Letter #5

February 6, 2012

Hi Fam!!

Well, I made it! We got here on Wednesday morning around 8:30. It's been such a crazy week ... I can't even begin to tell you!! And Monday's are my new p-day.

First, my trainer was flying in from out-bound and didn't get in until 10 Wednesday night... so we didn't plan anything, couldn't hardly even talk or get to know one another. And then the next day we only spent a few hours together because she was having lunch with the President and his wife, so I bounced around from companionship to companionship. Needless to say, my first few days here were by far the hardest of any. It was a lot of adjusting, a lot of learning. I'm so thankful for the MTC! Wish I could've stayed there more.. Even though I had a lot of time to prepare there, this is the real deal! It is a completely different ballgame! But, I am doing much, much better, and got my first "guest" referral (someone that's not a member of the church on Temple square) yesterday! All by myself!! It was so awesome! I shared a brief testimony to her about the church and our beliefs, and how much good the church does for others (we were in the Humanitarian section of the North VC.) Anyway, it was so cool. We've been able to get several new referrals from members, which is really common during the winter months. Not many people come around that aren't members. It's a LOT busier during the summer here.

My companion is Sister Wilson. She's from West Virginia, and then my roommates are Sister Lui from Italy (she has the cutest accent ever!!) and Sister Gehrig from Germany. My roommates are SO amazing! I love love love them! There are SO many different nationalities here, its soooo crazy! I've become friends with a sister from Kiripati. I had never even heard of Kiripati before. Haha! I think it's close to Tahiti. NUTS. But so much fun. I love meeting all these people from all over the world.

Despite the hardships and adjustments, there have been SO many different miracles. It's been so cool to see them all, despite how little they might be. I really do love being out here. But I have come to realize that the MTC is the Garden of Eden. Ha! It's been so neat to learn about all of the different stories and history behind the things at Temple Square. A lot of WAY cool stuff happens here.

And it's so nice to have change everyday!! Oh my goodness... If I had to walk around the square all day long, I would get so sick of it! ha! But, we are able to do this thing called motors, which is when we talk on the phone to referrals and chat online with people on mormon.org. So if you get on chat.... you could be talking to me! ;) ha. We always go by our first names, because Sister is a weird title. It helps people feel more comfortable talking to us too. Today I was on the phones for 3 hours talking to members to get more information about the people they referred. What we do then is we call the people, tell them about their friend that referred them and share with them the importance of the gospel to their friend/family and invite them to learn more by having the missionaries come over to their house. We also keep talking to them and teach them over the phone! Cool right?! We even pray with them and everything. Dawn, my contact from yesterday, is really open. We can't call her until she gets back to Wisconsin, but I'm hoping it'll work out... please pray for her! :) We also are teaching our first person, Esther, over the phone on Friday. Guess where she's from? Liberia. HA! So cool right?! This work is amazing! It's still weird to think I'm a missionary, but it sinks in more everyday. :) What's cool about this mission for me is that my feet rarely hurt! I sit down during the day in between times I am roaming the square. Heavenly Father is truly SO mindful of us.

We are literally constantly doing something here! It's so busy. My comp said she's busier there than she was on her outbound in Indiana!

On Friday we did this thing called "exploring" day, where I got to watch all the movies, look at all the exhibits, etc. It was so nice to be able to see everything and get a much better feel for the displays here and how I can use them for guests. I also gave my first tour on Saturday! It was scary, haha and I really didn't know much, but it was fun! I really enjoyed it. We really are missionaries here on the square. When we are giving tours, we give a brief history of what we're showing and then share our testimonies about it.

One cool thing that happened the other day was with a woman on the phone. I was just listening while Sister Platt was talking (she was my companion for half the day Thursday, from England) to a woman from Maryland. She was trying to find a church building to go to because she wanted to see what our church was like. Completely her own curiosity. We then found a local church building for her and gave her the number of the bishop of the ward, and she called him and decided to go to a baptism that Saturday!! Ha! And then she told us she was coming to Utah and wanted to meet with the missionaries for 5 or 6 days....!! Crazy right?! She's definitely one of those Golden investigators. It was so cool to witness that. Some people are literally just waiting for the invitation from us.

So a few things I found out: 1. We can only go to the temple once a transfer. 2. No one can take missionaries out to dinner...not even grandparents. Looks like you guys are going to have to pick me up :) 3. I can only give members of my family a tour if they just happen to be there and I'm available.. it can't be planned ahead. Grandma and Grandpa Orchard had said they wanted me to give them a tour during the summer or something, so they'll have to let me know when they are coming and I can give them my schedule and maybe we can work it out... we'll see. 4. If you ask sisters on the square where a certain sister is, they can't tell you for security reasons. So basically you just have to find them. :)

My apartment is so nice! It's literally a 5 minute walk to Temple Square. SO nice. And I have my washer and dryer in my apartment, lol! We only have one bathroom but we've worked it out between the other sisters when we get ready and stuff. :) It's so nice. We have an underground parking lot that turns into a gym in the morning... haha ... its kind of a funny sight. It's fun to see all the sisters I know when we exercise in the morning. :)

Hey mom, could you send me that recipe book that Grandma Orchard me? That would be so great. I need recipes for dinners. :)

Thank you all SO much for the emails. Tell Grandma Orchard I will try to write her back soon. Everyone is telling me that I just need to get through my first transfer, and I'll be good. Ha! I'm lucky because I'll be here for General Conference in the beginning of my mission. A lot of girls said it's the best thing ever!

Please keep praying for me. I pray for you guys always! Please pray for me to be able to have patience and love for others. I really appreciate it and can feel your prayers.

Love you ALL so much!!!

Sister Savage