Week 2

Hello everyone! 

It’s been a week! I feel like the days go by really super fast but the week went by slow. 

Something I forgot to say last week is that I was sitting in a workshop and I saw a Sister sitting across the room that looked EXACTLY like me and it spooked me to the core. Like I thought I was staring into a mirror. I haven’t seen her since then though so maybe I was just hallucinating or something (or more likely than that, she just looked like me from the side and not straight on so I just haven’t recognized her). 

They aren’t kidding when they tell you you’ll just jump right into it as a missionary- tomorrow my companion and I are singing in sacrament meeting, conducting the music, teaching gospel doctrine, and then we got asked to teach relief society too but then they heard we were teaching in gospel doctrine so they changed their minds and asked someone else. 

Hermana Rollins and I usually pick up the Spanish really quick so we were kind of lax about our language study before class on Monday and then during class our instructor took everyone to the bottom of a stairwell and said “Ok every time you recite one of your phrases memorized you get to go up one step. I’ll meet you all on the 4th floor.” And let me tell you, after feeling the shame and frustration of being left behind on the first staircase, Hermana Rollins and I are EXTRA DILIGENT about our language study every day. 

Also can I just say, I LOVE my district. I feel like I’ve known them all forever and we have such a fun dynamic. I wish I could write you all a bio about each of them.

Anyways I think that’s all, cause this Missionary lady needs to go eat food and study. I’ll leave you with a lil scripture from 2 Corinthians 12: 7-10 (Paul is talking about his “Thorn in the flesh” which a lot of people guess was blindness):

 7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

I love you all!

Hermana Tolman 

Me With My First Companion- Hermana Rollins!

There is a mural here that we like to pretend is Panama.

It keeps snowing and then raining and melting all the snow and it’s created this huge slushy lake and it makes me laugh.

"el campo blanco" / "the field is white" - get it? haha

The MTC cat, Luna

My District! Left to right it's Elder Bahme, Elder Turley, Hna McCormack, Hna Hopkin, Hna Rollins, me, Elder Bowen, Elder Meyers, Elder Richardson, and Elder Hunt

Week (not) One

Lol HEY everyone!!


I’ve only been out for 3 days so I don’t even have a full week under my belt but so far I’ve been having a GREAT time. The Provo MTC is so crazy cause everyone’s from so many places and they’re headed so many places, like I’ll hold the door open for a big crowd of missionaries and all the thank yous will be in every language from Icelandic to Italian to Vietnamese.

Funny thing, I was standing in line right after I got my nametag and a lady said "Oh are you two cousins?? Thats so fun!" and I said "wat" but then I looked at the guy next to me and he was Elder Tolman and he's also going Spanish speaking! Turns out, he's my second cousin! And he introduced me to his first cousin (also my second cousin), Elder Lovell! 


My companion is Hermana Rollins and I LOVE her. She’s from Florida and she’s super thrifty and enthusiastic in a fun soccer-mom-kind-of-way. Funny story, I actually stalked her on Facebook way back in like, October, but I didn’t really think much of it. It’s really funny to figure things out with her cause she’s just as new as I am. I also LOVE my district and instructors so far and I can tell we’re all going to be close by the time we leave for the field.


The first day I kept forgetting I was wearing a nametag so I was shocked at how everyone knew my name. It’s taken me a hot minute to stop introducing myself as Anne but I’m starting to get the hang of
it.

What else do I have to say... OH! There’s a CAT that lives really close to the MTC and she just wanders around on the campus and lets all the missionaries pet her. Her name is Luna I think. Right before I left to go to the MTC I took a picture with my cat Tux where I was shaking his hand goodbye (cause for some stupid reason I thought people say goodbye by shaking hands but now that I’m thinking about it
that’s really not a thing..) Anyways the first time I saw Luna she held out her paw to me as if to shake my hand and I saw “wow THIS is poetic”.  But I didn’t get a cute matching picture of it cause I forgot so 🤷🏻‍♀️ whoops.


Oh I got a water bottle from the little store they have here but it sounds like a sippy cup so I don’t like drinking from it cause it makes me feel like a BABY so I guess I’ll just be dehydrated. Just kidding. It’s actually very appropriate for me to be drinking from a sippy cup cause I’m a little baby at speaking Spanish and being a missionary. It’s crazy cause our sister training leaders seem SOO much older than us but they’re our same age, they’ve just been here for like 5 weeks instead of 3 days. Everything is a lot less micromanaged than I expected and I like it.


I had an interview with my Branch President and it was crazy cause I expected him to ask me questions in the beginning but instead we just sat down and he started talking to me and giving me counsel as if I’d known him forever and we’d only met like 5 minutes prior. It’s crazy how the Spirit can work like that. Anyways that’s all for this email 

I love you all! God lives!

First P-day Temple Trip!

Family Reunion at the MTC!
These are my second cousins, Elders Tolman and Lovell. They are first cousins to each other. 

Goodbye Tux!

Hello Luna!