Monday, June 30, 2014

HELLO MY FAVORITE HUMANS ~ I'M ALIVE

Ohhhh my heavens, where do I begin!? I can't believe I made it to P-day finally. Hallelujah, miracles happen! hahaha

Alright, this has been the CRAZIEST and longest week of my entire life... and it hasn't even been a full week yet! I will try my best to remember everything and tell you all of my feelings, but it will most likely come out in a mush of wonderful, craziness.

WEDNESDAY. The first day was so surreal. It was a blur of psycho newness everywhere hahaha. I kept having to remind myself that I was a missionary and that this was real life. I met my companion and I just love her to pieces! She is from upstate NY but only moved there about six months ago, so she is originally from Michigan and kind of all over because her family moved a lot. Her name is Sister Kurtz and she is so awesome. She surprises me everyday, and it makes me laugh inside! hahaha she is a super soft spoken and the sweetest human you will ever meet. But in reality she loves to do exciting things, like her favorite thing to do was to go 95 miles an hour on the deserted high way (that is a 55 mi/hr road) in her Jeep Cherokee named Car-zilla. Hahaha I freaking love her. So funny. Also I am learning a lot about my weaknesses and strengths by having a companion with me at all times which has been such an awesome experience so far. I TALK SO MUCH. Sister Kurtz is a saint for having to deal with me all the time hahaha. She probably thinks I'm absolutely nuts, cause I am! :)

After you guys dropped me off I got my name tag... oh how I love my name tag! It is probably my favorite thing to put on before going out everyday to classes and breakfast and such. Being called Sister Loar has been an adjustment but everyday I like the way it sounds more and more. It is definitely a struggle adjusting to the MTC schedule. Every minute is planned out so we are running around like psycho sisters trying not to be late to everything. It is so fun haha!

My teachers are Brother Gardner and Brother Watkins and they are the best people ever! I love them so much! I have never learned so much and felt the spirit so strong and so constantly in my entire life. Every day I am just so exhausted and all I have done is sit in a class room all day and then teach our "investigators". OH MAN AM I LEARNING SO MUCH ABOUT TEACHING. There is so much more to it than I could have ever imagined. It is so hard. I feel like part of why I am so exhausted is because I am constantly trying to focus SO HARD on everything, especially when you are teaching. 

I know it sounds weird to say this, but I have learned my purpose as a missionary these last few days. I knew before I left what I was going to get myself into, with the help of all of you awesome examples that are now returned missionaries, but boy oh boy, this work just blows my mind. IT IS AMAZING. My purpose is to bring others unto Christ and by doing that we invite them to have faith in Jesus Christ, repent of their sins and mistakes, be baptized and cleansed through the power of the Priesthood (just as Jesus Christ showed us through His example of obedience), receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost (a member of the Godhead that we get as a companion that we can always have with us) and endure to the end (continue in faith and obedience). HOW BEAUTIFUL IS THAT. That is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Those 5 things are what the Gospel of Jesus Christ consists of. Heavenly Father has the most beautiful plan laid out for all of us and we just have to choose to follow Him and come unto Christ, our Savior and our Redeemer. I cannot explain how much I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT.

Also the last couple of days we have been playing volleyball in the sand volleyball pits at the MTC fields! It's been so much fun! We usually play with our Zone which consists of the best humans ever. I love them! We have the best Zone ever!

My district is hilarious. They are so funny. The elders.. oh the elders. How they make me laugh so hard with all of their quirky ways hahaha! Elder Freeman- from Virginia, is a stud, he came out a little bit later than what usual elders do, he is 20, but he is definitely here for the right reasons. His comp Elder Feller- from Eagle Mountain, UT is a poly! Samoan baby in the house hahaha he just barely graduated from high school and he played rugby. He is pretty cool and he always catches me at my worst moments and just laughs at me all the time. hahaha it is so funny. He always looks at me when another elder in the zone says something (usually Elder Chandler.. who is an interesting person who says interesting things, but is also a child of God and a great person) and he always is laughing at my facial expressions... I probably should work on that. hahaha
Anyways Elder Koch (pronounced Cook... I know weird) anyways he is a ginger and a pretty stellar one too. He is from Texas and Canada and loves hockey and is fun. His comp Elder Heckle.. Heckel...(I cant remember how to spell it... but I call him Elder Pickle... hahahahaha IT CRACKS ME UP EVERY TIME) He is so funny. He says the FUNNIEST things and has the most interesting past and childhood.. he is from Midway, UT and has some interesting/weird life stories which make for a super interesting lunch time. hahaha so funny! The other day he was eating a gluten free chocolate cookie..(he is allergic to gluten.. he said he falls asleep when he eats bread... hahahaha so funny) anyways he ate a couple of bites and throws it on his plate and yells, "This cookie was made by SATAN!" Hahahaha oh my, it was so funny. I'm the only one that thinks he is funny.


The district that just left was so hilarious, some of them leave today too. (THE ONES LEAVING TODAY ARE GOING TO THE BOISE IDAHO MISSION WOOP WOOP I LOVE THEM) A lot of the elders in that district though love to talk about their guns and knives and hunting and their awesome trucks... Hahahaa I laugh every time, so typical.

SUNDAY IS THE BEST DAY EVER HERE.
Yesterday was SO great. We watched Music and the Spoken Word (which was 4th of July edition---so good!) and listened to Sister Marriott, the second counselor in the General YW Presidency. She is a convert to the church and has the cutest southern accent. She was awesome and taught me a lot about what I need to do as a missionary.

Church and meetings were so great! We watched Elder Bednar's talk, "The Character of Christ" and it blew my mind. IT WAS SO GOOD AND I HAVE SO MUCH WORK TO DO. 
We all need to be drawing closer to Christ every single day, but doing what He would do (serving others and always caring about others and never turning inward selfishly) which is only possible by applying the Atonement in our lives. 

I love you all so much and am SO SO SO GRATEFUL FOR ALL OF YOU! Thanks for the letters and emails everyone, and I am so sorry if I don't write you for a while! We don't have much extra time ever! But anyways I ran into some homies here and it has made life here so much better. I love seeing familiar faces and hearing from all of you! MUCHO LUVO THE GOSPEL IS TRUE. I PROMISE.

Love,
Sister Loar



Sisters going to Cali


P-Day Adventures




Wednesday, June 25, 2014

The Big Day!!!!! June 25, 2014

The Last Family Picture For 18 Months



Who's going to be taller when Maren gets home?  


Monday, June 16, 2014

HERE WE GO!

It has been completely insane these last six weeks. School ended, went on a couple of trips to see friends before leaving on the mish, my brother came home (yayyyyy so happy!!!!!), my brother and I took a road trip down to see some family and friends in Utah and AZ, then our homecoming and farewell were combined for a glorious weekend with family and friends, and then a family vacation to Cali (we passed by the sign for Bakersfield.... super weird and the whole "leaving on a mission thing" is becoming SO REAL... Bakersfield is actually a real place! Haha), came home, and now preparing to leave! 

It's been a whirlwind of such happy and exciting things, that these last 2 weeks, when I finally have slowed down and really thought about everything, I got super overwhelmed with what is ahead of me. I do not feel prepared whatsoever... well maybe a little, but nothing compared to what I wish I could be. Also I do not feel adequate to become a representative of Jesus Christ. OH MAN. But after giving my farewell talk and leaning SO much on the spirit and its guidance and inspiration, I feel that I will only be able to do this whole missionary thing with the Lord's help. Which in turn, makes me just SO FLIPPING EXCITED TO GO. 

My entire youth I have been so stoked to go on a mission and now that I only have 9 days left before I leave, it is hitting me in the face. Holy crap. Such a mix of emotions, but I know that bottom line, I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am honored and will faithfully spend every minute I am set-apart as a missionary to do what the Lord would have me do and love whoever He puts in my path, how He would love them.

About 2 weeks from today, you all will be hearing from Sister Loar at the Missionary Training Center. Ahhh yay! Haha until then, Hoorah for Israel! I love you all.