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| The Mann Clan - August 22, 2012 |
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| Courtney and Sister Mann |
I love you, I love you, I love you! Thank you so much for writing me! I hope you use DearElder because it really is super easy and free for you, and it's nice for me. You can email me on this address, but I have limited time to be on email, so it's better if you dearelder me, then I don't have to spend time reading emails when I could be writing one. Berns, drop me a line. I need to hear from my little Bernie Mac Attack.
I am a missionary! I love it! You know how sometimes we sit down at dinner and I have 8000 things to say, so I talk and talk and talk? Well right now I have about 800000 things I'd like to say. I don't know how to even begin writing this lettter, so I'm just going to start listing stuff off:
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| Getting dropped off at the curb |
- The MTC is an incredible place. It's like in D&C, the scripture about "prepare ye a house, a house of learning..." all that stuff. It really is a house of order. I thought I would hate the rules, but the thing is that there are so many blessings here, and the Spirit is so strong, that I don't mind them. Maybe I dont' mind them yet. :) But really, I am learning things so fast, both spiritually and in the language area, that I'm happy to keep the rules. I'm realizing that obedience really is faith, and faith really is love. I will admit, the first three days here were not fun. I actually wanted to punch everything I saw in the face. I couldn't sleep and my heart felt like it was on a roller-coaster. It is hard here. It really is kinda hard. But it is wonderful. And I reminded myself that I came here to ride the trail, and I'm going to enjoy it. And the miracles that are happening are worth any inconvenience or discomfort.
- The food's awesome! Really, I'm totally happy with it! I eat a salad every day, and they have a different kind every time. And I never have to cook. What else could I ask for?
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| One last squeeze from Momma J. |
- My companion is Soeur Barker from North Ogden- I met her on the San Fran trip. She's great. Imagine a character from a movie who is like the quirky girl with a bunch of nerdy guy friends that adore her. That's her. She's fun, and we're getting along well. The companion thing is a new adjustment (a.k.a. "very difficult"). Not because of her, but because it would be hard for anyone to go from normal life to companion 24/7. I'm realizing why we have companions, though. It really is inspired. And actually, if you try and imagine doing this without a companion, it's pretty much impossible. She shares her homemade fruit leather with me, too, so that's great. - I sleep on the top bunk. Every morning is an adventure getting down.
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| Blowing goodbye kisses |
- There is a tree here that smells like an orange dreamsicle.
- In all the buildings, the halls are lined with pictures from missions all over the world, and it's SO cool! One of my favorites is a picture of a missionary about to baptize a girl in a little hole they've cut in the ice.
- My district has 9 people in it, most of them I knew from the trip. 5 elders, 4 soeurs. We're all going to Tahiti at the same time, so that's really cool. We're like a little team! Our teacher is GREAT. His name's Frere Lindsey, and I am so, so thankful we have him. He's an effective teacher, and he's kind. He only speaks to us in French. Speaking of French, I adore it. I seriously love studying. Like... I'm obsessed with it. Actually the hardest part of this is slowing down because all I want to do is study. And the reason is that we're learning fast! Like really fast! The gift of tongues is real, and we're getting so much help, and all I want to do is learn to speak French immediately! :)
- Listened to a life-changing talk by Elder Bednar. They showed it on Sunday night. It's a talk he gave here a few Christmases ago. Literally life-changing. He talked about being converted to Christ, not just having a testimony. I only have 5 minutes left, I wish I could tell you all about it. It was beautiful.
L'eglise de Jesus-Christ est vrai, et le moyen a retourner a notre Pere Celeste. J'aime l'evangile! Jesus-Christ est notre Redempteur. La vie est tres, tres bonne!
Love, Soeur Mann
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| We love our missionary. :) |
