One Month!

Bonjour!

So today is my one month mark of being on the mission! I will leave the MTC on August 6th and travel to Barbados to start preaching the gospel and to start helping people understand how much their Savior loves them and how badly God wants them to return unto him!!! This past month has been so amazing! I've learned like crazy and I have felt the spirit so strongly! No offense to Mr. Barnard, but I have learned more French here in the past month than I ever did in 2 years at the high school! I finally feel like I'm able to have a conversation in French even if it is really slow, and I mess up a little bit! 

 

Anyways, this week started off so perfectly! Saturday evening, we had a big thunderstorm and my teacher, Soeur Erekson, took us outside and let us just run around in the pouring rain, and when we went back inside we were soaking wet, but so so so happy (even if it did mean that we had to sit through another hour and a half of class in wet clothes)! Also on Saturday, we did our very first English fast! So basically, we spent the entire day only speaking in French with very minimal English only when absolutely necessary. It was so hard, but so incredibly good for all of us to practice our French and show ourselves how much we have improved! Sometimes it's hard to realize how much you have learned until you really put it to use! Sunday was my companion, Soeur Black's, birthday; she finally turned 19! So we had a small little party for her with my other companions and ate some cake and had some Martinelli's (that's pretty much all you can do to have a party in the MTC). Also, this week my companions and I started reading the Book of Mormon together in French! We finally feel like we are at a place where we can read the scriptures and be able to translate and understand them. It is so amazing how far we have come! Also this week, we decided to change the style of teaching that we do in our lessons, and my companions and I were so amazed! Our lessons went from being good, applicable lessons to being lessons that we and the people we're teaching could actually learn from and feel the spirit. The spirit is such an amazing thing that I am so grateful to have in my life! Honestly, I'm just so grateful to have the gospel in my life and to be able to experience all of the joy, peace, and knowledge that it comes with! I love this gospel with all of my heart and I know with a surety of its truth! I love you all so much!

 

Love,

Soeur Connery

 

 

SURPRISE!!

Bonjour!

To answer some of your questions: 1.) yes, I can understand most of your emails, but whatever I don't know I just look up. 2.) Don't worry about me going to Barbados, I will for sure be with other missionaries while I'm in the states and then they will most likely give me an escort to take me the rest of the way. Plus the Lord will be watching over me at all times so I'm not worried. 3.) Send me pictures! It's so much fun to see all you! 4.) French is difficult, but I'm not giving up and I'm just working harder now. And once again the Lord will bless me so I'm not worried.

Also, thanks for the updates on all of my friends, sometimes we just feel so out of the loop here, and it can be kinda hard to just look out the window at the outside world but not be able to go in it. Especially because we just want to go share the gospel with everyone and show them how much God loves them, but soon enough everyone here in the MTC will be all over the world preaching the gospel in more languages than I could even think of and bringing more happiness than is comprehensible to people who didn't even know it was there. I am so grateful for this gospel and especially for our Savior Jesus Christ. My testimony of His atoning sacrifice and the love that He and God have for us is constantly growing, and I am always able to see how much they are helping me and blessing my life even when it may be difficult to recognize.

This week was not super exciting. Almost our entire zone left this week, so by Wednesday it was just my little district of 8 and Soeur Black's district of 11 left, until that afternoon when we got all of our new missionaries. We got 5 new sisters and 36 new elders this week, so now in total there are 9 sisters and 51 elders in our zone...we are highly outnumbered. On Sunday I found out in Sacrament meeting that I was going to be the new music chairman for our Branch, so basically anytime we are together as a branch/zone I will pick the music and the special musical numbers on Sundays. It's pretty much because I'm the only one who knows how to lead music, so I guess all of those music classes really were beneficial! On Tuesday night, M. Russell Ballard came and gave us a great devotional where he talked about how we need to be bold as missionaries and we need to protect, love, support, and teach one another. It was such a great devotional and it was broadcast to all of the MTC's around the world. It was fantastic, and I'm so grateful that I got the opportunity to hear his counsel in person. Also, this week for exercise the gym is closed so my zone has started leaving campus and going to the upper fields to play sand volleyball, and it is so much fun! We pretty much play volleyball everyday, and only like two of us are actually good so the rest of us just play to have fun and it is a blast! We love being at the MTC! 

 

Here's just something kinda funny that happened this week: Soeur Black has a really loud laugh and laughs all the time, and the other night at dinner we were talking to some of the elders and she laughed so hard that her choker necklace popped off and we had to try to look for the pieces of it on the ground. It was hilarious! Also something kinda funny, EFY is going on at BYU pretty much all summer and the field where they have all of their dances and big activities and everything is across from the MTC so we will look out the windows and wave to them and they get SO excited, it's almost like they have never seen a missionary before. It is the cutest thing and it makes the elders feel like superheroes or celebrities so they love it! Also I have a huge surprise for you! It may only seem huge to me, but I cut my hair! My email is open to any questions or comments about it, but all of the Soeurs convinced me it would be a good idea so I did it! And now my hair is 5 inches shorter! Overall, this week wasn't too exciting, but it was another great week at the MTC! I love you and I can't wait to hear from you next week!

Love,

Soeur Connery

 

 

Stop, Drop and Roll

Bonjour!

This week started off very loud. Saturday night after class, we went back to our residence halls and started getting ready for bed. So I went and started to take my shower and halfway through my shower, the fire alarm went off. So I quickly had to pat myself dry and throw on a dress because that was the easiest thing for me to put on, and I had to walk calmly outside with everyone else in my building. We ended standing outside for 45 minutes at 9:30 at night, with 98% of the girls in pajamas or towels/bathrobes. It was quite an adventure to start off the week. The next morning, we woke up at 6:30 like always and it only takes me 10 minutes to get ready, so by 6:40 I was ready to go and was just waiting for my companion to finish getting ready before we went to breakfast. I kid you not, the fire alarm starts going off again and it was pretty much the same exact situation as the night before, except more girls were actually dressed this time and it was daylight so people were walking around headed to meetings, church, and various other things around campus. Needless to say, my companion and I were ready to go so we just went to breakfast and started our day 20 minutes earlier than usual. Then we went to church, where I did not have to give a talk; however I had to go to three meetings besides Sacrament meeting on Sunday and I had to pray at every single one of them, so karma got me after all. 

 

The rest of the week was just normal; we studied, went to exercise, taught some lessons, learned some French, and overall just had a good time living it up at the MTC. It's super weird though, because we just realized that everyone in our zone besides my district and the district that got here last week are leaving next week. So my district will be the oldest ones in our zone, and we still have no idea what's going on half of the time. A few funny things happened this week. Elder Huckstep was really full after dinner one night because he seriously eats SO much food, but he came into class and he said, "Look! I have a noriture (food) baby!" and he was so proud of it! Also, Sister Beal, one of my new roommates, is possibly getting reassigned while she waits for her visa to France and she got reassigned to the Spokane, Washington Mission! So I've been giving her little tricks and tips! I know it's kinda bad, but I'm hoping her visa doesn't come through right away so that she can spend some time in one of the greatest missions in the world! Also, Drake left this week for the Philippines, so we took some pictures before he left. Side note: missionary appropriate pictures with the opposite gender are SO awkward! At Tuesday's devotional, Elder Christensen and his wife came and spoke to us about how as missionaries and members of the church, people are always watching us to see what we are doing and how we are living our lives, so we need to constantly be showing our religion in our body language and actions. It was really great! Also, fun thing that happened today! I had to get my second Hepatitis A shot, so now I have a cool spider-man band-aid on my arm and they gave a lollipop because I was better at taking the shot then the Elder next me who was getting the same shot before he goes to India. Overall, not a super exciting week, but always something to write about!

 

I don't know our new branch president very well, but his wife seems really nice so far! Also, because everyone in our zone is leaving next week except for a few of the chosen ones (aka my district and the one that came in right after us) we will get new STL's again on Sunday and new Zone Leaders. Sister Begay and Sister Southwick are going to be the new STL's and Elder Danielson and Elder Huckstep are going to be the new Zone Leaders. Everything is constantly changing around here. Oh, and the reason that I'm not going to be an STL with the other Soeurs is because I'm now companions with Hermana Black technically. She is fantastic! I absolutely love her!! We get along so well and she is just so much fun to be around. She is from the Bay Area and went to BYU for a year. She is only 18, but will turn 19 next week so they let her come in early because she is speaking French and Spanish in her mission... she also speaks German. She is pretty much amazing when it comes to languages.

 

French is so overwhelming sometimes, but I just have to remind myself that I have progressed so much from where I was when I first came in. I'm pretty much just praying for the gift of tongues and then trying my hardest to study because there is nothing else that I can do, and I really want to be able to speak this language. Also, yesterday my teacher informed me that I have just about 3 weeks left in the MTC, so I'm almost halfway done learning everything I'm supposed to and that pretty much just freaked me out, but I'm fine, it's fine, we are all fine! 

 

To answer your questions, we have the same schedule every Monday-Thursday and then on Saturday. Friday and Sunday are our only days that are different because Friday is P-Day and Sunday is church. On Tuesdays we have devotional in the evenings instead of class, and on occasion they will throw in a workshop to mess with our schedule, but it's all for our benefit! We are not allowed to leave the MTC, unless we have been authorized to go to temple grounds or to the upper fields during exercise time. Other than that we stay in the gates of the MTC and don't leave until our departure day. There is a store on campus, where you can pretty much buy anything you need, and it's really useful. The meals are constantly changing, but it's all pretty good food. It's not super high quality, but it still tastes good, and on Mondays and Wednesdays they have ice cream bars, which is delicious! At the MTC store, they have snacks you can buy or the residence halls all have vending machines that are filled with all sorts of different snack and treats (including BYU Creamery ice cream). Basically, they treat us well but sometimes you do feel a little trapped by the same schedule everyday and not being able to leave campus. It's still wonderful here though! I love the spirit that is here, and that everyone here has pretty much the same purpose and desire that I do to serve the Lord and the people in our missions. 

 

A few miscellaneous things: 

-My departure date from the MTC is August 6th!

-My release date from my mission is December 23rd, 2019

-You should see if I can get released over skype, and if I can't then we should wait until I come back and then go together.

-I love all of the fun things you have been sending me! They are so cute! And the donuts were delicious!! I'm so proud that you figured out how to send all of the stuff to me!

I LOVE YOU!!!!!!

Love,

Soeur Connery

 

Elder Green from Post Falls, Idaho. It's a small world after all!

 

French Fried

Bonjour Everyone!

I finally made it to my second P-Day! I'm glad that you guys are all doing well and haven't gone insane, even though I'm not there to cook for you, or color your hair, or anything else. If you want my stand on language immersion programs, I am ALL for them! Being immersed in French at the MTC has probably been the best thing that has happened to me. Just because it has made trying to learn French that much easier. When you are constantly speaking it and trying to figure out how to say things and what other people are saying you just learn so much faster! And to answer your question, yes, as far as I know I will be going to Barbados by myself. 

This week has been CRAZY! So on Sunday, it was already insane because church in the MTC is so different from church outside the MTC just because we are trying to keep a holy spirit and reverence here, so we pretty much do church things all day long. This spirit is strong here all the time, but especially on Sundays. However, on Sunday our STL's (Sister Training Leaders) got released, every missionary who was going to Canada and the one Sister who was going to Arizona speaking French all got released because they left on Tuesday, and our Branch President, President Newell, got released because his four years of service in the MTC were up. So within my first week I got companions that I had never met, a teacher I had never met, roommates I had never met, I changed branch presidents 3 days into my mission, and STL's. It was a lot to take in all at once, but we are finally adjusting. On Monday, it was what they consider to be a "normal" day at the MTC, so we woke up, had breakfast, studied for 3-4 hours, had lunch, went to class for 3 hours, had dinner, went to class for another 3 hours, and then bed. However, Tuesday was a "normal" day, until our new STL's, whom I love (their names are Soeur Andreason and Soeur Peteresen) came in and told me that on Thursday I was getting a new companion and that I needed to move rooms. Of course I was sad because I love my companions, and we got so close in such a short amount of time, but all is well. So I'm just going to skip Wednesday for a minute and then come back to it. Because yesterday (Thursday), my new companion came in. Her name is Hermana Black because she was called Spanish speaking to Montreal, Canada, but she already speaks fluent Spanish so she is going to learn French in the MTC. It is a really weird situation because she is in a different district than me, so we spend 90% of the time together, but then she goes to classes and district meetings with her district and I go with mine. So we are companions most of the time, but the rest of the time she is a solo missionary and I'm companions with my first companionship. It's all really confusing and we don't really know how it's going to work out because she just got here last night, but the Lord will work it out and whatever needs to happen will.

So anyways, back to the 4th of July! It was great! We kinda forgot that it was the 4th of July because it was almost just like every other day. However we did all wear red, white, and blue and we got our curfew pushed back to 11, so that we could all sit in our classroom buildings and watch the fireworks from the Stadium of Fire. Side note: the MTC has the best view of the fireworks! So we pretty much just chilled and we watched a video about religious freedom and then got to watch the fireworks. It was a lot of fun! 

Also, we finished teaching our first "investigator" this week. She's not actually an investigator, she's a teacher here and she said that for only having a week in the MTC our French is progressing well, and she thinks we will be great missionaries. However, I'm not exactly sure how great our French is actually coming. I definitely feel like my French is better than when I came in and I will catch myself thinking and writing words in French, but when it comes to actually speaking and trying to form complete sentences I am so lost and in short I kinda suck at it. The missionaries in our zone have a saying for when we are so overwhelmed with the French language that we can barely understand it and our brains are just kinda done with trying to figure it out, and it's called being "French Fried" and I have seriously felt that this week. However, I know the Lord will provide and whenever He needs me to speak French He will provide a way. The scriptures say over and over again that if you will open your mouth the Lord will put words into it and the Holy Ghost will guide you with what to say. I can't wait for that day!!

I love the MTC and all of the great people that I have met here and all of the amazing things that I have gotten the opportunity to learn! It seems so crazy to me that I will be leaving in a few weeks (August 6th)! I love you all so much and I'm so grateful for all of the prayers and love y'all (we aren't allowed to say "you guys" in the MTC) have sent me. If you have any questions just ask! You can email me throughout the week and I can read them, I just can't respond until Friday so as you think of things you need to tell me or forgot then you can just email me! Love you!

Love,

Soeur Connery

P.S. My schedule for the most part is always the same, so I'll just break it down for you.

6:30am- wake up and get ready

7:30am- breakfast

8:00am-11:00am- study and plan

11:00am- exercise

12:00pm- get ready for lunch and classes

12:30pm-1:30pm- lunch

1:30pm-4:30- class

4:30pm-6:00pm- dinner and preparation for class

6:00pm-9:00pm- class

9:00pm-10:30pm- get ready for bed

10:30pm- lights out

and then I do the same thing with maybe a few tweaks the next day!

Our 4th of July outfits! These were my roommates before my new companion got here. Left to right: moi, Soeur Warner, Soeur Todd, Soeur Southwick, Soeur Begay, et Soeur Anderson

Left to right: Elder Pead, Elder Downs, Elder Clouse, Elder Huckstep, Elder Dainelson, moi, Soeur Southwick, et Soeur Begay