(Note: Holly sent lots of photos, please go to the "Photos" page to see them!)
HI!!! Wow I am on a computer! I feel so cool... I am also on a mission... that is also cool. This week was a crazy one but I loved almost every second of it!!! First off, I snuck some photos home this week haha and lots of you have said that my companions are giants! Well-- you are correct! Sister Rhodes (Dark short hair) is 6 feet tall and sometimes wears heels... like why? Sister Redding is 6'8"... so just picture me in my skirt holding all my books running behind them trying to keep up with their long legs-- the struggle is so real. I love them both so much! We had a ton of laughs and a few "Hey, before this blows up, lets talk about it " chats. We are doing great! I was made senior companion on day 2 by our Branch President and that has been interesting. I love it, but its weird being "in charge" of such tall people who are so totally awesome on their own. Our companionship study is AMAZING! we get so much done and I always feel the Spirit when we testify to each other about PMG or other things and I look forward to it every day. Also, in my Slovene class (3 sisters, 2 elders) both my companions know German and Sister Rhodes is fluent in it and one of the elders lived in Serbia for 3 years so he knows Serbian... so its really just me that doesn't know how to learn a language! But the gift of tongues is so real! I am keeping up with everyone! I can Introduce myself, my companions, say what we are and who we represent, I can teach a lesson, read the Book of Mormon, pray, bear my testimony, and count to 999... I can't remember the word for 1000. Slovene is so great and I love it! Sometimes I feel like it's made up because it sounds crazy. for instance: to say I am from Pocatello Idaho -- Jaz sem iz Pocatella Idaha.. haha it sounds like some kid goofing around hahahaha. the D&C is not available in Slovene yet so we have to learn Croation so we can read that! We are also learning bits and pieces of the other surrounding languages! So about 6 languages at any given time. It's so fun and so cool how fast I can get it!!!!!! My teachers don't speak English to us which was super scary at first but now it's fun! I can understand most of what is being said in class. Brother Mills served in Slovenia 1 year ago and he lost 90 lbs on his mission... he said to prepare for lots of walking and awesome food haha we love asking him questions in free time about our mission! He says he LOVED the food (apart from blood pudding) and that it is breathtaking! Once we get on the topic of Slovenia, we can't get him to stop! And that makes us all more excited to go!
So the first day here, I got my tag first thing! I love it!!!!!!! Then I got my books and dropped stuff off at my residence hall which is kinda like a prison on the inside haha but I hung up some photos and the IDAHO banner Madi gave me so it looks and feels like home. After I dropped stuff off, I was rushed into my classroom where I heard my first Slovene words. its Slovene 24/7 in there. I honestly laughed the whole time. That night we taught investigators and ate dinner! The food here is okay! I eat a lot of pineapple and granola and salad! We had a new missionary meeting where I sang Called to Serve for the first time as a missionary! It was super powerful and I loved looking around and seeing everyone beam with our cute little tags.
On Thursday, we had a slow morning for a missionary filled with meetings and online courses. After lunch we had Slovene class! Holla! That was my first time praying in Slovene! I rock! We were then told we were going to teach an investigator in Slovene the next day... what?!?!!? I was like, "Wow that's gonna be a short lesson!" So we prayed and began to prepare for our lesson. Then we had a meeting with our Branch President who is so awesome, and his wife is so cute. I just love her! She hugs us, which is very needed! We got a surprise 3 min. email home which made all of our day!!!
Friday was hard! In class we learned to testify and that went so well!! I got up first and did it, so I felt cool. Then we had our first companion study which ROCKED!!! I love!!!! We also had our first gym time!! That was so fun and needed! I went running with Sister Rhodes and ran into a pole haha! I have a sweet bruise on my arm and a funny story now! We got ready and ate and then it was time to teach... AHHHH! That was an experience I won't forget. We prepared some questions to ask our investigator, but we forgot that she would respond.. haha oops! When she started talking I just started to laugh. I honestly didn't know what else to do! But the lesson went well.. I think. When we got back to the class, our teacher asked us when we were meeting with her again. We all looked at each other like HOW DID WE FORGET TO SET UP A FOLLOW-UP LESSON?!?!?!?! Rough start. haha So we ran down the hallways and caught up with her and asked her in the 2 words we knew if we could meet with her again the next day ha!
The next morning, I woke up with no voice! must have preached too hard or something! Our lesson was right after breakfast, so I tried my best to work up a voice so I could teach. I had a small voice and I think she thought that I was just scared haha. We taught her how to pray and invited her to do it! She asked a question AND I UNDERSTOOD HER!!!! I was even able to respond! I felt the Spirit and I was so proud of myself! HOW GREAT IS MY CALLING?!?! Saturday, I learned to love my zone so much! My zone is made up of everyone going to an Eastern European country! They are all blessing my life so much! At the end of the day, we all went into the Bulgarian room and sang hymns (in English, finally) as a zone. The Spirit was so strong and some people cried. It was awesome to sing as missionaries all headed to the same area. I loved it so much!!!!!!!
The next morning was Fast Sunday! I was pretty sure I had a MTC (missionary training cold) because I wasn't feeling too well! It was a great Sunday as a missionary! We had Mission Conference where all the missionaries in the MTC get together and listen to the Presidency speak! How great?! Sundays are different in the MTC because they are filled with stuff to do so it's hard for me to tell you everything! Just know that it was an AWESOME day as a missionary! My Branch President heard my cough and told me to go to the cold clinic the next day and of course I obeyed!
Monday was kind of a blur! I was happy in class and learned so much and helped some foreign missionaries find their building which was hard haha. I didn't have a voice so I couldn't sing in Slovene, sadly. At free time I went to the cold clinic and the nurse swabbed my throat and asked me if I was okay and I started crying, haha embarrassing! But I made her cry so then we were both crying! My companions were in the waiting room so it was my first time alone in forever so I just cried it out. Anyways -- she ended up making an appt. for me and I saw the doctor and I have pneumonia and the flu. hahahaha Why is that a thing! He could hear the liquid in my lungs but took an x-ray anyway. Anyways, rough day! He gave me some drugs and told me to go back to my residence and sleep, and I was SO sad because that meant me and my companions were going to miss class! So sad. But they were champs and did their studies in the dark with flashlights together while I slept! I slept for 20 hours. hahahahahaha I was very sick! My lungs were dead I think. I am so grateful for my companions and their service to me this week. Anyways-- I'm super sick but still LOVING the MTC!!!!!!!! On Wednesday I was determined to be a Missionary! (While I was sleeping, I kept my name tag on because I was still being a missionary! "Missionaries take care of their bodies.") I woke up Wednesday at 6:30 and went to class and gym and everything with my companions! I kept up all day! Gym probably wasn't the best idea, but it's fine haha. I was able to be a full time missionary all day, but it was hard!
Today I woke up so excited to write you all!!!! We went to the temple and that was SOOOO GREAT! I missed the "outside world" and the temple! When we got back, we printed off our emails so we didn't waste precious email time reading. we took our letters back to the residence and got our laundry and read our letters while we were walking haha. We had a picnic outside for lunch, which was so fun! I love these companions of mine!
ANYWAYS!!! I love being a missionary! This week was amazing and I loved every second of it!!!! I got a ton of letters and a package from my sweet parents and family and that meant the world to me because you all didn't even know I was sick . I love you all! PLEASE KEEP WRITING ME ON DEARELDER AND HANDWRITTEN LETTERS!!!!!!!! It means so much to me to get mail!! I love being a missionary, I love the MTC, I love my companions, my district, and my zone, I love the Spirit, I like the food hahaha. This might seem scattered. Have fun at the baby blessing this weekend!!
Funny story -- one night before I went to sleep, I was reading the story of Ammon cutting off the arms in the Book of Mormon... haha anyways I was SO cold that night and put my arms in my shirt to be warm! When I woke up, I went to move my arm and literally thought my arms had been cut off! hahahahaha Slight panic attack! good times!
I love you!!!!
Sestra Higgins
HI!!! Wow I am on a computer! I feel so cool... I am also on a mission... that is also cool. This week was a crazy one but I loved almost every second of it!!! First off, I snuck some photos home this week haha and lots of you have said that my companions are giants! Well-- you are correct! Sister Rhodes (Dark short hair) is 6 feet tall and sometimes wears heels... like why? Sister Redding is 6'8"... so just picture me in my skirt holding all my books running behind them trying to keep up with their long legs-- the struggle is so real. I love them both so much! We had a ton of laughs and a few "Hey, before this blows up, lets talk about it " chats. We are doing great! I was made senior companion on day 2 by our Branch President and that has been interesting. I love it, but its weird being "in charge" of such tall people who are so totally awesome on their own. Our companionship study is AMAZING! we get so much done and I always feel the Spirit when we testify to each other about PMG or other things and I look forward to it every day. Also, in my Slovene class (3 sisters, 2 elders) both my companions know German and Sister Rhodes is fluent in it and one of the elders lived in Serbia for 3 years so he knows Serbian... so its really just me that doesn't know how to learn a language! But the gift of tongues is so real! I am keeping up with everyone! I can Introduce myself, my companions, say what we are and who we represent, I can teach a lesson, read the Book of Mormon, pray, bear my testimony, and count to 999... I can't remember the word for 1000. Slovene is so great and I love it! Sometimes I feel like it's made up because it sounds crazy. for instance: to say I am from Pocatello Idaho -- Jaz sem iz Pocatella Idaha.. haha it sounds like some kid goofing around hahahaha. the D&C is not available in Slovene yet so we have to learn Croation so we can read that! We are also learning bits and pieces of the other surrounding languages! So about 6 languages at any given time. It's so fun and so cool how fast I can get it!!!!!! My teachers don't speak English to us which was super scary at first but now it's fun! I can understand most of what is being said in class. Brother Mills served in Slovenia 1 year ago and he lost 90 lbs on his mission... he said to prepare for lots of walking and awesome food haha we love asking him questions in free time about our mission! He says he LOVED the food (apart from blood pudding) and that it is breathtaking! Once we get on the topic of Slovenia, we can't get him to stop! And that makes us all more excited to go!
So the first day here, I got my tag first thing! I love it!!!!!!! Then I got my books and dropped stuff off at my residence hall which is kinda like a prison on the inside haha but I hung up some photos and the IDAHO banner Madi gave me so it looks and feels like home. After I dropped stuff off, I was rushed into my classroom where I heard my first Slovene words. its Slovene 24/7 in there. I honestly laughed the whole time. That night we taught investigators and ate dinner! The food here is okay! I eat a lot of pineapple and granola and salad! We had a new missionary meeting where I sang Called to Serve for the first time as a missionary! It was super powerful and I loved looking around and seeing everyone beam with our cute little tags.
On Thursday, we had a slow morning for a missionary filled with meetings and online courses. After lunch we had Slovene class! Holla! That was my first time praying in Slovene! I rock! We were then told we were going to teach an investigator in Slovene the next day... what?!?!!? I was like, "Wow that's gonna be a short lesson!" So we prayed and began to prepare for our lesson. Then we had a meeting with our Branch President who is so awesome, and his wife is so cute. I just love her! She hugs us, which is very needed! We got a surprise 3 min. email home which made all of our day!!!
Friday was hard! In class we learned to testify and that went so well!! I got up first and did it, so I felt cool. Then we had our first companion study which ROCKED!!! I love!!!! We also had our first gym time!! That was so fun and needed! I went running with Sister Rhodes and ran into a pole haha! I have a sweet bruise on my arm and a funny story now! We got ready and ate and then it was time to teach... AHHHH! That was an experience I won't forget. We prepared some questions to ask our investigator, but we forgot that she would respond.. haha oops! When she started talking I just started to laugh. I honestly didn't know what else to do! But the lesson went well.. I think. When we got back to the class, our teacher asked us when we were meeting with her again. We all looked at each other like HOW DID WE FORGET TO SET UP A FOLLOW-UP LESSON?!?!?!?! Rough start. haha So we ran down the hallways and caught up with her and asked her in the 2 words we knew if we could meet with her again the next day ha!
The next morning, I woke up with no voice! must have preached too hard or something! Our lesson was right after breakfast, so I tried my best to work up a voice so I could teach. I had a small voice and I think she thought that I was just scared haha. We taught her how to pray and invited her to do it! She asked a question AND I UNDERSTOOD HER!!!! I was even able to respond! I felt the Spirit and I was so proud of myself! HOW GREAT IS MY CALLING?!?! Saturday, I learned to love my zone so much! My zone is made up of everyone going to an Eastern European country! They are all blessing my life so much! At the end of the day, we all went into the Bulgarian room and sang hymns (in English, finally) as a zone. The Spirit was so strong and some people cried. It was awesome to sing as missionaries all headed to the same area. I loved it so much!!!!!!!
The next morning was Fast Sunday! I was pretty sure I had a MTC (missionary training cold) because I wasn't feeling too well! It was a great Sunday as a missionary! We had Mission Conference where all the missionaries in the MTC get together and listen to the Presidency speak! How great?! Sundays are different in the MTC because they are filled with stuff to do so it's hard for me to tell you everything! Just know that it was an AWESOME day as a missionary! My Branch President heard my cough and told me to go to the cold clinic the next day and of course I obeyed!
Monday was kind of a blur! I was happy in class and learned so much and helped some foreign missionaries find their building which was hard haha. I didn't have a voice so I couldn't sing in Slovene, sadly. At free time I went to the cold clinic and the nurse swabbed my throat and asked me if I was okay and I started crying, haha embarrassing! But I made her cry so then we were both crying! My companions were in the waiting room so it was my first time alone in forever so I just cried it out. Anyways -- she ended up making an appt. for me and I saw the doctor and I have pneumonia and the flu. hahahaha Why is that a thing! He could hear the liquid in my lungs but took an x-ray anyway. Anyways, rough day! He gave me some drugs and told me to go back to my residence and sleep, and I was SO sad because that meant me and my companions were going to miss class! So sad. But they were champs and did their studies in the dark with flashlights together while I slept! I slept for 20 hours. hahahahahaha I was very sick! My lungs were dead I think. I am so grateful for my companions and their service to me this week. Anyways-- I'm super sick but still LOVING the MTC!!!!!!!! On Wednesday I was determined to be a Missionary! (While I was sleeping, I kept my name tag on because I was still being a missionary! "Missionaries take care of their bodies.") I woke up Wednesday at 6:30 and went to class and gym and everything with my companions! I kept up all day! Gym probably wasn't the best idea, but it's fine haha. I was able to be a full time missionary all day, but it was hard!
Today I woke up so excited to write you all!!!! We went to the temple and that was SOOOO GREAT! I missed the "outside world" and the temple! When we got back, we printed off our emails so we didn't waste precious email time reading. we took our letters back to the residence and got our laundry and read our letters while we were walking haha. We had a picnic outside for lunch, which was so fun! I love these companions of mine!
ANYWAYS!!! I love being a missionary! This week was amazing and I loved every second of it!!!! I got a ton of letters and a package from my sweet parents and family and that meant the world to me because you all didn't even know I was sick . I love you all! PLEASE KEEP WRITING ME ON DEARELDER AND HANDWRITTEN LETTERS!!!!!!!! It means so much to me to get mail!! I love being a missionary, I love the MTC, I love my companions, my district, and my zone, I love the Spirit, I like the food hahaha. This might seem scattered. Have fun at the baby blessing this weekend!!
Funny story -- one night before I went to sleep, I was reading the story of Ammon cutting off the arms in the Book of Mormon... haha anyways I was SO cold that night and put my arms in my shirt to be warm! When I woke up, I went to move my arm and literally thought my arms had been cut off! hahahahaha Slight panic attack! good times!
I love you!!!!
Sestra Higgins