July 5, 2013 - First prep day

Dear family,

Its P day!!!! Yay!!! Here is my letter to my branch president.... I thought you might like to see what it has been like for me.

I love it here at the MTC!! I have had many ups and downs and it has been a challenge, but I feel like I am growing so much. My most spiritual experience was during a personal study last night when I felt really tired and didn't feel like studying, but I prayed to Heavenly Father and asked for help and for more strength. During this study, even though it was only 15 minutes long I received much-needed personal revelation for how I can feel better and be a better missionary. I was amazed at how the Lord had blessed me and I felt the power of grace, the enabling power, to help me carry on with my work. I hope that I can continue to feel the Spirit strongly as I do personal study. 

I have also felt the Spirit so strongly during classes and People and My Purpose. I am starting to understand the Doctrine of Christ and that my responsibility is to turn my focus on others and help them feel the power of the atonement. I feel so blessed to be here and to continue my conversion as I prepare to teach others.  

My companionship is wonderful! Sister Dunn and Sister Willahan and I get along really well together. We lift each other up and we are able to laugh together. To strengthen our companionship, we pray together and serve each other in simple ways. We had a lot of fun working out together too. I love that we barely know each other but we already love each other. I feel like I know their spirits really well. 

All in all, my time here has  overwhelmed me, but in a good way. I am learning to rely on the Spirit and to gain more faith. I feel like that is what I need to work on, gaining more faith so that I am not afraid and so I don't feel unsettled. Thanks for being such a great branch president! I am excited to work with you.

I want you to know that I am doing well. I have great companions-- Sister Dunn from Woods Cross and Sister Willahan from West Valley. They are so kind and we like to laugh a lot. Sister Dunn also plays the viola and we all love to sing (especially when we exercise together, haha). It is a really happy place here at the MTC. People welcomed me here every time they saw my dork dot (aka the dot I had that showed I was new here). I studied my scriptures by myself for about 3 hours yesterday, was in class for about 5 hours and had a district meeting for 30 minutes. My spiritual muscles are exhausted! It is like going to a super-spiritual class for 2 hours and then going and studying by yourself and then going to another 2 hour class again after lunch. It kind of turns into a blur. I love it though!

We are learning the coolest things!! I am starting to become a social creature, as one of my teachers called it because I am around people all the time. It has been overwhelming because there are sooo many people here, but I am starting to get used to it. I am starting to understand what it means to fulfill my purpose and to see others as they can become. I have never felt more strongly that I love the Lord. I am so grateful for His mercy and His goodness. He is there to answer our prayers if we are sincerely praying to Him.

Last night to celebrate we had a patriotic devotional!! We sang lots of songs together with thousands of missionaries (it was so cool!), listened to a talk, and watched 17 Miracles! It was so great!! My companions and I cried through the whole movie! We just felt the Spirit so strongly and were thinking of how it relates to missionary work. I wish you could have been there to see how amazing it was to have so many missionaries in one place at the same time! It made me realize that what I am doing here is right. I felt at home there.

Sometimes I look down at my missionary tag and realize, Oh yeah, I am a real missionary! It is a great feeling. I know that even with my doubts and fears, that things will get better and I will start to understand more. I swear I am learning things they don't teach in church, like the Doctrine of Christ. The doctrine of Christ is the first 4 principles and ordinances of the gospel and if we apply them to us with an honest heart and real intent, then we are accessing the atonement. This is at the core of what we teach. It blows my mind how deep yet how simple the Gospel is! I am hungry to learn more!!

I absolutely love my district!!! We have one trio of sisters and 4 sets of elders. The elders are so courteous and kind. They are spiritually mature and some of them are right out of high school. A few other things I love here is the smell of the laundry and the beautiful campus.

I forgot to bring my camera cord, so sorry there are no pictures.

I am so excited to be a missionary in the field!! It makes me really nervous, but I know the Lord will help me along. Dont worry about me, the Lord will take care of me.

Love, Sister Sallstrom