Bonjour Ma Famille,
This week has been amazing! It's crazy to think, but in less than three
weeks I will be halfway across the world in France. It's an exciting and scary
thought. I thought I'd start by telling you a little more about my district.
It is very small, with only the three of us and a companionship of elders.
Elder Hatch and Elder Clarke are the two elders in our district. They are both
freshman at BYU. Elder Hatch is headed to the Congo and is absolutely
hilarious. Elder Clarke is going to Paris with Sister Anderson and is an
amazing people-person. Our district is very dynamic and I am learning so much
from each of them. It's very nice to have such a small district too. There is
a lot more individual attention when it comes to the language, which is much
needed and appreciated. We were actually chosen as one of the new groups to be
the testers of the program they are planning on instituting througout the whole
MTC in a matter of weeks. It's a different format in teaching languages in a
shorter amount of time. They actually have had one of the heads of the language
department coming in all week and teaching us lessons while they film the whole
thing. Crazy stuff being the start of the big changes! Just to give you a
perspective of the changes being made... Just in our zone, my district of 5
missionaries came in 3 weeks ago, the next week no one came, then five, and next
week we will be getting 45 missionaries followed by another 48 in the following
two weeks. It's absolutely insane. They are adding an extra set of bunkbeds to
all of the rooms tomorrow. They are also considering moving all of the weekly
devotionals to the Marriot Center by the summer because there will be so many
missionaries. It's such an incredible time to serve!
A couple funny stories from this week...
One morning as we were sitting at breakfast, someone asked me what random
things that I missed the most while being here. I said something like, "Wearing
jeans, the clicking sound of wearing heels, and my long blonde hair. Oh, and I
really would just love grilled chicken and steamed vegetables." Yeah, I know.
It was very random. I was so excited when I walked into the cafeteria that
night to realize that they were serving grilled chicken and steamed vegetables.
They hadn't had anything like that since we arrived. What a wonderful little
tender mercy. It was delicious!
Next story...On Saturday night we were all back in our rooms getting ready
for bed when the fire alarm went off. Usually that's a false alarm, but we
walked out into the hall to a ton of smoke. So basically everyone freaked out
and ran out of the building. We all gathered in the central building--girls
were standing around in pajamas, with shampoo in their hair, with face cleansing
foam on their faces, barefoot, etc. It was absolutely hilarious. Obviously the
building did not burn to the ground, otherwise this would not be under the funny
story section. Someone had burnt popcorn. I have no idea how there was that
much smoke, but we had firemen in the building and fans going all night to clear
it out. It was all worth it though, just for the story!
It was fun to hear that you guys were able to go and see Les Miserables
again this week. What an incredible story (and not just because it's French).
I actually have had a phrase from one of those songs in my head quite a bit
since I've been here. In the song, "Who Am I?", he proclaims, "My soul belongs
to God, I know. I made that bargain long ago. He gave me hope when hope was
gone. He gave me strength to journey on." What an amazing message. As members
of the church, we have made a commitment to God. He is always there for us,
keeping up His side of the bargain. What are we doing? It reminds me of one of
the devotionals that we went to this week. The speaker was talking about how we
often look up to the pioneers and others who have given so much for the
Gospel. While we should honor them, it is more important to emulate them.
They're amazing for what they've done, but what are we doing?
I have loved my time here at the MTC. I am learning so much and the
language is gradually coming. My companions are great and I can truly feel the
Spirit here. It has also been fun to see so many familiar faces from Alta,
Murray, and BYU. I have loved running every day, it definitely has been a great
stress reliever. I'm just so happy, life is great. Thank you all for
everything that you've all done for me. I can feel your love and prayers.
Because I missed Ben's birthday and didn't get to say why I love him around the
dinner table, I thought I'd do it here... Ben, I love how dedicated you are.
When you really put your mind to something, such as football or school, you give
it 100% effort and are never satisfied with anything less than your best. I
think that's awesome. I miss the fun chats that we have and how we just seem to
get each other. I hope you had a great birthday! I love you all so much and
hope that you have a great week!
Je t'aime,
Soeur Alisa Hulme
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