I've been at Provo for about a week and leave next Tuesday or Wednesday for the field.
Here's the quick rundown...
- I've been temporarily reassigned to Arcadia, CA while I wait for my visa to arrive
- Me and my companion, Sister Foote, get along so well
- We had a temple bus fiasco (literally could not find a more accurate word)
- Surprise Gentri performance!
- I've been making lots of friends from all over the world!
Now for those of you still reading, here's some more detail!
First and foremost, I will most likely not be going to Australia for my first transfer. My visa hasn't arrived yet, and if it's not here by Friday afternoon, I'll be headed to the LA area instead.
I'm trying to stay optimistic about the switch, and have to remember I'll get to Adelaide eventually. Maybe God needs me in California first!
Before coming to Provo, I was most excited to meet my companion and district in real life.
My companion, Sister Foote, is from Layton UT and is headed to Adelaide with me! We have similar humor and despite adjusting to being around someone 24/7, I'm so glad it's her. We have a good time together.
I love the sisters in my district so much, they make the 6-8 hours of classes a day go by so much faster. Since we're an english speaking district, we have missionaries headed to Oregon, Washington, Florida, Alaska, Alberta, Guam, and Australia!
Since being at the MTC, we have gotten to go to the temple twice this last week. The temple itself was lovely, but after our second session, we found out that one of the three MTC buses broke down and we would have to squish all the missionaries onto the remaining two, or people would miss dinner.
The buses were filled on the way there, so going back, it was absolutely packed. Every elder was standing in the aisle, and the sisters were two to a seat, plus laps. Makes you ask, "How many missionaries can you fit on a bus?"
The answer would normally be one more, but you can't forget their companion, so it's always two more.
It was funny for the first 10 minutes until we realized how hot it was on the bus. No one could move, everyone was breaking a sweat, and what was a 25-minute bus ride turned into 45 minutes because we were going so slow.
On our bus, a girl had a panic attack because of claustrophobia and they gave her a priesthood blessing while the bus was still moving. We heard that on the other bus, a girl threw up in her water bottle (sorry for that image). Makes me glad I was on the bus I was. Let me tell you, getting off the bus, 95 degrees has never felt so good.
We're a little scared for our next temple appointment.😬
Sunday was a rough day for me. I was hoping for it to be more restful, but I had no clue what Sunday as a missionary was like. Luckily, we had a double devotional that night. We had the regular Sunday evening fireside, and were surprised with a musical performance from GENTRI after!!!
They came because one of their sons are in the MTC at the same time as me, but I'm not complaining. There wasn't a dry eye in the audience, and it was the pick-me-up I needed.
Finally, I've been making lots of new friends and reuniting with old ones. I'm so blessed to be here at the same time as friends from high school, my stake, the U, and from childhood. It's such a small world on the MTC campus.
I've made so many new friends and can't wait to see where the mission takes them!
I'm so grateful for this opportunity. It's very much like a boot camp here, but the highs are so high and I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for me. Can't wait to hear from everyone, wishing you the best.