12/22/10

Dear Stacy,
I have so much to say i don't know what to do with myself!! i guess i'll start by answering your questions in your letter. I'm sorry to hear that you are sick! first off, YES! i have already made life friends. my district is seriously so, so, so GREAT! my companion is of course a tiny little guy. he walks in, has tiny glasses , and looks like he has jaundice for crying out loud! HAHAHA We introduced ourselves. he has the perfect voice for the character that he is. its kinda raspy, its great! anyways, his name is elder willis and he is a farm boy from Hyder, Arizona. Worked on a farm all his life, he is 22 years old and his little brother is here at the MTC at the same time! so cool! i love this guy, he cracks me up all day and he has a very sweet and simple but powerful testimony. He was a wrestler in high school so that was another reason to love him! :) he wrestled at 103 lbs and never was pinned his whole wrestling career! he loves telling me that again and again. HAHA i love him and am so glad he is my companion. My whole district (class) are all going to my mission!!! it is so awesome! there are 12 of us total and 4 of them are sisters and they are awesome gals. all the rest are good guys, 3 of them are from CA which is really cool. Elder Martinson and Cumings are the two in my room with me and my comp. Elder Martinson is a funny kid! looks like kevin bacon when he smiles with those squinty eyes and acts like jim carrey.
The first day here was really tough for me. Satan was working on me overtime!! i wasn't sure if i wanted to do this anymore. but LaRee had a letter from ben that she was instructed to tell me not to open until at night before bed. Ben saved my mission... I am dead serious. I owe him everything for that. the things he wrote in that letter were exactly the things i needed to hear, it was a long letter too. i love that guy and can't wait to thank him personally some day. i am doing great now. i was called to be the district leader after we all bore our testimonies to our branch presidency. i was a little stressed at fist about the calling but knew that was what the Lord wanted me to do. It has been a great opportunity for me to lead and show love toward my district... and lucky for me they all really love me and respect me which makes things really pleasant. i can't explain the special spirit that's here at the MTC, Stace. It's so incredible. All of God's soldiers preparing to invite others to come unto Christ under the same facility. I keep trying to remind myself to soak in this experience here because i will never have it again. the Lord has truly blessed me as a missionary. it really blows my mind. i have learned that teaching by the spirit is THE MOST IMPORTANT thing for me to do. The way that i know what to say and the manner that i am able to each can only be of God. My district and teachers make me feel so good cause they say how awesome i am and how strong the spirit is with me. I brought Sister Sedgewick to tears during role plays and she told me how powerful the spirit was when i testified to her. Being in tune with the spirit so often is an amazing and exhausting experience. I love it though! our district president, President Lafferty, told me I am going to be a great missionary. It made me feel so humbled and blessed to know that i am being an instrument for my Savior that God has prepared me to be. I cannot wait to get into the mission field!!! But i still have a lot to learn. my teachers are both great guys and excellent teachers. You would be so proud of me! I haven't been over eating since I've been here!!! only on helping at every meal! aren't you proud?!?!?! The food is pretty good too but elder willis calls it puppy chow HAHAHA! funniest little guy ever just by being himself. Its so funny because we all feel like we've been here forever!!! some elders are getting bummed out because they haven't received any packages or letters yet but i keep reminding them that it hasn't felt like we've been gone long at all to our families. oh yeah, they are having talent show on Christmas day and tryouts were yesterday and elder martinson and i were messing around one day (i was singing Elvis' "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas") and elder martinson would after every verse sing something really funny in a high voice, he begged me to do that with him and to try out for the talent show... so i agreed! :) try outs were yesterday and i talked like elvis and thanked the MTC for letting The King come perform today. HAHA it was great and everyone liked it but not sure we will get an invite but we will find out Thursday. Sis Sedgewick has a good voice and she sang a jazzy song and was told she would be in it for sure. I was happy for her, but ours is so good! but we'll see. i hope all is well back home. I got two packages yesterday and they are pretty big but i have no idea who they are from... but I'm waiting to open them Christmas day so i have something to open. :) i hope you get this letter by Christmas. I want to wish you a very merry cherry cherry Christmas. Remember to make the best of it and remember the true meaning of Christmas. I love you!
Love,
Tyty
p.s. its been snowing here and it feels soooo good. HAHA but my little companion is always freezing; he says he is a desert rat and not meant to be in cold climates. HAHAHA! so you called it toots. i am hanging out in my shirt and b-ball shorts here on my p-day :) it blows everyone's minds!