To Everyone! Love you!!

Hey Everyone,

MTC a Prison? I THINK NOT! The MTC is amazing and I can't believe I have one more week left of it. If you didn't know the MTC is like its our community, they have a store, post office, classes, caffeteria, and places to sleep. Its amazing! It has gone by so fast! I'm sad that time is running out. I have really loved being here at the MTC. Last P-Day we were able to go to the temple and that was amazing. Its totally different going as a missionary. I loved it so much! I never wanted to leave. It was so good to get out of the MTC for the day, ya know get some fresh air. So Tuesday March first I will be flying to New York. I hasn't hit me yet that I will be teaching real people next week. I feel almost babied here at the MTC. I know that if I mess up its not really for real so I'm ok, but next week its going to be the real deal! I have mixed feelings about leaving, but for the most part I'm getting excited to leave and meet new people and start teaching. I have become so close with my district, they are like my new family here at the MTC. It will be really hard to leave them. We have decided that we all need to stay in touch and I'm sure I will see the people going to my mission. We have found that "hand hugs" are very helpful here at the MTC. We can't give real hugs so the "hang hug" has come in very good use. My companion Sister Hanny is the best first companion anyone could ask for. We have been doing really good at making goals and accomplishing them. Our lessons have been getting better and each time we teach we learn something new we can work on. We have decided she is very structured at teaching and I'm more concentrated on finding their needs. We finally found our balance and we work so well together. I'm nervous to meet my new companion next week, I've been so blessed to have such an amazing first companion. Sundays are the best EVER! Every sunday morning we get to watch the Spoken Work and its so good to hear music. We don't get to listen to music here at the MTC so this is a very good treat. For the fireside that night it was on the importance of songs and how they can be useful to feel the spirit. We sang hymns the whole time. The coolest part was the very end we sang called to serve but in the first verse we sang really quite and as the verses went on we gradually got louder and stood up on the last verse. It was aboustley amazing! You could feel the spirit so strongly and everyone knew that this is where we were suppose to be. It was so cool! The devotional was so great on Tuesday and I just realized how lucky I am to be a missionary. Not a lot of young women get this opportunity so I'm very lucky. I'm so lucky to be able to be here and bring people unto christ. My best friend Kara comes in next week and I'm so excited for her. I keep thinking of her and Emily and how lucky they are as well to have this opportunity. This is truly an amazing experience. I have been learning so much here at the MTC and its amazing how much I didn't know. I also was able to see my Aunt and Uncle Darelle and Loretta multiply times. It has been so much fun to see them. He takes pictures of me and my companion on his phone and then sends them to my dad. hehe I'm sure my Dad loves that. I'm just trying to enjoy myself and learn as much as I can. I have come to love my Savior even more being here at the MTC. He truly does know me and watches out for me. He blesses me more than I know. I also have come to love Joseph Smith and all that he has done for that. He went through all the hard times to get the church going we are so lucky that it has become what it is today. Yesterday I was a meeting learning how to find more people to teach. They said something interesting that I liked. He said that two missionaries in an area can really become 500 hundred missionaries if the members of the ward were willing to help. Members are such a big part of missionary work and I'm excited to come close to the members in my mission so that I can find more people to teach. I encourage you all to find those you think would like to hear our message. We know that they can be blessed from this gospel. I love being here and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now. I love you all so much and I'm so thankful for your support. I will probably write another email the Monday before I leave. Thank you so much for supporting me and sending me letters. They help more than you know! The gospel is true and I'm so grateful to have it in my life.

I love you all!

Sister Stacey

Letters very much appreciated! :)

FOR EVERYONE!!! (sorry for my spelling I only have 30 minutes)

(Hi... I am Maria, Sister Stacey's sister. I will be posting her letters on this blog each week so you can keep in touch with her and see how she is doing while serving her mission! If you would like any information on how to contact her please leave a comment and I will be happy to help. I also will send her the comments in a letter each week, so feel free to send her your love and support!)

Everyone,

I can't believe its finally P-day! I've been so excited to write you and tell you how Im doing. Mom I got your email but its to long, I'm going to try and figure out how to print it so I can read it later. They only give me 30 minutes to write an email so you should reply to this email by sending me a letter or a dearelder so I can read it ahead of time and reply. So when Mom and Dad dropped me off geez do they get you started into things. I went and dropped my stuff off at the room and started classes. They seriously fill your head with so much information.. ITS AWESOME! The first day I got here I got letters from all of my friends. I'm pretty sure the rest of the district was jealous. I'm writing you all back so thank you so much. I didn't realize how much I wanted to get letters until the first day! The MTC is so great! There are Elders EVERYWHERE! Two reasons why its awesome to have so many elders. 1.) I NEVER have to open a door anywhere I go.. Its pretty much awesome. We joke around that when I leave I'm going to run into a door because I'm so use to never having to open it. 2.) After I eat I never have to take my tray to clean. The Elders are so nice but hey I'm not complaining! My companion is Sister Hanny and she is from Idaho Falls, Idaho and she is going to Las Vegas Nevada. She is so awesome and we get a long so well! Its so werid how much we are alike. Its going to be sad to say goodbye to here in two weeks. My district is sooo awesome. We are such a good group we work super hard and still have fun together. Half of my district is coming with me to New York and the other half is going to Nevada. We work so well together and its so cool to study and learn with one another. My branch presidency is so nice and they are so helful with advice. The MTC is such a spiritual place I feel like I'm back at the BYU jerusalem center. Is the greatest feeling. As much as I love the MTC i'm SO happy that I'm only here for three weeks. Its the perfect amount of time. I am also SOOOO glad I am in a english speaking mission. I feel like I've been here for a week and I have so much to learn. There is to much doctrine to learn and to little time. I don't know how some of these elders and sisters learn a language. I admire them so much! The classes are awesome and our teachers are awesome. Its cool because they are our age so it gives me hope that one day I can be as smart as them. I seriously learn so much, its amazing! So our branch president does this thing where everyone has to prepare a talk and he will randomly pick two people to give it on sunday. Well being the lucky person I am I was one of those two. I think it was meant to be because the talk was on having faith in christ. I think I didn't pretty good and being the person I am you bet I had a whole lesson prepared because I don't do well with being put on the spot. I think it was a good lesson for me to learn as well. I need to work on having more faith in christ that I will be able to teach better and learn the doctrine to bring more people to christ. Last nigth at the devotinal I saw Darelle and on sunday I saw Loretta and that was so exciting to see them. Darelle gave me some good advice on not being discouraged. One thing the MTC does that frightens me sooo much is ROLE PLAY! There is so much of it and it totally freaks me out. They have actors come to the MTC and act as investigators. This has really tested my personality to get out of my comfort zone and teach them. The first lesson went very bad but I can see them getting better. Me and Sister Hanny work well together and I think we are on our way to be good missionaries. Everytime we teach we learn somthing new we need to work on. Its amazing how much they pack in one day. You are working all day long, I was studying the scriptures and I came across 1 Nephi 1:7 and it talks about Lehi coming home after having so much of the spirit and throwing himself on his bed. I laughed because thats how I feel everyday I get to my bed at night. Its a good thing to be so tired because you have had so much of the spirit. I'm not complaining! Its a great thing. On Sunday we were able to walk to the Temple and it was amazing to walk outside. We were all excited to leave the MTC for awhile. Were also doing choir and thats so much fun! I'm so glad I get to be apart of that. Its so cool when we all meet for devotionals and to think we have all been set apart as disciples of the Lord. You can only imagine the spirit that is felt in those meetings. We are all there to give ourselves to the Lord and bring others to come unto Christ. I wish everyone could have the feelings I feel during those meetings. I have come to learn that the mission is going to be the hardest thing I will ever do in my life, but I have also come to learn that it will be the most rewarding. I need to remember Gordon B. Hinkleys words "Forget yoruself and go to work!" I'm trying to give all myself to the Lord and do his work! I have also come to realize that I am the luckiest person in the wolrd. Not everyone gets this opportunity that I get. Not everyone gets to get set apart as the servant of the lord for 18 months. I am so lucky for this and I can't wait to get out of the MTC to start teaching real people. Its going to be hard and I know that but I want to become the best missionary that I can bet. Last night in our Devotinal the guys said that we should be that missionary that when we leave the people weep and they will always remember you and their children will always remember you. I want to be that missionary! I've heard so many conversion stories from Elders and Sisters and its just comfirms to me that this is where I need to be. I love it here and I can't wait to learn more. I've already learned so much I can't wait to learn more in these next two weeks.! Until next week I love you all! WRITE ME!

Love Sister Stacey

PS. Packages and letters very much appreciated! :) (My box number is 232 and my departure date is March 1st)

Send this to Maria so she can put this on my blog!! LOVE YOU

BYE BYE COLORADO!

Well I'm off! Come this Sunday I will be set apart as Sister Jennifer Michelle Stacey! All my emails will be updated to this blog each week. I'm so grateful for this opportunity to serve the Lord for 18 months. I will be arriving to New York in the beginning of March so wish me luck with the cold weather! I'm excited to learn, grow, and meet new people. This is the beginning of something great! I love you all and will miss you! See you in 18 months from now!

Mission addresses

Address at the MTC:
Sister Jennifer Michelle Stacey
New York Utica Mission
Provo Missionary Training Center
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604


Main Mission Office (Letters):
Sister Jennifer Michelle Stacey
New York Utica Mission
PO Box 149
Whitesboro, NY 13492-0149

Main Mission Office (Packages)
Sister Jennifer Michelle Stacey
New York Utica Mission
PO Box 149
Whitesboro, NY 13492-0149
United States

Keep checking my blog for updated mission addresses!

Farewell!

It was a great Farewell! I'm so blessed to have so many friends and family who support me! I'm so grateful for everyone who came! This was the last big step before I enter the MTC which means its getting closer to my departure. It was a great day! I have to admit I am a little relieved to have this over and I'm ready for the MTC!