Daisy and her sister Sarah
(Editor's note: Daisy Torkildson is a newly-minted LDS missionary, slated for the Irvine, California Mission. Once a week she is allowed to send an email to her family, reporting on her activities and thoughts. My reply follows her email.)
Hellooooo everyone!
Uff da, So Today, Saturday, is my P-day so that means I get to email all you wonderful people and tell you how my week has gone so far. I got to the MTC on Wednesday of this week, and there were many tears shed the beginning of the day. BUT, when I got here I felt a peace I haven't in a long time. I knew right away that this was where the Lord wanted me to be.
I got guided to my room and met my companion and other people in my district. We went to class right away, no time to unpack. The rest of the night was jam packed with knowledge of the purpose of a missionary which is: to Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. By the end of the night, my head was ready to explode with information. Also sinus pressure from having a cold, but who cares about that when you've got the work of the Lord to do, right? Right. Don't worry though, I'm taking care of myself, and the Lord has blessed me to feel so much better.
My companion's name is Sister Stout, she's from Northern Virginia and her name fits her perfectly: she's strong, confident, stalwart, and steadfast, determined and honest. She's also very kind and we make a pretty good team. She is in a few pictures below. The one picture with all the people in it is my district group. They're all pretty fun people, from a multitude of backgrounds and it's so wonderful getting to know all of them. In fact, we all went to the temple together this morning, which was a unifying experience. The other girls in the temple picture with Sis. Stout and I are Sis. Whitaker and Sis. Matthews, who are our other roommates.
So there's a lot more I could say, but time is kind of short so I'll just share a couple of thoughts I've had so far this week:
1. My mind is blown that so many people my age have decided to put their lives on hold and devote themselves to serving the Lord for up to 2 years! The feeling of unity here is one of my favorite things about the MTC, I love it so much. You can just be walking down the sidewalk on the way to class and some random person will just yell at you (in a friendly way) "Welcome to the MTC! Where are you serving? Where are you from? You'll love it out there!" That's pretty much the way all the conversations here start. And it's so wonderful :)
2. Wow my testimony of Christ and Heavenly Father and how much they love literally EVERYONE has grown so. much. And also how much they want everyone to come back to live with them. I cannot stess enough how important it is to keep your faith in Christ as strong as possible. You never know when a moment might come that you can touch another person's heart with the message of the restored gospel, so be prepared.
3. I don't think I've ever been so stressed in my life, but at the same time I've never been so continually happy and spiritually uplifted. I hope that what I learn here I can take out into the world and apply even after my mission is done.
4. Teaching lessons is NERVE WRACKING, but it's such a high. Wonderful and terrifying at the same time haha
5. I came to realize that I came here with a very self-centered attitude: this was my mission and I worked so hard to be here, etc. And while that may be somewhat true, I would never have gotten here had it not been for awesome friends, family, and especially my Savior Jesus Christ and his Atonement. Ultimately though, this is not my mission; it's Christ's mission. He's just letting me help out :) So I'm learning to turn outward instead of inward when it comes to loving others and teaching the gospel of Christ.
Alright, I love you all so much, thank you for being a part of my story! Until next week,
Sister Torkildson
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It seems odd to address you as “Sister Torkildson,” but I guess I’d better do that for the next 18 months!
You are obviously having a very intense spiritual and emotional experience in the MTC. I’m sure this will last through your mission, and I hope it will continue with you the rest of your life. Your letter brought back some of that fiery spirit I remember so well from my own mission. It’s a great feeling to know that the harder you work at the Gospel the better it makes you feel.
What will you be doing on Thanksgiving? I suppose you all will meet in the dining hall for a traditional meal and then have a fireside of some kind.
My first Thanksgiving in Thailand was spent in Bangkok. An anonymous donor (probably someone high up in the US Military) arranged for turkey and all the trimmings to be served to all 80 of us missionaries at the Asoke Chapel (the only LDS chapel in Thailand at the time.) After months of fish and rice, that was a succulent spread . . .
The next year I was the Branch President up in Khon Kaen in northeastern Thailand. There were just four of us Elders and a few branch members, including our maid and a sturdy old rice farmer who raised muscovy ducks and turkeys as a sideline. He gave us a live tom the day before Thanksgiving, so I asked our maid if she knew how to prepare it. She said she did, so I left all the arrangements up to her. We went out tracting on Thanksgiving morning with visions of drumsticks dancing in our heads -- it made the tropical heat seem less oppressive that day. When we came back in the late afternoon our poor maid had killed, plucked, scalded, and gutted the bird, but since we had no over (rural Thais typically never used ovens) she was vainly trying to fry it, one side at a time, in the biggest wok she had.
The bird carcass was inedible, so the maid burst into tears. I comforted her as best I could, assuring her it was no big deal, and sent her out to the market to get us all chicken fried rice wrapped up in fresh green banana leaves. Oh well, we didn’t have any cranberry sauce anyways . . .
This year I don’t know what I’ll be doing for Thanksgiving. I think Adam is going to some of his in-laws, and Sarah thought that maybe they would too. Which is alright with me. I’ve had several family meals with the local kids and grandkids this month already. In fact, I had Sarah and the kids over this past Friday night. I bought a slow cooker so because I was lusting after some bbq ribs in a major way, so they came over to help me eat them. Brooke and Lance only wanted ramen noodles, of course. The ribs did not turn out very well -- they were tough and sinewy. Almost as bad as that Thanksgiving turkey back in Khon Kaen. But Sarah kindly said she liked the sauce they were cooked in (a half cup of Coke and a cup of cheap bbq sauce.) So I gave her all the leftovers to take home with her. We watched Babes in Toyland with Laurel & Hardy, which the kids found pretty boring until the bogey men show up in the last reel. I’ve reserved the Wizard of Oz from the Provo Library and when it’s in Sarah will have me over to their place for popcorn and Judy Garland. To me, the Holidays are not complete without watching the Wizard of Oz. I told Sarah I could also get It’s a Wonderful Life with Jimmy Stewart, but she says she doesn’t much care for that film. Actually, neither do I.
Well, my little missionary marigold, here’s wishing you the best until I hear from you again next Saturday.
Love, dad.
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