Christmas letter #2

Merry Christmas!

I get to send a second email today-- huzzah (P-day plus Christmas)! Well, I love you all, friends and family, and just wanted to thank you all for your support.

Today we went to a devotional where Elder Russell M. Nelson spoke to us about missionary work and how to utilize our resources and be the best we could be. He also talked about how Christmas is about Christ's victory over death. Just think about the lyrics of "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing." He said the Lord is hastening His work and we are called to bring peace, hope, love, and joy to the people in a world of lying, deceit, and evil. We are "at risk-- serving in enemy-occupied territory," but if we act in complete obedience, the Lord will protect us. He also warned about rumors in the Church. Apparently there's been a rumor that people get called to serve in one country and are transferred to another not open to missionary work at this time. Those rumors are completely false, and we should always stop the rumors. We are an honest Church and deal with Nations "through the front door. Not the back door; not the alley." It really was a great talk, and I'm so grateful we had an apostle of the Lord speaking to us. His wife, Wendy Nelson, spoke about Spiritual "Gift Cards." I thought it was funny, because she mentioned how people don't spend gift cards and I chuckled to myself. But anyway, she talked about how Christ has paid for our Spiritual gifts already, and all we need to do is pray earnestly to "purchase" or receive those gifts. Are you shy? Pray for the gift of listening and discernment. Easily discouraged? Pray for the gift of persistence and endurance. Do you have a temper? Pray for mildness and understanding. And once you get a gift, ask for more! The Lord has an endless array of Spiritual gifts, and we should always seek more.

Thanks so much for the presents! I saved one for tonight, but I totally missed the whole "open on Christmas Eve package." But I love the pajamas! My roommates were jealous. Christmas today has been quite an experience. We have definitely felt the Spirit, and I look forward to more stuff later today. 

One thing that stuck out to me this week was when we talked about the purpose of prayer. The whole reason we pray is to align our will with God's. It isn't to ask for stuff we want, it isn't to complain, but it's to humble ourselves before God and ask that our will be like His. So in other words: we need to want what He wants for us. This is the whole idea of having a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Having a broken heart is knowing that without the Father, we can do nothing. Having a contrite spirit is being submissive and willing to do whatever the Lord wants. So when you pray with a contrite heart, no matter what His answer is, you're willing to do it. And when we end our prayers in Jesus' name, it means basically that Jesus would approve of what we are asking. So I challenge all of you to add more meaning to your prayers. We have the ability to talk directly with our Father in Heaven. Isn't that incredible! (Look up Alma 18:15-18, 22-23).

Yesterday we sang an excellent rendition of "The Twelve Days of Christmas." It's Missionary-style.
1. A copy of the Book of Mormon
2. Heavy bags
3. Meals a day
4. Referral calls
5. Golden contacts
6. Bowls of ice cream
7. Sessions planning
8. Teachers teaching
9. Sisters singing
10. Prayers for blessings
11. Elders preaching
12. Apostles speaking

Excellent, eh?

Like I mentioned in my earlier email, I have a fatanbulistic district. Every person in our district has such a strong testimony, and where one is weak, another is strong. Last week I had a hard time because I felt like I just wasn't good at anything. Elder Lee, Elder Scott, and Elder Tarry are super good at reciting scriptures. The others are good at symbolism and analogy. And everyone else seems to have a spiritual talent beside me. But at the end of the day last week, Elder Scott stopped everyone and gave a truly inspired quick testimony about how we all work together and what not. It made me realize that I do have a strength somewhere, and once I find what it is, I'm going to use it to my advantage. I have such a wonderful district, and I'm so glad that we all love each other and work together.

Love you guys!

-Sister Singleton

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Well hello and Merry Christmas, everyone!

This first week has been super interesting. I'm surprised how quickly I've adjusted to the schedule, and even though we're up and about for 16 hours, it still feels like there's not enough time to do anything. Thanks so much for the letters and packages; I haven't opened my presents yet, but I look forward to it today.

The very first day we, as a large group (70 people) taught three different investigators. The first group was really messy and we had no focus; throwing around really deep doctrine like proxies and baptism for the dead. The second investigator we got to know them and found a focus, but there was no Spirit in the conversation. The third one went really well; we definitely had the Spirit in teaching him. It's incredible how much we've all improved within just a few hours.

I have the best District ever! There are eight Elders and four Sisters, and we're either going to Chicago or Philadelphia. I thought that Frodo and Sam or Sherlock and Watson had the best bromances, but now I can definitely say that Elder companionships are by far the best bromances ever. Just to let you know. We spend almost all our time together as a District; we eat all meals together, we're in class together (8-10 hours), and we've all grown together. Every night we've had a chance to bear our testimonies to one another, and the room is always bursting with the Spirit. We had a devotional the other day and the speaker talked about repentance, so afterward we got together and started discussing about what we learned. It quickly turned into one of the most powerful experiences I've ever had, with us bearing our testimonies of why we were serving missions. It's amazing how each different person learned for themself that they were going to serve a mission and the circumstances surrounding their decision (and yes, I spent the better part of an hour crying). I know my District was divinely inspired, and I can honestly say I love each person deeply. I believe it was Elder Lee who said that it feels like we've been friends our whole lives, and I completely agree with him. And of course we've had some great times, like deciding which Disney character each person was. When we got to Elder Johnson, without a pause Sister Vande Merwe said, "Al from the Al's Toy Barn commercial in Toy Story 2!" It was so great.

We've taught a few "investigators" this past week. Our teachers are acting out investigators they found when on their missions. It's been tough learning how to study, plan, and yet rely completely on the Spirit to teach. Because if there's one thing the MTC teaches you, it's that I can't teach, but the Spirit can. The biggest thing we need to remember is that when we're teaching people, our goal is to have them come closer to Jesus Christ. It isn't to have them join the Church, it isn't to get them baptized, it's to have them gain a testimony of Christ and His Atonement and to desire to live with Him once more.

I'm so glad to be serving a mission. It feels like I've been here for a month; that's how long our days are. Oh, and by the way, I'm expected to leave the MTC on January 15. It was supposed to be three weeks, but because of Christmas, everyone's staying an extra week. What's incredible is that the week I came was the first official week that the new age changes came in. There is a 19-year-old sister (Sister Vande Merwe) and one 18-year-old Elder in our District (Elder Lee), but at a devotional we had them all stand up. And boy, was it incredible how many there were. President Monson was truly inspired, and the Lord is hastening His work upon the earth. I'm incredibly grateful the Lord has let me be a part of it.

I've learned so much I can't even tell you all. But I just wanted to let you know that the Church is true and I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that his faith and enduring to the end is why we are able to have the fulness of the gospel today. And family, no I don't miss you yet, but I love you very much (what?! I'm sorry, you know me-- it's only been a week).

Yesterday we had a Christmas Eve fireside with the story of Christ's birth acted and and full of music. Afterwards we watched "A Christmas Carol" and got huge bags of kettle corn. Today a General Authority is coming (I'M SO EXCITED!), and we're having a full schedule of special Christmas stuff.

I love you guys, and I know that the Lord loves all of you and will bless you if you're faithful and obedient. The greatest gift and sacrifice is to give the Lord a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

Love,

Sister Sarah Singleton

Our awesome district on a Temple walk

Friday.

As my brother pointed out, this is my last weekend before I leave. And yet I am sick and have a talk to write... wo is me! Just kidding.

This week's been busy, if you can imagine, but also really excellent. My last day of work was last Thursday, so on Wednesday some of my coworkers and I went to Tucanos and had a great lunch. It's been a blessing and a blast to work with such awesome coworkers, and I will definitely miss them. Brandon even told me that when I leave, Utah will cry with lots of snow (which was his way of saying he'll miss me). Except I was so full from Tucanos that I'm pretty sure I didn't eat until the next morning.

I've been trying to get those last minute bits and pieces together. I still have not found a bag for my mission, but I decided I'll find a substitute until I get to Pennsylvania and hopefully find one there (because apparently all the stores in Utah hate me?). But this week was slightly anxiety-inducing, because people keep asking me one question:

"Are you ready?"

My first response is "Yeah, I've got all my clothes and stuff, just need to pack it all up..." However, my second response is more realistic, "I feel like I should know more." Those of you who have been on missions, I'm assuming every missionary feels this way. Like I should've studied harder, practiced more, and memorized scriptures. Earlier this week I was worried about how inadequate I felt, but while preparing for my talk I came across this:

In June of 1837 in the Kirtland Temple, the Prophet Joseph Smith whispered to Heber C. Kimball that the Spirit of the Lord had spoken that Heber should “go to England and proclaim [the] Gospel, and open the door of salvation to that nation.” 

At the time, Heber C. Kimball was 36 years old. He had been a member of the Church for five years and an Apostle for two years. He had a wife and small children. He was the first missionary called to serve outside of North America. A financial panic had swept over the country and the Church in 1837. It was not an auspicious time for Joseph or Heber to commence such a project. But, as Joseph said, the Spirit of the Lord had directed the action.

Heber recorded his reaction: “O, Lord, I am a man of stammering tongue, and altogether unfit for such a work; how can I go to preach in that land?”

Almost everyone who attempts missionary work feels inadequate in some way. The idea of such a mission was almost more than Heber could bear, but his faith and obedience prevailed. He stated: “However, all these considerations did not deter me from the path of duty; the moment I understood the will of my Heavenly Father, I felt a determination to go at all hazards, believing that He would support me by His almighty power, and endow me with every qualification that I needed; … I felt that the cause of truth, the Gospel of Christ, outweighed every other consideration.” 

Think of the challenge of being a missionary and opening a new country without members, Church buildings, a mission home, or any funds! Despite these feelings of inadequacy, Elder Kimball worked hard and was humble. He and his companions were very successful. ("Be a Missionary All Your Life," Quentin L. Cook, Sept 2008 Ensign)

And boom! My worries were gone. If we work hard and keep an "eye single to his glory," (D&C 8:15) our inadequacies can be strengthened in Him. So even though I tell people to infuse knowledge into my brain when they ask what they can help me with, I know I'll be okay.

Disneyland

If you didn't gather from Twitter or Facebook, I went to Disneyland this weekend. It was totally a last-minute trip for me and Mary, but it was awesome.

Daniel and Liz showed up at 6:00 am and we headed out. Even though I only got three hours of sleep, I barely slept in the car. Maybe it's because I watched almost eight hours of Community before I realized how long we'd been driving. Liz made me switch movies/shows.

I brought cereal.

After getting ready for the afternoon (we felt super nasty from the drive), we walked around Downtown Disney and ate at the Rainforest Cafe. The wait was 2.5 hours to eat inside, so we opted for a balcony seat instead. It was still really cool, and we even got to see the "lightning storm" inside. Plus there were tons of cute stuffed animals.

A squeaker monkey in a banana!

Since we only had one day passes to one of the parks, we showed up to Disneyland just after 8:00 am. I was annoyingly persistent that we go on Space Mountain first, so we did. AND IT WAS AWESOME.

The rest of the day was pretty much awesome. We rode rides, ate churros, and I got made fun of for packing a lunch. The Pirates of the Caribbean ride broke when we were almost at the end, so we ended up sitting in the boat on an incline for about 20-15 minutes. There were little kids behind us that were crying for their mom. It was kind of sad and funny.

Since it's my blog, I'm just going to post a lot of pictures
of my face.

CAT.

When we showed up after a few hours for our Indiana Jones Fast Passes, the ride was broken. Luckily they were honoring Fast Passes for the rest of the day, so when we went back after a few hours, we got in pretty quickly. Which was excellent, because the wait time was 100 minutes and rising.

More pictures of my FACE.

Can you see Mickey's reflection?

There were a lot of people there. But it wasn't horrible, and the temperature was fabulous. It wasn't too hot or too cold, all I needed was a light jacket (hee har har). But seriously, the weather was super nice. Except I begged Liz and Daniel to go on Splash Mountain (since I'd never been on it before) and spent the rest of the day slightly uncomfortably moistened. The sun didn't come out for hours, so it was late afternoon before I started to dry.

I'm convinced you guys just want a thousand
pictures of me.

It looks like Liz has a moustache.

At night, Disneyland was even more beautiful and exciting. Everything was lit up or covered in icicles, ornaments, fake snow, or lights. All the rides were decorated inside and out, as well. After the firework show, fake snow machines whizzed away. It really was quite wonderful.

The best part of the night was the Fantasmic! show. It's presented kinda like Fantasia, as if the events were in Mickey's imagination. It went through the imagination of Mickey, first showing the princesses, heroes, and the lightheartedness of Disney. The music was awesome. Next Malificent came and showed what her imagination could do, so we saw the villains of the different films projected on the fog. They battled back and forth, and at one point a giant dragon was on the stage shooting fire towards Mickey.
There were also boats carrying the princesses while they danced with their prince. It was such a blast to watch. And in the end, all of the characters were on the Mark Twain ferry, waving ribbon wands and dancing. My favorite were the Toy Story characters at the back. I'd never heard of the show before, but it was definitely the coolest part of the whole trip.

My camera died at that point, but I strongly suggest you Google Fantasmic if you've never seen it. 

The holiday decor was awesome.

We left the park just after midnight (Mary and I went to Downtown again). The next day we packed up, went to the beach and left for home. You know how much it sucks going from the beach to the snow? Not cool. However, we did stop in Cedar City and visit with my Great Grandma, which was really nice to say goodbye to her before I leave on my mission.

High five!

Well, that was my weekend blitz trip to Disneyland. As my dad pointed out, I will be literally going coast to coast in one month. Pretty awesome, huh?