STILL JUMPING!!! week two

This is how Sami totally feels about the MTC!!

 

Feliz Pascua!

3/28/13

Hola mi familia!!

FELIZ PASUCA! (en domingo).

Everything here is going so great. Honestly, every single day kind of blends together... so I will try to make this make sense.

The number one lesson I learned this week is to trust in the Lord. Proverbs 3:5-6. "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In ALL thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths". It’s strange because I have heard that scripture so many times, it was even our Seminary theme scripture senior year, but for some reason when Sister Breinholt said it in Relief Society this Sunday it really hit me.

So what else... this weekend is Easter weekend! FELIZ PASUCA everyone! There are so many things about it being Easter! Dad, it sounds like you will have a fun time filling those 800 eggs... maybe this time you'll have enough candy since I won't be giving one to the eggs and one to myself the whole time... :) Not that I would be able to eat any of it anyway... but no fear, with it being Easter, you all know what that means? I can finally eat the BYU mint brownies that have been taunting me my whole MTC stay! Hooray! (SIDE NOTE: Sami gave up sugar for Lent…)

Another thing about Easter though, that I'll be honest I haven't ever really fully appreciated, is Easters true meaning. We've talked about it a lot this week in class and watched a really powerful Mormon message about it; it was just interesting. A lot of people say that all of the traditions are taking away from the true meaning of the holidays, but as I've really thought about it, I've finally established my own legitimate argument against that claim. Not saying commercialism and stuff doesn't do this... but Easter isn't to recognize his death, it is to celebrate His resurrection. And why did he atone? It wasn't for His own glorification, it was because He loves us and our Heavenly Father loves us, and wants us to live with Him again; and also, so that we might live with our families for eternity! So what better way to celebrate than with your family? (And have a big huge egg hunt). Just remember who made it possible for you to be with Him for eternity.

I am not sure if that even makes sense to you but it seems logical in my

head.           Just wishing a muy feliz pasuca por todos.

 I'm not sure what else to write home about! There is so much that I can't seem to narrow it down to a few things. Spanish is coming. It takes so much effort but my district has been making a real effort to h-s-i (hable su idioma). Speak your language. The only way you can really learn Spanish is if you speak it. So we have been trying really hard to speak Spanish at all times possible. As Sister Corbridge shared in the devotional this week, her daughter was a missionary in Mexico and one week in she was really struggling with the language when one of the members down there told her not to worry because... "you have a light, and that doesn't take words to share". People might not even understand what I am saying, but when you are able to have the light of Christ shine in your countenance, people will want to hear what you have to say.

Our zone is awesome, and yesterday we got a new district who are all going to Argentina, so we aren't the youngest district anymore! Gym time is so great. We get it every day and my companion and I run on the track most of the time. Everything is so great. 

Vida es bonita. se que la iglesia de jesucristo es verdadera. me encanta mi famila y mi padre celestial mucho.

Remember who you are and all you stand for. Reemplaze miedo con fe. TAKE COURAGE (Helaman 5:24).

Te Queiro,

Hermana Draper 

Snowing at the MTC in March... What is up with that?

WEEK 1 FROM THE MTC

With my companion, Hermana Woodward.

Hola Familia!!

Que pasa?? Life is so good.

Mom, you know how you always say "nothing to write home about..." Well I have SO much to write home about! The MTC computer has a little timer in the top corner and it is giving me anxiety because I feel like I won't have nearly enough time to tell you all that I want to! Well most importantly, I LOVE YOU! Thank you so much for the love and support. Being in the MTC has been the hardest thing I have ever done in my whole entire life (Even harder than Robert's power hour at boxing), but it is the most rewarding opportunity ever. I can't remember what I told you in my first letter... so I'll just do a quick overview of it all.

Day one we walk into our first class and Hermana Haws (mi maestra) only spake espanol! I picked up a few words here and there, but for the most part it was really overwhelming. However, by the end of the day we had the missionary purpose memorized in Spanish and had learned some general conversation starters. By day two I could kind of bear a super basic testimony and say a prayer. I have a strong testimony in the gift of tongues. There is no way missionaries would be able to pick up on languages this fast without immense help from our Heavenly Father. All of the days kind of run together in my mind... so if this letter is all over the place... perdonme.

Sundays are a really special day here in the MTC. We get a lot of time for personal study and lots of meetings. The sisters go to the broadcast of Music and the Spoken Word while the elders go to priesthood. I honestly thought Mo Tab was trying to make me have a breakdown right there. First they sang “Called to Serve’, which is sort of obvious. Then they sang ‘Come thou Font of Every Blessing’... THEN, right after Music and the Spoken Word, we sang ‘As Sisters in Zion’ for the opening song. Man oh man. Music is so powerful. There are so many emotions that are tied to songs that just the tune can have the greatest effect. Relief society was awesome. President Jean Stevens from the General Primary presidency spoke and it was so powerful. Ultimately her message that the way to be the best missionary possible is to have every action you do be motivated by love; whether it is for an investigator, your companion, or for God. Also she said something I really liked; "If you aren't happy with your lot in life, build a service station". Service helps us focus on others rather than on ourselves. Then we had sacrament meeting and that was the coolest experience because everything was done in Spanish. The best part was the sacrament prayers. As Hermana Haws always says "The spirit is the same in Spanish". That might seem silly to say... but it is so true!! It doesn't matter what language it is, or if you even fully understand what is being said... what matters is that you can still feel the spirit. In class we talk a lot about how we should teach lessons. The ultimate thing I've learned about teaching lessons is that I don't teach the lesson. Honestly. It is all on the spirit that is doing the teaching. We are constantly encouraged to not just ask investigators questions, but to ask inspired questions.

On Friday we taught our first lesson to an investigator, EN ESPANOL. That was crazy. We have been teaching him all week and he is getting baptized!! Granted, he is only a pretend investigator, but still... It was the greatest feeling in the whole wide world when he said "quiero bautizada"!!! Anyway. I love it here. My zone and district are amazing! There are six hermanas and six Elders in my zone. Three Hermanas are going to Texas and everyone else is going to Chile. It is so hard. I never believed Scott when he said that it was hard but it really is so emotionally and physically draining; but I love it.

La iglesia de jesucristo es verdadera. Nuestro Padre Celestial es muy amoroso. I am short on time... I HAVE SO MUCH LEFT TO SAY!! but just know that I love you. Remember who you are and all you stand for. Make good choices. Reemplaze miedo con fe.

Con Amor,

Hermana Draper

 

My district at the Temple Walk.

 

3-13-13 SAMI CHECKS IN TO THE MTC...

So, today was the day... 3-13-13. We dropped Sami off at the MTC. To say she was a little excited would be an understatement! A few tears would have been nice.....

 Sami was jumping for joy at 12:45...

...Suzie and I were sitting in a dark movie theater an hour later. We figured if the lights 

came on and we were still crying, we could say it was because the movie was so bad...

...and no one would be the wiser...

 

HERMANA SAMI JANE DRAPER--

We found this great artist in Provo by the name of Laura Randle
 who does these amazing caricatures. She does a great job capturing the
 spirit of the missionary...   

Check out her work on facebook.

Hermana Sami Jan Draper-- Disney Princess!