representatives of Jesus Christ, so it makes sense, but "Hey elders and sisters" is so much longer, its really a struggle. So anyways we always call each other and ourselves out for slang and the now most common quote here is: "Forgive me for I have slanged." Love it.

3. Elder Cloward in my district's grandma lives down the road... He told us she might be able to hook us up with Wendy's fries because he said "Honestly my grandma is G" (G stands for gangster for those who don't know)

4. Last night an elder told me that everyone here is going insane, and the people that seem like they're not have snapped, they're just slightly recovered before the next time they snap. Haha. It's true.

and finally

TENDER MERCIES:

1. I got the most rockin companion .

2. I honestly have the most bomb district in this whole hood and they are like my best friends and family even. We eat every meal together and I'm pretty sure there's no coincidence we're all homies. I mean elders and sisters.

3. There is such a special spirit here, it is unlike anything I've ever experienced! Everybody loves everybody here and it's so great. A few nights ago Sis Pope and I went to go see the Christmas lights on Campus and ran into a few polynesian sisters and it was soooo funny and I just instantly loved them to death! It was funny because it was the most insignificant thing ever, but I could just immediately feel so strongly that they really did love me and I just loved them to death! Maybe it's just an MTC thing. But its 11/10.

And my final and favorite Tender Mercy of the week was this morning. My P-day ended up being Tuesday, and we get to go to the temple every p day. WHICH MEANS. Tempie Tues goes on. For a few more weeks. As silly as it sounds, I know Heavenly Father knew that Tempie Tues is my favorite. So even though I'm in a strange place with stranger people and it's hard to not be home sometimes, I have never felt more at home than I did this morning in the celestial room of the Provo temple. Also, I think old temple worker women are like drawn to me or something, because I was sitting there missing all my Tuesday night old lady friends from the Rexburg temple, and this old lady worker in the Provo temple just came and started talking to me and gave me a hug. Wowzers. I needed that. 

I just love this place. We joke every day a little about how we're in prison and going insane (because literally everyone is, promise) but we're all in this together. And I feel like this place was made for this place. Or it was made for me. Or something. I learn so much everyday and as tiring as it is to be constantly pulling on the spirit all day, it's the most refreshing thing! This is a gooooooood place.

Love you all kiddssssssssss,

Sis Kur Marls

 

December 13, 2016

Hi my cute Momma!!

I loved getting your email yesterday! I have an iPad in the MTC, so i get to read emails whenever they come in! Yesterday was pretty fun because I got a few emails to read finally :) I'm not really sure why we have iPads, because as of right now our mission isn't an Ipad mission, but i know the church is really trying to push the technology, so maybe they're just trying to train a few districts on them! Our evening teacher said we're the first district he's taught that had iPads, so its a pretty new thing!

Sister Pope is my companion, (the one I found on Instagram), and yes she's in my mission! She was born in Adelaide and lived in Aus until she was 12 and I love her to deeeaaaath! We get along so well hahahahhah

I'm trying to figure out how to get all my pictures onto the computer, so I'll send them in a little bit in the group email or something! I'll see if I can put the pictures from my camera and my ipad together, but if not, I'll just send them separately, but you can add them to the group email if you want when you send that out! I was wondering, are you okay sending that out, or would you rather I did?? Austin emailed me yesterday and asked to get him on the group email list, so I'll get you his address as well to put on the list! I got an email from Zach Bryan yesterday, it was awesome! Pretty much just said he was really excited for me and stuff, but I was laughing sooo hard because he was like "Even though you're a sister now, you'll always be my momma!"  I was like ...... eye roll. Just kidding I laughed so hard. But anyways! I love you!!! 

Thank you for all the cards I got the other day! I felt pretty popular in class when i got 6 letters in the mail, it was fantastic

Tell Anna and Kellen and Max and Meg and Tess Lou that I love them and i loved their cards! Especially tessa's beautiful picture! (it was just covered in scribbles)

Lovieeeees!

Sister Kur Marls

PS!!!!! Did you get my text this morning?????  There were some women waiting outside the tmeple and they just stopped us and said would you please let us take a picture to send to your mom? When their sons were out, they had people text them pictures, so they were just trying to pass along the favor" next time you see missionaries, can you please do that for me? They will be sooooooo happpy! And they even just brought a little card that said Hi Mom on it for us hahahha greatest. Also I forgot to send you Austin's actual address. It's nelson.a@myldsmail.net

Thanks!! Love you!