Amy's November 13th letter home!

Hello my wonderful family and friends!!

One week until I leave for the Philippines!!! How crazy is THAT??? We received our flight plans last Thursday! Wow. Time has really flown by. On that note, I have some questions to answer:

Mom-
1. Yep, I'll be leaving on Nov. 20th. We meet at the travel office here at the MTC at 4:30pm and our flight is at 8:25pm at the SLC airport. I'm going to type my flight schedule for you so you have a better idea of my schedule:

Nov. 20   Leave SLC 8:25pm
Nov 20    Arrive LA 9:28pm

-layover-

Nov 21   Leave LA 12:05am
Nov 22   Arrive Hong Kong 7:40am

-layover-

Nov 22   Leave HK 9:05am
Nov 22   Arrive Manila! 11:15am

So there ya go! That's where I'll be! Crazy, huh?


2. Mom, As far as calling... I'll probably call during my first layover. They didn't give us a time limit for the phone call or the number of phone calls. So we can chat for a long time if we want! I'll call you as soon as I can get to a phone. I'll have a phone card, so minutes won't be a problem. :) You can send me a DearElder letter. that would be faster than snail mail. It is same-day delivery here at the MTC. Just go to DearElder.com and I'm not completely sure how it works from there, but Dad has sent me one before, so you could ask him if you can't figure it out.

Dad- Because of the time differences that we'll have, I think the best time to call would be during my second layover, so around 8am for me and we can chat for a while, too if you can! That would be awesome! Send me a dearElder if you want me to call a little later or whatnot.

3. Things to send me before I leave?
    - recipes? Mom, don't stress about this. Life is crazy. If you can't get them to me, don't worry about it. You could even send me an email and I can just print it out. I'll probably be able to print emails in the Philippines, too so don't stress too much about it. :)
    -I think I changed my mind about the tan "mini cami" thing. I think I would use that one, too.
    - a map of the US or of the world so I can show the Filipinos where I live. I think I can get it laminated here, so you probably don't need to worry about that. But if you have a sheet protector or something, that would be nice.
    - My ASL church signs book? It's the brown one. I would like to keep up on some of my church signs in case I get to teach Deaf people over there. I just thought of that this past week. I think it should either be in the bookcase in my closet or in the second drawer up in the tall dresser.
    -pics? I realized I don't have any pics of Tyler at all except for the one from your wedding! If I could a more current pic of him, maybe even one of a hiking trip from the last couple years or so or something.... And maybe a ballet pic of me? I didn't ever bring one and I think that'd be fun. But please don't worry about it if any of this isn't possible. Don't stress. These are just extra little things that I don't NEED. :)

4. Yes, I will send a package home before I leave the MTC. I am glad I will be inside vehicles and buildings for the trip because I won't have my jacket! But I will be fine. I'll be wearing my cardigan!


I think that answers all the questions.

Back to a short letter.
We have done a lot of studying this week and are continuing to learn huge amounts, though I'm realizing how much I still do NOT know. I am trusting in Heavenly Father to give me the strength. I am mostly just plain excited to go, but there is a little anticipation. I'm ready to move past the MTC though. I feel like I've developed some really great study habits, and I can't wait to get to the field to learn more from my trainer.

Not only did my companions and I work hard this past week, but we also made it a priority to have a little fun, too. It snowed this past week, so it's been beautiful. We decided to have fun with it. We couldn't have a snowball fight, because that's against the law here in Utah, but we made snow angels right after gym time one night (FREEZING! We went inside and took warm showers immediately afterwards.). We also made slushies with juice from the cafeteria and snow for the ice(actually turned out really yummy!), and made a tiny snowman. It was a lot of fun. It's gorgeous!! But it's super cold.

My companions and I happened to sit next to the Administrative Director of the MTC along with one other set of sisters heading to the Philippines. He talked to us about our investigators and gave us some pointers for how to teach them more effectively. It was super helpful and interesting. After lunch we left and applied what we learned to our teaching. I think that happened sometime last week. Sunday nights we have a fireside in a huge room with all the other missionaries. The Brother we had talked to was going to be the speaker. Before the meeting started, they announced over the microphone that they needed all the sisters going to the Philippines to come to the front. The brother picked us out and asked us to share what we had learned and how his information helped our teaching. Scary! So we are famous now here in the MTC. Haha. Everyone says hi to us like they know us and they all know where we're from. It was a fun experience.

Anyways, I'm out of time. I love you all lots! I pray for you every night, and I am so grateful for the prayers headed in my direction! I love this gospel so much and I am so excited to serve my Heavenly Father by doing His work! I know that the Book of Mormon is truly the word of God and when paired with the Bible, we can learn sooo much!!!

Love,
Sister Harston