Week 1: Acronyms

Sept. 19, 2014

WHAT'S UP?! 

I don't know how to start this. I feel a little weird for some reason. But I guess I'll start by saying how everything went on the first day. Once we shared our last wave, I walked over to my gate and sat down. There were two Elders on my flight, and one other Sister, but I didn't talk to them at all. I just speed. Then I got on the plane and sat in between two ladies. That was nice. I landed in SLC around 9 and got all my suitcases. I dragged two with my hands, then just had to kick the other one with my foot each step because I only have two hands or something like that. Then I met up with Auntie, and we drove to Provo to see Carter, Jackie and Jayden.He's so cute. Then we went to lunch and I was dumped off at the curb at the MTC! It was nice. Some sister took me to get all situated. She knew Courtney! She's also going to Taiwan. It wasn't very hard saying goodbye at all. I thinks it's because it didn't really hit me at the time, and now I haven't had much time to think about it. So in other words,

it's been a nice transition.

Final Goodbyes

So I dropped off everything in my room, then went to the classroom to meet my district. My teacher, Brother Ditto, was in the room, as well as two other Elders. I shook Brother Ditto's hand and he introduced himself to me. Then I was like, "I'm Brother Livingston." *Palm to the forehead* I was reading his name tag as I was speaking. Very embarrassing.  Then more and more elders came in, all announcing they were serving in Provo. I started to get all hot and sweaty, thinking I was in the wrong room because I was the only Sister, and the only one not going to Provo. But then at last, my companions came in. Yes, companions. Plural. I'm in a tri-companionship. Sister Sorensen is from Saratoga Springs, Utah. She's serving in Cleveland with me. Sister Poole is from Australia, serving in New Zealand. I love my district.  We all get along great and always have a good time. Quote of the week: "I mean Elder." I probably hear that at least 10 times a day from the Elders in my district. It's pretty funny because everyone in my district is brand new here and not used to the whole "Sisters and Elders" thing. You're not allowed to say "guys" here because apparently "guys are the people back home dating your girlfriend." Pretty funny. Harsh, but funny. And probably true for a lot of Elders. One time during personal study, Elder Putegnat, in my district, sneezed. But instead of making the normal "a-choo" sound, he said "sneeze". While he sneezed. It was so funny, I couldn't stop laughing. Probably had to be there.

Left to Right: 

Sister Stotts, Sister Poole, Sister Sorensen, me, Elder Serrao, Elder Serrao's companion.

Me and Elder Williams

I kept my eyes peeled for Elder Trentman the whole day. It got to the point where I started seeing him and Elder Baugh everywhere, but it was never actually them. Sad face. But then we went to this class thing where two companions were going to teach an investigator in front of all the new missionaries. So I'm sitting in the audience, then I hear the missionaries knock on the door and say, "Hi, we're the missionaries!" I didn't see them, but I immediately knew who it was. I could recognize that voice anywhere--Elder Trentman. Then they walked into the room and sure enough, it was him! So exciting. I think my heart exploded a little bit. He did awesome. We didn't get the chance to talk at all afterwards though. Then I saw him again yesterday afternoon. When I first saw him, I was like "ChaaElder Trentman!" I keep slipping though. But we were able to talk and shake hands. It was glorious. Don't worry, everybody. We got a picture. He asked if he could just come to my class with me and I said yes, but he didn't actually come. I don't know why. Then I saw him again this morning. So, so far we're 3 for 3. Very exciting. And his haircut looks great.

ONLY THE BEST MTC REUNION TO EVER EXIST

I saw a lot of other friends I didn't even know were here. Josh Williams, Spencer Serrao (Adam's roommate), and Sister Stotts. All from BYUI. And I saw Heather Conk. And of course, my personal favorite, Mr. Chancey Trentman.

I got my release date. March 3rd, 2016. Also, I got the date I fly to Ohio--October 7th, aka the day Clark comes home. Kind of funny. So yeah, because I'm a visitors' center Sister I'm in the MTC for 3 weeks instead of 2. We'll be in Temple square for a few days on my last week here. I think Tuesday and Saturday. HATCH AND QUIST FAMILIES: I will be there for conference. And I would love to share a message about the restored gospel with you. 

Companions:  Sister Poole, Sister Sorenson and well, me.  Sister Livingston

I get lost in the bathrooms in my residence hall. They're basically a giant maze. I always go in one door, then come out from another and don't know where I am. So that's fun.

Like everyone says, the days here are long. We're in classes for over 7 hours a day. I think these classes, classes about the gospel and missionary work, are the only classes that I could ever enjoy for such long periods of time. The spirit is always so strong. I just love it.

The Classic Pointing Shot! 

During class on the first day, one of our teachers was introducing himself and told a little story that I really liked. So there's a man who is re-doing a garage. He is taking all of these nails out of boards, and in the process, all of the nails get bent. The man's little boy comes up to him and asks what he can do to help. The Father says, "Take this hammer and straighten out all of these nails." After a few hours, the little boy finally finishes and tells his father that he is done. Then his dad looks at him, smiles, and thanks him. However, he then says, "I actually don't need those. I need new nails for the new boards." The little boy is very sad and disappointed and asks why his dad had him straighten out all of the nails if he wasn't going to use them. His father replied, "Because I wanted you to learn how to use a hammer." At first, I didn't understand the significance of this story. I just didn't get it. None of us did. However, our teacher did not leave us in the dark. He went on to explain how the father represents Heavenly Father, and we, missionaries, represent the little boy. If He wanted to, Heavenly Father could make it so that all of His sons and daughters knew of the restored gospel. He doesn't actually need us to straighten out the nails. He has the power to do all the missionary work in the world on his own. But because He loves us and wants us to grow, He gives us the opportunity to serve missions. It's not US who convert people. It's the Spirit. But that doesn't' mean that our work is pointless. We are instruments in the Lords hand, and we grow through this experience. We learn how to use a hammer. He explained it much better than I did, of course, but I hope you got the point. Because it was pretty powerful to me. Cool quote: "We don't knock on doors to find investigators. We knock on doors to show obedience so that Heavenly Father will send us investigators."

Now, you may be wondering why the subject of this email is Acronyms. I'm here to answer you question. Here at this little place I like to call the MTC, we use lots of acronyms. And they're pretty neat. Here's a few:

SMILE: Spiritual Matters Involve Life Eternal 

MTC: Make Time Count. At the MTC, make time count

PJ'S: Prayer, Journal, Scriptures. spend more time in each of those daily. 

FOD: Faith, Obedience, Diligent. Be a FOD Missionary

STAPE: Seer, Translator, Apostle, Prophet and Evangelist. What a Prophet is. 

I thought those were some pretty cool ones. There are a lot of cool things that I've already learned in such a short time here. Life is good. I'm grateful for the opportunity I have to be here. It's amazing.

Lucy: thank you for your DearElderIMeanSister. Yes, I got it. You're not a noob. But apparently you're the only one who loves me. For everyone else, I'd appreciate some love, too.

Sister Livingston

OH-CLE OCT 7

2009 W. 900 E. Unit 169

Provo, UT 84602

Did Cameron get his call? Let me know where he's going! Please and thank you. 

I love you all! And miss you. But not that much because I don't have much time to think about it. But I still miss you. You're welcome.

Love, 

Sister Livingston