Some Nights.....

"Some nights I stay up, cashing in my bad luck... some nights I call it a draw."

You guys, this week. jaja I don't even know where to begin. I'm HALF WAY DONE with my MTC time. Isn't that crazy? I think it is, time is moving so fast. 

There are many trials that we get to face everyday, but there are also so many miracles we are blessed with. Let me explain why I chose to quote "Some Nights" by F.U.N. 

First, Hermana Christensen and I are quite the companionship, we are the best of friends. She is such a blessing to me. There were two nights this week that we stayed up talking about all the things, and we are so similar! It's awesome. One night (well, most nights), we broke into song... because I said something about "some nights I don't want to... whatever" and she started singing that song. As I thought about it more, I realized that at night, I look at all the things that frustrated me, that made me upset, that I thought was hard and other various trials I have in the MTC and being a missionary. Not because I am focusing on all the negative, but because I am trying to find things I can change and improve about myself, and hopefully to be a better example of Christ and uplift those around me. And some nights, I don't want to write in my journal or wash my face or brush my teeth because I'm so tired. I just don't want to... jaja (no fear, I always brush my teeth!) 

I had a lot of trials this week, but I can say that so many of my prayers were answered! I can say there are few things awesome-r (jajaj my english is horrible...) than conquering and overcoming a trial, no matter how big or small. 

This past week, Hermana Christensen and I felt like we had some contention with our elders, and things were kind of rocky. Focusing on our work was hard, and we couldn't stay together like a good district should. So, we prayed multiple times a day to have more love and patience with our elders. As the week progressed, I felt like there was more tension. But, the devotional last night is just what we needed! It brought the spirit so strongly and completely answered our prayers. All of our elders stayed awake (that never happens!), and then in our short amount of time to review, I know we all strengthened each others testimonies and there was so much unity. We just followed the spirit and we all decided it was time to make a change. It was such a spiritual experience, and a testimony to me that God answers our prayers, not in the ways that we expect, but we will always get an answer. I'm so thankful to be a missionary. I love our zone, my district, my companion, and our presidency. 

Our devotional last night was by.... NEIL L ANDERSON. HOLLA! Another apostle of God right in front of my face. We are so blessed here at the MTC! It was all about the spirit, what a blessing it is to have a member of the godhead with us at all times, and how we can better listen and follow the promptings. It was so awesome. The whole place was just bursting with the Holy Ghost. That's one of the best things about the MTC, it's always spiritual and I can always feel the spirit. 

Here are ten "signs of the spirit" from Elder Andersons talk: 

1. intellect and emotion are involved

2. your heart is believing and anticipating

3. you'll get direction without explanation, with specific words in your mind

4. you'll connect doctrine with your personal life

5. the spirit is strengthened as our desires are educated

6. it extends the power of conscience

7. it is confirmed by priesthood leadership

8. it cannot be forced; await in patience

9. it comes at times, "Line upon line", leaving some to wait for answers

10. it often comes as you speak or write

"But I still wake up, I still see your ghost. Oh Lord, I still don't know what I stand for..."

I will always keep pushing forward. I will do my very best to never give up and do everything I can to reach my full potential in being a disciple of Christ... you should do the same (: Like, "Some Nights", I wake up every morning at 6:30, I push forward. I am able to feel the spirit, and sometimes I get caught up, but I know what I stand for. I am a representative of Jesus Christ and I get to put His name on my chest every week. Internalize that name. Put His name on your heart everyday so that everyone can see your light of Christ.

My challenge this week is to follow the spirit. Be in a place and do the things that will allow the spirit to be with you. It is a blessing to have the gift of the Holy Ghost. We get a MEMBER OF THE GODHEAD with us at all times, if we allow it! How amazing of our Heavenly Father to allow this. Why would we ever do something that would drive the spirit away? I don't know, I'm trying to be better at always allowing the spirit to be with me (: The spirit encourages us to change and to repent. If you get feelings that you need to change, it's not just your mind telling  you that you suck at life. haha It's Heavenly Father prompting you through the spirit to change so you can reach your divine potential! So, pray your hearts out to have the spirit. pray, pray, pray! It is such a blessing. I know that God will answer your prayers. I know that the spirit testifies of truth and righteousness. 

Thank you for all the support! Much love, I am seriously so grateful. Thanks for all the emails! I only get Dear Elders from my mom, so I'm expecting more this week (; jajaj chiste... love love love you all!

xoxo

Hermana Terry

 P days are rough...hahah Hma C and I are nutty also.

we had so much fun celebrating the 4th! A special devotional, fireworks and ice cream. always a good time

 our cute zone before one of our districts left to mexico.. no worries, we are getting TEN ELDERS today!! ahhhh crazy

my favorites, elders Merling and Garnett! They left this week :( but I will see them again for sure!

pictures

 bye bye hermano graff! we loved him... (also, he's a bit cuter in real life... this pictures is a hot mess... haha)

 how I feel about missionary work... hi, i'm a dweeb... can I teach you about the gospel? (; hahah

book of mormon is the best... fancy shot during personal study.. boom shaka laka!

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Here I am....

the coolest thing i get to put on in the morning (:(: HOLLA!

cute mads holt! love seeing this chick around, as well as many other familiar faces (: the mtc is full of great people!

late night selfies, because we have long days... haha

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Pictures from the MTC!

First selfie.. sorry this is upside down.. haha  (it was upside down when she sent it!)

the district! Elders: Merrill, Gregory, Valenzuela, McCutcheon, Marshall, Field, and Hma C and I! We are goofy, if you can't tell... we all get along really well, most of the time (:

Cute hermana C and I! love this chick, we have so much fun!!! 

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Inadequate

Okay, looking back on this week, i can say I've had the biggest smile on my face. But once Hermana C and I really thought about it, we had a week full of "biffs"... literally. Let me explain...

Last wed., one of the elders in my district went home, and it was surprisingly really emotional. those 6 (now 5) elders are like my brothers, we are a mini family, so it was so weird to have him gone. 

Our zone has been falling apart! Everyone is getting sick a couple kids have had surgery in the past week. One with a hernia and another got his appendix out. and the other half of the zone is sick, and have been going back and forth to the doctor. No worries, Hma C and I are still healthy and strong!

hermana C and I failed our cleaning inspection... what? I KNOW I cleaned the tub and the toilet, I will never forget that stuff... *yiiiikes*. so that was funny, kind of.

We also had a laundry "biff"... we didn't quite know how to work the laundromat deal, and I ended up not being able to wash my clothes... luckily i washed my underwear, so I wasn't completely out of luck! jajajaja it was awful. I felt so weird having so much dirty laundry today, but whatever! 

this week, we found out that our teacher, Hermana Graff, is getting transferred to a new district, and will no longer be our teacher. Which means we also lost an investigator, his alter ego, Alfonso. Honestly, I"m so bummed out! but... it's all well because we still have 2 way awesome teachers, hermana iroz who served in chile and hermana castro who served in argentina! boom!

the temple is closed for cleaning, so we weren't able to go today, which always puts a damper on your p-day! it will be open in two weeks though, so I'll be hyped to go then! 

And now let me explain the subject of this email... "I just can't even" is a frequently said and joked about sentence in our district, obviously making fun of the "basic girls"... jajaja. but this week, I felt like I literally just couldn't do spanish. often times, my head was empty and I couldn't remember what I had learned. On Sunday, I got a spiritual boost in relief society from a sweet little lady named Neill F Marriot... in the general young womens presidency. She said, "What would the Lord like to remove from your heart? What kinds of things would he want to enhance? sometimes, we say, 'I feel inadequate.' But, The Lord is NOT inadequate, so we should rely on Him!" it's easy to forget why we are here as missionaries and get caught up on trying to get to know each other better... but that will come with time and we need to rely fully on the Lord. I was feeling very inadequate as a missionary and as a spanish speaker, and I"m sure this won't be the last time I feel like that. I, as well as all of us, need to remember to rely fully in the Lord and remember his power. He has a plan for all of us, and everything we want wont' happen all once! 

Every week has so many miracles. I am so thankful to be a missionary. Everyday is good, everyday is hard and everyday is long. but I am young, healthy, able and ready to teach the gospel and serve those around me. Also, I'm seriously SO thankful for all of you who have sent me emails and letters and dear elders, it makes my day as a missionary! having so much support means the world to me, because the gospel means the world to me. An elder in my zone is completely unsupported by his family at home, and hasn't heard from them in the 4 weeks he's been here. I realized how blessed I am to have all of you at home who love me and take a minute to send me a short email or letter. i really love you guys, and you can't really understand how much it means to get that support! 

My challenge for the week is a prayer challenge. I think I will try to send you a challenge every week that has helped strengthen my testimony! So this week, get down on your knees (seriously, on your knees), and ask God about three things: 1- if the church of jesus christ of latter day saints is the only true church on the earth, 2- if joseph smith is a prophet of god, and 3- if the book of mormon is a true book. 

Even if you have ALREADY done this is your life, do it again. Why not? Why not get a reassured testimony of those most important things? I can say that I've never done it before this week. why? because I just knew in my heart that it was right and true. I never doubted the truthfulness of the gospel. BUT, when I prayed about it, I was overwhelmed with the spirit and a simple answer, "YOU KNOW." i do know! I know that this is the only true church upon the earth and I know that the work i am doing as a missionary is hastening the work. be a missionary all the time! always share your testimony because you never know who will be strengthened by it. pray everyday. read your scriptures everyday. I was lame before I came on my mission, because I thought I had a strong enough testimony.. but NOW. wow i am way more solid and have SO much more to learn!! Missionary work is the best work, so spread the happiness of the gospel (: never lose your fire, and work harder than everyone else, because I KNOW the Lord will bless us for our honest efforts!!

let me know if you guys need anything or have questions. my mailing address is:

Sister Kylee Jean Terry

JUL28 Arg-Neu

2023 N. 900 E. unit 800

Provo UT 84602

keep it real, and be yourself!!

xoxo

Hermana Kylee Terry (:(:(:(:

MTC = Make The Change

YOU GUYS... ONE WEEK DOWN!

Okay, so the MTC. I don't like it here... it's the worst. The food isn't good. My companion is so mean to me and we don't get along at all. My district is full of really immature boys and I just don't understand spanish at all... it's been the LONGEST week of my life. I don't know if I can do this whole mission thing.... 

JAJAJAJA SIKE! Oh man, that is a TOTAL joke. I love the MTC. I love my companion and my district and everyone here. You all have a lot of questions, and I'm excited to tell you all my about my first week in the MTC. It's had many ups and a few downs and I can feel myself changing and progressing everyday. Thanks to all of you who sent me an email or a letter, I love you guys! I have a lot to say, so hopefully I can get it all out in the next 40 minutes. If you have any other questions, I´ll be sure to answer them next week, just let me know!

*How's the MTC?

-It's been awesome so far. I have very few complaints. I have an awesome District, Zone, Branch Presidency, and companion. the only thing that has been a problem is sleeping. I didn't sleep well the first few nights because I had such anxiety that my alarm wouldn't go off and I would miss class or something, so I woke up like 4 times in the middle of the night! jaja oh well, lack of sleep is the biggest issue for me. but I've been functioning alright and I don't fall asleep very often throughout the day, no worries! 

*How's the food?

-eeehhhhh..... Let's just say, it's nothing like my moms! It's not horrible, but it's not from a five-star restaurant if you know what I'm saying. It's not like I have diarrhea all the time either, although the elders in my district seem to have an issue... jajajaja aahhhh so funny. Hma. C and I are just fine though. Some things we've eaten are... eggs benedict, sloppy joes (didn't eat that one), tri-tip, pineapple chicken curry, oatmeal, soup, and a bunch of other stuff. The chocolate cookies are bomb... I've had one too many. (Sorry mom.)

*My companion?

-ohh man I have so much to say about her! Hermana Hannah Christensen is my companion, she is from Portalis, NM. She has a pixie cut/bob, natural red hair and she is the funniest girl ever. She's a singer, and SO talented at that. It's just the two of us in our apartment, we have an empty room... so we were kind of sad at first, but we have so much fun, it's not a big deal. She always has so much energy, which keeps me going. and she is SO good at spanish, which motivates me to do and study better. We get into these laughing fits about nothing, we get so hot after gym that we walk around in our apartment with just... nevermind. jaja... we work so well together, it's as simple as that. I am so grateful to have her as my first companion because we started off so well. 

*District/Zone

-I have 7 people in my district, 5 elders and 2 sisters. Elders McCucheon, Valenzuela, Marshall, Gregory and Merrill. We actually started off with 8 people, one of my best homies went home this morning, I'll talk more about that later.... My zone has 3 districts, we just got a new one today, but haven't met anyone, so now there's 4! 4 hermanas and a bunch of other elders... IDK how many though. jajaja... we all get along so well and it's the best to speak spanish with everyone. I live on the West Campus which is ONLY spanish speaking missionaries. So... we are in our own little world out here by ourselves just trying to learn spanish together, HOLLA! My Branch Presidency IS THE BEST!! Presidente y Hermana Doman are the coolest people to walk the MTC (minus the apostles that are here this week too, more stories to come!). They are so powerful and energetic. Everytime we meet with them, the spirit is so strong. They aren't boring though, they're loud and proud and spunky and just awesome. My first interview with Pres. Doman was already one of the best spiritual experiences I've had so far. Like, what! After knowing him for 30 minutes, he already knew exactly what to say to make me feel better about serving. 

*What do I like/dislike about the MTC? (This one is for you, Logan Mont!)

I like and dislike everything here... jajaja. I like the environment. I really like that I can be in a place where everyone speaks spanish and we can all help each other. I like that my district and zone get along so well. I like feeling the spirit so strongly all day, every day. I like studying my scriptures all the time. I like trying new things, like choir. I like meeting someone new everyday and knowing that we have the most important things in common. 

I don't like that there's not enough time in a day. I have so many things I want to accomplish, but I literally don't have enough time. Like my roomies talked about in college, if we didn't have to sleep, we could be so much more productive! I don't like those moments where I miss my family and friends. 

But mostly, I like everything here! 

*How do I feel about the MTC? (Also for Logan..)

-The MTC seems like it's the best place for me to be right now. I can't imagine doing anything else. I think what it would be like to just quit and go home (I'm not always happy go lucky here.. jajaja) and I just can't imagine sitting at home doing the things I used to do. I know that I need to be here. And, although I might not be 100% prepared to speak spanish when I get to ARgentina, I know that my Heavenly Father is watching out for me and if I do what is right, the language ain't nothin' but a THANG!! I've had the best, longest, fastest week ever. I can't believe I only have 5 more left!!!

*Spanish? 

-jajajaja... that's all I've learned, how to laugh in spanish (; sike. I have learned SO much. It's the craziest thing that all of a sudden, my brain is in spanish and I think about all these different words. I dream about spanish vocabulary lists and english to spanish dictionaries. Hermano Graff is my teacher, and he is so helpful. He's such a powerful teacher. he never hesitates to compliment us on our progress and tell us how great we're doing. (He might be required to do that, but he's really convincing (; ) He's been home from his mission to Santo Domingo for.... 7 weeks. jajaja! He's still pretty new. He's only 21. He's fun to be around.. and he's so cute... am I allowed to say that? Teacher crushes are different than other crushes, right? (; aahhhh jajaja. I can pray en espanol (sorry, my keyboard won't do the spanish 'n', so just pretend it's there!), I have my purpose as a missionary memorized en espanol, half of the first vision in spanish, sing... and Hma. C and I have taught THREE lessons in spanish. coooool right?! HOLLA. I'm not saying they were smooth, or perfect, but we definitely taught in spanish. spanglish? same thing right.. hahah I only speak and pray in spanglish. If I speak regular english, my mouth just feels weird. I'm like, "what was that? was that real?" jajaja. 

Here's a little bit about my week. I am the Senior companion for the next 3 weeks (just because my birthday month is before Hma. C's... jaja). On Wednesday night, we had an investigator role play where we talked to some people about the gospel and their questions. YES, some of them are actually REAL investigators and have REAL questions. Heavenly Father has so much faith in his missionaries. so cool. We were learning how to love people from the very beginning and it's crazy that after only 40 minutes of getting to know someone and the desires of their heart, I can love someone so much and want to help them. 

On Friday, we taught our first lesson in spanish to Marcelo y Karin (aucento(?) sobre la 'i'). They are cool cats, and speak great spanish. Unlike myself... jaja. It was so hard at first, and it's still hard to teach in spanish and answer all their questions because I just don't know enough spanish. I could understand 90% of what they say but I don't speak enough. I could be the best english speaking missionary.... probably not, but the thought crosses my mind. (; Hma C and I sang in the choir for the special devotional. FIVE APOSTLES RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY FACE. so dope, right? Yah, the MTC is a cool place. D. Todd Christofferson spoke and it was powerful. Bednar, Anderson, Ballard, and Oaks were there. wahoooo so cool! 

I don't have much more time, and I still want to attach pictures, so here's some quotes/scriptures I've gathered from this week:

"Never take counsel from your fears. Never quit." -Hmo. Graff

""I know not, save my Father commanded me" (Adam at the altar) Do everything because you want to be the BEST. Not just because it's the rule." - Sis Doman

"why not ROCK  the MTC? You only get to do it once! 3 things: 1) work harder than everyone else. 2) LOVE... learn to develop it. 3) Laugh a lot, smile and enjoy the heck out of it! It's a gospel of happiness and joy!!" -Sis. Doman. 

1 Nephi 1:18-20

Omni 1:25-26

2 Nephi 31:3

Mormon 3:20

love you guys. Thanks for the support. Send me Dear elders!! or letters. they are the best! emails are awesome too. 

xoxo

Hermana Terry

DIY Jewelry Case

Okay...I don't know if other girls are like me, but I like to have some jewelry to spice up my outfits... even though I'm not taking a ton of jewelry (a few necklaces and pairs of earrings), I still had no idea where to put stuff without it getting ruined or tangled...Not to mention having a jewelry box in my suitcase... I don't have room for that!
So I turned to my always reliable Pinterest.
I found this awesome DIY tutorial... the best part? No sewing, no measuring... it's not hard to make, it just takes about 30 minutes of your time, fabric, ribbon and a hot glue gun (and your jewelry of course)! Here's mine:

Just a little word to the wise (which, I'm obviously not...), measure the length of your necklaces BEFORE cutting the fabric.. because mine clearly don't fit. So, make it work for you. 

I kind of made up my own thing for the earrings, since i'm not planning on taking any rings! I also just used some fabric/ribbon I had laying around my house... no need to go buy more stuff!

I hope this helps (:

xoxo

k.t.