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This photo was taken outside of the Provo Temple. This is our little trio - before all of the other new missionaries arrived. (NOTE from Mom) Catherine's Letter from the MTC. Oh man! Why is that the weeks go by so quickly and yet SO SLOWLY? YOU GUYS ARE THE NICEST PARENTS IN THE WHOLE WORLD. I LOVED THE PACKAGE SO MUCH. Pictures are on their way in the other email. Okay, so we had a crazy day last Thursday (every day is crazy, but whatever) so there is a missionary here from Croatia. (I don't remember if I told you this) but he is literally from Croatia and he knows all of our teachers and everything, right? And he is going to Albania, so he has a similar schedule to ours. So, at gym on Thursday, we just hung out with him like... THE WHOLE GYM. And we just played basketball together and talked about funny Croatian things. And I just thought it was so fitting that I was playing basketball with a Croation. And THEN. We had TRC that night. AND OUR TEACHERS BROUGHT IN A REAL CROATION INVESTIGATOR. Apparently she's taken the discussions for about a billion years, but she just hasn't committed being baptized yet? But she knows everything and goes to church. Anyway so she is visiting in Utah, and all of the missionaries here wanted here to come to TRC with them, so we taught her!!! It was so terrible, but she said our Croation was super good for only 3 weeks!! Which made us feel really good. It was so scary at first, but she was this long, beautiful girl, and so sweet. She said she was going to Disneyland in a couple weeks. I told her I LOVED Disneyland. She's a rockstar. She lives in Zagreb and goes to school there, and when we left she said "I'll see you in Zagreb!" And I seriously hope so. She's awesome. I wish I remembered to take a picture. Out of all the times to start mingling with Croations, it happened on the same day. It was funny. But now Elder Ashler is like... our best friend. Hahaha. We see him all the time. He's totally great. We tell him to speak Croation to us but he's like "My brain doesn't function that way right now! It's either Albanian or English. That's it." I got a letter from Sister Lefler today. Found out she is in Sarajevo, and that there has been violent demonstrations for the past few days, so she hasn't been able to leave her apartment all that much... SO exciting. Haha. I like how I'm not even scared. I'm just excited. We got our new kids (missionaries) last week! They're great. The sisters are super nice and they're really similar to me and my comp, so we're doing well with that. Also the Elders are funny. They always are. Elder Brown and Sister Kropushek and I have actually gone crazy. IT must be so, because we think so many things are funny, and none of these new missionaries do. We also have been having awesome classes lately. We have Brother Freeman as a new teacher of ours, and I absolutely adore him. I'll send you guys pictures later. On Saturday, he was our teacher and we just had such a good time practicing grammar and playing Croation Taboo. It was so much fun. Its weird how these teachers are becoming friends of ours, not only our teachers. Class is my favorite part of day. Found out on Sunday that Brother Eggett is orchestrating an incredible musical number for the devotional this next Sunday. And he's bringing in THE Utah Valley University LDS INSTITUTE CHOIR. NOT A BIG DEAL! I almost starting hyperventilating. CARLY (Caroline) IS COMING TO THE MTC TO SING WITH US IN THE CHOIR -- I'M SO EXCITED I'M SO EXCITED. Oh, also we hosted missionaries today. It was hectic. It means that we wait outside the curb and host all the new missionaries and show them around to their new rooms and the bookstore and stuff. It was pretty fun and I met two way cutie missionaries whom I loved, but… Sister Kropushek and I totally bombed it. Also, after walking ALL the way up to the temple today, I realized that I left my temple recommend... just... its been a rough day. Hahah. Spiritual thought from this week that I absolutely loved: (side note, they have General Authorities come speak to us often, but I think the wives do a better job sometimes than the GA do... well, maybe not better, but their messages usually seem to be directed toward me) "Instant and relentless is not the way of eternity." I have been really impatient lately for the language to come, for my testimony to become stronger, for things to get easier in general... and I am so impatient for the Lord to give me these blessings, that I'm not appreciating the time it is taking for me to grow during the process. It was such an answer to prayer to me. Patience is such a virtue that I need to develop. The Lord WILL bless me. But maybe not in my timetable. I have to keep working and keep growing, and all of these things will come naturally. I'm so happy to be here. I'm happier every week. I am so joyful to be learning how to teach, and just THINKING about going to Europe and teaching these people makes me so happy. It's a good time for Sister Cookie. I love you all. Like, times 1000000
Sestra Catherine Chauncey View contact Content from Learn more|Turn off I can't remember what day it is anymore. Hahah i feel like I've been here for years. I felt so good this week when brat (brother) hansen told me he hated p days because he hated having to recap an ENTIRE week. and i said "amen". THIS IS SO HARD. I'm going to try and respond a bit to your letters first. haha: His name is not Bart, Mommy. "Brat" means brother in croation. So we call him "brat west" as in "Brother west". I was so happy to hear that Cammy talked about me in her testimony :) (( Cammy said on Sunday that her sister Cookie is going to Croatia, which is about 186 miles away - so cute)) And i'm so excited to get the package! AH! seriously. why is mail the absolute best thing in the whole world? it is. it just is. ((Judy here: NOTE…. We sent her a big box of treats and stuff to decorate for Valentines day. Plus chocolate and Dr. Pepper to the MTC. She got it on Friday)) This past week has been wonderful, like they all have been. #MIRACLES. My comp is so happy. and we are so happy together. We just laugh all the time at really dumb stuff. Heaavenly Father is helping us out, I'm sure. she just says things sometimes that remind me of what candace or what shannon would say. i'm like "well!! that was a tender mercy!" The entirety of our zone left on monday... there were like, 20 of us, and now there are only 3. hahaha. they have given us all of the callings for the branch, because they have no one else to give the callings to. Elder brown is zone leader, I am sister training leader, and Sestra Kropushek is everything else. Sister training leaders are essentially zone leaders, but over the sisters. It is a pretty cool calling to have. I feel like I have some responsibility :) as if I didn't feel that way before.. but you get what I mean. It was funny though, we were having a meeting with our branch presidency, and president melville said, "you guys will be the vehicle that gets these new missionaries going" and I mumbled under my breath, "yeah.. a tricycle.." and everyone heard it and thought it was super clever. President Melville announced us in sacrament meeting as, "the tricycle". Now we've adopted it and we love it. Last night we were trying to make up a logo to put on some t shirts. #TRICYCLEFERLIFE but we have 8 new missionaries coming in today, 6 next week, and like... 8 the next week, or something like that. so we will have a lot of stuff to do pretty quick, but until then, the tricyle is desperate for some social interaction. hahhaa they also told us "make sure you make the new missionaries feel welcome!" and we were like "... that is NOT going to be a problem.." We're probably going to scare them, we're so excited to meet them. Oh it was funny, the other day, elder brown was telling me about how a couple of missionaries were CONVINCED that they ran into someone on mtc campus who just happened to be a non member, and he was from california, and they were going to teach him the discussions, and elder brown pointed to the guy in the cafeteria, and it was Aaron Molesi. hahahha. I laughed. he came over and we chatted. NBD. obviously, the image of him being a non member was erased. Because all of the Croations left for Croatia, we now have 6 teachers. its actually awesome. yesterday, we had a lesson with our mock investigator kristina, and although its not real, it sure feels like it... so we were having this lesson, and she has been raised Catholic her whole life, so she was struggling, becasue she knew that the church was true, but she didn't want to get baptized because she didn't want to give up Catholicism. so, during the lesson, I tried my best to tell her your conversion story, dad. Just about how you knew it was the right thing to do, and your family wasn't exactly happy, and your friends weren't exactly happy, but that you did it and that you were blessed so much because of it. and when i say i told this story, i mean i cried it. it never really hit me, dad, the sacrifices you made for this gospel and for your testimony. i sat there thinking of you, and telling this story in broken croation, and it was so touching to my investigator and to my companion, that we all just took a moment and just cried together.... and she accepted. it was amazing. Your story totally inspired this investigator to get baptized. i am so grateful for you and for your example, Dad. It brings me so much strength. Cool spiritual insight from this week: we were sitting there chatting about repentance and how repentance does not only mean ridding yourself of evils and sins, but it is about getting a fresh view of God yourself, and the world (BD definition of repentance), and i was thinking about the importance of getting up every day and getting a fresh testimony... we can have the greatest spiritual experience in the world, and no matter what, the next day when you wake up, the first thing you think will not be "man that was a good day" it will be "its 6:30 and i'm really tired". it is SO CRUCIAL to be refreshing your testimony every day. we came up with the phrsae, "don't bear stale testimonies". when i'm preparing a lesson for an investigator, I need to be rereading the topics I have already learned 100 times. I need to be up to date on my testimony so that, when I tell her that i know these things are true, then i KNOW these things are true, because I got a witness of the spirit about an hour ago, so yeah, i know it. it gives us so much strength if we just keep our testimonies fresh every day, and keep our views of god, ourselves, and the world, fresh, EVERY DAY! and that got me pumped. So! don't bear stale testimonies! keep em fresh! have you read today? make sure you have! I love you guys so much. Message me if you get this! i'll be on for another half hour or so. (( Judy again…we did "talk" to her through emai for about 20 minutes after that. Her orbit was open to us for just a few minutes. We were lucky))
Judy Chauncey Connect Connect Content from Learn more|Turn off (Edited letter #2, by Mom, the blog-keeper) HEY! The MTC is so crazy. How can it feel like it is taking forever yet also, going by REALLY fast. It just feels like I've been here ONE long day. I appreciate all the letters. You don't have to limit them to one a week. If something is going on, tell me about it. It is not a distraction to get letters - it is motivation, at least for me. We had a visit on Sunday, from LDS church songwriter and lyricist, Janice Kapp Perry. She came to speak to us and sing with us. How cool! She had us sing 6 primary songs, and I hadn't realized before how many songs she had written. We sang, "Army of Helaman," "Child's Prayer", "I'm trying to be like Jesus," "Love Is Spoken Here," "I love to See the Temple" and "I Belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." It was so powerful. In the beginning of the meeting, we sang "As Sisters In Zion," but the projector wasn't working so we all messed up the lyrics. Even though we have sung it 100 times, we still didn't know the whole song. But, when it came to singing six primary songs she had written, we didn't even need to look. What a powerful testimony to me that was, of the importance of raising your children in the church. These lessons we teach them and these songs that they learn will last with them forever. They will never forget them. What an amazing spirit it was to sing those songs with her. This place is the coolest. The Elders is my zone are so funny: Elder Brown told me that they are supposed to be amazing breakfast burritos in Croatia. Like, he knows some missionaries who went there, and they never even cooked. It was just cheaper and easier for them to buy breakfast burritos every day. Oh. My. Gosh. Can you imagine? And Elder Mason and Elder Pitt are like me and my companion's best friendizzles. They are both really funny. Elder Mason and I played a basketball game the other day where we tried to test each other in our vocabulary. And we thought it would be tricky and fun, because he's learning Czech, and I'm learning Croatian, but it is less tricky than we thought because we have a lot of the same words. Elder Pitt looks like he's 22 but he's actually 18, and makes me laugh. Can't forget Elder Prochaska either - (he is from Switzerland) so Dad, seriously he is your long lost son. He's sooooo Swiss and he's adorable. He also has diabetes, but that doesn't stop him from eating Swiss Chocolate all day every day. It's like, his family sends him a box a week. He hates Hershey's chocolate. He always shares his chocolate too, which is great. I can't forget Elder Frahm! (He is going to England, speaking Czech) We bonded the other day over our love for Carne Asada Fries. We had to stop talking about it, because we were getting too upset. Elder Dyer is a good one too. The other day, we had our first lesson with our new "investigator" Katrina. (a Video teaching lesson with a person who speaks the language, and is a pretend investigator) It was so bad - we had challenged ourselves to go in there and not bring notes, but we totally didn't know what we were doing. I just felt so embarrassed and upset and I was crying like a loser, because this is so difficult. So my companion and Elder Dyer came into the room to cheer me up. And Sister Kropushek said, "What used to Cheer you up at home." And I said, "I don't know, watch movies and stuff." So then she said, "All right, let's watch some Mormon messages." So we turned them on, and turned the rest of the night into a mini devotional and just uplifted each other. It was fabulous. There are angels in mortal form here…I'll tell you that much. Brother Hansen, our teacher, is seriously the greatest. I can't even tell you enough. He gave us a devotional the other day about the true meaning of missionary work, and it was incredible. he is so straightforward and honest, and you can't help but be motivated by him. He said, "I can promise you that the Lord KNOWS where we are supposed to be. We are not trying to turn you into missionary robots. We are trying to instill the rules into you, so you know what you're doing, but you cannot forget to be yourself. That's what people will love about you -- it's you.! When you pray and when you ponder on what your calling is, and when you realize that you are literally the offspring of God, on the errand for the Lord and Savior of mankind, Jesus The Christ, I can promise you, you will wake up in the morning with a sure and firm purpose in what you are doing. I can promise you that. It will be like a fire in your bones. You will never regret it, and you will never feel greater joy." He must think I am crazy because I pretty much cry every time he talks. He's the best teacher I have ever had, and probably will ever have. He also co-wrote the textbook we are using for Croatian. How cool is that? And he's so funny! He just created a language plan for me and S.K., about how to track our language studying and his reward system involves him showing us pictures of his mission and his wedding and stuff. As IF we asked him to do that. He always shows us pictures of his life and he's like, " OKAY, fine. If you insist, I'll show you one more." And I'll say, " We never asked that." But that's what's so funny. Also we found out that our "investigator", Valentino, is actually our THIRD TEACHER. I pretended like I saw it coming, but I was actually stoked. We walked into the classroom, and I was like, "VALENTINO?" His name is Brat West. He is super nice and speaks just as quickly in English as he does Croatian. But the story of Valentino is real. If you listen to the talk, "We are One" from the April General Conference Priesthood session, the beginning story references Valentino. DO IT. It is amazing. He is this incredible person, and he lives in Bosnia. Elder Brat West, and his companion are the missionaries who found him and baptized him. I could totally meet him for real. My mission is so cool. It's seriously so hard though. I can't even tell you. I was really getting down on myself the other day, because I thought I could learn a lot faster than this. But then cutie Sister Lefler helped me out. She said, "I could not have blossomed in an English speaking mission. I envy them every day, but it's not for me. I'm too smart and witty to have been humble. I needed this mission so I could get so down, and fell so inadequate, that I would NEED to turn to the Lord. And it's made me a better person." And I feel that's where I am. Here's a spiritual thought I discovered during personal/companion study yesterday, which is the best study we have ever had - it was amazing: Faith is developed by reading the word of God. Faith is nurtured by prayer Faith is strengthened by keeping the commandments THAT'S IT. Faith, Faith, Faith and we can endure to the end, and that is essentially the exact formula it takes to do it. it was a perfect answer to the prayer I had in how to strengthen my faith, and it is so important for all of us to develop and keep strengthened too. I love you stinkers! Thanks for all of your love and support. Sestra Catherine Chauncey is shown here with the Elders and Sisters from her Zone at the MTC Most of them are going to Croatia, but one is going to England, speaking Czech. Another one of headed to Slovenia - speaking Slovenian - even though he is technically a part of the Adriatic North Mission with Sestra Chauncey. Catherine's Companion, Sestra Tiara Kropushek is the blonde sister standing next to her. The missionaries spend part of their P-day at the Provo Temple. Hello everyone!! First of all, Thank you to all the dear souls who wrote me emails and letters through "Dear Elder." I had no idea how special and amazing it makes a missionary feel to hear from the people she loves. I LOVE YOU GUYS!
Dad, Thanks for the letters you sent me through "Dear Elder." I love to read them everyday, you guys are such a strength to me. I love you all so much. I had no idea the MTC would bring this many ups and downs. The first few days were so hard. I was homesick, my companion was homesick, and we were both lost when it came to Croatian, but we were so blessed to have our neighbors (who are also in our zone), Sister Lefler and Sister Riddle. They just took us under their wings and told us they were in the same place when they first got here, and they made us feel so much better. That, combined with your letters and some humbling and prayer, I have just felt the weight of homesickness being lifted off of my shoulders. I now LOVE the MTC. THE MTC: MY NEW DAY-TO-DAY LIFE First of all, my zone is absolutely amazing. We have the left half of the top floor of building 9M, and we all hang out every day for every meal, and every gym time and everything in between. There are people in my zone going to Croatia, Slovenia, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic (although there is an Elder named Elder Frahm who is going to England, Czech speaking). They are all SO funny. Elder Dyer and Elder Brown are the two Elders who are also going to the Adriatic North Mission, but Brown is going to Slovenia, so he isn't learning Croatian with us. Sister Lefler (the neighbor) and Elder Dyer and his companion Elder Gelhaus are all going to Croatia though, so it will be fun to see them all again. There is also an Elder Prochaska, who is from Switzerland. He is so funny and so charming with his accent. He always has Swiss Chocolate that he hands out to us. He's great - he's from a little town outside of Zurich called Winterhurst. Second thing. Oh my gosh, my teachers are also amazing. Sestra Jolley (see photo in the blog post beneath) is so sweet and so patient with us. Brother Hansen is also the absolute best. He has all of these fun activities for me and my companion to do so we are active all class time and have a good time learning. He came back from Croatia about a year ago, and he has a way-adorable wife, and he is great. He is good at teaching about missionary work, which he tells us so kindly about in English, no Croatian. He makes class so enjoyable - it is my favorite part of the day. So I went to sing in the MTC choir! That was fun. Brother Egget is the choir director, and Caroline is totally right about him. He is so cool and spiritual about what he does. (I cry, like every time we sing) We sang "Precious Savior, Dear Redeemer," and it was absolutely amazing. We started singing a'capella in one verse and you could see the entire audience life their heads like, "oh…right…well, let's listen to this." It was awesome. My companion, Sister Kropushek is from Saratoga Springs, UT. She is really athletic, and fun. We both love green beans, and we get along just fine. One of her grandfathers is from Croatia, and spoke it as a boy, but she never learned the language. So now she is learning it with us. Also, my favorite part of the day is studying the language. When we have language study time or additional study time, I whip out those flash cards like nobody's business. It is so fun to memorize stuff! My schedule is this: Eat. Go to class. Eat. Go to class. Eat. Go to Class. Not even kidding…They make you eat like every four hours. We eat dinner at 4 p.m., and then somehow we make it through the rest of the day. The food is ok, but it is sometimes bland, and could use some salt. BEING CONVERTED TO HIM. This past Sunday (January 19) was incredible. I didn't know you could feel like you were drowning in the Spirit, but that's what it felt like. First of all, we had an amazing Relief Society meeting with Sister Rosemary Wixom (The church's General Primary President) and then we had an amazing Sacrament Meeting, and then we had choir, which was overwhelmingly good. And then we had a devotional with Sheri Dew. (I know, RIGHT!) And then it was Sunday film time which was a Christmas devotional given by Elder David Bednar a few years ago, that they replay on Sundays. It was absolutely incredible. I wept, and wept and wept, especially because it had been building all day. He talks about how important it is to not only have a testimony of Christ, but to be converted to him. We all have testimonies, that's why we are here, and that is why our investigators will join the church. But we all need to be converted to Jesus Christ, and to become like Him, because that is our overall purpose. He talks about how the character of Christ is to reach out to people when you are down, or are going through trials, instead of pulling into yourself and saying, "Woe is me, help me." Christ, through all the things He went through, reached out to people every day to heal them and help them. Elder Bednar told a story about a woman who called him and said, "There are 3 girls who have been seriously injured, one of them is dead, but we need you to identify the other two girls." He could hear on the line, when a nurse walked up to the woman on the phone and said, "We've identified the deceased. She's your daughter" and without even blinking she turned back to the phone and said, "We need to call the other mothers right away and tell them what happened, and make sure they're OK." In the very instant she found out her daughter died, she reached out to others to make sure they were OK. That is the Character of Christ, and as missionaries we will be going through so much trial and tribulation that we can't start to pull into the natural man, and say "woe is me." We have to reach out to others and strengthen them first, and as we continue to do this, and to study Christ and the person he was, and try to emulate him, then we will be converted. It is a life-long process, but it is worth it. Coming on a mission - this is the absolute best decision of my life. I am so much stronger from just a week of being here, and I am so happy to be here. I'm excited to loose myself in this work and this language, to learn about these people and how to care for them. I have made friends here and I love them, and I am loving class, and there are incredible spiritual experiences here every day. I love you all. |
AuthorThis blog documents the journeys of Sister Catherine Chauncey on her mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She is serving in the Adriatic North Mission, from January 2014 to July of 2015. Archives
March 2015
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