Lovin' the MTC

I miss you all very much. I was so excited to hear from so many people. You can email me from your emails. USE DEAR ELDER TO WRITE ME REAL LETTERS. Have them sent to mailbox 236. I get them EVERYDAY. So if you write something on Dear Elder I will get it that day. If you email me, I will only get it on Fridays (which are my P-days). Right now your letters are going to my email and I don't have time to read them all because I only have 30 minutes.

OKAY, SO I AM IN THE ADVANCED LANGUAGE CLASS. I am actually in the same zone as Damon was. We have the same zone lady, Sister Bodily, who is my friend’s sister-in-law. I have two companions. Soeur Bonnie Walker (she is 22 and is from Colorado) and Soeur Melville (Maggie) from Ohio. She is barely 19. I LOVE THEM. I am so so so so lucky. I really do love them. All of our fathers are engineers and we all think very much alike. Heavenly Father knew who to put me with. We are already so so close.

My Companions

So we are leaving in like 10 days. We don't have our travel plans yet. Sister Walker already has her ticket to San Francisco to get her visa; but the MTC thinks we are leaving April 1^st so we are afraid her visa will be wrong. Sister Melville and I don't have any travel plans for San Francisco yet, but we keep bugging the travel office. We have to wait for the embassy to invite us to France. CRAZY THOUGH. We have ZERO language classes. NONE. We don't even speak in French very much and it’s unfortunate. One of my teachers is my friend. Ha, Nicole and I had geography with him. I like him a lot. I see friends EVERYWHERE, which is so so nice because it feels more like home.

I am exhausted. I don't know until I sit down. We went to the temple today and I could hardly keep my eyes open.

My MTC District

NICOLE - BRING BLANKETS AND SHEETS AND PILLOWS. The ones here are gross. I froze my first night. But LUCKILY, Joseph knows me too well, sent me a comforter my first day.....even though I didn't get it till this morning cause we didn't have a district leader yet.

So my district consists of my companionship and two elders, Elder Ruttan and Elder Strauss. They are both from Vancouver Canada and speak "Quebecoise". They are 19 and are really cool and funny. Our zone is nicknamed the zone of misfit children.....because we don't fit anywhere. We are mostly international students who speak our mission language and are going somewhere weird. Ha…we are not allowed to speak any language other than English in front of our Branch President because he wants us all to learn English (which is unfortunate for us because we want to learn French). He makes the boys button the top button on their suit jacket. Ha…he is cool though.

The Zone of Misfit Children

 So I am senior companion....which is cool...and weird...cause I expected myself to be the least spiritual one and need guidance from the sisters around me. But now I have to guide them. Its kinda hard cause I look up to my companions so much. (side note... if you do send me packages, will you please send stuff for my companions. It is so much more enjoyable for me when I get to do something for them. I love doing things together with them and their parents are so far away and can't send them very much.)

I have already used my scissors lots.

So when we first got here for like the first 24 hours... we didn't know what to do. We had a schedule, but we didn't feel like missionaries and we kinda wandered and it was weird. but finally last night we were told the rules. IT IS SO MUCH EASIER TO BE OBEDIENT WHEN YOU KNOW THE LAWS. Thankfully we have the Book of Mormon to help us with that right? We go to classes and learn lots and lots about how to teach people, not lessons. We haven't even taught a lesson yet. We ask questions about who is this investigator... How can God help them….What does God think of them. It’s cool. But I think I’m ready to start teaching. And when we do teach, we will teach in French.

Paris...Here I Come!

So we are supposed to leave a week from Monday. Pray that it works out cause, of now, it looks like they will have to send us state-side until our visas come in.

My zone is three districts: my district, one that is one week older (they leave Monday), and one that is like nine people who leave when we do to random places. It’s funny cause our zone leaders have only been here for one week longer than we have, and English is their second language.

We only get five days to go to the gym...bummer. But I ran 3 miles (30 times around the indoor track) on Thursday (the only day I have had gym so far).

Tasi, thank you for your gift. It’s so cute. I read them all already...and Nicole's pretzels have saved my life. I get soooo hungry when I get back to my residence because my district eats at 430 and we work so hard that you get so tired... I am still having trouble falling asleep. I wake up so easily though. Heavenly Father has blessed me in that way. I always wake up a minute or two before my alarm goes off.

I already like the MTC. I am glad I can see the end of it though. The spirit here is sooooo strong. Oh, I saw sister Aramaki. She is here till the end of march (12 weeks). 

Sister Aramaki and Me

But the spirit really is strong. I am getting so much revelation all of the time. We are constantly memorizing French scripture or talking about what our fake investigators need and praying for them. We speak French to each other about 50% of the time. We really are great friends. I am learning lots and can't wait for Nicole and Lauren and Steph and Tyler and MAYBE NAOMI to experience it. There is really no place like the MTC.

I know the church is true and I love you all very much! I miss you guys SO WRITE ME. YOU TOO TYLER OR I'M GOING TO WRESTLE YOU WHEN I GET HOME AND WIN.

i love YOU. i miss you. Choose the right pllleeeassee.

Soeur Kohlert

MTC MAILBOX #236

FRA-PAR 0402

2005 N 900 E

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