MY BROTHER IS GOING ON A MISSION TO BRAZIL!!!! Sweet, Congrats Gregg!
O.k. on to boring stuff from Soistra Allen:
Well, hello everyone! I can't believe that I'm here, I have to keep touching my name tag to make sure I'm not dreaming (and slapping myself to make sure I stay awake... I've been SUPER tired like 24/7 here, must be the Spirit) - and I LOVE IT. I'm not sure what to tell you about first, or where to start, because there's SO much to say! I'll start with my companions.
Yes, I didn't typo - I have TWO companions! Soistra Howells and Soistra Ostler. Soistra Howells' family lives here in Utah and yet she's lived ALL over the world - Netherlands, Hawaii, Texas, etc. for her dad's job. She is really kind hearted and has a sister kind of like mine! Hi RACHEL! Soistra Ostler is from Utah as well, comes from a family of four kids, and both her parents own their own businesses. She played soccer in college...yah! We all seem to like to laugh, and have fun, so I've been laughing quite a bit (more than I thought I would be, for sure! haha :) yup) while I've been in the MTC. Our district has 8 elders, and the three of us sisters. All of us are learning Polish, two of the Elders are going to England, Polish speaking. I LOVE our district already. I feel like I already knew these people and I love them. No offense, but they're my new family for right now! I love that we can bouy each other up and have a good time and work hard! That's what you should be doing at home too! Treat eachother good, work hard, play hard, and SMILE LOTS!
I will try to tell you more about our Elders as the time goes on, I'd really like to share with you about at least one person I've met each week and something that I've learned from them. There's SO much to learn. I wish all of you would meet someone new and learn from them, here there are opportunities EVERYWHERE to do so. Along with meeting new people, I've seen some familiar faces as well. I've seen Elder Peter Johnson! Elder Phillip Thiabeau (spelling?)! And a girl from my ward when I lived in Regency. The first day I was here I also saw Brother Sullivan (- who later told me where Gregg was going on his mission! I'm really spoiled here, and it's great...thanks everyone!) and Sister Nanette Lamb as well as Genie Lamb. The girl who helped me with my bags the first day was named Amber as well! And she was wearing Pink just like me! And our cameras were both red. She was awesome! And so kind! It seems like most people here are kind, though!
O.k. I want to share some funny/embarrassing stories, and then some more spiritual ones! Funny: Soistra Howells put whipping cream on her roll thinking it was butter (the butter here looks really fake and nasty - but the food is really actually alright. Don't be worried). An Elder at gym (I got to play BASKETBALL! Twice already! SO FUN!) asked me my name and I slipped and said 'Amber' - ooops! It does actually feel weird to be called 'Amber' anymore, I don't feel like an Amber... just a Soistra Allen!!! We're supposed to call each other by 'Elder _______' or 'Sister ________' We're not allowed to say 'guys' and we've been working on that. Surprisingly it's been kinda hard! We put the washer soap in the fabric softener hole and that was funny - we had to fish it out with a sock. An Elder Allen sits across from us at meal time sometimes and one day he just randomly started talking to me from accross two tables. It was hilarious. He all animatedly goes 'Sister Allen, hello!' and he said 'where are you from?' and I answered, and then I asked him where he's from. After that, he said something like, 'you'd think we'd be related, but we're not.' And I was all, 'yup, but we both have blonde hair and blue eyes!' and he said, 'YEAH, and we're both Freaking Beautiful!' REALLY loud... haha that's way out of place here, and it was SO funny. My whole table busted out laughing, and his district too. It was just really great. I'm sure I turned red in the face, haha but it was so funny.
Spiritual Stories: Alright, well, the first day we got here we talked to three people as a group of about 30 missionaries. We weren't told if they were real investegators or not, but I think two of them were, and one was acting (he had too many props). The spirit was so strong as we testified to these people of what we knew. The one man I could tell had built some walls and even though he said he was open to new ideas, he wasn't open to changing his mind... we would raise our hand to answer his questions and he would speak to us. It was a really unique experience - like giving a lesson, but from 30 missionaries instead of two. Anyways, that was the first time I really felt the spirit SUPER strong and KNEW this is what I'm here for, to get people like him to SEE what I see! To help him FEEL what I feel. It was great, expecially on the first day.
Also, on Saturday the 11 of us in our district watched a talk by Elder Holland in our classroom. It was so, SO good. That man is BOSS. I cried through parts of it. At the end, one of our Elders, Elder Raines, suggested we have a testimony meeting. And although we were supposed to be having language study, it just felt right, and even though it was a random suggestion, we went along with it. All 11 of us bore our testimony. And thinking about it even now gives me goose bumps. It was AMAZING. The spirit was there so strong. Our elders have such interesting stories to share and such strong testimonies. It makes me SO grateful to see such strong men.
Anyways, I only have 30 minutes to check e-mail. That time is almost up. I just wanted to say that I love you guys! The church is true! Keep up the good work and just have fun, life is meant to be JOYFUL. O.k.?
Love ya!
- Soistra Allen
p.s. Nathan! How was Prom!?
p.p.s. THERE's SO MUCH MORE TO SAY! But tata for now!
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