Sister Olds the II: Dearingist Darlingist Mommsy and Popsicle

Oh man..where do I even start???

I LOVE THE MTC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is seriously so wonderful here!! When I first got here my host sister that brought me in was from Italy and is going to France on her mission. So she is learning English while she is here and also French...made me so happy that I am speaking English on my mission!! From the first seconds here it has been go, go, go!!! But I love it. My first five minutes of being here an Elder from India thought it would be funny to mess with the new kid haha. He went on and on about how they gave him his name tag with no engraving on it and kept asking me where he needed to go. I don't know!! I just got here! But then he flipped it around to the engraved side. haha I felt like an idiot.

My companion is so sweet!! Sister Tuioti (two-ee-oh-tee) I love her so much!! We get along so well. Then the other two sisters in my room are so great too!! Sister Jackson and Sister Urso. Sister Urso is just the cutest little thing you've ever seen!! I loooooove my district!! We were all instant best friends right off the bat!! Unfortunately the elders in my district aren't headed to my mission. They are going to the Las Vegas West mission (Elder Bruce's mission!!!) Which means that Bunkerville is in their mission!! Haha when we figured that out I FREAKED OUT and was going on and on about how great Bunkerville was and how wonderful all the people are there!! I might have oversold it a tad....haha All of my teachers have been so amazing so far! We are learning tons here!! We get super tired each day, but it is totally worth it.

So last night our whole zone (also awesome) got to meet our branch presidency and they separated the elders and the sisters at the end. The branch presidency's wives met with us sisters about some of the rules and guidelines. They were going over makeup and were encouraging us to wear lip gloss especially. Of course all I could think of was "MORE lip gloss and MORE glitter!" hahaha I was dying laughing. The sisters in my room got a kick out of that too.

I seriously love being here. I haven't been sad, nervous, homesick, or frustrated at all! (But I'm sure those feelings will come eventually. At least that's what everyone keeps telling me...) One of my favorite things about being here, is thinking of all of the people that I know that have walked these same halls as me. My parents, my sister, tons of my friends. It is so great!! And so inspiring.

My companion and I were walking through the cafeteria yesterday and I overhear an elder that was walking past us say that he was going to the Hungary Budapest mission and I just stop him and go, "I am SO JEALOUS!! You are going to love it there so much!! I was there this summer and I absolutely loved it! It is so amazing!! I had a friend serve there that loved it so much!! Sorry...I totally just eavesdropped on you...but I thought you should know." haha I could tell he was pretty caught off guard.

Side note: They told us that we shouldn't say "guys" when we are talking to people here. We have to say Elders and Sister. I never realized how much I said guys before now! We will get into class and I will just go "Oh hey gu....Elders.." haha So that is definitely taking some getting used to.

I love running into people I know!!! I have seen Elder Justin Lilly like 3 times already! The first time I saw him I walked past him and then was like, "Wait....Elder Lilly?!" I had no idea he was here!! I can't even remember the last time I saw him!! He turned around and was like "Whoa!! Hey!!" And then went in to give me a hug and I just stuck my hand out and he just goes, "Oh..er...uh...right." haha kind of awkard/ hilarious. Then I also saw a sister that was in my public speaking class last winter semester!!

Well I am so grateful that the Lord has lead me to making the decision to serve a mission. I have not had one single regret since being here!! I know that this is where I am supposed to be right now. The work is progressing!! It is such an amazing and exciting time to be a missionary!!!

I love you all!!!!

Love,

Sister Olds the II