It's Allison again. Figured I should get a portion of Whitney's email from last week up here before she sends another one tomorrow. She's doing well, but she's requested that we give people her email and mailing address (HINT HINT: SHE WANTS YOU TO WRITE HER). :)
The following is an experience that Whitney shared with us:
"All righty then so this week was AMAZING!!! On Tuesday we had the best devo ever!! Guess who came? AN APOSTLE OF THE LORD!!!!!!!! Richard G. Scott came and spoke about pray and the Holy Ghost. He even gave us an apostolic blessing! It was so wonderful. I really love this place. Friday was a bit interesting. My comp and I had a learning experience. She was worried and fretting about what to teach our investigator and I was sure that we should teach the 1st Vision. We burned through 2 hours of comp study (on two different days) and finally settled on reviewing what we had just taught. She just wasn't listening to me or trusting me and didn't want to move forward because she felt like the Spirit wasn't guiding her. We had a pretty intense moment when I told her even if she feels like she isn't receiving any insight, she should trust her comp who feels confident and sure about my idea. During our lesson with Rado, he pretty much said he believes everything we taught last time. It was kind of awkward cause the next part (the 1st Vision) should have been taught. Afterward my comp was all like "I really should have listened" and I was just like "yup." ;) I do think this strengthened our companionship."
Thanks for reading! Whit's contact info is:
Sister Whitney Johnson
MTC Mailbox #232
CZE-SLVK 0527
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Monday, April 22, 2013
A Few More Pictures
It's Allison again. Whit sent a family email and more pictures. Here are some of the pictures...hopefully I'll get around to the words soon. :)
Here are a few pictures of her study materials. The first picture is english and slovak; the second picture is just slovak materials.
And here's one of Whitney and Sestra Kane and Sestra Baird. They found some fun things in the free box to entertain themselves. Whitney's a flower and Sestra Kane and Sestra Baird are butterflies. :)
I'll try to get around to the words later, but I've got a lot of homework. Just know that Whitney is doing well and enjoying herself. She's asked that we give people her email and address, so I'm guessing she'd like to hear from you all!
Her email is: whitney.johnson@myldsmail.net
Her address is: Sister Whitney Johnson
MTC Mailbox #232
CZE-SLVK 0527
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793
Friday, April 12, 2013
April 8th Letter to Allison
I got a letter in the mail from Whitney today dated April 8th. I'd asked a lot of questions about the people in her mission and these are some of the things she told me...
Sestra Kane: My companion. She's 20 years old...[she] is fluent in French and has caught on the Slovak much better than I. I really am so glad she's my comp.
Sestra Baird: She's also 20 or 21 [and] from California and so very sweet. She is always going out of her way to help people or say thanks. She's really silly and makes great faces.
Sestra Krauel: She's the oldest - 24 years. She's compassionate and observant, always watching out for everyone. She...is a linguistics major...we [had] a mini conversation in German the other day.
Starsi Calderon: He's around 21. He is Finnish! He's our district leader and a solo elder (which means he can be with his district w/o other elders as long as 2 or more of us are present). For time w/o the district, he has a companion from the Czech district, Starsi Pruden.
Starsi Pruden: He's not actually in our district but is around us so often that it seems like he's one of us. We love hanging out with the Czech missionaries! Pruden is really funny and has a similar sense of humor as I have.
Brat Fish: One of my teachers. He has a nice, calm, relaxing way of teaching. His sense of humor is similar to yours I'd say...just 10 times quieter! (I LOVE YOU ☺) I think he's my fav teacher - I don't feel as lost with him.
Brat Badily: He's the 2nd teacher we met. He's very energetic and active...The cool thing about him though is that he takes us on walks all the time to have a break from class.
Brat Carrier: I don't know much about him or his personality because for the past 2 weeks he's been our investigator "Jaro". He has a good sense of humor though because while we were still teaching him, we saw him in the halls. He quickly covered his face w/ his hands and ducked into a room. I think we may have scared him though because Friday was his first time teaching us and we had a laughing breakdown. We just couldn't regain our composure!
So that's everyone. I also spend a lot of time w/ the 10 other Czech people and others from our zone (the Polish, Bulgarians, Croatians, Slovenians). We eat together as a zone. So there you have it.
Lots of Love,
Whitney Sarah
Sestra Kane: My companion. She's 20 years old...[she] is fluent in French and has caught on the Slovak much better than I. I really am so glad she's my comp.
Sestra Baird: She's also 20 or 21 [and] from California and so very sweet. She is always going out of her way to help people or say thanks. She's really silly and makes great faces.
Sestra Krauel: She's the oldest - 24 years. She's compassionate and observant, always watching out for everyone. She...is a linguistics major...we [had] a mini conversation in German the other day.
Starsi Calderon: He's around 21. He is Finnish! He's our district leader and a solo elder (which means he can be with his district w/o other elders as long as 2 or more of us are present). For time w/o the district, he has a companion from the Czech district, Starsi Pruden.
Starsi Pruden: He's not actually in our district but is around us so often that it seems like he's one of us. We love hanging out with the Czech missionaries! Pruden is really funny and has a similar sense of humor as I have.
Brat Fish: One of my teachers. He has a nice, calm, relaxing way of teaching. His sense of humor is similar to yours I'd say...just 10 times quieter! (I LOVE YOU ☺) I think he's my fav teacher - I don't feel as lost with him.
Brat Badily: He's the 2nd teacher we met. He's very energetic and active...The cool thing about him though is that he takes us on walks all the time to have a break from class.
Brat Carrier: I don't know much about him or his personality because for the past 2 weeks he's been our investigator "Jaro". He has a good sense of humor though because while we were still teaching him, we saw him in the halls. He quickly covered his face w/ his hands and ducked into a room. I think we may have scared him though because Friday was his first time teaching us and we had a laughing breakdown. We just couldn't regain our composure!
So that's everyone. I also spend a lot of time w/ the 10 other Czech people and others from our zone (the Polish, Bulgarians, Croatians, Slovenians). We eat together as a zone. So there you have it.
Lots of Love,
Whitney Sarah
Week 2 - pictures
We got some pictures from Whitney last week...
Whitney's district...Sestra Kane, Sestra Johnson, Sestra Baird, Sestra Krauel, and Starsi Caldaron in front of the Provo, UT Temple.
The complete Book of Mormon was just recently released in Slovak.
Whitney's district looking very missionary-like...
....and studious!
Jaclyn and I (Allison) got letters today, so more to come soon!
Whitney's district...Sestra Kane, Sestra Johnson, Sestra Baird, Sestra Krauel, and Starsi Caldaron in front of the Provo, UT Temple.
The complete Book of Mormon was just recently released in Slovak.
Whitney's district looking very missionary-like...
....and studious!
Jaclyn and I (Allison) got letters today, so more to come soon!
Week 2 - settling in
Hey Mom (and family)
Sorry I didn't write a long letter last week...I was just a bit overwhelmed.
My companions name is Sestra (Sister) Kane. She is really amazing. She knows so much about the gospel and is so fun to be around. The other sisters in my district are Sestra Baird and Sestra Krauel. We all share a room and spend practically every minute together. The solo elder in our district is Starsi (pronounced Star-she) Caldaron. He is Finnish and fluent in Spanish, Finnish, Swedish and English already!
My district is the first to leave the MTC with Slovak Book of Mormons! (The Book of Mormon was just released on March 13, 2013 in this language).
(For those of you not familiar with the MTC schedule, here is how her day goes:)
5:50 Wake up and go to sisters only work out
6:30 Get ready for day
7:00 Companion study and additional study
8:00 Breakfast
So I pretty much do the same things everyday, though the order is sometimes mixed.
So I know I told you I wasn't sleeping well. I'm doing better now, though I did wake up last night thinking I was home. I think the reason I'm sleeping better is because I received a blessing. It was wonderful--now I've been sleeping fine.
I love you all!
Love,
Whitney
Sorry I didn't write a long letter last week...I was just a bit overwhelmed.
My companions name is Sestra (Sister) Kane. She is really amazing. She knows so much about the gospel and is so fun to be around. The other sisters in my district are Sestra Baird and Sestra Krauel. We all share a room and spend practically every minute together. The solo elder in our district is Starsi (pronounced Star-she) Caldaron. He is Finnish and fluent in Spanish, Finnish, Swedish and English already!
My district is the first to leave the MTC with Slovak Book of Mormons! (The Book of Mormon was just released on March 13, 2013 in this language).
(For those of you not familiar with the MTC schedule, here is how her day goes:)
5:50 Wake up and go to sisters only work out
6:30 Get ready for day
7:00 Companion study and additional study
8:00 Breakfast
8:30 Classroom Instruction
11:30 Personal study
12:35 Lunch
1:20 Language Study
2:20 Tall (language study on the computer)
3:10 Gym
4:00 Additional study
5:35 Dinner
6:35 Classroom
9:30 Return to rooms, comp planning
10:15 Quiet time
10:30 Bed
So I pretty much do the same things everyday, though the order is sometimes mixed.
So I know I told you I wasn't sleeping well. I'm doing better now, though I did wake up last night thinking I was home. I think the reason I'm sleeping better is because I received a blessing. It was wonderful--now I've been sleeping fine.
I love you all!
Love,
Whitney
Monday, April 8, 2013
Week 1 - New to the MTC
It was a long 5 days before we heard from Whitney....our first news arrived April 1, 2013:
From snail mail...
I'm safely at the MTC (Missionary Training Center--Whitney flew in a day earlier so she was assigned a temporary room and companion for the night). The next morning, after breakfast, a powerpoint, and episodes of The District, we registered. I have my room and name badge! Ja som Sestra Johnson (I am Sister Johnson)! I had no time to unpack but went straight to language class. Brother Fish only speaks Slovak to us!
And her first email to us!
So, I'm a bit exhausted. I haven't been sleeping well but the bookstore has some Melatonin - I might buy some. I also haven't been eating much. The food is pretty good just very heavy. Getting my suitcases unloaded wasn't too bad but carrying them up the stairs was a chore.
I'm not doing as well in Slovak as I'd like but I'm working hard. (She has been in the MTC for a total of 5 days - what is she thinking!).
I miss you all and I'll try to send pictures soon. How's the blog coming? (Well, actually Whitney, at the time of your letter, we still hadn't begun it...) Anyways talk to you later.
Lots of Love,
Whitney
From snail mail...
I'm safely at the MTC (Missionary Training Center--Whitney flew in a day earlier so she was assigned a temporary room and companion for the night). The next morning, after breakfast, a powerpoint, and episodes of The District, we registered. I have my room and name badge! Ja som Sestra Johnson (I am Sister Johnson)! I had no time to unpack but went straight to language class. Brother Fish only speaks Slovak to us!
And her first email to us!
So, I'm a bit exhausted. I haven't been sleeping well but the bookstore has some Melatonin - I might buy some. I also haven't been eating much. The food is pretty good just very heavy. Getting my suitcases unloaded wasn't too bad but carrying them up the stairs was a chore.
I'm not doing as well in Slovak as I'd like but I'm working hard. (She has been in the MTC for a total of 5 days - what is she thinking!).
I miss you all and I'll try to send pictures soon. How's the blog coming? (Well, actually Whitney, at the time of your letter, we still hadn't begun it...) Anyways talk to you later.
Lots of Love,
Whitney
She's off...
Arriving at the airport (March 26, 2013):
Then saying goodbye:
After hugs and kisses (and a few tears), Whitney walked up the ramp and never looked back...
Then saying goodbye:
After hugs and kisses (and a few tears), Whitney walked up the ramp and never looked back...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)