Week 3 email (July 26, 2011):
Time only is measured unto men
Hi Everyone! Thanks for your emails. Mail's been frustrating this week because everyone took off all weekend for Pioneer Day [Mother's comment: celebrated in Utah on July 24], and so we haven't gotten mail for five days. Who celebrates Pioneer Day like Christmas?! Sheesh people, missionaries need their mail to stay sane! Hahaha.
Well this week has been harder than the past two. I started finally being able to say what I wanted to the investigators we have to practice on, and I guess I got big headed or something because the last two lessons nothing came out of my mouth. I wasn't prepared and didn't have the Spirit. It really went to show me that the Spirit does all the talking. If I'm not humble, and if I start relying on my own vocabulary and brain nothing will come out.
This weekend has been hard though! I started going nuts because we hadn't gotten mail since Thursday for some reason. Mail always makes me happy and takes my mind off things for a little bit. But I didn't have that break this weekend. I can't believe I've only been here 3 weeks. It feels like months. I am grateful to be here, don't get me wrong, but I am definitely going to REALLY appreciate it when I get to the Czech. I won't understand the language sure, but I will be talking to real people and seeing new things etc. PHEW. Anyway, it was interesting because last night I couldn't think anymore so my teacher took us on a walk (the Elders weren't concentrating anymore either), and afterwards she asked me to lead a discussion on the Book of Mormon. It went well. We started reading Alma 40. After every verse I would look up and ask "so what?". We learn from Nephi that nothing is written in the scriptures unless it has a purpose in being there, and scriptures are scripture because you can draw so much from them. We only got about eight verses in because we had such a deep conversation. SO much can be taken from the scriptures if we are willing to stop and think about each verse.
One verse that really stood out to me was Alma 40:8. It says that "time only is measured unto men." And that got me thinking about how there are no clocks in the temple. When we are doing what God needs us to do we shouldn't be worried about time. That is why playing with your kids is so critical, don't think about the time involved. It is important to put time aside and really get to know them. Families are spiritual, so we should treat them like spiritual things. Also though, I shouldn't be counting the weeks of being here. It makes me not appreciate the time here as much. I know a year and a half will fly by, and I will look back fondly on my MTC experience. So, that's my new goal. I'm on God's errand, so I shouldn't be worried about time. He's not. And I'm not saying not to be responsible. But spiritual things never happen if we are hurrying God. We cannot ask Him for things quickly and look at our watch while praying. We cannot expect relationships to grow if they are always rushed. Love your loved ones. Take the time to not look at the time. I am trying to lose myself in this work. The times I do I love it. I love how an hour of scripture study now feels so short because I love it so much. I look forward to scripture study. My little scriptures are my treasure, and they are starting to become mine because of my markings and my thoughts. I love that. I love how much I can feel myself stretching. I haven't been this exhausted in a long time. My mind is always growing and my spirit burning. It's fantastic, but hard. But hey, if it's not hard it's probably not worth doing. The hard things are what bring us closer. The hard things are what make love grow stronger and spirits stretch larger. Satan's all about the easy stuff.
Well, time is up so I gotta run. One more quick story, I sleep with earplugs now because some girls like "curling their hairs" in the morning (name that movie), and I do not. So anyway I woke up at 2 [am] to some awful noise, and our fire alarm had gone off. So we all grabbed our nametags and evacuated. I guess someone had pulled the fire alarm. Crazy people. I'm glad it's P-DAY! Haha, because I'm tired. We get to go to the temple in a few hours. I can't wait. I convinced my teacher to come with us because I like talking to him about things in the scriptures, and I have some stuff I want to discuss that should only be talked about in the temple. It's funny how I used to be scared of the temple, and now I CRAVE it. I can't wait to come home and go with you all! Alright I gotta run.
Love you!
-Sestra Izatt
Week 4 email (August 2, 2011):
God loves us all very very much
Dear Family and Loved Ones,
Can you believe it's been a month since I left? Yeah me either (I assume it's flown by for you as well I guess haha).
Well, this week has flown by for some reason, but it has also been really stressful. I love the MTC but we are definitely getting cabin fever from sitting in the classrooms ALL DAY. It's awful, and the Elders run around throwing balls at each other all night because everyone is going crazy. So personal study and language study weren’t too effective this week, but I'm trying my best to keep myself studying etc.
Last week I had a really neat experience; my Elder companion and I (Elder Bird) were teaching our investigator named Veronica. We had a lesson about prayer with her one day since she won’t take the leap of faith for some reason and just pray! At the end of the lesson I asked her to write her concerns down since she was just rambling off all of this stuff that neither of us could understand, so I figured if she wrote it down I could translate it later. As she was doing so, I was just overcome with love for her. My chest felt heavy in a good way, and I just could feel God's love coming down from heaven. I felt tears behind my eyes because the love I felt was so powerful. She had no idea what I was feeling, so after she was done writing I took the paper, turned to her, and in Czech said, "Veronica, God loves you. I can feel it. I know He loves you because I love you so much, and I don’t even know much. God loves you so much." And she looked at me with open eyes and said, "Is this true?" and I said, "Yes. I know." It was wonderful, and I think I learned more from that experience than she did, but missionary work also converts the missionary, so I was extremely grateful for that experience. Walking back into the classroom I asked my companion how he felt, and he told me he was really upset and frustrated because the lesson didn’t go according to our plan. I looked at him and told him that it didn’t matter because the Spirit had a different lesson in mind. He has a hard time letting himself be happy with the lessons if he conjugates verbs wrong and stuff, and so he started beating himself up about that as well. I'm so glad my Czech isn’t coming very fast because I don’t care at all if I sound like Tarzan. I just am happy if I can mime out what I'm saying while throwing a few words in there. So blessings from being a bad memorizer I guess. Anyway we got back into the classroom. The thing is that we… are asked to bring people closer to Christ. That's it! People then have to CHOOSE to make changes in their lives, and if they don’t, we just keep trying. You cannot set time limits on yourself! People have agency. Then I raised my hand… [and] tears came to my eyes, and I started to cry a little. I told them about how while I was out sitting on the bench I felt God’s love for Veronica. I knew that she was loved, and that God was happy with what we were doing. I told them that because of my experience I know that no harm can come out of mission work because I am learning just as much if not more than the investigators are learning, and because of that love I felt there was no way I could be sad or bummed out. I wiped away my tears, and the room was silent. It was a wonderful moment and one I was happy I got to be a part of. My teacher then told us that we will feel like that times ten out on our missions because that is the love of Christ, loving people enough not to be frustrated enough to give up on them. I hope I'm not coming across cocky or like I'm better than the Elders because that’s not the message I want to get across. They are much better at pretty much everything than I am, but I just for some reason got chosen to have that experience. I was humbled, and I also really needed that spiritual boost, and God knew it. He loves us all very very much.
The same day we had another [teaching experience, and I felt that] it was neat to be trusted [by my companion Elder Bird]. Trust in companionships, whether on a mission or in marriage is critical, and it is SO important to always stand behind your companion. Don’t ever tear them down. Even if you are comfortable with each other. Elder Bird and I needed a companionship inventory yesterday (where we talk about the goods and bads in our companionship and set goals), because unfortunately the happy feelings we had with each other from last week started to dwindle under all the stress. After the companionship inventory though we were closer again and worked together much better. I highly recommend anyone reading this to buy a Preach my Gospel book because the stuff missionaries have to do really help, and I think they would help family relationships, marriages, and friendships. The gospel helps everything because the gospel is love, but it is nice to have a step-by-step manual also to see how exactly the Lord wants us to deal with our issues.
I love the gospel. I am so grateful I am here. I am learning so much. I have always known I needed to go on a mission, and now that I am here I am excited to learn more than I will teach and to be a little tool in God's wonderful big hands in bringing people back to Him. He loves us all, and people should never be given up on. Even if they aren’t in the gospel they deserve love, because every soul is GREAT in the sight of God. Even the people who hurt you and use you. Everyone deserves respect. Families are forever, and that's why it is critical to love and respect everyone because relationships definitely go beyond the veil. I know that because I know that God loves me. I felt it this week in a very powerful way. I know that families can be together forever, and that is why I'm so grateful to be here because this will help my future family as well as my family relationships now. I know I'm not always patient, but please know I love you all soo much. I really miss you, but I am thrilled to be here. Isn’t God wonderful?
I love you all, time is up.
Love,
Sestra Satu Izatt
Time only is measured unto men
Hi Everyone! Thanks for your emails. Mail's been frustrating this week because everyone took off all weekend for Pioneer Day [Mother's comment: celebrated in Utah on July 24], and so we haven't gotten mail for five days. Who celebrates Pioneer Day like Christmas?! Sheesh people, missionaries need their mail to stay sane! Hahaha.
Well this week has been harder than the past two. I started finally being able to say what I wanted to the investigators we have to practice on, and I guess I got big headed or something because the last two lessons nothing came out of my mouth. I wasn't prepared and didn't have the Spirit. It really went to show me that the Spirit does all the talking. If I'm not humble, and if I start relying on my own vocabulary and brain nothing will come out.
This weekend has been hard though! I started going nuts because we hadn't gotten mail since Thursday for some reason. Mail always makes me happy and takes my mind off things for a little bit. But I didn't have that break this weekend. I can't believe I've only been here 3 weeks. It feels like months. I am grateful to be here, don't get me wrong, but I am definitely going to REALLY appreciate it when I get to the Czech. I won't understand the language sure, but I will be talking to real people and seeing new things etc. PHEW. Anyway, it was interesting because last night I couldn't think anymore so my teacher took us on a walk (the Elders weren't concentrating anymore either), and afterwards she asked me to lead a discussion on the Book of Mormon. It went well. We started reading Alma 40. After every verse I would look up and ask "so what?". We learn from Nephi that nothing is written in the scriptures unless it has a purpose in being there, and scriptures are scripture because you can draw so much from them. We only got about eight verses in because we had such a deep conversation. SO much can be taken from the scriptures if we are willing to stop and think about each verse.
One verse that really stood out to me was Alma 40:8. It says that "time only is measured unto men." And that got me thinking about how there are no clocks in the temple. When we are doing what God needs us to do we shouldn't be worried about time. That is why playing with your kids is so critical, don't think about the time involved. It is important to put time aside and really get to know them. Families are spiritual, so we should treat them like spiritual things. Also though, I shouldn't be counting the weeks of being here. It makes me not appreciate the time here as much. I know a year and a half will fly by, and I will look back fondly on my MTC experience. So, that's my new goal. I'm on God's errand, so I shouldn't be worried about time. He's not. And I'm not saying not to be responsible. But spiritual things never happen if we are hurrying God. We cannot ask Him for things quickly and look at our watch while praying. We cannot expect relationships to grow if they are always rushed. Love your loved ones. Take the time to not look at the time. I am trying to lose myself in this work. The times I do I love it. I love how an hour of scripture study now feels so short because I love it so much. I look forward to scripture study. My little scriptures are my treasure, and they are starting to become mine because of my markings and my thoughts. I love that. I love how much I can feel myself stretching. I haven't been this exhausted in a long time. My mind is always growing and my spirit burning. It's fantastic, but hard. But hey, if it's not hard it's probably not worth doing. The hard things are what bring us closer. The hard things are what make love grow stronger and spirits stretch larger. Satan's all about the easy stuff.
Well, time is up so I gotta run. One more quick story, I sleep with earplugs now because some girls like "curling their hairs" in the morning (name that movie), and I do not. So anyway I woke up at 2 [am] to some awful noise, and our fire alarm had gone off. So we all grabbed our nametags and evacuated. I guess someone had pulled the fire alarm. Crazy people. I'm glad it's P-DAY! Haha, because I'm tired. We get to go to the temple in a few hours. I can't wait. I convinced my teacher to come with us because I like talking to him about things in the scriptures, and I have some stuff I want to discuss that should only be talked about in the temple. It's funny how I used to be scared of the temple, and now I CRAVE it. I can't wait to come home and go with you all! Alright I gotta run.
Love you!
-Sestra Izatt
Week 4 email (August 2, 2011):
God loves us all very very much
Dear Family and Loved Ones,
Can you believe it's been a month since I left? Yeah me either (I assume it's flown by for you as well I guess haha).
Well, this week has flown by for some reason, but it has also been really stressful. I love the MTC but we are definitely getting cabin fever from sitting in the classrooms ALL DAY. It's awful, and the Elders run around throwing balls at each other all night because everyone is going crazy. So personal study and language study weren’t too effective this week, but I'm trying my best to keep myself studying etc.
Last week I had a really neat experience; my Elder companion and I (Elder Bird) were teaching our investigator named Veronica. We had a lesson about prayer with her one day since she won’t take the leap of faith for some reason and just pray! At the end of the lesson I asked her to write her concerns down since she was just rambling off all of this stuff that neither of us could understand, so I figured if she wrote it down I could translate it later. As she was doing so, I was just overcome with love for her. My chest felt heavy in a good way, and I just could feel God's love coming down from heaven. I felt tears behind my eyes because the love I felt was so powerful. She had no idea what I was feeling, so after she was done writing I took the paper, turned to her, and in Czech said, "Veronica, God loves you. I can feel it. I know He loves you because I love you so much, and I don’t even know much. God loves you so much." And she looked at me with open eyes and said, "Is this true?" and I said, "Yes. I know." It was wonderful, and I think I learned more from that experience than she did, but missionary work also converts the missionary, so I was extremely grateful for that experience. Walking back into the classroom I asked my companion how he felt, and he told me he was really upset and frustrated because the lesson didn’t go according to our plan. I looked at him and told him that it didn’t matter because the Spirit had a different lesson in mind. He has a hard time letting himself be happy with the lessons if he conjugates verbs wrong and stuff, and so he started beating himself up about that as well. I'm so glad my Czech isn’t coming very fast because I don’t care at all if I sound like Tarzan. I just am happy if I can mime out what I'm saying while throwing a few words in there. So blessings from being a bad memorizer I guess. Anyway we got back into the classroom. The thing is that we… are asked to bring people closer to Christ. That's it! People then have to CHOOSE to make changes in their lives, and if they don’t, we just keep trying. You cannot set time limits on yourself! People have agency. Then I raised my hand… [and] tears came to my eyes, and I started to cry a little. I told them about how while I was out sitting on the bench I felt God’s love for Veronica. I knew that she was loved, and that God was happy with what we were doing. I told them that because of my experience I know that no harm can come out of mission work because I am learning just as much if not more than the investigators are learning, and because of that love I felt there was no way I could be sad or bummed out. I wiped away my tears, and the room was silent. It was a wonderful moment and one I was happy I got to be a part of. My teacher then told us that we will feel like that times ten out on our missions because that is the love of Christ, loving people enough not to be frustrated enough to give up on them. I hope I'm not coming across cocky or like I'm better than the Elders because that’s not the message I want to get across. They are much better at pretty much everything than I am, but I just for some reason got chosen to have that experience. I was humbled, and I also really needed that spiritual boost, and God knew it. He loves us all very very much.
The same day we had another [teaching experience, and I felt that] it was neat to be trusted [by my companion Elder Bird]. Trust in companionships, whether on a mission or in marriage is critical, and it is SO important to always stand behind your companion. Don’t ever tear them down. Even if you are comfortable with each other. Elder Bird and I needed a companionship inventory yesterday (where we talk about the goods and bads in our companionship and set goals), because unfortunately the happy feelings we had with each other from last week started to dwindle under all the stress. After the companionship inventory though we were closer again and worked together much better. I highly recommend anyone reading this to buy a Preach my Gospel book because the stuff missionaries have to do really help, and I think they would help family relationships, marriages, and friendships. The gospel helps everything because the gospel is love, but it is nice to have a step-by-step manual also to see how exactly the Lord wants us to deal with our issues.
I love the gospel. I am so grateful I am here. I am learning so much. I have always known I needed to go on a mission, and now that I am here I am excited to learn more than I will teach and to be a little tool in God's wonderful big hands in bringing people back to Him. He loves us all, and people should never be given up on. Even if they aren’t in the gospel they deserve love, because every soul is GREAT in the sight of God. Even the people who hurt you and use you. Everyone deserves respect. Families are forever, and that's why it is critical to love and respect everyone because relationships definitely go beyond the veil. I know that because I know that God loves me. I felt it this week in a very powerful way. I know that families can be together forever, and that is why I'm so grateful to be here because this will help my future family as well as my family relationships now. I know I'm not always patient, but please know I love you all soo much. I really miss you, but I am thrilled to be here. Isn’t God wonderful?
I love you all, time is up.
Love,
Sestra Satu Izatt