Off to Santa Rosa!

Before I say anything, I just need to freak out for a moment because literally five minutes ago, Elder Bednar held open the door for me.  If we weren't given specific instructions to keep my cool, I would have had a conversation.  But I didn't.  Nevertheless, I am still on cloud nine.  Okay.  Moving on.

Well my time here at the MTC has ended.  And this has been the craziest week by far.  Our elders got their visas and had to fly to Vegas, there was the Worldwide Leadership Broadcast and all the choir practices for that, and then there is the new Mission Presidents Seminar which means that the main building is closed and we all get to eat in the gym.  To say our meals have been slightly compromised is an understatement.  But!  Anything for those mission presidents!

 

So if you were not able to see the Worldwide Broadcast, I would urge you to watch it   If you look closesly, you can see my in the choir during Hark All Ye Nations!

But I wish I could tell you how funny this Marriott process has been.  So the choir was composed of over 2,200 people, 1,100 of which being missionaries.  Well, it was ever single missionary's goal to get to the Marriott center first to get a first row seat.  I don't know why... to be closer to the apostles I guess.  Anyway, so we all stood in line outside the gate for about 30 minutes.  My district skipped lunch to be in the front.  We don't like waiting in lines.  Well the gates opened and it was like Black Friday at a Wal-Mart in the south.  Seriously, 1100 missionaries just SPRINTED to the Marriott center.  It was absolutely out of control.  People were falling and getting trampled... it was that bad.  Of course, Hermana Stewart (who I was on a split with) and I were NOT about to be last.  So we rocked the power-walk so hard.  Which is very difficult to do in pencil skirts.  But, we ended up sitting in the fourth row and we are pretty sure it was worth it.  iVale la pena!

So yeah.  That was pretty cool!

And the broadcast was amazing.  I am so excited to get out in the field and work with the members! The work is being hastened!  Please catch the wave and help the missionaries out.  I actually escorted this amazing sister named Sister Bulloch from Akron Ohio who should be coming to the Phoenix mission in about a week!  She is amazing... and so are all of the other missionaries in your area.  Help them!

Okay.  So after that, all 3,000 missionaries in the MTC went to dinner.  At the same time.  But remember how the cafeteria is closed?  Yep.  That makes for a really stressed out staff.

So the line was wrapped ALL THE WAY AROUND the border of the MTC.  No joke.  But Elder Darger is from New York.  So we don't wait in lines very often.  No, we didn't cut lines.  But we definitely found a short cut to get to the shorter line!  You know you have been at the MTC way too long when you know where the secret staircase is that leads straight to the inside of the gym where all the food is.

Speaking of food.  Okay.  So the MTC food really isn't that bad.  It just gets REALLY old when it is all you have been eating for 6 weeks.  And with this fun new gym/ cafeteria experience, the food is just that much better.  So!  The other night we were eating this unidentifiable meat and decided we just couldn't do it anymore and we would get cereal.  So our elders brought us back Fruit Loops and then we all realized that there was no milk.  Which was really sad.  Well... we were really hungry.  So we ate out cereal with Sprite.  I is actually surprisingly good.... but only in the moment.  That happiness was DEFINITELY fleeting. We were so sick for the rest of the night. 

I would just like to reiterate my love for my district.  Seriously-  I didn't know I could love this much.  Every single one of those elders and sister is going to change the world 

Saying goodbye to our Elders (going to Xalapa Mexico) and our teachers last week was so. hard.  Literally every single one of us was bawling.  Like uncontrollably.  We don't call ourselves a district, we call ourselves a family.  I am so grateful that Heavenly Father loves me enough to have given me the opportunity to learn and from with these Elders and Hermanas.  I am just too blessed to even describe.

 

So in closing, I will tell you the funny story of the week.  Our family (district) was practicing for a musical number, Mas Cerca Dios de Ti (Nearer My God to Thee).  So somehow at the end, it turned into this crazy Gospel Choir rendition.  Complete with clapping and runs.  Well.  We decided it would be a good idea to record it.  Somehow during that process, Hermana Palmer fell of a chair, I ended up on the ground laughing, and none of the recordings worked.  The moral of the story is... we now have a testimony that we are to sing hymns with dignity like they are supposed to be.

 

Well.  I have got to go.  Next time I write I will be in the field!

Pictures are to come soon!!!!

Note to the reader: 

Anneli is now out in the field so that means a new address! This is her new address from here on out!

Sister Anneli Bryant

California Santa Rosa Mission

5301 Badger Road

Santa Rosa, CA 95409

Last week in the MTC

From left to right:

Hermana Bryant, Hermana Abby Stewart, Hermana Lauren Zimmerman, Hermana Nicole Richards, Hermana Brooke Palmer, Hermana Taylor Berrett

Elder Gregory Bird, Christen Hobbs, Thomas Corbin Dunn, Benjamin True Darger, David Warner, Cade Parker

MTC: Week 5

Holy moly I only have 8 more days in the MTC.  I thought I would hate it, but I have such a deep love for all of my teachers and my district, that I do not want to leave.  Can't I just serve my mission here??

Just Kidding.  I am toooo excited to get out in the field!  At this time next week I will be in the beautiful land of Santa Rosa.  And I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am!  these last six weeks have been preparation for the (as my teacher, Hermano Clark would say) peeps in Cali!  I just hope they will be able to understand me!  Because speaking your heart in a different language is ridiculously difficult.  But somehow possible nonetheless!

Okay... so this week I don't have any crazy awesome stories about elders and bathrooms... kind of sad.  But! Last night my district was playing sand volleyball and I hit the ball once and the sisters and elders were literally crying with joy... Some things never change.

Also! Because there are like 50 billion people in the MTC, we go to the Marriott center for devotionals.  So there is just this giant mass of missionaries walking across BYU campus.  It is quite comical.  But awesome, of course.  The work is being hastened for sure!

Even though it is slightly annoying because the shower lines are never ending in the morning.  So I takea shower at night and just hope for the best when it comes to my hair.  Pixie cuts and bed head DO NOT mix... I have had a few alfalfa days here... and I just express my gratitude that I am on a mission and am not worried about how I look.

This week has been kind of uneventful... I wish I had more to say! I am still learning SO much- mostly about how simple the Gospel is and how every doctrine can apply to every single aspect in our lives.  Teaching is much more difficult than I expected.  Especially in Spanish... but I know I am getting divine help because somehow people are able to understand me.  I honestly learn more from those I am teaching than they learn from me!

If anything, my testimony as been strengthened ten fold.  I love this church and there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that it is true.

If you have doubts, read the Book of Mormon and then pray, and then write me a little letter and we can talk about how amazing Christ is!

 

Anyway... I still love letters.  And I hope you are all having a phenomenal life!

 

Hermana Bryant

MTC: Week 4

Happy Father's Week every body!

I have thought a lot about my own father lately, who happens to be the best father ever, sorry to every body else, and I just feel like I need to share this little experience with you.

Concering my father's death, I have had a lot of questions.  There was never any real closure for me.  But one day i was reading through D&C when I came across Secion 4:22-23.

I cried unto my Father in Heaven, wanting answers, and he gave me a feeling of peace.  Even though I wanted exact answers, the peace is enough.  For any body else who is needing answers, cry out to your own Father and He will absolutely answer you.  Because if I have learned anything here, it is that He loves every single one of His children So. Much.  Just like we have loving fathers on this earth, we have an even more perfectly loving Father above.

So! Remember your fathers on this day and the sacrifices they have made for you(:

On a totally different note, I think the worst thing the world has ever had to deal with is sickness. So annoying!  My companion got really really sick the other day and that meant residence study time for me!  It is funny because in college if I had to take a sick day,  I would rejoice.  But here, you feel like you have missed like 3 weeks of learning and there is no way you can ever catch up.  It is too funny.  Even meals have become annoying because we have so much to learn and so many people to teach and a meal is almost like a waste of time haha The MTC has officially ruined me.

OH! So every week we are given the wonderful opportunity to do service around to MTC.  It is actually a really nice thing.  Usually me and my sisters are put in charge of raising the 33 flags in front of the MTC.  Definitely an arm work out, let me tell you.  But if we finish that, we are given these awesome jobs like scrubbing bricks.  Or chairs.  (If you ever come into the MTC, make sure to notice the bottom 10 bricks throughout 1M.  Because those have been scrubbed with love.)

But. Last week we were given bathrooms. Yay... So me and my companion, wanting to be super nice, took the men's restrooms.  Sure, it was disgusting and the self flushing urinals are my biggest enemies ever, but we are strong women and we cleaned those bathrooms with dignity.

That is until these Elders decided it was okay to just come in and USE THE URINALS WHILE WE WERE IN THERE!!!!!

Did they not see the sign on the door?  Or the large cart of cleaning supplies??

So Here is how it went down.  I am in one of the back stalls cleaning and my companion runs in and mouths, "there are elders in here!"  So I walk out to tell them that we were sorry, but they would need to find a different bathroom.  Well I walk out and they are defintiely already doing their business.  So I bolt back in the stall (thank goodness for the little wall seperater thingers) hoping for their own sake that they didn't see us in there.

Well.... When they left, they said, "thank you sisters!"

I. wanted. to cry.

And the best part is, they didn't even flush when they left.

So... I wish there was a moral to that story.  I am just as shocked as you are and a little scarred as well.

But despite that, the MTC is still amazing and still worth it!

The church is true! And if you aren't sure or think I am an idiot, read the Book of Mormon and pray about it, then come talk to me(;

Adios!

MTC: Week 3

Have I mentioned lately how much I love the MTC?  (Or as we would say in Spanish, the CCM)

It is amazing.  I have learned more in these past few weeks than I have ever learned in such a short amount of time.

Through and through, it has become so evident that our Heavenly Father loves all of us- and that is all that matters honestly.

It is interesting ebcause my Spanish is not so hot, but I do know how to say, You are a child of God and He loves you.

And most times, that is all you need to hear.

 

So I am working on getting pictures up, but I ddi this cool thing and broke my camera so until those technical difficulties are figured out, just Facebook stalk me so you don't forget how I look.

 

So in the MTC you spend like a billion hours in one classroom... with your district.  And this classroom is like 10 feet by 20 feet NO JOKE.

So in my district we have 12 people... which means that it is a full house.  All the time.  And then the teachers just love us so much that our classroom has become the place to just hang out.  So the other day there were literally 17 people in our tiny room. 

Crazy.

It is a darn good thing that I just adore every single person in my district.  I never stop laughing, honestly.  And Hermana Zimmerman and I have gotten super comfortable around each other- which basically means we are constantly arguing- like an old married couple.  It is amazing because I love her to death.  She seriously knows EVERYTHING which is great for me, because I lack in that area.

Speaking of which- I can now succesfully read a watch.  And I am no longer waking everybody up an hour early anymore! So everybody is happy.

So... After three weeks of absolutely no media- you get kinda deprived.  And you think little things are really amazing... For example, we all have our favorite Mormon Messages that we just watch OVER AND OVER because we just think they are so amazing.  Which they are by the way- I would recommend going through every single one if you are ever bored.

Well there is this video that they play in the MTC that is about the importance of fundamentals- and it is this super cheesy video about how, "the difference between the skilled and the unskilled is the fundamentals"

It is literally the most amazing video I have ever seen. 

And our district loves it so much that the first time we watched it, we watched it THREE times in a row.

And then whenever we have a super productive day, we make our teacher play it for us again.

I don't even know what I am going to do when I watch a real movie after these 18 months.  I honestly don't think my mind will be able to handle it.

 

What else.. Oh.  The food here.  It is great for about the first three days.  And now I basically have cereal for breakfast lunch and dinner.  But whatever! It could be worse!  Let's just sayd p-days are the best because we are able to go the Temple and eat the super yummy food there that hasn't been marinated in grease for like 20 years(:

Btw, I love the temple more than anything- so go! And do everything you can to go!

 

Other random thoughts... I repeal my previous statement that I do not want packages.  Send me ANYTHING.  Seriously.  I love it here, but I would have no idea if everyone outside these walls died... so little reminders that there is still life on the other side is amazing. 

 

Ooh! the 2M gym is my favorite.  That is right, I actually engage in physical activity now, I know, crazy.  I never knew how much I enjoy moving until after I was sentenced to a desk for like 10 hours straight.  Anyway. You get to like run and watch General Conference at the same time! It is great.  And my favorite time is personal excersize time, because all of the sisters in my zone just get together and sing hymns in the bathroom- you just sound so much better in the bathroom! 

So that is always productive. 

 

Quote of the week- this week you get two (which I decided is a new thing that I will do) is from Elder Hobbs.  For those of you who need a mental image of him, just think of an extremely preppy pretty boy.

Okay.

 

He got out of a lesson with this 16 year old boy we are teaching and told us that the way he persuaded this boy to read the Book of Mormon is by saying,

"El Libro de Mormon tiene accion y muchas chicas bonitas.  El libro es legitimo."

Uhm... chicas bonitas, Elder??

And I am pretty sure legitimo is not a word in Spanish.

Let's just say he is never going to live that one down.

 

And the second is from Elder Parker.  Who is probably one of the funniest men to ever grace the planet.

So background information- our distric motto is DWAM (don't waste a minute)

And Elder Parker said, "When I get back from my mission I am going to WAM so hard."

Let's just say that we wasted a few minutes laughing after that.

 

I am so sorry this post is so long, I just love it here! I thought I was going to hate the MTC.  Honestly.  But it is absolutely amazing.  And the teachers here are inspired.  And the TRC is amazing.  And I have learned so much.  There is something absolutely wonderful about feeling the Spirit ALL the time.

 

But, on a more Spiritual note, I was able to watch Bednar's, "Character of Christ" 

And my life has changed.  The main point is to turn out and serve.

And I invite all of you, LDS or not, to turn out and serve.  Because I promise by doing so, you will come closer to Christ and you will find more happiness in your life.

 

Also, in one of our lessons, we had our investigator pray for the first time in his life.  It was the most amazing and Spiritual experience I have ever had.  the Spirit was so strong and I could not help but cry... Because I know for a fact that his prayer, despite all the wrongs in his life, made God happy.  I need you all to know that your Heavenly Father wants to hear from you! He loves you so much and needs to hear your prayers. 

So when life gets too hard to stand, kneel.

 

Well I love you all and I miss you!

Once again, feel free to send letters or anything!

 

Hermana Bryant