The First of Many

On Saturday, October 19, 2013 9:57 AM, Martha Zeller <martha.zeller@myldsmail.net> wrote:

Hello Everyone!!! 

The MTC is amazing so far and I only got here on Wednesday! I have learned a ton and I still have so much to learn. I haven't been too overwhelmed yet but it started to get a little hard on Friday. I have a lot of reading to do, especially because I have been assigned as the Sister Training Leader for our zone! (There are only 4 sisters.) I am so grateful for this calling. It has given me the opportunity to know the girls in my zone and love them that much more. Speaking of my zone.... it's wonderful! I love everyone and my district is super tight--as in we are all really close. Sometimes it's hard though when we are in personal study and we can't stop cracking jokes. 

My companion is Sister Reed from Clearfield, Utah, and I love her so much. I feel like we have been friends for a long time. We get along super well and are having so much fun together. She just graduated high school and she is a little older than me. We actually met on Facebook before we came out here because of that sister missionary page I was on. What's truly amazing is that my whole zone is going to Philly at the same time! So awesome. We leave on October 29, which is coming up soon. We have to wake up at 2 a.m. so that should be interesting. What's even more interesting is that we have a layover in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Lets just say I won't be the most focused sister missionary that day, but I will try my best.

Everyone is very friendly here and I have never felt the Spirit stronger. I had my first lesson yesterday with an investigator named Mike. Sister Reed and I did really well following the Spirit. We invited him to pray with us in the lesson and he did and felt so good afterwards. Before the prayer he said the feeling he had about his life was like he had just had 2 big macs (ya know that greasy, unhealthy feeling). After the prayer he said he felt like he just ate a salad. It was so funny. We love him so much and we teach him again today. I am so excited!

I have really learned how important it is to follow the Spirit ALL the time. I have been doing that since I got here and it has blessed me and others so much. Thursday night at about 10:15 (it was quiet time, a time they give us to reflect on our day and write in our journal) my companion kinda squealed and  said "I found my CTR ring!" really loud and no one said anything.. because it was quiet time. I was writing in my journal and had the prompting to write her a simple little note saying I'm glad you found your CTR ring. At first I put it off, but then I decided to follow it. I wrote the note and passed it down to her (I'm on the top bunk and she's on the bottom). She took it and laughed a little. Then she ripped off a piece of paper and sent a note back saying "That made my day! -er night! Thank you! I'm so grateful you're my companion! -Love Sister Reed". That made my day! The next day she said how much that meant to her and that she felt we were really close now. What a blessing. I am so thankful that I followed that prompting. I've done little things like that and it's making all the difference. 

One of my teachers is Brother Balzer (who served in Philly). He is hilarious and is like three people I know morphed into one. He looks like a kid named Max, and acts like a kid named Matt and William Busenbark combined. It's pretty awesome. My favorite teacher so far is definitely Brother Mahrt. He goes to BYU and he is amazing. Someone said yesterday that all he has left to do is get married and then he will be translated! Haha so funny. He has truly changed my life and helped me figure out how to teach by the Spirit. 

Everything has really come together and made sense here at the MTC. I will be really sad to leave but am so excited to get out there and help others come to Christ. I love you all and am so thankful for you in my life. Everything in my life, I feel like, has lead me to being on a mission.

One more thing! The most important thing I have learned here so far is to forget myself and do everything for others. The first few nights I didn't sleep well at all and I kept praying to help me sleep. But last night something clicked and I realized I'm not here for me at all. I am here for the Lord and to help bring his children back to live with him. I prayed to get sleep so that I could be more focused in order to help those I need to help later on in my mission, to learn the things I need to learn in order to be there for someone else. Guess what?! I slept like a baby!

Thanks everyone for the letters! I felt so loved. Keep them coming! Dearelder.com is amazing!

I love life, the MTC, my zone, and I love you all. Plus, the food is not too bad!

Until next week!

Love, 

Sister Zeller #4

P.S. I totally ran into Elder Dalton Boyles and he has changed so much. It has only been a week. It was crazy. Also I ran into Elder Ashton Beavers! Mom, isn't he your favorite?! Haha, they are doing great.