I'm sure this will come as a surprise to many, But little Sister Bridge is still in the MTC! Visitor center Sisters stay for 4 weeks, and I shall be flying out to Hawaii on 2 June!!! I am traveling with 8 elders, all going to Hawaii as well. I met most of them yesterday (funny story, I'll tell in a bit) and they are way nice! I can't wait! So keep sending dearelders till Monday after noon!
My whole district (save my companion and I) left on Monday for Tampa Florida! I miss them sooo much! They will make amazing missionaries. We had to take Sister Rowley to the front at 0600, which was really early.... especially if you have gotten in 8 hours of sleep every night for 3 weeks. The elders met us there and then we walked back to the room. (I stepped on a snail... after I had taken all this time to move ANOTHER snail out of the way of a lawn mower, it was nasty.)
Wednesday my companion flew out to Vancouver Canada! That was really sad, but I'm super excited for her. I remember Scott telling me that saying goodbye to your family was hard, but saying goodbye to people on your missions was even harder because you weren't sure if you were ever going to see them again. I'm already seeing that.
Since I don't have a companion (or a district) I'm officially a Solo Sister. For those of you that don't know, a Solo Sister is a Sister who doesn't have a companion (maybe she's the only one learning a certain language), so she gets this cool little sticker on her name tag that allows her to be with Elders. This would have been great, but I don't really have Elders to be with either since my district is gone. So I've been finding random Elders to walk me to class and stuff. It's kinda rough... I've got soo much time to do stuff, and soo much stuff to do, but no one to do it with, so I can't really get anything done. But it's starting to work out! You're not allowed to be alone, but I can't really help it. So I just find people. I guess the Lord is trying to tell me something?
I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day! I ran a lot that day, then played sand volleyball. But that's about it... Tuesday we had this AMAZING devotional by Elder Callister of the Seventy. He talked about focusing our lessons and teachings on Christ, and he used a lot of big words, and my companion had to ask me what they meant. I was glad I knew. Oddly enough, a lot of people have complimented me on my vocabulary. That kind of makes me laugh since this whole time I've had to simplify EVERYTHING! I've tried soo hard to (as Sam would say, and she has) "be normal." (yes Sam i forgive you...) I don't think I have a large vocabulary, but people keep coming to me to ask for definitions.
I started Visitor Center training on Wednesday. I'm the only visitor center Sister this week, so it's pretty much just one on one time with my teachers. I honestly wouldn't have it any other way. I have learned soo much in the past few days! Sister Allen and Sister Olsen are amazing! I gave my first "tour" yesterday, and I was supposed to focus it around the first lesson, the restoration. You get this big room to set up displays of anything you think you could need, anything that they might have in a visitor center. Then you teach the lesson with the visual aids. My "tour group" came in after I had set everything up and I don’t think it went as well as it could have... this girl decided she was going to play the "jerky investigator" and started asking me all these questions even before we got started. She started telling me the things we did in the temples were stupid, and it wasn't fair that everyone couldn't go in. (Keep in mind she's actually a member, and is going on a mission in a few months) It kinda ticked me off, so I was really blunt. Oops. But I gave her the answer. Then the same group came back again and they were members, so I got to see how to change my teachings for members. It was good practice. I'm glad my teachers are patient. I know that I'm going to get those questions while I'm out there, and I'm working on answering them with LOVE! It's a struggle some times... I really love it when I'm teaching other missionaries a lesson. I've gotten to teach a lot of other missionaries in the Visitor center room. We just invite them to come in at a certain time, and then I teach them a part of a lesson based on what I think their needs are. We watch lots of movies :D
I taught the ESL (English as a second language) missionaries last night, and they are sooo amazing! Most were Spanish, some Japanese, South Korean, and Tongan. We watched a movie on the Life of Christ. It had very little words, mostly music. I thought that would be nice for them. Then taught about Christ and the Atonement. We discussed problems they were having with the language and the MTC in general, and they all really opened up. I gave them a chapter in the Book of Mormon to read after, Ether 12 I think, specificaly verse 27... I think. Where the Lord says he will make the weak things strong? Yeah that one. Sorry, I don't have my scriptures with me! But it was a great learning experience! I teach some English Elders tonight! I honestly can't wait to get to Hawaii!
I'll be sending home some pictures today, so anyone that wants to stop by can see them, unless mom wants to scan them and put them on the blog? I'll be sending home my memory card much later... so it's up to mommy. Be nice to her and she might post them sooner :D
So other than the fact that the last 3 days have felt like the first 3 days I was here, everything is going great! I still have the Latvians, the Armenians, and the Greeks. Whenever I can I usually stick with them, since they are in my branch. I'll get all day Sunday with them!
And I just realized I said I'd tell you how I met the other Hawaiian Elders... I had a teaching appointment in the VC room, and when I walked in I said Aloha, like always, then I just started getting to know the Elders (there were about 12). 4 of them said they were going to Hawaii! Then one said "Wait, are you the Sister that's flying out with us on Tuesday?" YES!!!! I'm soo psyched! It was sooo cool! Ok, it was cool to me.... cuz then I got to teach them about the restoration! It was brilliant.
Well this is really long, but that's the story of the week. Big thanks to everyone that has written me, it really makes my day when I get a letter. Scott, I hope Italy is just as good as you remember it, write me and tell me all about it! Jason... just write me. Ammon, send pictures of rock climbing. I miss it, hard core. Madi, I love you! To the fam, you'll be getting letters from me very soon! And to my baby sister- You're graduation pics are soo cute! I showed the announcement off to everyone :D I'm soo proud of you! Thanks for the letter, tell Lexy thanks!
I'm sooo glad I had the chance to come to the MTC! I have learned so much about the Gospel, and mostly about Jesus Christ. My love for my Savoir has increased ten fold since I arrived, and I know that it's only going to grow! I've realized that through prayer the Lord can help us with anything we're struggling with. He wants to help us. All we need to do is sincerely ask! This has been one of the hardest experiences of my life, but I wouldn't have it any other way! I'm reminded of a Longfellow stanza... 'the heights by great men reached and kept were not obtained by sudden flight. But they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.' It's not perfect, I'm doing it from memory, but that's really how it is. Not that I stay up late, but it's obvious who really studies and who really wants to be here! I know I'm definetely lacking in the motivation area sometimes, but then I remember what my job is. My job is to bring others to Jesus Christ, and that's not going to happen if I'm lazy! And that applies to everyone! So don't be lazy! That's my message to you :D love ya'll, and I'll write next from HAWAII!!!
till then, all my love!
Sister Charlene Bridge
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