1st week of my mission

Hi!

I have been here in the Missionary Training Center (MTC) for less than a week so far but things are already so different from how they were before and I have learned so much. I can now pray, speak, and bear testimony in Slovenian, as well as teach a lesson (which I've done three times now to varying degrees of success). I have a wonderful companion. Her name is Sister Tanner and she is from North Hollywood. I know, what are the chances? She is a BYU-Idaho student and is planning to be an English teacher when she graduates from college. She is a really determined person with a wonderful, bright face and vibrant green eyes. It is fabulous to be a companion with someone who wants to learn the language as much as I do and who is as determined to succeed. She and I have been through a lot already together, several ups and downs, and I am learning a lot from her. It is “Preparation Day” today, and I am writing this in the laundry room (the biggest laundry room I have ever seen). But, let me start at the beginning…

The first day was extremely intense. Actually, everything about the first few days was intense. It felt like an absolute eternity from Wednesday to Saturday. When we arrived immediately our Slovenian teachers (who only spoke in Slovenian from the first moment onward) greeted us. It was more than a little discombobulating. First up was a meeting with the Mission Presidency and all the new Elders and Sisters. There are several hundred of us. Following the meeting, we were sent to dinner and then to unpack before our first real Slovenian class.

Every class is three hours long and we have two classes a day, five days a week. After classes we have personal and companion study, then language study. All of it has to be done in the classroom, which means we spend about 10.5 hours every day in the same room. The rest of the time we are either in the gym, eating, sleeping, or getting ready for any of the above. Time to write in my journal is even limited. Ten and one half hours in class in a single day is enough to start to drive one crazy, and it certainly did that for the first few days I was here.

On the third day, at about noon, we had to teach our first lesson in Slovenian to a native Slovene. Maya was an "investigator" but even though she really wasn’t, it was an incredibly nerve-wracking and stressful thing to teach her. Unsurprisingly, we knew how to speak very little that first lesson and we understood even less. The investigator didn't respond very well to our testimonies, but we had her pray which went well.

The next day we had our second meeting with her, but she hadn't done the tasks we had asked her to do so our planned lesson sort of flew out the window. We realized that a big mistake we made was in not giving her a sheet that explained exactly how to pray. Even though we had taught her how to pray, apparently she had forgotten so we didn't make any progress, though our Slovenian had already improved. I could understand more what our teachers, Brat ("Brother) Johnson and Sestra (“Sister”) Kelly said and we began to better understand how to teach.

Being in a language immersion program, we are sort of clueless half of the time, which can be really frustrating. Sestra Tanner and I realized that we were being too focused, that we weren't having any sort of fun and thus weren't happy. We have been working on lightening up. Our Elders in the Slovenian part of our district (there are three of them, they're a triple companionship) are wonderfully fun so I’ve been trying to be more upbeat like them. I think that could really help.

Our saving grace was on Sunday when we didn't have any classes or language study and instead we had wonderful things such as a huge joint Relief Society meeting, MTC choir (which consisted of about 500 people of whom only 100 were Sisters) and Sacrament Meeting. Every Sunday we are supposed to write a talk on a topic assigned to us. The talk has to be exactly five minutes long, and you only get about 30 seconds warning if you are called upon to present yours. The President of the MTC, President Brown, attended our Sacrament Meeting, which apparently doesn't happen very often. He reorganized our Branch Presidency and then stayed through the rest of the meeting. Surprise! It turned out that I was the first person asked to speak (about a 1 in 60 chance that it would be me). It turned out well though.

My topic was the Atonement, and while that is about one of the largest topics under the sun, it was still wonderful to speak about. I had planned on talking about Jerusalem and what Gethsemane and the Garden Tomb are like and how, when I lived in Jerusalem, we turned olives into olive oil as a symbol of the Atonement. I had about 15 seconds to get my stuff together and walk up to the stand before I spoke. Fortunately I had my talk planned, and I was grateful that I had not chosen to read from “Preach my Gospel” because I only realized afterwards that I only had the Slovenian version with me. I spoke for the five allotted minutes, describing in detail the symbolism of olives and the process of making oil, and how the oil has been used to heal, to light the way, and is still used to consecrate. I also bore my testimony of the Atonement and my gratitude to Christ for doing something so extraordinary for me. I used a few verses in Alma to talk about how the Atonement was necessary (a great and last sacrifice) and then ended. President Brown said, “Thank you,” as I walked down and afterwards told me the talk was fabulous and that I have a wonderful understanding of the Atonement. That meant a lot to me. I really felt God was directing me on what to say and how to say it. I never felt nervous or alone, even though I was speaking in front of the MTC President and all these Elders and Sister whom I have never met before.

Yesterday (Monday) we had another lesson with Maya. Sister Tanner and I were planning it when I suddenly felt we ought to explain the concept of eternal families. We did this, and I hope that helped Maya recognize the necessity of the Gospel in her life. When we were meeting with her, I suddenly felt that we should not have her read the section we had been intending her to read, but instead we should have her read something in 3 Nephi about Christ. I was looking for the chapter on Christ blessing the children but could not tell which one it was because it was all in Slovenian. So I just picked one, hoping it was good, and asked her to read it. It turned out that it was 3 Nephi chapter 11 which is the section where Christ descends and the people feel the nail marks on his hands and feet and get to meet him face to face. I was astonished that it was such a good section to have her read and really felt like we had the Spirit with us. But it was not all good, she still hadn't prayed, and we missed something critical she said in her long Slovenian speeches. Sister Tanner and I were pretty discouraged, so we had to pray for help that we could have the Spirit with us in all things and that the Lord will be our constant companion. We felt better after that and were able to cheerfully prepare for today, which is “Preparation Day” and has so far been really relaxing.

Well, I have only 3 minutes left. Let me say that I am so grateful that I am on this mission. Though it is hard and discouraging at times, I have already learned so much -- not only about the language but about sincere prayer, about the Spirit, about humility, and sincere love. I am so excited to learn and grow more because I want to be better than I am and spend the rest of my life serving the Lord in any way I can.

Thank you to everyone who has helped me to prepare for and pay for this mission. It has meant so much to me. I am so glad I am here!

I love you all! Thank you Mom and Dad!

Z ljiubezen,

Sestra Ary