The MTC (holy prison)

On March 28th 2012 I headed to Provo with the ol fam and the dropped me off at the lovely MTC curb, shaggy hairs and all

 Don't I look French?! Oops. 

I met my wonderful first companion, Sorella Sharlin Openshaw. We were the shortest non-Asian companionship in the joint. 

 The other Sorelle in my district - Spicq and Sudweeks

 Our dashing zone

 We aren't bored, but lets see if we fit into our laundry bags. Yes. Yes we do.

 The district

 After about 2 days the Elders (Anziani, in Italian) decided we were all good enough friends for them to make illustrations of us. Hm. 

 Sorella Spicq turned out to be a little whiz at speaking Italian, so she got shipped off to the field after 3 weeks, and we gained another companion! The spicy Sorella Laura Sudweeks. She added more flare to our companionship for sure. 

 Our last day at the TRC... It looks to me like lunch didn't agree with them

Our farewell choir before getting on the bus to the airport.

One of my favorite parts of the MTC were the devotionals. We had President Packer, Perry, Ballard, Christofferson (my favorite), Scott, and Hales, as well as many of the 70. Also David Archuletta, because he was in training and they would make him sing all the time, hehe :) (Lil Davie and I made eyes at each other on several occasions... and he opened my door 4 times... but whatever. NBD). 

Another favorite part was our weekly service. We got assigned to clean the women's bathrooms in our resident hall. This would normally be nasty, but instead of sponges they gave us pressure washers. It always turned into a high-presssured-bleach-and-water-fight. Great for stress relief :)

I honestly don't remember a lot from my MTC experience, but I remember feeling very inadequate and humbled. Luckily I had great teachers and mentors, and CJ came in to the TRC a couple times, hehe. (Funniest moment - CJ walks into the TRC and I go running up to him and give him a hug and everyone around us freaks out because they don't know we are related. YES!)

Some people hate on the MTC, but I loved it. I was there for 9 weeks, which is 3 weeks longer than they go now, but I'm grateful for every day I was there. Quit hating on the MTC!

Sister missionaries - listen up.

I feel that it is really important to share the two things that made all the other sister missionaries in my mission jealous. 

The biggest physical discomforts on the mission are your shoulders and back from carrying so much lovely crap everywhere, and your feet. 

Number one -  MY BAG. 

Best bag ever. It is called the Osprey Flap Jill Mini, and it saved my life. I wish I could just have ten million dollars and buy every new sister missionary one of these bags! It is the perfect size, the strap has this comfy part for your shoulder, and it isn't dorky! It is waterproof, which came in handy many many times. It faded a bit by the end of two Sicilian summers, and the little buckle on the front broke after about a year of being clipped about 2876 times a day, but it was just the best.  I left it to my last companion, and she still uses it every day. The only time I wasn't wearing it was when I was sleeping or cooking. BUY IT. 

Number two - leather sandals. If you are allowed to wear sandals in your mission, get some good leather ones that you can also wear to church (this also depends on your mission president). I wore mine every day from the beginning of May till September, and they were NASTY by the end of the summer, but heck. One pair of shoes for all summer is great. I would put a picture of mine on here, but the church wanted them for the Church History Museum. (I told them no -- I didn't want to scare the children. Also anyone within 16 feet of them passes out because they smell so bad. Save the temple square missionaries! Don't display them!)

What else... I went through a few umbrellas, finally found one that was wind resistant and squished down small enough to fit in my bag. That was a good day. 

Bring more clothes than they say. You get SO sick of them. 

Bring nail polish. It makes you feel pretty, and its great for pranks. 

Don't make one of those cereal box scripture cases. TACKY. And offensive. 

Don't carry around more books than you have to. One BOM to give away, some pamphlets, a bible and some pass along cards. If you don't have what they want, its a great excuse to ask them for their address and offer to drop it by later! 

You're awesome. Go and DO! 

Thinking about blogging about my mission someday

Oh hello!

I realize and accept the awful shame I have put upon myself for not blogging yet. Ugh. I feel like a 28146298 pound cow has rested upon my feel-good soul, and I need to get him off (actually it's a her cow), so... I am going to do it.

I am currently in Seattle, where Amy has given me the privilege of using her big mamma Mac computer to use for the week! It is a bit intimidating. I have to turn my neck to see the other side of the screen. Plus I'm a bit technologically handicapped. Whatevs.

So! I shall start. Wish me luck. Also wish that the washer and dryer break so I CAN'T do laundry, because that takes about 10 hours a day.

The end.

The grand re-entry into... I have no idea

Hi.

So I just got home. I don't really know what to say other than I am here, I just had the best experience of my life (no, really though) and... One of these days I will start blogging again! I'm kind of excited. Blogging is good.

Princess Diaries just came on, so... I can't exactly blog while something so fantastic is right in front of my face. Sorry!

Later