Second Week in MTC--Not a "Greenie" Anymore!

Dear Family and friends,

    First of all, I would like to say that it is amazing to wear my jeans after having to wear a skirt all week. It has been snowing on and off all week, but mostly it looks like spring (In Provo?!?). I am now down to the last few days in the MTC as next time I check my email I will be in ALASKA!!! Crazy, i know! Most of our district will be going at once- 8 of us, but the other two girls who are going to Germany are going to have a while longer here.
   As this is P-Day for my zone, it is also MTC entry day for many, and as we see many with their new nametags, we see the red sticker indicating them as new, but we love to greet them. First day is stressful beyond belief because you are trying to figure out everything, where you're supposed to be going, doing and learning the rules of mission life; it is so deserved by these fresh missionaries to hear that they are welcome. By the way, look up the mormon messages "civility experiment" (http://www.lds.org/pages/the-civility-experimentlang=eng&query=mormon+messages+civility+experiment) -- we watched this in class and over the weekend and did our own civility experiment. My companion and I got two grunts over the weekend when we greeted other missionaries (rather than hellos) which was better than the Elders had gotten. I am probably not explaining it very well, but i hope you see the point.
  This last Sunday, Alex Boye spoke at our fireside, and he was absolutely wonderful. He sang for us, and told his own conversion story. Elder Holland came last week. We role play life situations every day here and it is amazing to put yourself in the shoes of those you teach and ask questions that they may ask, and feel the things which they would as you speak to them. Part of this is that the missionaries teach each other.



MY DISTRICT!

   To say the ABSOLUTE least, this week has been a tough one. This is where the endurance has kicked in. Between sleep and sick roommates, 19 year old elders, and learning to be with our companions 24/7, it has gotten a little bit stressful, but I know that there is nothing that the Lord has asked me to do that he does not help me in doing or that he doesn't prepare me for. The Lord doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies the called according to their faith in him. Our teachers and branch presidencies are truly inspired in their council and teaching here. We set goals after a turn of a lesson this week that have put things into a clearer perspective. They have turned my persective around in a way that I could not do unless they had been listening to the spirit in helping me understand how to do it, but it all comes down to our purpose: why do we do things, why are we driven in the way we are, and here, it is because of the people. The people who we can help, and to the people who are earnestly seeking truth. To be able to give that to them is worth all the struggles. We taught a man this week in TRC who was a simple man, but his spirit was bigger than a giant, you knew that he had been prepared to hear our message. "Onward, Christian Soldiers, this is our work now". (insert from Mom: The TRC is the Teaching Resource Center. All missionaries visit the TRC each week. Volunteers who speak the language role play as investigators in these teaching situations. For the missionaries, it is an invaluable experience to learn how to teach with the Spirit and from their hearts.)

BY THE WAY: There is never a time a missionary does not appreciate a letter. It is difficult to answer them in good time, and slowly, but surely, I am working on it.

Love,

Sister Wuehler

MTC-isms: "I looked out the window and what did I see- two sister missionaries lookin' at me" (to the tune of popcorn popping)

Scripture of the Week: Enos 1. We are here to feed his sheep.

"When we know in our head moves to our heart, by the power of revelation, that's the beginning of understanding" -Elder Bednar