Tuesday, September 30, 2008

AWESOME!

So I am in new Mexico, well actually I'm in Cortez, Colorado! All is well! :-) It's awesome down here. I was put into a "triplet" so I have two trainers: Sister Sorenson and Sister Bateman. That's pretty exciting and we are teaching a lesson tonight! Ahhh! We flew in on Monday but that morning I had to wake up at 3:45 am Ahhhh!

When we got here, Pres. and Sister Anderson and the APs picked us up. We went to the mission home and had pizza with green chilies. It was really good... spicy, but I love spicy. Then we went out tracting for ten to fifteen min. and we gave out a book of Mormon!! Wahooo I love tracting! It's really fun. Then we had dinner with some of the office staff and then had an amazing testimony meeting.

I am going to miss my district they were all so amazing! Well, my P-day is Monday so I won't get to write any letters until next Monday. So, that's a bummer but oh well! I am excited to get in the work. On Oct. 11 we (not really me but sis. Bateman and Sorenson) have 2 baptisms, which is awesome. Their area is doing really well. The Elders before them left with only 2 investigators but the Sisters have done well here.

So you can start sending my mail to the mission office :-)

Some of the areas are on Navajo reservations which is really cool. Sis. Jensen went to Ship Rock, NM but they live in a ghetto trailer (remember how I said I want to tract in a trailer park....? well maybe I will get to LIVE in one!)

I just checked out my blog :-) It's awesome, you are the best (Alex). You can officially take the MTC address off yay!! I got Jamie's address so you don't have to send it to me anymore.

My testimony is just flourishing it's awesome. I was sad to leave the MTC but super excited to get out into the field. It's been a very draining couple of days but I am doing well. Everyone always talked about "knowing" their mission call was the right place, and I knew that I was called by the prophet but never felt at peace or "knew" this is where I was supposed to be until the last few days. At the MTC I started to feel more like I knew where I was going and getting excited, and then when the plane landed in Albuquerque I knew it was right. It was awesome I felt the spirit so strong and I love it. My mission Pres and Sis. Anderson are amazing! I love them so much already. We took pictures with them last night and they should be sending you a picture saying that we got here safely. We also went to the temple and took a pic in front of it. We get to go to the temple every 6 months. So I will get to go about 3 times. They just went a couple of weeks ago so I barely missed it :-( oh well!

They said our mission is growing a lot, in the next 2 transfers we have 19 new missionaries coming in and then about 1/3 of our mission will be new missionaries. I think that means that our mission is doing well :-) which is awesome!!

I can't believe I am starting this awesome journey... my companions are really nice and seem awesome. It's kind of weird because they have been together for 4 1/2 months and I am brand new but they have been so nice to me!

Mom, how's relief society? Dad how is work? Tell Abby thanks for the letters I will write her back asap. I wish I could write but it's not p-day :-( I am trying really really hard to be obedient and work hard. I will not have any regrets or come home saying "I wish I would have worked harder". If we don't obey, the Lord can't bless us, so I guess that means obey!!

Love and miss you! Hope all is well and everyone is living life to the fullest
:-) xoxo

New Pictures




You can see all of Lizzie's pictures if you click on the slide show on the right.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Week 2 MTC

9-24-08

So it's already been a week!! Ah that's so crazy I can't believe it. It went by so fast. I still LOVE the MTC although I am excited to get out into the field and "harvest." Sister Jensen is still the sweetest girl ever! I love her to death. I sent some pics the other day. I hope you get them soon.

So what happened this week... nothing too exciting. My MTC teachers are awesome Brother Kirk and Brother Bradshaw. The other day in class bro Bradshaw did this really cool object lesson, where we had 5 min to live, our plane was crashing and we could write a letter and put it in that black box, (I dunno what it's called) but anyways we wrote letters and he collected them and then took them all and ripped them up. We were all like uhhh... we just poured our souls out to those! Why did you rip them up!? And then he told us that is how the Book of Mormon prophets feel when we don't listen to their words and we just shove our Book of Mormon on to the floor and don't heed to their counsel. I really liked it but it was REALLY sad writing you all and telling you how much I love you and all that kind of stuff (by the way the most important part of my letter said that you better ALL stay faithful in the church because it means the world to me and I will be watching you, haha.)

So what else is new?? When do you get called to RS pres mom? That’s an awesome calling! You are more than qualified and can treat it as a job, so you can magnify that calling to the extreme!!! Wahoo super relief society president!

So, I haven't gotten a letter from Jamie and it kind of worries me, but I don't have her address to write her! I forgot to get everyone's addresses so I can't write anyone until they write me. Oh speaking of... can you ask Abby to get Amanda’s address? Maybe have her ask on facebook or something I dunno... oh did those sisters ever call and get Amanda’s phone number? I figure Amanda needs the gospel in her life more than anyone right now! Also I was thinking that maybe we should send the sisters over to the dangler's house. They are very spiritual and maybe would listen to the missionaries if they heard I sent them over...? I dunno?? But it's just a thought. Obviously I am in missionary mode so I am thinking of all these people who might listen to the gospel! Haha.

Last night at devotional Jay E Jensen (of the presidency of the 70) and his wife spoke. It was really good, he had all this proof of the BoM and how JS could never have written it which was cool but I am not much of a historical proof kinda person so it was hard to listen. I don't need proof I already know its true :-) So we work at the Referral center every couple of days and I talked to this guy the other day that was telling me that he didn't have faith and that his life was so messed up. His mom is on drugs and his friends have tried committing suicide. I was telling him how JC knows what he is going through and how he can pray and receive comfort and inspiration but he kept telling me he doesn’t have faith. Then he told me that church is boring and reading the book of Mormon is boring... and how it's hard to wake up at 9:00 in the morning to go to church and work, so I told him that I wake up at 6:30 every morning to teach and study the stuff that he thinks is boring! And he was like why would you do that? and I bore my testimony and stuff but I had to go so I said I would call him back and had him read the story of Alma the Younger but I tried to call him back twice and he was never home!!! So I dunno but he was already meeting with the missionaries so hopefully they will help him, if not... he is just too stubborn.

I can't get on the internet so I won't be able to look at my blog until I get out into the field... speaking of I only have 5 days left in the MTC!!! Ahhhhh I am so not ready to go out into the field but I will need to work hard for the next 5 days to do the best I can!!! oh mom don't forget to send me that face lotion (well you might want to wait now until I get to New Mexico, but don’t' forget!!) and that's fine if you send me jeans when I get out there :-) well time I almost up!

Love you all so so so much!!!!!

Xoxo Sister Marchant (I love being a sister its sooooo awesome!!!!!)

1st Letter

9-17-08

So I guess we can e-mail at the MTC! Awesome huh? Well anyways, this week is going by so well. I love it here. P-day is Wednesday (obviously). So let's think... I have been in class all day every day for a week but it's awesome! I have learned so much and my testimony is getting stronger and stronger every day :-) I can't imagine how awesome it will be when I get back in 18 months! My companion is Sister Jensen and she is so awesome. (I will send some pics in a letter) She's so knowledgeable and can answer any weird question from investigators. I have A LOT to learn! She also is an amazing singer. It makes me want to take voice lessons when I get back. Anyways we have been studying the first lesson which is the restoration. My testimony in that is probably the lowest of everything in the gospel, so studying it for a week straight all day every day has been awesome! My roommates are hilarious. One is from Hawaii sister Kai and she is so funny! We have these glow in the dark stars on our ceiling and so we were talking one night and I said "I bet these stars make you feel at home because you don't have real houses" and we went off about how she weaves blankets from leaves and stuff like that! It was hilarious, and then we said roommate prayer and she prayed and thanked God for "all of the comforts we have at the MTC”!!!Oh man! We all busted up laughing in the middle of the prayer. She didn't even realize that she said that right after we were talking about the "3rd world country" of Hawaii.

So what else is new with you people in the real world? I love MTC land! It’s so awesome; everyone is on a spiritual high so everyone is so nice to you and walking around with their name tags on. (Btw I love my name tag, it makes me an official missionary) last night we have devotional and Elder Richard G. Hinckley spoke (last week they had Elder Uchdorf! :-( sad that I missed it) and he was saying "you are not cool any more, walking down the street in a white shirt and tie is Not cool!) I thought that was hilarious because it's so incredibly true... I'm a dork and I'm proud of it!

My district is awesome; they are all 19 year old boys but its still fun. Its cool cause one of them was in my New Testament class at BYU-I but he looked familiar, and I didn't really know who he was until we figured it out. Elder Mackey is here and I see him every once in a while, he isn't very talkative but he says "hi" back. I told him to tell his parents that I say hi ha-ha!
I'm not really sure what else to tell you, I have 12 min left on the computer and I want to use it all so I'm just typing about nothing! Ha-ha what else do you want to know? Oh the main gym time activity is 4 square... I don't' think I have played 4 square since 3rd grade, so that's pretty cool! Ha-ha I can't believe I only have a week and a half left until I leave here! Ahhhh... oh yesterday we went to the referral center and I called a lady and she wanted a book of Mormon! It was awesome. One of the elders in my district called a lady that the missionaries called her a liar so she is never going back to church... I'm not sure what they actually said but that's how she interpreted it... sad because she reads from the BoM every day and knows that it's true and has a movie that she has almost worn the copy out on. It's sad on both parts because she doesn't know that she is missing out on so many covenants and blessings from being stubborn.

Well I love you and miss you so much (we are working on "teenage language" and I say "like", "guys", "totally", "dude" all the time... it's really hard! Ha-ha everyone is a sister or elder. I always say "hey guys!" ha-ha oh well) hope all is well. Oh! You can tell everyone that while I am at the MTC they can write me letters on www.dearelder.com and I get it that same day, so they don't have to send it in the mail... it's a lot easier. Oh and mom could you please send me jeans???? I think I will need some for service activities! I'm trying to think of which ones, maybe the silver brand ones or... I forgot what jeans I have... ha-ha!!! My time is running out... love you! Tell everyone I say hi! Oh did you set up that blog??? Alex and Lauren sent me the cutest package yesterday. It was awesome with brownies and everything! Ha-ha.

Love ya xoxo