Hey family and friends!
What an awesome week!
I was a little worried about my birthday. I thought that it would make me feel
lonely and miss home but it was great! Obviously I still missed home but
everyone was so sweet. My companion, Hma. Bracken decorated my door with Twix,
then at breakfast some of the Hermanas surprised me with noise makers and a
crown that my mom had apparently sent to Hma. Noakes. I probably got sung to 5
times during the day (one time was when the other zone was eating lunch, they
were playing it on the piano and singing at the top of their lungs until they
realized towards the end that I wasn´t even there because I was in a different
zone). When I got back from breakfast, my bed was covered with twixes,
balloons, and other treats and “FELIZ
CUMPLEAÑOS” hung above the window (more stuff that my mom had sent to Hma.
Noakes). All throughout the day missionaries would come up to me and wish me a
happy birthday. It was Sunday so it was already an awesome day but having it
being my birthday made it even more amazing. Another plus of having my birthday
in the MTC is that the days are super long! By 6pm it felt like my birthday had
been going on for days, in fact someone asked if it was STILL my birthday and I
laughed and thought about my family always complaining that I milk my birthday
for all it´s worth and it goes on forever. Speaking of which, on Monday, my
awesome teacher threw me a little party with cake so I did get to blow out a
candle. It made me realize that, while of course I missed my family in Utah, I
have family here too. In fact on the whiteboard in our classroom we wrote: My
district is my family, the Lord is my light, and my family is my inspiration.
That statement has become truer and truer over the weeks.
Speaking of weeks: Just 1 ½ more!!! It´s almost time to
start sending letters to my mission home. I´ve learned so much here and I love
all of the missionaries but I am excited to get out into the field. My Spanish
is still far from perfect but I know it will get so much better when I have to
speak it all of the time. Hma. Leavitt (my companion) is already off to
Ukraine! I am so excited for her! She is going to be an amazing missionary!
Proselyting this week was wonderful. We went to the park
again and I handed out 4 copies of the Book of Mormon and about 30 pass along
cards and 5 The Family: A Proclamation to the World. We, Hma. Muse and I,
talked to a couple from Switzerland for a while which was awesome because it
was the first time I have been able to talk in English to someone while
proselyting. We talked to them for about a half hour. They were holding pretty
fast to their beliefs that there can´t be one religion for everyone but by the
end they were really curious and they wanted to read the Book of Mormon just
out of curiosity because the man is a scriptorian. Unfortunately, we didn´t
have any English copies but I explained to him how to get it online. There were
two older women sitting a park bench that we talked to who were not interested
at all because they were hardcore catholics. I gave them pass-along cards in
case one day they wanted to learn more and one of them women said thanks and
said (just as a small comment before she said goodbye) that she did like one
thing about our religion which is that we pay tithing like Abraham did. I began
to explain to her that we don´t think that catholics are wrong we just don´t
believe they have the gospel in the completeness. That they are lacking very
important elements of the church Christ established, tithing as an example. She
ended up being very interested and we gave them both a copy. We also gave
another old woman one and she kissed me and my companion on both cheeks she was
so excited. As we walked away, we saw her hunched over with the book only
inches away from her thick glasses, reading. It was such a sweet picture that
it brought tears to Hma. Muse´s eyes and mine.
As a quick last note, I love the temple! Can´t believe I
only have one more time to go for 18 months. It has been such a blessing to
have the temple right out my window. If you picture my parent´s house it´s
literally the distance between the house and the shop (the detached garage) so
close!!! Please visit the temple often, appreciate it , take advantage of the
wonderful opportunity you have to live within hours of many.
I love you guys!!!!!
Hermana Tuttle
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