November 21, 2011

I am officially half way through the MTC!! Kind of. This is the start of my 5th week so I still have forever. But I'm almost there.

So. Guess what!!!! Another boring week. Sorry. I wish I had a lot of cool things to say, but I don't. Being a missionary in Provo is the most boring thing EVER. Just so you know.

Well half of our branch was shipped out to Germany this week, so now we're down to like...19 missionaries. And guess what!! We have more Sister missionaries than Elders right now. Obviously Germany prefers us. Duh.

So both of our "investigators" now have a baptism date. Oh yes, we're awesome. I know. And of course this is real life, so that means I'll have the same success over in Europe. Ha.

Also. Worst news ever. So I don't remember if I mentioned this before, but this Elder ended up finding me through like 5 people here and asked me to sing a song he wrote for one of the devotionals we have here. So for some STUPID reason I said yes and we auditioned and everything was great. So then yesterday I go to perform it and I lose my voice. Literally. It was gravely and low and weird. So I had to sing this song in front of a bunch of people and it was the worst thing ever. I cried for an HOUR after and wanted to die. My branch president's wife was the only person who managed to comfort me. So she spread around to everyone she could not to say ANYTHING about it to me because everytime someone did I started crying. Like when a girl in the cafeteria came up to me and said, "I study voice, so I know where you messed up. But I want you to know that everything else was amazing!" Maybe I punched her. A little bit. Jokes. But I thought about it. Obviously the MTC makes me ridiculously emotional. It's terrifying how easily I burst into fits of anger or just start crying without being prompted. I'm annoying myself, trust me. I'll work on this so this NEVER happens when I get back. I'll be [somewhat] normal, I promise!!

Best news of the week? A fellow Sister missionary in my district made me the happiest person alive. She ran up to me yesterday and said, "Sister Young! I have an inappropriate joke. I thought you'd appreciate it." Basically my life was made. And just for the record, it wasn't even bad. She's a missionary. Our sense of what "inappropriate" is has been dramatically warped. We think of ourselves as inappropriate when we sneak dance parties in the hallway or sit on the floor. I'm not even joking. But don't worry, we do it anyway.

So, lovely people. Keep writing me. PLEASE. Even if it's to say "poop" or to tell me how awesome you think I am. K thanks.

Danke my darlings. Love you.

Sister Young

Hellllllllllo.

So. MTC. I feel like I just keep repeating myself over and over and over. Oh well.

I forgot to tell everyone about this, but Elaine S. Dalton, president of the Young Women's program, came to speak here at Relief Society and it was AMAZING. That's really the only person you'd know that's come so far. I'll keep you posted.

So we have 2 new investigators named Eddy and Michael. Eddy is from Ghana and he freaking LOVES Jesus. More than anyone I know, I'm pretty sure. He's doing well except he keeps praying to Jesus and we're having a hard time trying to convince him that we need to pray to God haha. Michael is the most apathetic investigator EVER and I have no idea what to do with him. He never has any questions and never shows any emotion. Pray for us.

Also. You must know that the number 11 in German is "elf," so of course it would only be natural that all the German speakers got together here on 11/11/11 at 11:11 and had an Elf day party. The sisters tried to dress like elves, but the closest we got was wearing "woodsy" colors because we were forest elves, of course. I'm pretty sure my sense of humor as a missionary is ridiculous. I hope I'm normal when I get back.

Thursday was our first day at the TRC where we talk to real Germans and just practice getting to know them. The TRC used to be the place where we taught investigators, but now it's just for "member lessons." Anyway, so it was incredibly terrifying but the guys in our room were so so so nice. One of them said to me right after we had introduced ourselves said, "So you speak french?" Hahaha I laughed so hard and then was really embarrassed about my heavy french accent. But he said I speak really really well and he would never have guessed I had only been here 3 weeks! So yay. Also, if you speak German (Heidi and Andrew) it's on Tuesday at 3pm and 4pm. I don't know which time I'm at so stay for the 2 hours if I'm at 4pm. Please please please.

I don't know if I've already said this, but we have an incredibly conservative elder here that I LOVE to tease. Anyway, so I hadn't gotten on his nerves in a while so I decided to draw the Tree of Life vision from Lehi's dream (if you don't know what this is, ask the nearest mormon) and I drew the "great and spacious building" as corporate America. Needless to say, the elder just about ripped my head off. It was so great.

Also SOMEONE is spreading a rumor that I can sing and now 2 elders are trying to find me so I can sing with them!!!! What the heck?!?!?! So now I have to audition with one of them on Thursday and I'M GOING TO DIE. Poo.

One last thing. Thank you thank you THANK YOU for the letters!!!! I feel so special everyday. And also because I've gotten quite a few you'll have to give me a little time to write you back. But many many people are receiving letters this week. Ok? Ok good.

I love you all my little teddy bears. Have a lovely week!!

Sister Young

November 7, 2011

HEYYYYYYYYY.

So I miss all your guts. Just so you know. Also I'm really happy about everyone's effort to send me mail. Please don't burn out by the time I leave. This has to last for 18 months. OK?!?!?! Also, a lot of letters are in the mail for people who wrote me. So if you want one, WRITE ME.

Ok. Bragging time. Remember how I was telling you that we teach an "investigator?" Well, ours got baptized. We were the only ones to commit him!!!! Ha. So now we have 2 new investigators, and we'll have 2 more next week. Yikes. I can barely teach. We literally read everything word for word out of our german Preach My Gospel. It's pretty bad haha.

Funny story. So our first investigator actually ended up become our teacher at the end of our second week. Weird, right?!?! Anyway, he basically loves me and Sister Dean because we're so awesome at committing everyone to everthing, but then I ruined it and I think he hates me. We were doing role playing the other day so we could practice our door approaches and the introduction to our message and I was paired up with Sister Marquardt. This is our lovely conversation:

Me (as missionary, after she let me in and we're talking about life): So Helga (yes, she decided to go by that), how are you doing today?

Helga: Terrible. My cat just died and I'm really distraught.

Me: (whilst laughing) Oh I'm sorry! What was your cat's name?

Helga: Shelly.

So I suggested we say a prayer and I asked the Lord to bless her cat. DUH. But Helga totally lost it and we both started cracking up and our teacher came in and was like "Excuse me?? Where's the spirit?! I don't think this is appropriate." I explained to him that I really cared about her and her cat and the best way to show that is to pray for them. But I think he still hates me for praying for Helga's cat Shelly so now I'm in big trouble. And it's all Helga's fault.

I just want everyone to know that I'm losing weight and I am sooooooo proud of myself because everyone else is getting super fat hahaha. WIN. I only eat salads though. It helps.

I have hilarious pictures to give everyone, so if you want one write me. NOW.

Also, I have several letters waiting to be sent but I want to give you a picture so please be patient.

I love you all my darlings. Don't forget about me!!!!!

-Message from Lesa's sibling- P.S. Lesa's First message was unavailable to post, sorry for the inconvenience.

Lesson #70

Today's Lesson Objectives include:

1.) I'm gone. Forever. Jokes.

So I'm technically a missionary now so I'm not supposed to be on here. Oops. But you need my info!!!!!!!

Ok. I will be at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah for about 9 weeks. This means that any letters or packages you want to send before the end of December should be sent to this address. There are 2 ways of communicating with me here:

#1. Dearelder.com

If you visit that website you can write me a letter that will be printed off right there at the MTC and given to me that same day. So write me random crap so I will have something to look forward to every single day. Gut.

#2. My mailbox.

This is my official address:

Sister Lesa Young

MTC Mailbox # 350

GER-BER 1227

2005 N 900 E

Provo, UT 84604-1793

Send me packages and I will love you.

_____________________________________

NOW. If you'd like to communicate with me after Christmas, I will be in Germany. You can reach me two ways.

#1. Write me an email!!

lesa.young@myldsmail.net

#2. Send me a letter. And a package. This is my new address:

Sister Lesa Young

Germany Berlin Mission

Zerbster Strasse 42

12209 Berlin

Germany

All this information will be posted on the side in my "about me" section under my picture. Also, my weekly emails to my family will be posted and updated every week on this site. So read this every Monday!!! It's my special treat to you.

I love you. I'm going to miss you. Please don't have any life changing events while I'm gone.

Auf Wiedersehen.

-Sister Young

ps. Under the "My Lovers" section on this page you can select "join this site" and it can send you an email every time my blog is updated, in case you're interested.

Lesson #69

Today's Lesson Objective includes:

1.) Love Your Body Day.

So. Today is "Love Your Body Day," according to NOW [National Organization for Women] Foundation. As a bored feminist, I will of course write a blog post about loving my body. Because I do.

You might remember this post I wrote a while back that basically encompasses everything that this day stands for. Twas great. However, I'm going to take a different approach today. And yes, my favorite blog did give me this idea that I am a little bit copying.

Instead of talking about how the media is a terrible influence on women and girls, or how we should learn to love how we look, I kinda want to talk about how freaking amazing our actual bodies are. Seriously though, they're amazing. So I will share with you things I enjoy that my body does for me.

My favorite things about my body...GO:

#1. I can grow a person in my belly.

Just think about it. Isn't that amazing? Even more amazing is the fact that my body can squeeze that tiny person through a space that reeeeeaaally can't fit a head right now. Promise.

#2. Pain.

I don't know if you've really thought about it like this, but pain is your body's defensive mechanism. It lets you know when something isn't going alright so you can catch the problem early. If you break your arm, the pain restricts you from moving your arm too much because your body knows that you need to keep it still. Without pain we would all be dead I think. At least I would.

#3. Eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.

All those things provide my senses, and I thank God everyday that I have all my senses. I can watch beautiful films, I can listen to moving music, I can taste delicious [french] food, and I can smell autumn.

There are a million and one things I love about my body, and a couple things I tell myself I could live without. But seriously, what a gift. We are so lucky.

Plus, I can ride a bike! In France no less.

I'm sorry for the lame picture. It's the only picture I have of me moving. Sad, I know.

This post is part of the 2011 Love Your Body Day Blog Carnival

Lesson #68

Today's Lesson Objective includes:

1.) EMOTIONS.

Ok. This post is dedicated to my brother because he HATES my blog, especially when I write about politics. But poo on him because a.) he reads my blog anyway and b.) I love pissing him off.

Lots of crap has been blowing up my phone phone [not a typo, if you don't understand GET WITH IT] with political and social chaos lately. It's ridiculous. And IT'S MAKING ME GRUMPY.

I love lists. Let's start.

#1. Apparently Mormonism is a cult. Mormons aren't "christian" either.

I would first like to say that I DO NOT ENDORSE MITT ROMNEY IN ANY WAY. However, all this crap about Mormons is ridiculous. I shouldn't even have to defend my church in this case because a.) I reeeeaaaaally don't believe somebody's religion should play any part in this and b.) the guy creating all the fuss is a close-minded IDIOT. So move on, peeps. There's nothing to see.

#2. Occupy Wall Street is pretty darn big now and I think people are jealous they're not involved in all the action.

I've heard a lot of criticism of the movement, but I, for one, am fully behind the idea they're trying to get across to the public. Does that surprise you? Of course it doesn't. But since a lot of weenie whiners out there are "confused at their objective," let me show you a cool graph. I know you love plain and simple pictures!

Put simply, the top 2% is like 50 bajillion times bigger than the bottom 98%. Don't quote me on that. But THIS is what we're concerned about. They don't pay enough taxes. They control Congress. They are creating a social class crisis. Do you get it? Yes? GOOD.

Also, I'm going to throw this in for fun because I LIKE IT. And she is my hero.

Woot.

#3. Women, War, and Peace.

I wrote a paper on this earlier this year. I find it to be one of the most important topics that should be on the table today. So when I found out that PBS was doing a series on it, I almost peed my pants with excitement.

Women, War & Peace from Women, War & Peace on Vimeo.

I just love PBS so much. Sooooo much.

Goodnight my fools.

Lesson #67

Today's Lesson Objective includes:

1.) Shut your face.

Listen people.

I don't want to talk about Germany.

I don't want to think about my mission.

I don't want you to tell me to stop freaking out. I will puke all over your shoes if you do.

I'm just pretending it's not real for the time being. And no, I don't care what you have to say about that.

Just be quiet.

Mmk thanks.