Holy cow. I'm a missionary, guys. And I am so in love with it! I thought this would be a hard adjustment but I have been SO blessed this past week. So first of all, I am what the MTC calls a solo sister. I am the only sister in the entire MTC going to Romania at this time. So I technically have a companion, but I only see her at meals and when we sleep. Remember how I was so worried about being stuck with another girl 24/7? Well the Lord works in mysterious ways! I know the Lord has given me this situation so I can slowly adjust to the missionary lifestyle. What a blessing! My companion's name is Sister Adams and she is also a solo sister. She is going to the Netherlands (same mission as Jarica) and speaking Dutch. So while I go to Romanian class, she goes to Dutch class! I love her to pieces. I live in a room with three other solo (including my companion). The other companionship consists of Sister Wright, who is going to Denmark, speaking Danish and Sister King, who is going to the West Indies, speaking Dutch. The four of us have so much fun and it's such an interesting situation that all of us are going different countires, and there are three languages in our room. I love it. I feel so blessed!!
Okay, so here's the best part.... I'm in a district with seven elders....alone. Hahaha. (No dad, there has been zero flirting.) I feel so flippin' blessed (sorry for my language) because as most of you know, I hung out with one girl (shout out to Liz) when I was at home and the rest of them were guys. I get along way better with guys which is part of the reason I was so stressed to have a companion! But yet again, the Lord has answered my prayers in ways I couldn't have imagined. My district consists of myself, and another solo elder who is going to my mission, Elder Manning, and six elders who are going to the Italy, Milan mission. They are the bomb.com! Seriously, I feel as though I have gained seven older brothers! (Jake is still my fav brother, no worries.) These elders are rock solid. They are so good to me and treat me with ridiculous amounts of respect. The situation is kind of funny, with me being a solo sister and the only other person going to my mission being a solo elder...because I can't be alone with elders. So since I'm never with another girl, I have to be with two or more of the elders at a time. My elders, being the studs they are, decided to make this into a fun little game. The whole lot of them literally escort me everywhere. Every night when they escort me to my residence hall, they yell at me in Italian (and one Romanian) until the door shuts. Hahaha. We have this ongoing joke that they are my secret service. I'm probably the most blessed sister in the history of ever.
Elder Manning and I have gotten really close as well. We are stuck in a classroom together (with a teacher, no breaking of the rules here!) for 10+ hours a day, so we've gotten to know each other well. It's interesting though, because we can't really practice Romanian together....because we can never be alone together, and when we're with the other elders in my district, they're practicing Italian! It's interesting but we make it work.
My branch presidency is AMAZING. President Willis is such a spiritual man and his counselors are so great! They always bring their wives to meetings and such so I get mom hugs frequently. (Although they're not nearly as good as yours, Mom!) Sister Willis was born and raised in Rome! And most of you probably know that Rome is #1 on my places I want to visit list! So I got to talk to her about it a lot, even though her Italian accent makes it kind of hard to understand her.... Speaking of my branch (which is the exact same as my district) I got a calling! I am the new Sister Training Leader. So I'm in charge of all the sisters in my branch....and there are none. Hahaha. So I guess they couldn't really call anyone else, but it's still great! I got to go to tons of leadership training this week, which I hope to use in my mission.
Romanian is ridiculously hard. I didn't know this, but it has the most similarities to Latin than any other language used today. So.... it's a lot harder than I thought it would be. I taught my first lesson to an investigator on Saturday. I couldn't understand anything that she said back to me, but she nodded her head and smiled a lot when I talked. So I guess it went okay... Please keep me in your prayers that I'll get the language down!!
Sundays are amazing here. I gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting and made a couple of my elders cry. My favorite part was when we watched the "Character of Christ" address from Elder Bednar. It was for missionaries....BUT EVERYONE GO READ IT BECAUSE IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE. Seriously! Then since today is P-Day we got to go to the temple today! Whoo!! We only did initiatories, but it was SO good to be back in the house of the Lord.
Gosh, the church is true guys. Heavenly Father knows and loves each and every one of us and loves us very much! I love all of you. Sorry this letter has such horrible grammar and punctuation...I was ridiculously pressed for time so I typed fast. Love all of you and I would love a quick email or letter from you with an update of your lives! You can email me at this address, or shoot me a letter on dearelder.com (my unit number is 49 and my departure date is March 31) or you could send me a tangible letter! Or package...with Dr. Pepper in it....please.
I'll leave you with one scripture...
James 2:26 -- "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."
PROFITE DE ZILE!
Sora Schwab
< Sister Schwab's email is: laura.schwab@myldsmail.net >
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| The Solo Sisters |
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