Designated Coachroach Dispatcher

Dear mga kaibigan at pamilya (friends and family),

 

Once again, this email will be all over the place since I've just been taking notes on what to say and there's not really organization to it.  For starters, we have a new batch of non-language training missionaries in.  This time, we have Indian missionaries, which is so cool!  they're all from India and will serve in India.  The first day they were here, though, I assumed they were Filipino even though they didn't really look like they were and started trying to speak Tagalog to them.  They looked at me weirdly and my companion said, "Sister Larsen, they're from India."  Hahaha.  I was asked to give a talk in Sacrament meeting on Sunday (they post up who's talking the night before and then you just give a 3 minute talk on a chosen subject they give.)  My subject was "God is Our Loving Heavenly Father."  I felt really good about that topic, and used Mosiah 2:41 and 2:34 and spoke about how we should always thank God for our blessings and recognize that we should always remember that Heavenly Father walks beside his missionaries even during (and especially during) their trials as they serve.  Also that we should look forward to and press forward steadfastly towards being able to return to live with God after this life.  I had only a couple of notes jotted down, true to form of how President Carter advises missionaries to give talks (essentially - kind of wing it while going by the Spirit.)

 

This will surprise people who know me, but I can honestly say that out of everyone (all the language training missionaries) who go to gym (about 60-70 of us), I work out the most out of anyone.  There aren't organized bball games here, only just shooting hoops, playing volleyball, or kickball in the gym.  So there's a bajillion people in the gym and a billion balls flying around and I quickly realized I wasn't a fan of that.  So I went to the small room off to the side where they have 2 ellipticals and 2 stationary bikes.  I started running on the elliptical.  And running and running.  Every time I go to gym now, I take my mp3 player, put on some MoTab and RUN.  The entire time (with a 5 minute break halfway through - but I'm slowly phasing that out too.)  So that's an hour of hardcore exercise.  I'm sweating a lot, but I feel really good when I go to bed and sleep really well/have more energy for the day.  Everyone else is doing stationary stuff, and I'm that crazy fit person in the corner getting all sweaty, but I dig it.  This mission is already making me more hardcore.

 

Part of the reason I want to get in shape NOW rather than later is that we go proselyting next week!  On Wednesday we'll go on splits with some of the missionaries already in the field and we're going to go out on the streets and tract with them (I think maybe go to appointments with them as well.)  I'm crazy scared of that but also super excited.  Our Tagalog (well, Taglish) doesn't seem anywhere near good enough for that, but I'm sure we'lll learn a LOT and I'm so thankful we have that opportunity here at this MTC!  I'm so very excited to go out into the field.

 

     People in my district.  I can't even... words can't even describe.  The people from places other than the U.S. (and even those in the U.S.) have had difficult lives and many trials.  My companion from Fiji and my teacher both grew up in homes where there was no electricity, they used fire to cook their meals,and they harvested coconots or papaya to try and make a living.  My companion walked 3 hours to school every morning so she could get an education.  My smiley and wonderful (completely wonderful) teacher was not supported by his family when he chose to serve a mission and before his mission would either do odd jobs on Saturdays for church members so he could afford to take a jeepney (Filipino bus) into town or if that wasn't an option he'd walk for 4 hours to get to church on Sunday.  He is a truly amazing person.  We met his wife and adorable little baby, and it is clear that the blessings of the Gospel are real and tangible.  Eternal families are amazing, and only possible through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  It may seem hard at times, but we can all overcome our challenges especially when we have the Lord to support us.  I can't even describe how much my heart is already being touched by these people, and how small and insignificant my challenges seem when I talk to them. 

 

Now for some funny things.  Elder Zou, one of the Elders in our district (from China), knows a little bit about American history but not much.  When he found out I'm from the South, he used the amount of English he knows to talk to me about it.  Then he said, "Did your family own slaves?"  We all had a really good laugh over that one and I blushed hardcore.  He thought he had offended me but I assured him he hadn't.  Another funny instance was when I said hello to two Filipino Elders.  One looked at me and with wide eyes said, "Sister - your skin is so white.... you look like a walking milk!"  The other Elder then nudged him hard and said, "He's just jealous."  We had a good laugh over that as well.  I seriously have gotten used to just being stared at on a regular basis because of my ultra whiteness.  It's going to be weird to go back to the U.S. after my mission and not cause such a sensation when I'm around people, haha.  This new batch of Elders has straight up started to call me "Sister Taylor Swift." They didn't have any contact with the other batch of missionaries, so I assume that I will probably get that comment throughout my mission. 

 

I am the designated cockroach killer.  There have been 3 we've found live in our room, and about 6 dead when we've woken up in the morning.  One day one was alive in the morning and crawling around on our bedposts.  We were all freaking out and I was hoping Sister Tilley (who'd seen/beena round them in Fiji) would kill it, but she didn't.  I knew it had to be done, so I grabbed a shoe and squished it.  That one was the size of my index finger.  The other one I killed was smaller but still big.  So, everyone else is too afraid to kill them now, but I know it must be done!  I can't imagine how many (or how big  ) they'll be out in the field since it's an ultra clean environment here in the MTC.

 

Sister Kelsey from Utah got sick this week so we ended up spending a day and a half up in our rooms. All the Americans (Sisters especially ) are sick with all kinds of ailments.  I'm glad for my health, but I hope I don't have an american companion for a while in the field because I want to do the work and not be laid up all the time with a sick companion (or be the one who is sick.)  I've had upset stomach on occasion, but nothing I couldn't power through.

 

One day, we were talking about the haka (polynesian war dance ) and I said I kind of knew it.  Some of the people from my district said I had to do it for them, so I did.  They all thought it was the funniest thing ever, some lil white girl doing some scary war dance.  They said I was scary though, and just like when I did it before I have bruises on my thighs from slapping them so hard.  Later that night, some of the Sisters from Kiribati (an island - 90% of the language training missionaries speak 2 languages at least) were doing some of their cultural dances.  So some of us Americans did the Cotton Eyed Joe and the Macarena (technically spanish, but oh well.)  they thought it was hilarious. 

 

It rains here hard almost every day, and there's a ton of thunderstorms.  I enjoy it though.  Very wet, but the climate is similar enough to Virginia I'm not having a problem with it so far.

 

Some funny Tagalog grammar - our grammar books have a lot of stuff wrong in them (doesn't inspire much comfort, I know.)  One was, "Magkano po ang asawa ninyo?"  That would say in our language "How much is your spouse?" As in - how many spouses do you have.  But in Tagalog, it means "How much (money) is your spouse?"  That may not make sense, but we all though it was pretty hilarious.  Clearly, if the grammar books are messed up because words are interchangable (they have about 5 words for each type of thing - and 3 words for rice, depending on what stage of harvest it is) it's gonna take us a while.  Our grammar is kind of non-existant right now, but we are getting more words as we teach and the trio is nice cuz we can pool our knowledge of the language as we teach.

 

This week I ate tiny little cooked birds eggs at lunch one day.  They taste like normal eggs, I like them.  I don't know what bird they're from, however.  I also have been eathing papaya, palm nuts in a drink (squishy clear things - super weird but awesome), and fried bananas.  The bananas here are not my enemies like the ones in the states are; these have a more mild flavor closer to potatoes or something.

 

That's what I've got for now.  We're progressing, and by next week I will have experienced a little bit of serving in the field.  Looking forward to it!  I'll send along some more pictures with this too, hopefully they work!

 

Nagmamahal,

Sister Larsen

 

Marinda's district plus Mongolian and Filipino districts

 

 

Marinda's district

 Marinda's trio companionship.  On a couch.

 A Dead Roach

Jet-lagged and standing in front of a sign on her first day in the Philippines.

Call Me Sister Swift--The Newest Russian Celebrity

Sige.  Okay.  Let's hope this thing works; the computers here are kind of... um... not always in the mood to work.

So, this email will be all over the place since I was just taking notes of what to say all week, but hopefully you enjoy it.

First off, I forgot to say last time - our investigators are our teachers.  Last week, our investigator "Gloria" who hardly spoke any english came in to the classroom and was like, "I'm your evening instructor!" and speaks perfect English.  That was kind of lame, but I suspected when we were teaching her she knew English juuust fine.  We're teaching our other teacher as well  now (Brother Rondillia) and his "investigator character" that he acts as is "Brother Gargabite."   I'll talk more about our two "investigators" AKA teachers later.

There are not even 200 misssionaries here, apparently, but they plan on having 200 by the end of June.  So, this is a pretty small MTC.  Which means that all of us Americans kind of stick out, a lot, haha.  Some quick notes - I've met about 3 other 21 year old Sisters here, so we're definitely kind of a dying breed (everyone else is younger.)  I'm also within the first 30 American missionaries to ever be at this MTC, too, cool story.  A large number of missionaries here are converts - probably about 60% or more.  It's pretty awesome; they all know how it feels to be taught by missionaries and gain a real testimony that the Church is true for themselves.  It also means that sometimes we have different ways of looking at things because of our cultures, upbringing etc, but I'm getting more used to it.

The temple here is awesome.  I also love how all the temple workers are these short little old Filipina ladies who literally don't even clear my shoulder.  They're adorable and I love them.  Most of the Filipinos here are significantly shorter than I am, or the Elders are my same height.  That's been taking some getting used to, haha.  I seriously enjoy Sundays here.  They're my favorite part of the week.  We don't get General Authorities here all the time (at all) like I would've at the Provo MTC, but I still like the chillness of Sundays and how I don't feel the pressure of teaching and learning the language as much. 

As could have been expected, as this was the case with Spanish, my pronunciation of Tagalog is probably significantly better than it has any right to be - I can read almost fluently, although some of the really really long words trip me up sometimes, and my accent or when I speak it is pretty spot on.  However, remembering the words is very difficult so far, but I'm getting there.

*****Now here's the hilarious part.  I officially feel famous here, all the time.  At least 15 different Elders on separate occasions came up to me and have said, "Sister!  Did you know you look JUST LIKE Taylor Swift??"  Yeah, that's a thing.  Then, on the Sunday before the non-Language learning missionaries left (AKA, the Filipinos and Mongolians), we had a picture taking time set aside for everyone to go take pictures.  That day, at least 20 different elders and about 5 Sisters all wanted to take an individual picture with me.  They were all, "I have a picture with an American!" hahah.  Also, today one of the bus drivers who bus people to the MTC came up to me and said, "Sister... Sister Larsen?  Where are you from again?  Russia, right?"  I looked at him and said, "Uhhh.. nope... U.S...."  He then said, "Oh, sorry, I forgot - your face, it just looks very Russian."  To be fair, I have had people say in the States before that I look like Taylor Swift and think that I was Russian.  Also, while shopping at the store, I saw multiple makeup products for "skin lightening."  They're hardcore about white skin being the ideal here.  It's super weird, since in the states everyone wants to be tan.

Mom, I have been whistling and singing ALL the time here.  My kasama isn't annoyed though, so that's good at least.  I just like having noise around me apparently, and when it's too quiet it weirds me out.

There are 700 affixes in Tagalog.  That meanst that... I'm still not even sure what that means.  but there's like 700 different ways to say one phrase then, or more than that.  It's crazy.  Here's some Tagalog grammar:

Strengthen will God families on Earth?
Verb Actor Object Location.

Yeah.  I'll probably say more about that later, but it's confusing.

To say, " Is this elevator going up?"  You say "Ba ba ba ba ba ba?"  And the response for yes is "ba ba ba ba."  I'm not making that up.  The word for "wall" is ding ding and the word for "ring" is sing sing.  Forreals.
"Suit Coat" is said Amerikana.  Not making that up either.

We have our first committed baptism!  Our teacher investigator "brother Gargabite" said he would be baptized.  And we committed him to obey the Word of Wisdom.  Yay!  We're very happy.

And by "we're" I mean we're.  I'm in a trio now, because a Sister from our ward had to go home because of health reasons.  So, now Sister Kelsey is in our companionship and there's three of us.  I like it though, and we're doing okay so far.

Just so you all know - Deb sent me a letter, and it took 15 days to get here.  So be aware of that!  Also, Deb, thank you for your letter!  I'll respond later to that.

The weirdest food I've had here so far is candied potatoes.  I liked them though - they had like caramel on them.  But it was delicious. 

Uhhhmmm.... that's all I've got for now and it's a lot.  Everyone at home or on missions, stay strong and stay solid!  God loves you, and is looking out for you.  Never forget that.  I pray for you all every night.  Things are gonig better here, and I'm in the swing of things.  I have confidence that we will learn and grow a great deal here in the MTC, even though it's hard to be cooped up for so long inside sometimes.  We're speaking Taglish to our investigators, and both of them are progressing!  We are getting noticably better, and we've invited the Spirit into our lessons multiple times.

I Can't Even Come Up With a Creative Title, But I Must Endure To the End

Dear Friends And Family,

 

Wow.  One week down, and it feels like it's been 6 already.  Seriously.  The first day I was de-wormed (given weird pills), a water bottle that will purify water throughout my mission (we're only allowed to drink water from the water fountains here, not from the tap), got my shots, and I have a companion (kasama.)  Her name is Sister Tilli and she's from Fiji.  My district is composed of two Sisters from New Zealand (one of Maori and one of Tongan descent), one Elder from China (Elder Zou - his mom was converted when she was outside the states and they had to have all their ordinances done in Hong Kong), one Elder from Utah, and two Sisters from Utah, two Sisters from Kiribas (an Island somewhere) and an Elder from Figi and another Elder from KIribas.  Yeah.  I am definitely in a minority here.  There's apparently about 40% Filipino missionaries, 40% "other" missionaries from various places around the Asia area, and about 20% Americans.  Our District is nice, I like them, and we've had some good experiences.  The food here is weird, - straight up, the first week was rice, some sort of mystery meat (I never asked what it was - generally for bfast it was some sort of weird sausage) and some weird vegetable side.  Needless to say, I doubt I'm going to gain weight in the MTC.  However, lately I think they've been trying to help us poor Americans who are getting super sick of rice cuz they served cereal one day (in metal containers - cereal is super expensive here) and hashbrowns this morning.  So, they're making a concerted effort to help us people who aren't so adjusted to this food yet, I think.

 

I'd say it's about 70% Elders here and 30% Sisters, too.  Our teacher, Elder Rondilla, is awesome.  However, we just got a new "evening teacher" yesterday.  Let me tell how this went down.

Saturday was the hardest day.  I was SUPER discouraged.  We flew in on Friday, had pretty full day, and then on Saturday when I was still severely jet lagged we were supposed to teach our first investigator.  Her name was Sister Gloria, and our teacher told us that we'd only need to speak about 15 percent Tagalog (because, after all, we'd only learned a few phrases anyway.)  My kasama and I planned our lesson in mostly English.  We walked in, and Sister Gloria did not understand ANY English.  Like, 5 words is what she understood.  There were several parts in the lesson where I just started to nervously laugh because I couldn't communicate ANYTHING to her and it seemed like a pretty hopeless situation, and so we were reading out of the Tagalog PMG without even knowing what we were saying.  It was bad.  That night, I went to bed super, super discouraged about ever being able to communicate or learn the language.  The next few lessons we taught her weren't much better, but at least a little better.  Tagalog is SO HARD.  If I was stateside, I could say just what I wanted to to the investigators.  Here... no.  I can barely even communicate "God loves you."  It's sad, because I can hardly even invite the Spirit because the language barrier is so prevalent.  Ah, ah.  The few things I do undertstna that she said were the spanish crossover words like "trabajo."  I keep wanting to speak Spanish to her, but I can't.  OUr first lesson I'm pretty sure I did start speaking Spanish to her.  There's aobut 20 moments in a day that I wish I was learning Spanish or speaking English, but I need to repent and accept that yes, one day, I will learn this.  Our wonderful smiley teacher (he's a filipino and he's the best) Elder Rondilla said that we can expect to be decently speaking the language in 6 months.  He also said that sometimes Filipinos don't even know how to speak their own language that well because there's like 20 different ways to say the exact same thing.  And I'm thinking... GREAAAAT. 

 

Two Filipinas in our room have told me they think I look like Anne Hathaway, and an Australian Elder said I look like some chick off of a Aussie TV show.  People are kind of fascinated by my whiteness over here, as could have been predicted.  Sister Tilley said one day, when I was acting super goofy and walking strangely on purpose that, "All the white people I've ever met are super boring and serious, but you're super crazy and funny!"  That made me feel good, hahah. 

 

Things are going better now.  Language is still saddening sometimes.  I think I'll havta send out pictures next week, cuz my time's almost up.  I'm going well.. the MTC is hard, and there's a lot of times I don't like it here, honestly - my favorite times of the day are showering and going to sleep (and the videos they show us of the district.)  I still always dread talking to my investigator.  But hopefully we will progress in time as a district and I personally will have a beter attitude.

 

Nagmamahal,

Sister Marinda Larsen

Todo, we're not in Kansas anymore

Dear friends and family,

I have arrived safely!  I had a few missionary adventures in the airport, including a freshmen in college looking guy with an accent who asked me if I was LDS in the security line.  The answer was of course yes, and turns out he had just stayed a year with a Mormon family in Idaho and was flying back to Spain to be with his family.  Cool stuff.  About 3 TSA agents also asked me all about where I was going, and said they had family on missions etc.  I met up with a cool Sister named Sister Bishop in Dulles and then we flew to Detroit (that airport is AWESOME) and then got on the 19 hour flight to Tokyo.  The lady next to me was flying to the Philippines to visit her family, and the girl on my other side was going to the Philippines to help at an orphanage for 4 weeks.  I ended up helping the Filipina lady go to the bathroom because she was feeling dizzy.  I think that the elderly are given a great deal of respect over here from what I can tell, and I really like that.

When we got off our flight, however, we were supposed to exchange our money and then meet up with people who would tell us what to do.  We went to the spot we were supposed to, and waited  for about 35 minutes, but no one showed.  Worried something was wrong, there actually ended up being two Church members on the flight who walked by and we asked if we could use their cell phone to call the people who were supposed to pick us up.  We did eventually get ahold of them, and about ten minutes later the driver showed up to pick us up.  He seemed confused that we were there, almost like he wasn't expecting us or something.  We then went over with a large group of missionaries who had just shown up; all of them were from Mongolia (two sets of Sisters and maybe 3 sets of Elders.)  They were very nice, and spoke really good English although the girls were quiet and the guys more outspoken.  Mongolian is a very beautiful language to hear them speak it.

We then drove to the hotel, and by the time all was said and done it was 2 am.  We walked into our rooms and there were already 6 girls in there sharing 3 beds.  So... we ended up sleeping 3 and 3.  I HAD to take a shower once I got back, I felt super gross after those long flights and so much sweating from the heat (and stressing we wouldn't be picked up/had been forgotten.)  Currently, I'm running on about 2 or 3 hours of sleep since we woke up at 4:30 this morning to pack and eat breakfast.  There was a monkey in the main hotel yard, chained up.  We took pictures, but I don't want to send those today.  

As I went about finding ways to serve people, my nametag made me feel a little bit like a cross between a super star and a super hero.  It certainly calls attention to me, but I also have a lot of responsibilities now as I'm representing the Church.  It's amazing though, and I am SO happy to be here!  It feels great because this is just what I need to be doing, and where I should be at this time.

Driving through Manila is crazy.  It's crazy here.  SO MANY PEOPLE.  But I love it.  I knew as soon as I stepped out of the airport that I was in for a whole new experience.  I'll tell you all more about it later.

For now, 

Nagamamahal,

Sister Larsen

This Is It! (Mission Field Address Included)

Whelp, everyone, this is it!  I'll be in the Philippines MTC for six weeks (still no address for that yet - once I get over there I'll have my mom let you all know.)  Starting Wednesday, people can also email me (those of you that have my email address) and I'll do my best to get back to ya.  Missionaries only have time to write once a week and it's pretty limited, but I'll do my best to get back to everyone and anyone who writes me at least once a week.  My address after I get out of the MTC after six weeks is as follows:

Sister Marinda Flannery Larsen
Philippines Manila Mission
PO Box 1997
Makati Central PO, Makati City
1200 Metro Manila
Philippines

I am so thankful for this opportunity to serve as a missionary and I know I'll come to love the people of the Philippines.  I hope everyone continues to progress and find more and more happiness while I am gone.  You all are great and I want to keep in touch with anyone who can find the time!

After this all posts on this blog will be emails I sent to my mom, and she will put them up on the site.  Thanks for everything you all have done on me throughout the years!

Bye!

Nagmamahal (with love,)
Sister Marinda Larsen

Eight Days Until Legitimacy (Bonus: Music Videos and an Opossum)

Nine days until I leave (next Wednesday, the 22nd) - five until I'm set apart as a missionary (this Sunday) - I have my itinerary and missionary tag now, which I received in the mail!

It really is down to the "Final Countdown" now... not to mention this song is amazing.  As is their hair. This song kind of encapsulates a small part of how I feel right now about my mission - I hope to be able to teach,speak Tagalog, etc. as well as that one guy can shred on the guitar.

I've been getting a lot of stuff in order (naturally, with the help of my ever ready mother) and the packing has begun.  The flight itinerary has me a little nervous, because this is the shakedown:

From Dulles

To Detroit

To Nagoya, Japan

To Manila

Total time in the air (I believe this is excluding one couple hour layover) = 23 hours.

So yeah... pretty exciting, but a lot of flying.  It's good that we'll get there on Thursday and they're giving us a day to recover and try and reset our sleep schedules before we actually start missionary classes and training at the Missionary Training Center in Manila on Friday.  

I recently learned how to say the equivalent of "Good morning" and "Good night" in Tagalog - Magandang umaga and magandang hapon respectively.  I know a smattering of other words (including the most important one - pusa, or cat) but hopefully my ability to learn the language increases as I'm immersed in it.

I just got super distracted by my cat trying to attack something through the screen - I looked out and it was an adorable baby opossum walking right outside our back door.  It opened its mouth and looked pretty mad about that, but didn't play dead.  I'll be straight, I think opossums are super cute, especially the babies.  Maybe it's just my fascination with small furry things, but I'll miss opossums in the Philippines - over there, it will be actual cat sized rats (no joke.)  Here's a baby opossum, and you can judge for yourself if they're cute or not.  Off topic, but relevant to my interests. 

 

On the bright side, they do have adorable little tarsiers over there, as seen below.

I believe that's all the extremely relevant (and not so relevant) news I have.  The closer the time to leave gets, I feel less nervous and more excited to serve the people of the Philippines I am.  It's certainly going to be a huge change in my life, but I know that as I trust in the Lord I'll be able to overcome the challenges I will face as a missionary.  

I will post up my address in the MTC and mission field on Facebook (and on here) this Friday or Saturday.  I do hope that people will write me letters while I'm gone!  I hope that as I leave this blog to the hands of my mom to update with emails I'll be sending home on my mission, that they will serve to entertain you somewhat and inspire you moreso.  

And finally - just in case you all thought that going on a mission is going to make me a "square" automatically, I wanted to share this last parting thought.  Although I've been listening to pretty much exclusively Mo-Tab and soft music in prep for my mission, I was notified that my favorite band, Family Force 5, recently came out with a new music video and song.  They're "Christian Southern Crunk Rock" so you won't find any cussing or inappropriate stuff in there - just awesome beats and having fun with dancing and chainsaws.  When you've heard me refer to the term "krumping" as my favorite dance form, that's what they're doing in this video when they look a little bit like they're having seizures standing up.

And with that - Kailangan ko nang umalis (I have to go!) I hope your week involves only as many dancing chainsaw weilding lumberjacks as you want it to.

Perhaps the Greater Your Age, the Greater Your Appreciation

I remember last summer, a year ago, when I was so very excited for my 21st birthday. It would mean I was old enough to serve a full time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. At the time, Sister missionaries were only allowed to serve beginning at the age of 21. I started my mission papers last summer, eagerly looking forward to taking care of everything I needed to before Christmas so I could submit my papers then.  And then the announcement came - young men could serve missions at 18 and young women at 19 (previously the ages had been 19 for men, 21 for women.)  At first I was elated.  I could leave even earlier on my mission!  However, since I had already signed up for my housing contract, I ended up having to stay for winter semester anyway.  In the end, this was good, because I learned a lot this semester and grew a great deal (with the help of my friends and my mission preparation class at BYU.)  The more I thought about the age change, the more I wondered how it would change my mission experience.  Sisters would be younger now, which will create a different dynamic than when all the women serving together were above 21.  In some ways, I'll be the "last of a generation" of Sisters who serve at the older age (although there will always be some who serve later on than the beginning 19 year old age.)  Initially, I was, in part, a little bit disappointed.  Going on a mission as a female used to be somewhat more rare, as you had to make it to the age of 21 and still be unmarried and in a position to serve and have that desire.  With the sudden rush of girls wanting to serve, I was concerned that many wouldn't be serving for the right reasons, or would be immature, etc.,  and that to a certain extent it might "tarnish" the reputation of Sister missionaries. That wasn't the right way to look at it, but it was, in part, a semi-valid concern of mine that has been refuted by many of my 19 year old girl friends who are serving or preparing to serve missions now - and very capably doing so, as well.

                             
  Some 21 year old Sister missionaries            Some 19 year old Sister missionaries

Different ages, same purpose - which starts with their righteous desire to serve God's children

And then I thought about it some more.  This was opening up an opportunity for many Sisters who wouldn't have had the chance to serve otherwise, because of schooling, etc.  Just because I was fortunate enough to have been in a position at the age of 21 to serve doesn't mean that many other girls who would like to serve could have.  This was one other way of giving people options, and Heavenly Father is always willing to work with us to reach our goals and desires, if they are righteous.  The mission age lowering was an answer to many prayers, and I was not so stubborn in my way of thought to not see that.  Whether the women serving were 19, 21, or 28, if they served with the right purpose and their only reason and desire to serve was to share the Gospel that had made them so happy - well, there is nothing but good in that.

A small word of caution, though.  I am very excited for the opportunity I have to serve a mission, and there are very clearly many blessings both for myself and others that will come from it.  However, I have seen in some instances that people are very disappointed when they aren't called somewhere "exciting" on their missions, and are going "Stateside" or somewhere familiar to them.  The purpose of missionary work is the same no matter where you are.  To share the Gospel.  A mission is not a time for "travel opportunities" or simply just because someone feels like a change in life, or just doesn't want to be doing what they're doing anymore.  A mission is not an escape from problems or boredom, but is very, very hard work. There will be little to no time to play the part of a tourist on a mission, if a missionary is doing what they're supposed to.  And because of this - where you are called does not matter.  You will be performing the same work no matter where you are.  Yes, I personally was called to an "exciting" mission or what have you, but I can honestly say that I would have been more than happy serving in the States.  There are advantages and disadvantages to any place you may serve your mission, but ultimately your goals and purpose are exactly the same no matter where you go - to serve the people, and preach the Gospel.  

Missionaries proselyting

A mission is a huge commitment.  I would encourage anyone who feels ready for service to consider it, consider their options, and prayerfully ponder that decision.  If you receive your call and feel disappointed - pray about it.  Those mission calls are inspired and prompted by God.  If you are curious about how the mission call process works, here is the talk for you.  

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2010/04/the-divine-call-of-a-missionary?lang=eng

I hope that all missionaries serving, and especially Sisters, prepare well for their calls and are ready and willing to see the Lord's hand in their lives through the place they are called to.  If you go in with the right attitude and desires, it won't matter where you are called, and even if you do initially experience some disappointments, you will, in the long run, see why that mission was ever so right and tailored just for you.  I have heard many a person testify of this, so even though I do not yet have an experience of that myself, I am sure it holds true.  I'm sorry I had to get on my high horse about this, but I want to serve alongside missionaries who are hardworking and earnest in the work, and are genuinely serving for the right reasons. Let us all align our goals and desires with the Lord's, especially with regards to missionary work.

This all being said - I am so grateful for the fact that so many missionaries are able to serve now, both Elders and Sisters.  Missionary work is hard, but also rewarding in ways that I cannot even personally comprehend right now, as I have yet to serve.  Missionaries see daily miracles as they serve, both of small magnitude and larger magnitude.  I would like to share part of a talk given by Elder Dallin H. Oaks, entitled "Miracles" and given in Alberta, Canada in 2000.  This is specifically about the Manila temple, which is located in the city I will be serving in as a missionary.

The Manila temple, in the Philippines.

Elder Oaks:  "I experienced another miracle during an attempted military coup to overthrow the government of Philippine president Corazon Aquino in December 1989.  Many persons were killed in nearly a week of heavy fighting between rebel and loyal government troops. A principal site of this fighting was Camp Aguinaldo, which adjoins our temple in Manila.
During the first day of the attempted coup, gunfire and bombing could be heard from our temple. That night the road in front of the temple was occupied by rebel armored vehicles, trucks, and many soldiers. With the coming of daylight on Saturday, these rebel forces exchanged gunfire with the loyal government troops in Camp Aguinaldo. Opposing aircraft fired rockets and dropped bombs.
At about 3:00 P.M. Saturday afternoon, the rebel soldiers breached the gate of the temple and occupied our temple grounds. At this time we had five Philippine employees there: three security men and two custodians. Our temple president, Floyd H. Hogan, instructed them by phone not to resist the soldiers entering the temple grounds or the temple annex, which housed auxiliary facilities like name processing, but to secure the temple and take cover there. The man in charge, Brother Espi, later wrote that he worked to develop a good relationship with the rebel soldiers to convince them that even though they wanted to get access to the temple, “because of the sacred nature of the temple, they should not try to enter.”
Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning there were almost continuous exchanges of gunfire between the government troops in Camp Aguinaldo and the rebels around the camp, including those occupying our temple grounds. Brother Espi later wrote: “We all thought that we are on our own but still asked our Heavenly Father to strengthen each one of us and to spare the temple from being desecrated.”
Others were praying too. In his later report, Area President George I. Cannon wrote: “The Sunday when the rebellion was going on was fast Sunday. Throughout the Philippines the members were praying and fasting for the temple, for the members, and for the missionaries.”
Sunday morning a government helicopter gunship appeared and strafed the vicinity of the temple, but retreated because of stiff resistance from the rebels’ 50-caliber machine guns. About noon that day an air force plane dropped several bombs that hit the residence house near the temple. Bomb fragments broke windows in the temple annex.
Sunday evening Manila radio reported that the Mormon temple was in rebel hands but that a government force was moving in to drive them out. At that report, President Hogan, the temple president and a retired colonel in the U.S. military, went into action himself. He made the dangerous walk from the temple president’s home to the assembling government troops. There he found that their commander had given the rebels one hour to surrender and planned to attack them at 11:00 P.M. His force included armored personnel carriers, heavy mortars, and at least 150 soldiers, who believed they outnumbered and could easily defeat the rebel force in the temple annex. But their attack would obviously employ extensive heavy weapons and rifle fire and would cause great damage to the temple facilities. President Hogan argued with the commanding officer that if he would only wait until daylight, the rebels might abandon the temple grounds and no attack would be necessary. The commander insisted that he had to follow his orders, and President Hogan was not able to contact the general who had given the order to see if he would rescind it.
During this time I was the member of the Quorum of the Twelve whom the Philippines Area President contacted for help at headquarters. Thirty minutes before the 11:00 P.M. Manila deadline, Area President George I. Cannon phoned me to report that our temple annex and grounds were the last remaining rebel stronghold in Manila and the army had massed artillery and troops for an assault at any moment. He said he had done all he could through the Philippine government and the American ambassador to discourage the attack, but without success. It was then 7:30 A.M. Sunday in Salt Lake City.
By a remarkable coincidence—one of those happenings that cannot be coincidental—the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles had scheduled an unusual meeting that Sunday morning. At 8:00 A.M., 3 December, just 30 minutes after I received that alarming report from Manila, the assembled First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve bowed in prayer and pleaded with the Lord to intervene to protect His house. Elder Marvin J. Ashton led our prayer. As we prayed, it was 11:00 P.M. Sunday evening in Manila, the exact hour appointed for the assault.
The attack never came. Twenty minutes after our prayer, President Cannon phoned Church headquarters to report that the military commander had unexpectedly decided against a night assault. Early the next morning, Philippine time, President Hogan phoned to say that the rebels had melted away during the night. I recorded in my journal, “I consider this a miracle of divine intervention no less impressive than many recorded in holy writ.”
On Monday morning President Hogan inspected the temple annex. It had shrapnel marks and many broken windows on the north side, but inside, none of its locked rooms had been entered. The temple itself had not been entered and was not damaged. A total of six mortar or rocket shells had exploded inside the temple grounds. From their trajectory, President Hogan concluded that some of these shells had to have passed between the spires of the temple. The patron housing building under construction nearby had been hit by four or five rockets and had sustained extensive damage. The Manila temple opened for normal sessions the next day.
A week later I received a letter from the Philippine ambassador to the United States, Emmanuel Pelaez, whom I had recently hosted at Church headquarters. His letter explained how he had worked behind the scenes, as soon as he learned that our temple was threatened, to urge the Philippine military to “do everything possible” to spare this sacred building from damage. After the fighting was over, they had reported to him that “they were careful in their counter-shelling, so as not to cause damage” to the temple.  I concluded that the Lord had worked behind the scenes through these government servants to save His house.
When I was in the Philippines a few months later, I personally inspected the temple and grounds and found that despite all of the shelling and exchanges of gunfire within a few feet of this sacred edifice, it was completely unmarked by any shell fire except for one bullet hole, apparently a single stray rifle shot, at the top of the highest steeple. As President and Sister Donald L. Hilton of the Philippines Manila Mission wrote in a letter sent to their missionaries, “an unseen army of angels assisted faithful temple guards that the temple was not desecrated.”  End quote.

Missionaries in front of the Manila temple

Missionary work, is in and of itself, a miracle, as Elder Oaks also stated in that same talk:
 "Still another miracle is the way missionaries are protected during their labors. Of course we have fatalities among our young missionaries—about three to six per year over the last decade—all of them tragic. But the official death rates for comparable-age young men and women in the United States are eight times higher than the death rates of our missionaries. In other words, our young men and women are eight times safer in the mission field than the general population of their peers at home. In view of the hazards of missionary labor, this mortality record is nothing less than a miracle."

 For more on that, and other miracles, the link to the talk that was excerpted from, click here.

It's only 18 days before I leave for Manila! The countdown is getting ever smaller now. I finished taking my typhoid fever pills last week, and I *think* I have all of my clothes for my mission now. I've been getting scriptures read and talks , too. I hope everyone has a good week, and I hope that everyone looks for opportunities to spiritually grow and improve yourself this week, as well as look for the small miracles (or big ones) that continuously occur in your lives. Time ever marches forward, whether you're 21 or 70 - and I hope we all take the time to really analyze our progress and make sure that we are progressing and moving forward along with the time. Take moments to stop and appreciate the progress you have made, and the Lord's blessings in your life. Smell the roses and daisies along the journey, and enjoy the small moments and miracles in life!