Hurrah for Israel!

Hello everyone!

This is my first "Preparation Day" at the Missionary Training Center. I'm so excited to finally write! (Even if I haven't recieved any mail from you yet! :P) This has been a whirlwind of a week, but it truly has been wonderful. I know even more now that this is exactly where I am supposed to be and that I'm doing what I am meant to do at this time.

My district is really AWESOME! There are 6 elders and 4 sisters and I am learning so much from all of them. We have amazing instructors who are helping us become the best missionaries we can be! There are 3 districts in our zone, though one lert for the mission field today, and will be replaced by a fresh district of missionaries this Wednesday... including 4 more sister missionaries! That's a lot for one zone and I'm very excited!

I have never been surrounded by so many men in all my life and it can be a little overwhelming. I have a testimony that the are called of God and will be great messengers of truth.... but they are are still 19 year old boys, and when 19 year old boys are together in huge groups... they can be a little crazy. Most of the time though, they are very respectful of us sister missionaries and it's very appreciated. With the number of doors opened for me, and the number of times the elders stand up when us sisters come in the classroom or to sit in the cafeteria... I think I say "Thank you Elder(s)!" about 100 times a day.

I ran into Sister (Tamesha) Rogers on the very first day and that made me so happy! We get to see each other pretty often and it's such a joy!. (She's also the only person who I have recieved any mail from!) I also ran into Sister (Sara) Donakey, who I didn't realize would be here at the same time as me. We went to high school together. I went to the same high school as Elder Levin in my district as well, but mostly because of the age difference we could only identify each other as "seeming vaguely familiar".

My companion's name is Sister Jungblut. (Both U's are short as in "jungle".) She is from Hawaii and is a wonderful companion. She is actually Tongan and grew up mostly in American Samoa, so she is an islander through and through. She has officially declared me as Polynesian. (Combined JQ's declaration that I'm half black, I have a whole lot of culture in me for being so darn white!) The other two sisters in our district are Sister Singleton and Sister Wallace. Sister Wallace is also from Hawaii and Sister Singleton is from Utah (Salt Lake area). We have such a great sisterhood and get along fabulously!

This place is amazing and there's so much I could tell you, but I don't want to bore you or take up too much of your time. I think I'll share just a few quotes and highlights from my week and then wrap this up. (maybe)

During our MTC Presidency welcome on the first day here, the MTC President's wife, Sister Smith said, "The MTC is a great place to be!- The spirit here is amazing and on Wednesday and Sunday evenings, we serve ice cream." There you have it: Amazing Spirit + Ice Cream = GREAT PLACE TO BE!

In that same meeting Sister Clegg said, "If you're not laughing, you're not doing it right." What a great philosophy for life! I couldn't agree more w/ her counsel to laugh at ourselves and our mistakes and move on.

Elder Holland also popped in on that same meeting and bore a powerful testimony of the importance of missionary work! One of my favorite statements he made was that, "We are not giving this committment to a fairytale!"

During another meeting one of my Zone Leaders, Elder Bowers advised us to "Stay with your companion at all times, just in case he's (or she's) a closet knucklehead." Love it!

My other Zone Leader, Elder Jenkins said it like it is when he stated. "We are missionaries. Act like it!"

I love you all so much and hope to here from you very soon! I will write back to anyone who writes me and maybe share some of my awesome experiences with you! ****WHILE I'M IN THE MTC: Anything sent through DearElder.com will be in my mailbox the very same day you write it!***** Make good choices!

Love,

Sister Pilmer!