September 28, 2010

Drogi Moja Rodzina,

I had an excellent chance to practice missionary composure during the missionary conference on Sunday. Every fast Sunday all of the missionaries get together for a 2 hr conference, and Starzsy Sorn and I were asked to give the prayers. This meant that we were able to sit on the stand for the conference along w/ our companions. However, both of us are in a trio, so where 4 missionaries usually sat, 6 chairs were squeezed onto the stand. This resulted in my chair being directly in the view of the camera for the ENTIRE 2 hours. The camera man tried to zoom in as close as he could to the speaker, but in front of the black screen was my grey suit, blonde hair, and smile as I tried to be an attentive and non-distracting missionary just to the left of the speakers elbow. Ever since that conference I have been getting tons of stares and people coming up to me thanking me for my apparently epic prayer. I feel bad that they had to look at my face for that long! The worst part is that I had a cold, and I would have to strategically cough, wipe my nose, and readjust myself when the screen was showing a scripture or picture.

When I was on the stand I got to meet the Mission Presidency and of course found Stay connections. The mission president's wife Elizabeth Roth Smith said she knew Randy and Sharon from High School in Spain. J. Halvor Clegg, the 1st Counselor said he was a cousin of Jesse's and that his sisters swooned over him. He respected him very much. I said something about trying to live up to him, and Pres. Clegg replied, "Nonsense, you just have an advantage! Those Stays have good genes!"

I also got called on Sunday to be Coordinating Sister. As of today the only sisters in our zone are me and my two companions but we have been coordinating extremely well :)

Thank you so much for the packages and letters this week! (Mom, Amber, Josh, Ali, Greg, and Jake you all have letters coming I promise!!)

I shared the sourdough bread w/ balsamic vinegar and oil as well as the tomatoes and goat cheese with my district. The Germans were in heaven over good bread and real food. They always perk up when they see that I have a package, because they know they will probably be getting some delicious food.

Allie Nothum, Sister Loss, and the rest of the Bulgarians left this week. Sadly only 5 Elders are coming in to replace them. The Poles and Bulgs have had a long-standing friendship at the MTC. Before they left we had one last game of Stomp, which is a game I think our family would love. You all get close in a circle, count to 3 and then jump apart. One person moves and tries to step on the foot of someone near them, but you can only move your feet once, so if you jump and hop or fall over or touch your hands to the ground you are out. After you have made your move you call on someone else. If someone pretends to move their feet (the it person) and you (the victim) fall for it and move your feet at all you are out. We sometimes play every man for himself, or we play Poles vs Bulgs. In that case, each Pole after their turn has to call a Bulg and vice versa. Try it and let me know how it goes!! Anyways, we were playing the last game, and it came down to me and 3 Bulgarians. I have never won a game of Stomp in my life (here at the MTC :) ) but through some strategery (I'm counting that as a real word..) and fancy dance moves I represented Poland and won! Much rejoicing occurred.

This week I studied about Light. If any of you are looking for a topic to study, I highly recommend it. I read in the Bible Dictionary as well as in D&C 88 and 93. Here's a pattern that I thought was cool. As you learn (though the spirit) you gain knowledge and (though faith) it becomes truth (if you apply it in your life) it then becomes light. We all can be filled with light, and bring light to others, depending on how we are living our lives. There are some sisters on my floor that are so filled with light that you can't help but be cheered up as you come in contact with them. I also watched a great talk about "knowing if an answer was from the Spirit or your own thoughts.” It was great, and reminded me of the many talks I had with Sarah. What it came down to was that if you were living your life the right way, it didn't matter. As we become more like Christ, He trusts us to make the choices He would make and He lets us make them on our own. As we live righteously we will have promptings w/o realizing they are from God and can answer others' prayers.

I love you!

Siostra Stay