Making history in the MTC!

Provo MTC Companion: Sister Snow July 20, 2013 Family & Friends, KAMUSTA!!!!!! (hello) This has hands down been the BEST week at the MTC for me thus far. First of all I just want to say a big THANK YOU to all of you that sent me cards, dear elders, or packages, or all three. I feel so loved and blessed to have such amazing people in my life, so thank you so much. My time to write letters/emails is extremely limited, if I have time I promise each of you will receive a thank you card at some point, but until then, THANK YOU! On Saturday, my kasama (companion) fell down the stairs for a SECOND time, she's getting pretty good at it now. This time luckily she didn't get hurt. Our guro (teacher) was right behind us and saw the whole thing happen, it was sooo funny, she's such a clutz, gotta love her. Saturday night we taught at the TRC-one of the ladies that we taught is from the Philippines and is best friends with my Mission President and his wife which was super awesome to learn! She is a really sweet lady and it makes me super excited to tell my Mission President that I was able to teach one of his friends! So on Sunday we have combined Relief Society with all of the sisters in the MTC, mom and dad, you'll never guess who was speaking to us....Carol Mikita!! I just about died when I saw her name come up on the screen, then when I saw her and her husband Brother York walk in, I completely recognized them from when I was little and they were in our ward back in Sandy. Luckily, my zone always has front row seats to all of our meetings, we get there super early so we can get good seats. After her talk I quickly ran up to the stage and talked to them both (we're really not allowed to do that, some of the workers were getting mad at me but I just had to say hi). She gave such an amazing talk, she has experienced the church throughout the entire world. She told us of her conversion story and how if it weren't for Elders all throughout the world that converted first her mother, then each of her siblings one by one, and eventually her dad, they never would've been members. It was an extremely inspiring and motivating talk to hear. I was able to better understand who I am, and what my role is in the world. We as missionaries must be willing to pay the price, no matter the cost. If we keep our hearts, eyes, and Spirits open to the needs of those before us, God will guide and direct us into the lives of many. It was a very emotional meeting, the Spirit was so strong when all of us Sisters stood and sang As Sisters in Zion. I'm pretty sure there wasn't a dry eye in the room by the time we sat down. I feel so incredibly blessed to be serving the Lord amongst an army of missionaries that are taking the time out of their lives to save those who don't have the gospel in their lives. In sacrament meeting we got new zone leaders since District F was leaving. Our District Leader Elder Ranada and his companion Elder Frank became our new zone leaders, everyone saw that coming, but we were all really excited for them, they're really stepping up to the plate and doing an awesome job. Tuesday night devotional was absolutely incredible for a couple of reasons. I have been singing in the MTC choir which is an absolute blast. Our director is awesome, and I can always feel the Spirit so strongly when all of us missionaries sing together. The people in charge of the devotionals were being really particular about the formation of where we were sitting, and making sure all of us looked our best so I had a feeling that someone important was coming. I was right, Elder Hinckley, President Gordon B. Hinckley's son, a General Authority Emeritus came and spoke to us. What an amazing talk he delivered. He did an awesome job really relating to us as missionaries and sharing his experiences from when he served a mission. There are two things that were said during the Devotional that really stood out to me, one was, "earn your name, when you step off the plane after your mission pick what you want to be known as....." The name that I want to be known as is Sister Faithful. Through the good and the bad, I want to remain strong to the testimony and the faith that I have. I know there will be hard times on my mission, but I refuse to let that ever get the best of me. The second quote was: "You have 18 months to serve a mission, and the rest of your life to remember it. You're on the Lord's time, don't waste it". I will never forget those two quotes, they define what I want my mission to be. I know that I am on the Lord's time, and the greatest suffering a missionary can ever experience is that of regret. I will do all that I can to be the best missionary I can be, and to use the Lord's time wisely. I love this gospel with all of my heart and am so grateful for the opportunity to be a faithful servant to the Lord. We made history Tuesday night, the MTC has only taken 3 pictures of the missionaries that are in the MTC, and Tuesday night they took the fourth one in the whole history of the MTC. It was so awesome to think I would be in the fourth picture ever taken of the MTC and that it would be hanging up in the halls here! Such an awesome blessing. Oh and I forgot to mention that this talk was broadcast worldwide to all of the MTC's around the world, and I got on camera 3 or 4 times when singing in the choir--so if you have the chance go look for me! ;) Halfway through the week all of us start getting really rowdy because we have been studying for 16 hours a day, and we need to find something fun to do or else we will lose it. So we decided to play a little prank on Sister Taylor. Sister Wagner made herself a beard out of her hair and got into Sister Taylor's bed and waited for her to come back into the room from having a shower (I of course was recording the whole thing). Sister Taylor came to the room and closed her closet then looks at her bed and recognized that Sister Wagner is sitting there creepily, immediately screams and runs away. Sister Wagner and her companion Sister Souter, were laughing so hard that they both peed their pants. It was a you have to be there moment, but I'll send a picture so you can get an idea of how it all went down. We were up a majority of the night because we had all taken naps earlier during exercise time so we couldn't fall asleep. And by a majority of the night I mean we were up until 1130, ooh rebels. Funny the things that missionaries find to be rebellious. I'm already becoming weird!!! Now I have to immediately skip to the most exciting part of my week. WE GOT OUR FLIGHT PLANS!!!! We leave the morning of July 29, fly from Salt Lake to San Francisco, then San Fran to TOKYO JAPAN!!!!!!! Then from Tokyo to Manila, Philippines! We will be getting into Manila pretty late so I'm assuming we will all probably spend the night at the mission home. My travel group is a size of fifteen, pretty big! All of the sisters in my district and I were really sad because our Elders are going to a different mission than us, so we aren't flying with them. But when comparing our travel plans we found out that we actually meet up with them in Tokyo one last time and fly with them to the Philippines where we will then say goodbye. So we are all really excited about officially beginning our journey by being able to say bye one last time once we finally touch ground in the Philippines. It's all starting to become extremely real. It's crazy how much love I already have for the people in the Philippines when I don't even know them yet. It just makes me realize how much our Heavenly Father loves each of his children. Another exciting thing is that my district got chosen to be Hosts to the new missionaries on Wednesday. That means that we get to go stand at the curb like all those missionaries did when I first arrived, welcome them, and take them to their dorms, to get their name tags, and then to their classrooms where they will meet their teachers. I'm super excited, we have been wanting to do this the whole time we have been here but districts are randomly selected, lucky us we got selected our last week here! So I am extremely excited about that. Something else awesome that happened this week is that my companion and I were chosen to be missionary demonstrators for ALL the new missionaries coming in on Wednesday. Basically what we do is the first day that missionaries come to the MTC they have an orientation in this huge hall, and there is a demonstration of how to teach an investigator. There will be an investigator sitting on stage up front and two missionaries walk in and show how your typical teaching experience would go, and we are the lucky sister missionaries that get to show all of these new missionaries how it's done, NO PRESSURE! I'm really excited but of course a little bit nervous as well. Apparently, our teachers nominate us for it, so I feel extremely blessed that my teachers find my companion and I capable to be good examples for all of these new missionaries. Sister Hess, Sister Taylor, Sister Snow (my kasama – (companion), and I have decided the best way to end our nights here at the MTC are to go out back and star gaze at night before we go to bed. It's so nice to get away from all the craziness that's going on here at the MTC and just relax, breathe, and forget about everything for a minute. It makes me feel like I'm a part of the real world again. I absoulely love every second of my mission and know that this is what I am supposed to be doing, I wouldn't want to be any other place. I am so grateful for all of you and for the love and support you have all shown me over the past month. I can't believe once I get to the Philippines I will have already been on my mission for a month and a half!! It seems like I just got here, but then again I feel like I have been here forever at the exact same time. I'm so excited for this last week at the MTC. It's extremely bittersweet, but I feel like I'm as ready as I can be to get out to the field and really begin the experience of what it's like to be a missionary! I love all of you and am praying for you often! Have a great week. Mahal Kita!! (I Love You) Sister Pilkington