Sharly in Arkansas

Week 3 - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - MTC Edition

Hello family and friends!

Welcome to the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, MTC edition.

The Good: We had Graham Canyon ice cream on Sunday. That is my favorite ice cream ever. We also had green beans with bacon. They weren't near as good as Mom's, but still tasty.

The Bad: ASL makes your eyebrows hurt. You have to raise them up or down depending on what kind of question you are asking. Elder Clair has a really hard time, but he is getting better at it.

The Ugly: Having to ask the branch president to give the elders a modesty talk and they still don't get why they can't sit a certain way or wear gym shorts made for a 10 year old. Also, one of our ASL districts ate an entire tower of cereal one night for dinner. They had to eat like 7 bowls each and the tops of their mouths were bleeding. They also got in trouble because it's disruptive, so y'all remember that when you come to the MTC.

The Scary: We sisters played volley ball with some elders from Samoa and Tonga. Sister Abeling almost got decapitated several times.

The Spiritual: Guess what I did this week? Taught an investigator that has no language. Well, it was one of our teachers pretending to be him, but it is a real person he met on his mission. Apparently it is common for ASL missionaries to meet such people. He is deaf, doesn't know ASL, and doesn't read except for a tiny bit of Spanish. How do you teach him? A combination of charades and pictionary. I will be excellent at both when I get back. But the most important ingredient is the Spirit! There is no way we could teach without it. Not to be cliche, but the Spirit is the universal language. Our teacher Brother Peterson was also explaining to us that everyone can feel the Spirit, not just Mormons. And he was explaining to us times when other people can feel the Spirit. He says he feels the Spirit when Madea talks about church. He says as a deaf person he connects with her and those Baptist choirs because they are very expressive. So, Madea aside, we can all feel the Spirit. We can feel the Spirit when we listen to music. Think of when for band we play those really slow and powerful songs, like "Sleep." We all felt so good! That's one way to feel the Spirit. So I would like to challenge all of you to try to listen for the Spirit more. Listen to some good music or just turn off the TV and sit in quiet to think. Read something inspiring. I've haven't ever watched Madea, so I can't endorse that... but do what ever it is that will help you feel the Spirit and come closer to God.

Have a good week everyone! Love you! The Gospel is true!

Sister Nielsen

P.S. Bailey is here! And she is leaving Tuesday already. One morning at breakfast I got to talk to her and Katie. She is so cute, but I think she is having a hard time. She was crying when she saw me because quote "your cute little motherly voice." Ah man, I love my roomies!