Week Three MTC (no letter) very sad face! Got One!!!

Modeling the outfit we sent her for an early bday present. i like that we can see her room a little bit!

Holding some of the letter she has received.  She loves all the letters and support!

Sis Jackson and Morgan always manage to match she said.

Sis Russell and Morgan, Quite the height difference!

I received pictures today but no letter!  Sad, i wonder is she just ran out of time!  Anyway cute pictures of our missionary girl!  She looks happy!

Oi family! 

I am so glad you had a great birthday, Mom! You definitely deserve it. I just wish I could have celebrated it with you! The cabinets look AMAZING, which is not surprising with Pops on the job :) I love, love getting your daily letters. Please keep it up. Dear Elder has been having a hard time getting every letter to me, and I know I am missing a few you have sent since you reference  something from a previous letter-one I never received! So if I don't answer a question or comment on something that is why!

I can't believe my time at the MTC is half-way done! The time here is so funny. Each day seems like a year but each week seems to pass in a second. This week was a pretty tough one, but there was a lot of really good experiences too!

We had our first TRC experience, which is where we talk to actual people. Most are members.  TRC supposed to help us learn to share mini experiences when we go to members' homes. I loved it so much! I love meeting new people and learning about their lives. It is almost as if I am reading a story, which makes the "no books" thing a little easier to bear :) I love sharing a spiritual message and bearing my testimony to them. I know I am going to love the people in my mission so much because...I ALREADY DO!

I love that you are studying about the Atonement. We had an incredible lesson on the Plan of Salvation from our teacher. He really went into depth--way more than we will go with out investigators--but it made the Atonement and the divinity of Christ all the more real to me. He talked about Christ and even Lucifer in the premortal life. When I think of the premortal life, I usually think only of the war in heaven, but my teacher put an emphasis on something else. He said that Christ and Lucifer were intelligences, like us. My professor said that we progressed in the pre-mortal world, but Christ and Lucifer progressed the fastest. Isn't that interesting? Before, I felt like I couldn't understand Christ because He was something altogether different from me, something far more great than I could comprehend. And He is, but He also went through the same things we did! So we are similar! He just did it much better and much faster than I ever could. It is interesting to think about. We knew Him before. We must have trusted Him so much, knowing that if He didn't complete the Atonement that we would be lost. Can you imagine how we acted or what we felt as we watched Him struggle through the Atonement? To see the Brother we loved hurting so much for us? And to know that if He let the cup pass then we would truly be lost forever? I bet if people could feel even a glimmer of what they felt then, we would cease to be tempted by Lucifer ever again!  I feel like my understanding of the Savior and His love for me has really grown this week. My love and understanding of Him and what He did has also grown exponentially. 

Many girls on our floor are leaving on their missions and almost all of them are getting reassignments to somewhere in the states! People have been called to Arizona, Utah, Montana, Wisconsin, TEXAS, California, and so many more! At first, I was worried about being reassigned, but I am not anymore. I'm actually looking forward to it! It will be as if I got to serve TWO missions. How lucky is that? My teacher actually was reassigned for 8 months! Yikes that is almost half of my mission. He was called to Lubbock, Texas, and had to learn Spanish and French in addition to his Portuguese. I can't even imagine that, but he had the most amazing experiences in both missions. If the Lord sends me to Utah or Montana, then it is where I need to be so I'm not stressing about it! 

I have had a hard time this week with my companion. It is so hard to have someone with you ALL THE TIME. I'm kind of a loner, if you didn't know :) She is someone who gets frustrated and stressed very easily, and I try to give her pep talks, but it isn't exactly my "special talent" as Dr. Barron would put it. I feel as if the Lord is really trying to teach me patience. Unfortunately, I can't say that I progressing at a particularly fast pace! If you have any advice, I would love to hear it! 

Many people have told me that God blesses the families of His missionaries and I believe that He will. I prayed long and hard for Uncle Dean and Uncle Shane that they would be able to get the right job. When I prayed, I "cashed in" all the promised blessings of my mission that they would get jobs. I don't know if God works this way. We can't bargain with God, but I thought I would give it a try and I felt the Spirit as I prayed so I think that means that Uncle Dean and Uncle Shane will get a job and that it will be everything that they need it to be. 

Pops! 

Thank you so much for sharing your missionary wisdom! It is always perfectly timed to what I most need to hear. Talk about inspiration! I loved and really needed to hear the saw mill analogy. I fear that sometimes I do focus too much on the sawdust like my own testimony and knowledge and not so much on loving my investigators and even my companion. I am actually going to change up my study habits in order to focus more on the lumber and less on the sawdust! 

Aunt Ellie! 

Thank you so much for your letter. I am sorry I can't write you individually, but I appreciated it so much. I think your missionary efforts are amazing. Keep it up! I think I really needed to hear that story about Uncle Scott's brother. It helped put me in the right mindset. I am not serving a mission just to go to Brazil. If God has other plans for me than that is what matters. Not the country. So thank you so much for sharing his story! 

I love you guys so much! I think of you every day and am often overwhelmed with gratitude for being a part of the "Daniels Six Pack!" 

Sister Daniels