Last week in the MTC!

Dear family and friends,

I am in a New York state of mind.....well, kinda...because this is my LAST email to you all from the MTC!!!

How in the WORLD?! Am I already 2 months into my mission? No idea folks.

My journey to New York begins at 7:30am and I am expected to arrive in Westchester County, NY by 4:00pm! I am SO excited to meet my mission president and his family + discover where I will be assigned to serve! 

IT FEELS LIKE CHRISTMAS!

So in honor of the final hours that I have left here at the MTC, let me give you a list of some of the things that I have learned:

-the phrase "living out of a suitcase", is a real thing and it has never been so literal in my life before!

-CHRISTmas music is thee best. Its never too early to celebrate Christ am I right or AM I RIGHT?!

-becoming bilingual is a process.....slowly but surly....poco a poco...

-to GO FOR IT: lean into the stiff wind of opportunity! Leaning into opportunity consits of amazing & struggly moments. That is life!

-​​Sundays + Tuesdays have been the most wonderful because of devotionals.

-Prayer is powerful!

-I can't keep count of the amount of times I have been told that I look like Snow White.

-Jesus Christ lives! I am thankful for the constant sweet reminders that I am given everyday of this truth. Today I was reminded with some SUNSHINE! I have been praying for some vitamin D. #blessings

-I lOVE BEING A MISSIONARY! I love inviting other people to come closer to their Savior, trying to speak the Spanish language and learning more about my Heavenly Father + His plan for all of us. 

One quick funny moment of the week:

Hermana Solomon told me that her nose was hurting so I offered for some of my nasal spray medicine.....so she took the bottle and then SPRAYED IT INTO HER MOUTH!!!! AH I WAS DEAD! She didn't realize that she was supposed to spray the medicine into her nose! *facepalm* Poor hermana of mine.... I am going to miss her MUCHO!  

Well I better go finish packing. 

I hope that you all have a wonderful week.

CTR!

Dont forget that it is a great day to have a great day!

Much love....hermana worley 

Pictures: 

-on the temple stroll

- the one and the only sister kara mease

-shout out to momma worley for making my week with a bomb care package​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Week 5 in the MTC

HELLO everyone....the butterflies are in my stomach because I am flying to NEW YORK in NINE days!!!! WOAH!

How am I already a month into my mission? Ahh I am feeling uber nervous + uber excited for this next adventure to begin. Last night I received​​​​ my travel plans which informed me that on May 1st I depart the MTC at 3:30 am and will arrive in Westchester County, NY at 4:04 pm.

Are you ready for me New York??? 

I'm coming for you soon!

Easter was a beautiful day at the MTC. In the morning Hermana Solomon + I were able to open up our easter letters together! (thanks worley family!) We then wrote an Easter song and went around to all of the classrooms in our hallways to spread some Easter Cheer! The title of this little song is "Felize Pascua" and it goes to the tune "Felize Navidad"! It was full of cheesiness and brought lots of missionary smiles!

Then a little bit later in the day Elder Oaks came to speak to all of the missionaries which was incredible and we also got to hear from his sweet wife which was amazing as well!! It's such a treat being able to hear from the wives of general authorities here!! When we were singing prelude music while Elder Oaks was on the stand before either of them spoke, I just started crying like nobodies business because I'M A CRIER + it just HIT me how incredible and how huge of a blessing it was that I was sitting about 500 feet away from an APOSTLE of the Lord. I am SO blessed!!!! I'm truly convinced I'm the luckiest girl in the world right about now. When else in my life will I be able to expierence Easter mornings like this?!  I LOVE THIS GOSPEL!

My favorite devotional at the MTC thus far happened this past Tuesday by Elder Uceda. He spoke about some different translations of the word "repentance" and I don't have my notes right now so hopefully this is right...but in Hebrew the translation of repentance is "to turn around" and the translation in Greek is "to change mind". WOWZA is that not beautiful?! Repentance has zero connection to pain or guilt in these translations, AS IT SHOULD BE!!!! That is something I have been reminded often since being at the MTC is that repentance means to CHANGE. It means you are willing to BECOME more as Christ and I think that is a BEAUTIFUL process! :) 

The MTC has not been my favorite place in the world but it has given me SO many special expierences that I will treasure for my whole life. It just boggles my mind to know that I am not meeting with any more investigators at the MTC. I have made lots of "life long" missionary friends from ALL of the world here. 

Seriously!: New Zealand, Japan, Mexico, Washington, Paris, Washington, Tonga. I LOVE it. 

I have learned that I can eat "CHICKEN FRIED CHICKED" for Jesus... (in my pre-mission life I was a vegetarian)

The gift of tounges is real!!!! But not what I expected.....I always thought of this gift as a ​​ gift...but I am learning that it is a gift of understanding.

The MTC has taught me ALL about prayer! I love it! Talking with Heavenly Father is the best... Every morning when I finish my prayers before I leave for the day, I start another prayer and try to keep it going all day. I think that we should always be on our knees in our hearts. Always praying, when you are at work, pray. When you are at school, pray. When you are walking, pray. Constant prayer is like having a wifi hotspot in your heart with constant connectivity with God. That way He can send you messages and cut through the noise and emotions of the day. With your hotspot you can hear God always and do His will.

Little love letters:

Dear Spanish, you are becoming more and more easier with each passing day but also more and more confusing with each passing day. I just love that!

Dear MTC food, here is the deal, I have been real patient with you... but I cannot eat "CHICKEN FRIED CHICKEN" for dinner one more time. 

Dear bangs, today I am going to try and trim you.....please forgive me if I hack you all off. #sendprayers

Dear body towel, thanks for acting as my outfit when Hermana Solomon and I were locked out of our room for a solid 1/2 hour this past Thursday evening! Whoopsy daisy.

Dear Watermelon Essie nail polish, you are so pretty + my heart gets so happy every time I see you on my finger nails! 

Pictures

-YaY for the Temple! We took this picture Easter Sunday. One of the senior sister missionaries told me that I looked like an Easter egg that day. LOL!

-My friends from Paris, Japan, Utah and Washington...arent they all darling!

-So Hermana Solomon and I were locked out of our room 2 times this week.....this picture is the first time....I had to walk down to the front office without shoes on and holding my pants.....making memories for sure....

- My Hermanas! Last night Hermana Solomon and I hosted a girls night! We practiced Spanish + painted our nails + face masks + ate Easter candy! We live for nights like these. They make my heart so happy! 

Week 4 in the MTC

 ​​​​Hola Hola Hola!

Como la va? Hoy es un buen día! 

I'm still in need dire need of a bang trim, wearing a lot of yellow, and trying to teach a lot about Jesus....but what's new? Actually a LOT! :) This past week was real busy & zoomed by. 

Guess what?! It SNOWED in Utah last Saturday evening! It was a dream come for for Hermana Solomon. She hadn't ever expierenced snow before! So we went outside in our pajamas and danced in the snow. One of the most special moments EVER. The next day Elder Horrocks taught her how to make a snow ball. We even found a snowman at the temple! 

Top News: Last Sunday Hermana Solmon y I were called to serve as the Sister Training Leaders of our Zone! 

This means that we conduct weekly interviews with the sisters in our Zone, assign relief society talks on Sunday, carry a cell phone, try to love + serve the sisters a little bit more.

Funny story #1: the cellphone that Hermana Solomon and I have can not make any phone calls. There is a password so the only people who can call it is the front office of the MTC + our Zone president. 

Well one day Hermana Solomon and I were walking back to our doors and she pulls out the phone and answers it saying: "Hey mom!!!! How is it going?" "Yeah I was able to figure out the password but I can't talk for long""I'm so happy you called"

 I then asked her if I could speak to her mom too so she passed me the phone and no one was there!!!

Hahaha that stinker! There was no one else was on the other line! Haha haha. It was so funny. Now that im typing this all out, I realize that maybe it was a have to be there moment? But now it's her favorite thing....to pretend to talk to people on the phone. Silly stuff.

Funny story #2: One of the Elders in my district was relieved a Dear John letter this week. (poor elder) So his companion tried to revive him with some clothing irons. I will attach pictures. The pictures are pure gold. Enjoy! :)

Last Sunday I was also able to meet con Elder Valeri Cordón! He spoke at general confrence! Every Sunday and Tuesday evening here at the MTC there are devotionals. Elder Cordón spoke all about missionary work and then he wanted to meet with the missionaries that will be serving in Costa Rica after the devotional. My companion, Hermana Solomon, is serving there so I got to go too!! There was about 10 people in the little meeting afterwards and we all were able to ask him mission questions. One of my favorite things that he said is: You HAVE to learn to look at people the way that God looks at people.

Can I just tell you a little bit about one of my favorite people that I've met at the MTC? 

She is one of my investigator friends at the MTC. Her name is Maribel. She is just pure SUNSHINE + JOY! Maribel is 50 years old, from Mexico, loves her family + cooking and is always looking on the bright side.

Around last week her husband was at work and he chopped his thumb off. Ouch! I know! He is a carpenter. This has been a BIG trial in her life because all of her children still live at home (that is reaaaally normal in her culture) and her husband is the sole provider. This has caused much stress on Maribel but right after she told Hermana Solomon y I about it she said "but I am just so lucky that it wasn't all of his fingers or even his hand!!" 

Ah Hermana Solomon and I loved it. I know that life can be so hard but to focus on the bright side when the rain is pouring it is so important. 

Okay, now can I tell you about how Hermana Solomon & I were ROASTED this past Friday in a lesson with a brand new investigator? 

Cool. Here we go:

Hely is a 64 year old investigator, SUPER Catholic, knows her Bible like the back of her hand and just will tell everything to you straight, in uber FAST spanish. There is no sugar coating with Hely. 

So Hermana Solomon and I went into the lesson not knowing ANY of this about her but we felt like we should share a simple message of Jesus Christ and his life....with it being Easter and all....ha....

We first knocked on the door and it took about 5 minutes just to convince her to let us in to share a message with her about Jesus. 

When she let us in we sat down and she started showing us pictures of the Catholic Church that she goes attends & explainedall of the basic beliefs of the Catholic Church. After that happened, she pulled out her giant Bible to back up all of her beliefs. She then asked us to do the same with our religion......which Hermana Solomon and I had a rough time explaining in Spanish. So Hely looked at us and told us that we need to go & learn about what we are talking about so then come back to her with the right facts. #dying 

After that she asked us to hurry and share the message that we prepared for her. So we shared the new Easter video that the church just released. She really liked it! 

But then Hermana Worley (that's me) being my cheesy self & all wanted to leave her a hot pink chocolate egg + a picture of Christ to help her remember the true meaning of this time of year.

And she freaked out! When she saw me pull out a hot pink chocolate egg her face turned RED. Ah.

Here's a little bit how the conversation went:

Hely: "Why would you ruin the meaning of Easter with bringing an egg?"

Hermana Worley: "It's not about the egg, it's about what the egg symbolizes. Birth! New life! New beginings! Christ lives & he loves you!"

Hely: "If it's not about the egg, why would you bring me one?"

Hermana Worley: "Lo siento, Hely"

*I then slowly put the hot pink egg back into my bright yellow bag*

I learned SO much from this experience. This expiernce brought me closer to Christ. I learned that I don't mind being "roasted" when I'm being roasted while trying to share a message about Jesus. Because Jesus was "roasted", mocked, teased, betrayed, suffered and put to death for you and I! He sacrafice for us was so huge. I learned that hot pink easter eggs aren't always the best idea. I do love Hely, very much! I appreciate when people have opposing viewpoints than I do because it broadens my perspective.

I am extra thankful for our Savior, Jesucristo, this week. 

HE LIVES! Because He lives I am given new beginings each day!

Because He lives I am able to respresent His name for 17 more months

Because He lives I find true JOY + LOVE

Because He lives I have a best friend.

What do the Saviors name, life, and sacrafice mean to you?

What will you do to remember that He Lives? 

My favorite scripture about his name is: 

Isaiah 9:6:

 "For unto us a child is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty Gog, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

I hope that you can watch this video when you get a moment:

https://www.mormon.org/?cid=HP_SU_9-4-2017_dMIS_fMORG_xLIDyL1-A_ 

Tender mercies:

-bumble bee socks (thanks momma)

-dirty diet coke

-snowmen

-the book of mormon

-cookies and cream milk! So yum!

As Hermana Solomon would say "I love yousssss" :)

Te quierdo,

Hermana Worley​​​

MTC Week 3 letter to HOME

Right now I am sitting in the laundry mat waiting for my clothing to dry!

This week was a long one and kinda hard! But today is a good day with lots of new possibilities! Thanks for that email mom. 

I also get to go to the temple at 2! Nothing super crazy out of the ordianry happened this week. 

I loved the brownies that grandma and grandpa sent. So did all of the hermanas in my room! 

The tea cup that you sent has been me favorite thing ever. It has been such a good tool to help me unwind my brain at night with jornaling + tea time. 

So yesterday was my hardest day all week. I was sitting in my Spanish class and I was just really sad that Molly had died.

I know it is kind of silly, because I said goodbye to her before I left and I know that she was really old but she was still my first child. 

I explained this to Hermana Solmon, that Molly was put down, and she was so sweet. She was like:

 "GIrl you are able to feel sad! My grandpa is going to die soon and he is old and I said goodbye to him before I left. You shouldn't feel bad or silly that your cat died just because she was old"

HA it was just what I needed to hear. :)

But my teacher brother Savage saw that I was feeling a bit down and he pulled me and my companion into another room. He asked me to explain to him what was going on. I told him that my cat died. Then he laughed and I started to cry. He felt so bad, so then he showed me a video of his fish that just died. #notthesameatall!!!!!!! 

Which didn't make me feel better and made him feel even worst.

(Keep in mind that he is still a 21 years old guy. just got back from his mish. going to school at BYU.)

So he assigned the class to a different teacher and said to Solomon & I

 "Is it okay if we don't learn Spanish today? I think that we all need to go make some other peoples days a little bit brighter!"

So all three of us went out side and talked to different people at the MTC. We went to the laundry mat and thanked the workers for keeping the MTC so clean. We walked other Hermanas to class. 

As we were walking Brother Savage would say things like "Doesn't this rain just make eveything smell so good?" "We are so lucky to see mountains" or "Look at how pretty the flowers are today"

When we were out walking around the mtc grounds I turned to him and thanked him for reminding me that reaching out to others when I am struggling makes me feel so much better!

I am so thankful for my teachers at the MTC. Brother Savage reminded me that when we feel hurt or sad on the inside the BEST way to help fix those blues is to serve someone out. To look outward towards others! I love it so much!

My favorite part of my week is when I get to meet with Maribel. She is our investigator right now and she brings me SO much sunshine. Yesterday morning Hereman Solmon and I planned a simple lesson about Faith. I shared my favorite scripture with her wich is Matthew 17:20

"And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." 

I really really really wanted to bring her a mustard seed but they dont have any at the MTC :( so I picked up a little pebble that I found on the ground and asked her to pretend that it was one! Hahaha! She was dying laughing.

Hermana Solmon invited her to practice her Faith in God this week by trying to serve a new person each day because our 1st commandment is to LOVE! 

Thank you for your love and support! I don't feel like writing a group email to everyone this week. I feel kind of bad, but then I also just keep remembering when President Stephan said that the only people that I should feel obligated to write is you too! 

I'm so happy he told me that. I super needed to hear it! 

Peyton, Olivia and Saulie know that I love you all! I am so excited for Pey to go to Prom!!! I WANT PICTURES! :):):) I am excited for Olivia to enjoy her weekend because she wont have to deal with stupid girls at school! And Saulie to send me some cello music! ;)

Mom and Dad, I am reallllllly nervous about not being able to fit all of my belongings back into my suitcase! So is it okay if I sent you guys some of my books? Winter coat? back to you guys and them you send it back to me when I get to New York? I was told this week that I have to pay to ship my suitcases! I am super worried that I wont have enough money to send them to New York if they weigh more than they should! 

Funny story: 

The elders sometimes think that I am cute and say flirty things. Which honestly is just super annoying because hashtag I am a sista'. But this week Hermana Solomon and I were leaving the bathroom and an elder came up to me and said "sooooooooo pretty" and i was like "uuuuuuhhhh thanks?" And then Hermana Solmon was like "Excuse you but SHE is sister missionarie" AHahah it was so funny! Love her!

Spanish is comming along! It is amazing how well I can understand it! I have a hard time communicating but I just learn to simplify my sentences and usually I can get my point across! I feel pretty overwhelmed because my teachers assign me SO much extra spanish work to do after class and I just feel like I can't ever get it all done. But its okay. I know that all I can do is my best and there is no need to stress about the reast. This week it REALLY hit me that I have been called to learn spanish for life. Learning Spanish is not just an 18 month gig. Which is actually really exciting. I have been setting some long term and short term goals. Right now I am trying to memorize Josphs Smith First Vision this week! By the end of the MTC I want to be able to say all of my prayers in Spanish with as little Spanglish as possible. When I hit 6 months on my mission I want to have most of the lessons memorized in Spanish. When I hit my year mark I want to be able to journal all of my personal entries in Spanish. 

But anywho! I hope that you have a good week! I am SO pummped to get my dirty diet coke package!!!WHOOOHOO!!

I dont think that I need anything at all this week! Just prayers! :) 

I also FAILED on taking pics this week so here are some selfies!! ;)

111114444443333!!!

SISTA WORLEY

Also sister Solomon has an icepack because a year ago she had surgery on her shoulder and for service we were washing windows!!!!!AH it killed her arm so afterwards we got her an Icepack....why its on her head......i dont even know lol!!! She is a hoot!

Please let grandma and grandpa THANKYOUfor the package! Feel free to share this message with them! :)

Week 3 in the MTC

Week 2 in the MTC

Hola friends & family!

I L-O-V-E you all SO much.

I'm still waiting for that chocolate that you all were going to send me in the mail, but I'll let you know when it arrives. haha ;)

But seriously, thank you for all of the sweet emails!

Today is my "P " day! So my companion and I finished up our laundry this morning! We are currently soaking in the sunshine on a bench outside the MTC. Soon we will head into the chappel to watch general confrence! YAY!

We have both been looking forward to being able to listen to general conference all week long!

As a missionary, it feels like a movie marathon! We already bought our treats, it's back in our doorn room awaiting for us!

It has been an amazing/busy/growing/fun/spiritual/awesome week.

I have some big news!!!! So my Spanish has been going super awesome.... the MTC has coordinated with my mission president & I have been put on the fast track to New York! Instead of leaving in 5 weeks, I will be heading to New York this coming Wednesday!!!!  WHOOOHOOO! 

I was able to go to the temple this week with my zone. It felt amazing to feel the spirit so strongly. My companion and I both needed that spiritual rejuvenation. It was Hermana Solomons first time seeing the angel Moroni that is ontop of the temple! They don't have an angel Moroni on top of the New Zealand temple....

So when we first got there she said:

Hermana Solomon: "Now I know why my parents tell me that I am like angel Moroni!"

Hermana Worley: "Why do they tell you that?!"

Hermana Solomon: "Because I really AM the GOLDEN child!"

Hahaha it was so funny.

Let me tell you a little story about Elder Batman=

This week the elders in my district found a BAT in their dorm rooms. GAH! So Elder Ward caught the bat with his pillow and then took the little guy out side to let it go......he's now known as Elder Batman. The not so fun side of this story is that 2 elders had to go recieve immunizations for rabies and one of them is being checked out for it. Crazy stuff.

Last Sunday I was able to watch a SUPER awesome talk titled  "The Character of Christ" given be David Bednar.

One of my favorite things is that Bednar explains that the character of Christ:

ALWAYS turns out to others, the natural man wants to turn in!!

The natural man is the cookie monster:

"I WANT COOKIE NOW!" #selfish #instantgratification

Jesus Christ always turns outward, even when he is suffering. I testify that conversion to Christ IS getting rid of the Cookie Monster!!! I think that this doesn't come all at once. This comes little by little, day by day, as we strive to follow our Saviors example. I know that Jesus and Heavenly Father are such kind, gentle, and tender tutors that we have. 

I am so thankful for the LOVE + PEACE + JOY that we can all recieve from them.

One of my favorite scriptures this week is: Mosiah 4:9 

ALSO, APRIL FOOLS!!!! I'm NOT going to New York next week!!!!!! 

LO SIENTO! (sorry sorry sorry i had too! It's a holiday!) :)

I am still going be learning Spanish + the Gospel at the MTC for the next 5 weeks. Thank goodness. I have a lot to work on!

Hope I didn't freak ya out too much, mom! ;)

Some of the tender mercies that I have enjoyed this week:

-King Benjamans address!

-Letters & Emails & Packages!

-The eliptical at the gym

-Hermana Solomon

-My bangs for hiding that pesky forehead zit of mine. #blessing's

-The teachers at the MTC!

What were some of the tender mercies in YOUR life this week? I would love to know. 

I hope you all have a wonderful week.

Much LOVE & LIGHT,

Hermana Worley

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