The First Letter :D

Dear Family,
How is everything going? Things here are absolutely AMAZING! The Spirit here is so incredibly strong and I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many smiling faces in one place! You know how our name tags had an orange dot on...well, everyone seemed to remember how the first day felt, and everyone said hello! There was hardly room to make a wrong turn there were so many people to tell you where to go. I’m actually not companions with Sister Stuart, but I’m lucky enough to have 2 super companions; Sister Aylett (from Sandy) and Sister Gneiting (from Colorado). Sister Aylett is waiting for her companion’s visa to come through, Sis Mosame from South Africa. She may be in our district if she can get here by Monday. Our district is so cool! We have 8 missionaries total. Two elders going to Georgia Atlanta (same as Sister Aylett and Mosame) and 3 elders going to Indiana, same as Sister Gneiting and me! We have a lot of fun together! Especially when there is mail! I’ve never thought that much of mail before, but it’s so funny to see missionary’s faces when they have something! When I get back (and even now) I’m going to write as many missionaries as I can! It really boosts your spirits! Um, there is absolutely no way I could tell you everything, but here are some highlights.
* On Wednesday we heard from the MTC presidency which was absolutely amazing! Pres. Smith told us that “all we have to do is make a decision to be obedient” and challenged us to be obedient in following all the rules, especially bedtimes! It’s unbelievably how much you do in a day, and you just fall right asleep and yet after 8 hours of sleep you feel tired. All of the rules in our “conduct bible” are given to us through inspiration!
* We’ve been memorizing “our purpose” on page 1 of Preach My Gospel and we talk about it all the time! The whole reason we are all on missions is to BRING OTHERS TO CHRIST!
* Today (Friday) we learned how to sum up the entire first lesson in 60 seconds. That was so cool! Bro. Roberts (our teacher) said that if it takes us longer than that, we don’t have a grasp of the lesson. Not that we would ever teach the lesson in 60 seconds, but it’s a good thing to know and keep in mind.
Well, I have so much more I could tell you... but I have to run off to a LGM (large group meeting). We’re anxiously awaiting the third installment of “the district” (which is a great movie about becoming a PMG missionary). It’s great, but so hard not to fall asleep...
LATER...
We just got back from a devotional. They are usually on Tuesday, but they are having the mission president conference here... so we got a bonus. There were EIGHT apostles here! We didn’t get to be in the actual room, but we walked past Elder Scott and Cook to get to the overflow. It was a fabulous talk! It was about how we need to have the Holy Ghost as our 3rd (or 4th) companion. It was totally fabulous! My most favorite part was when he said “frail little uncelestial souls that you are!” It’s so important to stay humble so you can have the Spirit with you! I’m pretty sure I’ll fill up m study journal before I leave here... I write so much! In 2 days I’ve written about 15 pages! Well, before I go to bed, I just wanted to tell you a little about my TOTALLY AMAZING DISTRICT! Elder Jennings (form Sandy) is our DL and a fantastic one too! He is a great leader and he keeps us busy with his great and spiritual ideas! Elder Ashton (from AZ) is, um... one of the more cocky elders, but he’s still great. Elder Shank is a quiet missionary, but he has great insights. Those 3 are going to INDIANA!! Elder Bush (from West Jordan) is absolutely hilarious and is the best investigator! Elder Stiles (from Sacramento, CA) was a personal trainer before coming to the MTC and I swear he looks a lot like the Elder Stiles we know, but he says he’s the first one to serve a mission in his family and only has a sister. Sister Aylett is so full of life and sometimes when I’m talking she just bursts out laughing. She’s so funny! Sister Gneiting is 23, and she seems a lot older than the rest of us, which is sometimes good... because all of our district gets along so well, that sometimes we get a little off track when we have some MDT (missionary directed time, sort of like free time.) She’s great! Well, I have so much else to tell you. But I have to go brush my teeth. The only time I can write is on P-day but this letter is the exception because we were told to write you and tell you how we are.
Thanks so much for the letters and notes! You are all the best! I’m so glad that you’re my family and I hope everything is going well on the farm.
I can’t believe I’m actually a missionary and I often have to look at my tag to make sure it’s real! The MTC is wonderful, and all of you prepare so you can come to this wonderful place. It’s the best place and I love it so much!
Thank you for your prayers and for everything else that you’ve done for me!
Love you all! :)
Love,
Sister Alex Smith