Second Letter

Date: Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:24:57 -0700Subject: helloFrom: sara.anderson@myldsmail.netTo: homeecdiva@hotmail.com
Part of my MTC district left on Monday and the rest of us left on wed. We went to the airport ( on wed.) and dropped off about 20 missionaries and then took the 17 remaining and went to the SLC mission office. We had breakfast b/c we were there at like 745 am. um then we had an orientation and then went off to tour temple square b/c we are allowed to take investigators there! So that was fun. I had to take a driving test (all missionaries do) and met with pres Sonne and then with his wife. Then we had lunch and got our companion....Her name is sister Wang. She is from China. She has been a member for 3 years and has been out for 15 months. just found out like 30 seconds ago...I am giving a talk in a ward this Sunday.....ok back to sister Wang. She speaks 3 languages, Chinese, Russian, and English. After sister Wang said hi and what not after we met she goes, we are over the Chinese ward! um yeah that interesting to hear. So sister Wang and I are over 3 stakes and one of those wards is the Chinese ward. Should be interesting. ha-ha. The Sonnes believe its good to just throw greenies into the work, so we went extreme tracking. I got super nervous when I read that on the agenda. ha-ha. Pretty much what it was is we got 2 BoM, 5 dvds, lots of pamphlets, and tons of pass a long card and we had a point system for who talked to the most ppl and were able to get rid of the most stuff. We got referrals from 2 ppl! and gave out both BoM and 3 dvds! So that was cool, But it started raining so it was super cold and My hair started out straight in the beginning of the day....but once we got back from tracking not so much. haha. Before I forget my p-day will be on Wednesdays from now on. After tracting we went to dinner and then back to "my house" and dropped off my stuff and then went a inactive members house. We stayed there for about an hour and left a bit after 8. We were on our way to the next appointment but I guess I looked really tired and pathetic b/c sister Wang goes how about we go home so you can unpack and go to bed. I was trilled. I had been up since 5 am. We got home at 830 and I was able to unpack and be in bed right at 1030!!! It was great! Another thing about sister Wang. It is so hard to understand her! Like it’s funny but so hard at the same time cuz its just everything is new for me and when she explains stuff its hard to understand. Ok so I am just going to do bullet points from now on to make sure I get all the info in I want to and if I remaining time I will explain things more.

- out of 160 missionaries, 24 are sisters,
- 2,160 baptisms last year
- on average Elders will baptize 50 on their mission.
- Apostles invite missionaries over for dinner
- we are allowed to go to temple square if we have investigators
- I will go to most sessions of general conference!!
- I have to drive b/c my companion does not have her license.
- I have a 2010 Toyota Corolla. I am pretty sure that’s what it is.
- I had dinner at pres Hinckley’s grand daughters house.
- My district is like 10 by 7 blocks big...
- In our car we have a "TiWi" it talks to you when tou are speeding, stop or slow down to fast, hit a bump to hard. It makes driving kind of stressful.
-I live in a finished basement of a lady in one of our stakes. She is super nice! Her name is sister Austin
- I have to wear make up.
- I have to cut my hair......it has to be short......I am not to thrilled about that.
- I get to go to the temple every Wednesday.
- I went to the SLC temple today! It was amazing! Soo pretty!
- I got to see some of my old district at the temple today so that was nice!
- Sisters are not allowed in Wyoming or Nevada
- If you are a missionary in Wyoming then your mission car is a truck. I was jealous of the elders when I found that out.
- Sister Wang calls me baby....b/c she says she is my mom. Being a very independent person it is hard for me to have such a touchy feeling companion that likes to pretend mom....ha-ha. but she is super nice.

Don’t worry mom I am in great hands with sister Wang.

Only in a SLC mission are you a harvesting mission....not a seed planting mission. Let me explain some. In our orientation pres Sonne goes " why are we here?" So we were all like to bring ppl the gospel blah blah blah. He goes, "No, we are here to baptize! We are not a seed planting mission! We harvest!!" Yeah I don’t even know how to explain what I felt at that moment. Oh and another thing that he said that I am not goanna lie scared me. He goes "you are not just here, you are here b/c the Lord has big plans for you. You don’t work on ward levels in this mission you work at stake levels and he wants you to be ready for the future." ah! He is a powerful speaker.

Mom I got your package yesterday!!! Thank you so much! Love you so much and hope all is well. Tell Evan to write me some time. Love you. love, Sister Anderson

First Letter

Date: Thu, 11 Feb 2010 15:51:36 -0700Subject: Im hereFrom: sara.anderson@myldsmail.netTo: homeecdiva@hotmail.com Ok I only have 30 min.. First day here was great! Didn't get too scared and didn't get lost! I I loved taking pictures with Kels and Katie right before I reported! It made me nice and calm before I was dropped off on the side of the curb. My companion's name is Sister Sinclair for Iowa...and is engaged. Oh and talks a whole lot. I have 2 other sisters in my district and 6 Elders. I have an amzing district!!! We all get along great and we have so much fun together. Some times too much fun. So in our orientation we were told that 832 had reported that day. I found out that 5 of those are from VA! Awesome! There are missionaries from everywhere....Hong Kong, England, Australia and like 8 other places but I don't remember. I saw Heather, my old roommate the second day I was here!!! She is only 3 classrooms down from me so I get to see her everyday!!! It's wonderful! I was sick for a good five days so that was no fun. 4/10 of us were sick in the district at the same time and now one of the elders has pink eye....we are a very sick district. haha. Gym time is great fun! I either walk/run with sister Pollock or play 4 square. So when you get dropped off at the MTC you are greeted by Host Missionaries and they take you to where you are staying and then a sister host missionary takes you to your room and then goes to take you to your stuff and shows you where to go and what not. Well, I really wanted to be one but figured I couldnt b/c I am here for such a short time but guess what... I get to be a host missionary!!!! Our whole district got asked to do it! I am so pumped!!!! I had my first TRC ( volunteers come in and are fake investigators so we can practice lessons just so we can get practice) on...Tuesday. I was sooo nervous going into it. It didn't do too bad. I didn't talk for the first bit cuz I was really nervous but then I got the hang of it and started talking. Well, there are video cameras in the room so our teachers can see how we are doing. Well, I went to Devo that night and 3 elders said that they had been watching my lesson and so was a teacher. So I had 4 people watching me teach. Kinda awkward. So I leave on the 24th so if you or anyone sends me anything after like the 19th just go ahead and sent it to the mission home. Thanks. On Sundays we are allowed a "temple walk." We get to walk to the temple and take pictues and just be outside for an hour or so. It is so awsome to see like 300 missionaries at a time walking around taking pictures. So, mom I have a picture for my plaque that I want and will be mailing it to you soon. Well obviously today is p-day and so I got to go to the temple. It was great!!!! I really enjoyed it. Well when we (my district) walked out of the temple it was snowing....first time since I have been here. Crazy how much snow Va. is getting and how little Utah is getting. Ok so DearElder.com is like the best website ever!! Thank you so much for the letters! I love getting mail! Oh so I got my patriarcal blessing shrunk down and laminated so that's way awesome!!! I got a copy for my journal and for my scripture. It's awesome! Ah time is almost up! Oh can you ask Sister Bleyl if she can monogram my scripture case for me? I bought one out here and I want a big pink, green, or blue S on it! So just let me know and I will e-mail that to you. Well I love it here and know it is where I am supposed to be. I have not felt homesick at all or questioned once why I am here. Well, at times I question my knowlege but not why I am here. So that's good! Oh I almost forgot, for the blog I want "life behing the tag" one. And I am going to do a " Only In" segment. So my fist one......Only In the MTC will a elder ask you for your mission address instead of your number.......which happened to me. hahaha. Oh the MTC. haha. WEll I love you all and thanks for the all of the letters!!! Love, Sister Sara Anderson.