Sister Leung's first letter

June 14, 2013

Dear family,

Don't ever say that I don't write home. Here we go! It took me forever to send pics via email as they're too large! Hope I can tell you all more about the MTC in this letter.

Honestly, I'm in the BEST district. We're from all over the world, including Tonga, Costa Rica, somewhere of the South America etc. We're getting along well. And 2 Elders in our district speak Spanish, so I can still practice Spanish now. That's cool! And one of these two Elders likes laughing at me whenever I eat because I eat a lot. He said that "He" that is my future husband won't like that HAHAHA. And now he asks me if I want two fudge bars every meal. I've been learning new words and phrases in Spanish, but I'm only sure that I won't forget saying "Tengo hambre" (I'm hungry) and "Vamos a comer" (Let's go eat) as I say them always. I now have a nickname that is Sister Hambre (Sister Hungry) just because the food at the cafe is good.

We've been practicing a lot on teaching investigators. I was pretty nervous at first, so I looked at my planner and the Preach My Gospel whenever my companion was speaking, but doing this didn't help a lot. I couldn't feel the Spirit, and I didn't know what to say when the time came. Since then, I only brought my scriptures when teaching. And I listen to my investigator carefully to understand his needs. When I put all my focus on my investigator, I could feel the Spirit was here guiding me, and I knew exactly the scriptures I should share and the questions I needed to ask. We as missionaries only help the Spirit during the lesson, the Spirit is the one to convert the investigators.

Few nights ago, all the sister missionaries in my district except me were stressed out! They were all crying. I didn't cry until one of them mentioned the word "letter". It made me think about the words I had read in Elder Leung's letter. You may not know this but I cried in my bed at night before leaving for the MTC because I felt so inadequate to serve. But his letter brought me so much comfort, and I was able to use what I had learned from his letter to comfort those crying sisters. So don't ever ask again why he is the best cousin ever :)

This morning, all the international missionaries had the opportunity to visit the Salt Lake City Temple Square. But before that, we visited the Humanitarian Center to get to know how the Church helps the people in need in other countries. And we also spent 20 minutes to prepare some hygiene kits before leaving. The Temple Square was so beautiful! And we had a tour by the sister missionaries there. I was so happy that I finally got into the Conference Center. I hope I can watch the General Conference there someday.

The MTC is great! And I love Provo so much more that Hawaii. I'm also looking forward to traveling to Seattle with 30 other missionaries next Tuesday. No work can be happier than the missionary work. Being able to serve a mission is indeed a pleasure.

Love,
Sister Leung