Tess’s first letter from
Ogden/Roy, Utah March 26, 2013
I don't even know where
to start with this letter.. I'm finally out of the MTC! We got up around 5 on
Monday morning and took a bus ride to the train station. It was really weird to
be in a car and not doing the things we had been doing every morning for 6
weeks straight. We felt pretty free though. We got to ride in a train called
the frontrunner or something like that and H. Hales and I mostly just practiced
some Spanish vocab until we got to the mission home in Ogden. The mission
president and his wife as well as the other leaders were welcoming and just
went over some basic rules with us after we ate breakfast (PS I'm sure you can
imagine how ecstatic I am to be done eating that MTC "food").
After that we met our
new trainers/moms. Mine is Hermana Marcum. She's been on her mission a bit over
a year, she's really friendly, she's from Ohio, and she went to that small LDS
school in Virginia where she majors in Opera. I'm not really sure exactly what
to think of her so far, but I think she'll be able to teach me a lot and we'll
be able to get along pretty well. After I talked to her a little she told me
some of the greatest news ever which is that I'd be living with her, her old
companion, and HERMANA HALES (who's being trained by her old companion, Hermana
Kreutzer- I probably spelled that wrong). Obviously we're a little bit excited
that we get to still see each other a lot and go on our morning jogs and what
not. Hermana Hales' companion, Hermana Kreutzer is awesome too- she's also been
here a bit over a year, she's from California (only like 30 minutes away from
where H. Hales lives) and she's so cute and fun to be around.
We're serving in a town
called Roy which is like 10 minutes outside of Ogden. I don't know much about
it except that both our trainers have only been there like 3 weeks and are
still trying to get a feel for the area, but their having problems because the
Elders that were there before them didn't keep great records of who they taught
and what not so we have a lot of work to do to figure that all out (I forgot to
mention that we have a car too, but now we'll have to take turns using it
because there's four of us). Also, apparently we're "pink-washing"
the area which means that it's the first time that sister missionaries have
been in this stake or something like that. I guess the members are really
excited about that because something had happened in the past with some Elders
where they offended some members in the area and it's been hard for the
missionaries to regain their trust, so that's what we'll be trying to do.
A bit more about our
house- we don't actually live in Roy but we live close by. The house is pretty
nice and it's owned by a couple who are probably in their 50s. They have kids
but they're out of the house and they have a bunch of really cute grand kids.
We met the husband yesterday and he was quite the talker- I think he just
really loves having us there and he and his wife apparently have been spoiling
the hermanas because they insist that their food is our food, they bought brand
new beds and comforters for each of us, and they're even building a bathroom in
the basement for us. It's pretty crazy, but I can't complain. There's also
goats and horses in their backyard.
We only stayed at the
house for a few minutes to put our stuff down and eat lunch because then we had
to go back to the mission home for a 4 hour lesson from Brother Donaldson- one
of the leaders who was on the series the District 2. It was incredible and I
learned a ton about how to be a better teacher (well, we're more guides than we
are teachers as he put it) and how to use the pamphlets more effectively- those
things are super useful and they didn't really teach us how to use them at the
MTC. He also hinted that more things are about to change as far as missionary
work goes, and we might be one of the missions chosen to pilot some new things
they're trying out. Pretty crazy.
After that lesson, the
day got a little weird. Maybe it's just because the MTC was super strict or
something but I did not expect my first day as a missionary to be like it was.
We went over to the President & his wife's house for a
"sleepover" with all of the sisters in the mission- which is like 30
or 40ish sisters. We were told just to socialize and then we'd have dinner,
which was fine. Herm. Hales and I tried to talk to some of the other
hermanas/sisters (most were English speaking, not Spanish) but they were more
focused on just socializing with the girls they already knew, so that was kind
of annoying and relatively unsuccessful. Anyways after dinner we played get to
know you jeopardy which wasn't really useful to us, the new visa waiters, in
getting to know them or letting them get to know us because it was just trivia
about the sisters that had been here longer. They basically just laughed about
all their inside jokes and we didn't really know what to do. And then after
that they just went crazy and started wrestling and stuff. It was kind of
entertaining but it just didn't feel like I was really a missionary, and so
Hermana Hales and I just went and did some personal study before we went to bed
at our normal time, and then woke up at 6:30 to go on a run with one of the
other visa waiters who is going to Argentina eventually too (just FYI they
haven't told us anything else about the visas, we're just waiting to meet with
the consulate still..).
I'm really not trying
to be negative here, I'm just being honest. I guess every mission president
does things differently, but they had drilled this "exact obedience"
thing into us so much at the MTC and then it kind of felt like a lot of those
rules that aren't a huge deal or anything were ignored for a night. Also, today
is P-Day too so it'll be another day of relaxing and not doing much missionary
work. We do have a lesson tonight which I'm excited/nervous for, but I think
all four of us are going to be teaching together which is kind of cool. The
couple whose house we live in wants to take us out to dinner afterwards. I just
want to be able to do what I'm here to do which is to help people learn and
grow, and if I'm going to do that I have to be learning and growing too. I'm
sure once we start working everything will be fine though, and that was the
last "sleepover" they're doing.
Anyways that's about
all I can think of to say right now. I just need some time to adjust and then
I'm sure I'll be able to enjoy the time that I'll be here in Ogden/Roy. It's
was great to get to talk to you on the phone even though like you said, the
conversation was a little jumbled! Hearing about where all the Lax-bros are
going is awesome too. I can't believe Gary is going to Argentina! I hope they
fix all this visa stuff so that he can actually get there on time. Just keep me
posted on what's going on with everyone- I love you guys.
Love,
HermCrawf
PS- I can email anyone
now- not just family, and I have longer than just 30 minutes (even though I'll
probably have a lot to say so I won't have time to email
a ton of people)!
PPS- I forgot to mention that yes, it is strictly Spanish speaking and we're emailing from the Family History Center in Ogden. I guess our P-Days are Tuesdays then too?
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