Courtney Smith's Mission Blog: Letter

7-7-10

Dearest Family,

It was so fun to hear you had an eventful week. It didn’t feel quite like the 4^th on Sunday, but then again, I wasn’t with family and it’s a little irreverent to party hard on a Sunday . Sunday morning was actually a wee bit nippy and overcast, which is a strange occurrence for me on a summer morning. All the sisters needed sweaters and coats. Most of our meeting rooms are cold anyway. Usually, I associate the 4^th of July with sweltering hot weather, no matter where I’m at. Well, half way through the day, the sun finally decided to shine and it was gorgeous the rest of the day.

Like I told you in the e-mail, Carrie Underwood was performing at the Stadium of Fire on Saturday night. We heard the instrument doing their sound checks in the afternoon. That was a little odd hearing loud guitars and electric violins. However, no Carrie Underwood concert for missionaries! We had a mandatory musical fireside to attend which included a video with MTC staffers/senior missionaries playing roles like Paul, Martin Luther, Ben Franklin, etc., and led up to live actors portraying Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, and the Angel Moroni (played by the MTC President. Odd). These portrayals were interrupted every few minutes by musical numbers by the choir, soloists, or congregation. It was a good program, but I do admit it was hard not to giggle a little at some of the costumes. I believe the whole congregation chuckled when the Founding Fathers came about. Their wigs were the most lol worthy. Benjamin Franklin looked like a woman, teehee ahem But, really it was a good program. Afterward, all the missionaries watched the fireworks from the south end of campus. As the show was happening, Elders kept starting up various songs which was fun at first, but got a little annoying when I just wanted to enjoy fireworks in peace. Oh well! Jolly good. Good show. Jolly good show!

Soooo, that was pretty much my weekend. I finally got Mark & Marily’s letter on Tuesday (the post office here decided to take a day off). I’m glad I have yet another picture to show off my presh nephews! Thanks again, Shauna for that photo book. I like showing it off. I was reminded by my roommates that we had a little pig out session on Sunday night! They were kind enough to print a few extra photos so I could have some! I was about to head for the shower (hence the towel and robe) and then I found them on the couches on our floor. Sis. Crowther’s mom sent a bunch of goodies for Independence Day so we decided to put it all out. Don’t worry, the mess was a little exaggerated for the photos, ha ha? It was totally perfect that I arrived with my robe on. Sister Rasmussen has the pink socks, Sister Herde is wearing the Finland tee, and Sis. Aitken has the “Run Forrest Run” shirt.

On Thursdays, Sis. Aitken and I have our TRC nights. To be honest, I don’t know what the “R” stands for, but basically, we prepare to talk to Estonian speaking volunteers for a few minutes and then teach a lesson such as the Restoration or the Plan of Salvation. Last Thursday, Sis. Aitken was feeling especially sick and didn’t think she’d be able to teach or contribute at all since her jaw was hurting so bad. This meant that I probably would have to do the whole 45 minutes or so by myself. I felt quite inadequate and all I could do was hope the Lord would help me out somehow. While Bro. Conway went to go check to see if our teaching room was ready, he asked us to look for short scriptures that would summarize the Savior’s Atonement. After several minutes, I began wondering what was going on since he didn’t return. After 10 minutes, he finally came back to our prep room and asked if we had prayed that we didn’t have to do TRC that night. No volunteers had showed up and he couldn’t find the coordinators anywhere, so we were off the hook for the night! Perhaps Heavenly Father answered a secret prayer in my heart. I loved Sis. Aitken’s exclamation “God really DOES love me!” What a relief! But now that means I have to prepare extra for tomorrow night. I do feel more at ease about it now though.

Yesterday, Bro. Andre and Bro. Conway had Sis. Aitken and I portray investigators while they taught us the Plan of Salvation. They obviously know how to teach so well with the Holy Ghost because I felt it so strongly. They’ve had 1000x more practice. This is the 2^nd scenario where I’ve been in this investigator position and after every time, I feel so good. I wish everyone could experience it. Our teachers remind us that we missionaries are the ones with the mantle placed upon us to teach. I’m sure one day I’ll be able to teach like that, hopefully sooner than later!

It’s been apparent that Heavenly Father is stressing the importance of the Book of Mormon to me lately. It’s all I’ve been hearing about since the weekend. Once we realize how miraculous it is that we have it and of the truthfulness of it, then everything else must be true, it falls into place. I’ve learned about all the convincing information that proves the Book of Mormon is tangible evidence that Christ’s church is restored again. It’s been a very enlightening experience and has renewed my determination to glean from its pages. The D&C and Pearl of Great Price are not yet available in Estonian so the Book of Mormon will be my main tool.

I got Shauna’s letter through Dear Elder later this afternoon. I think they print ‘em around 4ish. Happy to hear from ya, sis! The kickboxing wasn’t like hardcore self-defense, more like cardio and aerobics, but it worked me pretty good. Now that Sis. Aitken is improving, I think we’ll try going sometime within the week (that is if we want to get up a 6 - lol).

Ok, so random time now. I have yet to meet him, but there is a new elder in our branch named Elder Coolbear. No joke. Elder Coolbear. The Finnish elders met him already and say his name fits him. Stay tuned for Adventures with Elder Coolbear.

It’s a tad disheartening to think that people who arrived here the same day I did are already in the field now. Of course, they went to English speaking missions, but now they’re off to the real deal, where it really counts. I guess I’m grateful that I can try to understand this language in 70 – 80 days. I mean, last night we had an Emeritus Seventy, Robert K. Dellenbach, tell us that they practically dropped him off in Germany with no language training back in the 1960’s. Oooh, that’s rough.

I saw a sister using a mini tape recorder to mail home her voice in addition to letters. That’d be much more efficient and easier to do than writing a long letter and having my hand cramp up! My MP3 player has a voice record function, I believe, but I wouldn’t be able to rip the audio on the computers here. Perhaps I could try in Estonia. Mail takes so long to get there so I might be able to put audio clips on e-mail attachments… ooh hoo hoo, that’s something I’ll have to try out. They do sell mini tape recorders here, but c’mon, that’s such dated technology! And mailing them would take too long. I hear it’s 3 weeks from the U.S. to Estonia and maybe 4 from Estonia to the U.S. Guess I’m buying Christmas gifts far in advance this year. That could be dated info, but it doesn’t surprise me too much. It’s such a small country.

The portions for meal time here are fit for Gigantor. I’m doing a little better now that I’ve tried most everything I want to. I’ve got quite a sweet tooth.

I’ll be on the lookout for Brian Gashler next week. I’m able to check e-mail anytime on Wednesdays, so please send e-mails early Wednesday morning or Tuesday night. I won’t check earlier than 9, so by then would be great! Enjoy the pictures!

Love,

Courtney