(Letter from Jordan last Monday June 27th)
AHHHHHH BONJOUR !!!
can you believe that i am FINALLY out of the MTC?? here's what has gone down today so far....i woke up early early and got ready and packed. our roomies helped us take our bags down and we were met by a whole bunch of tahitians who wanted to say bye...we left and arrived at the Salt Lake mission office (where i stay until my visa comes...) it was weird driving in because this area is all so familiar to me. i live like SO CLOSE to grandma and grandpa it's crazy! anyway...we met the mission president and he assigned us to our companions. i am with two sisters, one is from Lehi and the other from Chicago. and they told me about my area...so much for thinking that there wouldn't be a language barrier...the people in our area are refugees from Burma and they don't know any english...NONE! the sister's say that we just teach by the spirit and with picture books. i'm like wow. this will be hard. but i am SO EXCITED!!! i can't believe i am so blessed to serve these humble people! they have been through a lot (they were in camps in thailand for like 15 years) and they are so receptive to the gospel. what an awesome opportunity this will be! it will be a challenge...heavenly father loves to place those challenges in front of me doens't He?! anyway...today is p-day and then tonight we are going to a big group family home evening with these wonderful people in the area we are serving. i can't wait!
so...this last week was incredible with all the new mission presidents and their wives in the mtc! i was able to see the first presidency getting into their cars from our building window and i passed and said hi to elder nelson and elder holland!!! i about died! so cool! and then we got the chance to hear elder bednar speak on friday...do i even have to say that it was amazing?! HE IS SO AWESOME!! he talked about being "preach my gospel" missionaries. it made me want to work even harder and to humble myself even more before the lord. seated on the stand with him were elder holland, elder oaks, elder ballard, elder nelson, elder anderson, and elder scott and their wives. the spirit in that room was so powerful! i cried hahah! the spirit bore witness to me again that they truly are apostles called of god and that they receive revelation on our behalf. it was awesome :)
i met my tahiti mission president and his wife. i was so nervous! i remember sitting in the room with soeur liufau and we were both just super nervous for them to come in. but when they did come in, the first thing that my mission president did was come up and give me a huge hug. it was so funny because his wife was like "um...i think that is against the rules" and he was like "i don't care!" then his wife was like "okay" and gave us an even bigger hug! at that moment i knew that i would LOVE them both! we had the best time getting to know them (in french and tahitian) and it got me even more excited to serve with them. and i was so surprised at how much french i could understand. that made me even MORE excited! anyway...guess what they did...they called the government and asked about our visas! crazy huh? anyway, they said that soeur liufaus has been appproved and that mine hasnt. apparently they had a whole bunch of questions about mine and they sent it to be looked at by the ministers or whatever. lame. BUT remember...my mission president's wife was in parlament :) so she called one of the head ministers...no big deal right?! anyway she asked her to try to figure it out asap and get me out there haha. so hopefully it all works out. if i am here though for a while i know that it is for a reason. i am happy just to be serving the lord and be out teaching! this is the best thing ever! oh but guess what pres sinjoux said....he said that pres smith was going to send me to huahine! that made me sad...because that would've been such a great place to go! i would really pick up my tahitian there which is what i need. apparently though according to my teacher i would go through major culture shock there ha! i guess that the biggest store is like the size of a 7-11 and it's just different there. and i would be eating a lot of sea turtle...sad huh??? but i guess it's like the best meat ever! and it's GREEN! hopefully i can get sent there sometime in the next 15 months. that would be quite the experience.
and i so happy to be here. this morning i woke up and laid there and reflected on how much i have grown and learned in these last couple of months. i feel so blessed to have had this experience. not going to lie...i am like scared to death to start teaching real people. but i trust that the lord will help me. he will bless me with his spirit and never leave my side. i know without a doubt that this gospel is true. i know that joseph smith restored it to this earth and my testimony keeps growing every single time i teach about it and study about it. i know that i am a daughter of God. that knowledge has carried me through all the tough experiences that i have to go through. it's strange how i just pray to be challenged. i'm excited and determined to face these challenges and defeat discouragment and temptations. i love being a missionary! i know that i will be a missionary for the rest of my life. this experience is training for my life. i love love love it!!!
Je vous aime beaucoup!!!
Jordan
Last of the MTC pictures....
