Week 7: April 28

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Hello Family and Friends,

      Okay lots of news first of all they completely changed the MTC schedule without telling us anything ahead of time so from now until May 11 my p day (prep day) is Thursday instead of Monday. They completely reorganized everything on our schedules so I now get to eat really early and everything dinner is now at 4:30.

      Please thank everyone so much for the letters it really meant a lot to me. I definitely miss being able to see family and friends but I'm constantly reminded that I'm on the Lord's time and that as long as I'm focused I will be blessed. The letters and package made my Easter amazing! Plus we had really really good speakers all week. So last Tuesday Elder Richard G Scott spoke to us about pretty much everything under the sun and whatever came into his head. The cool thing about MTC talks is that they are for the missionaries right then and there. They will never be heard again even though they are recorded they are not available publicly. Anyway so Elder Scott asked all of us who are learning a language to raise our hands and then he told us that with his apostolic authority he bestowed upon all of us the gift of tongues. My branch president said that's exactly the same as if he had laid his hands upon us individually so I thought that was pretty cool. He seemed a little ill and he didn't shake hands with us and he said that he normally does. Oh but he gave us all virtual hugs. On Sunday Elder Allen an area seventy spoke he used to be in charge of church films and mostly the commercials and so he did a talk completely based on old church commercials and so that was funny and a nice change. Tuesday Elder Dallin H Oaks and his wife spoke to us about the Holy Ghost and how to be the best missionary that we can. Plus he gave us some really cool missionary statistics like there were just under 1600 missionaries in the MTC on Tues (it's the slow time of the year) and over half stay in  the US or go to Canada and over a third of the language missionaries are speaking spanish.  The MTC keeps it a big secret who's speaking but they have a dinner for those who speak on Tuesday night and they invite members of different branch presidencies to the dinner and Brother and Sister Jackson in my Branch Presidency were invited this Tuesday so the MTC told them ahead of time and Sister Jackson told us sister missionaries, so we knew on Sunday who was coming on Tuesday.

 Oh I got my travel plans!!!! I leave May 11 and I am allowed to call you from the airport I just have to find out where to by a calling card!!! I won't be able to call on Mother's Day because there are too many missionaries. I get to the airport around 7am and my flight leaves at 8:30 no layover!!!

 Please pray for Hermana Payne she's sick and nauseated and dizzy and the doctor doesn't know what's wrong with her yet and she's been feeling miserable for a while now. 

The language is coming along pretty well and we are doing a lot of teaching. Our zone is now down to 2 districts aka 14 people. It's really small. The district ahead of us left on Tuesay morning at 3 am I had to check out the sisters Monday night it was kind of crazy they hadn't even vacuumed at 10:30pm so I had to jump in and help them clean or their roomates would have been up all night. I kind of miss them but at least I have the other sisters in my district.

 President Stone, my branch president and his wife are going to Isreal this week which is really cool. Sister Stone will get a PET scan once they come back to see if she needs to do any more chemo so please pray for her. She was diagnosed last year with stage 4 breast cancer and she's been doing better so we hope the scan will go well.

 It's a bummer Mama Fackrell hasn't had her baby. I hope she has the baby soon.

 Send my love and my good wishes. Love you all, Hermana Dilzer

Week 6: April 18

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Hey to everyone at home!!!  It's Monday and for once the weather reminds me of home. It's sixty degrees and raining really hard. I really love the rain especially here when the air is usually so dry it lifts my spirits to have a lot of moisture in the air. 

 My companion and I the first 3 to 4 weeks had a really hard time trying to find a way to get along well and teach in unity. Neither of us were mean or anything, but we are just super different, and it tends to be a little difficult but we decided to do a lot of praying for each other and this week it really paid off. We can now work together in unity and are able to teach in Spanish and English too. It's really amazing how much the Lord will work with you when you let go of your pride. So this week has been amazing in terms of teaching and studying. Right now we decided to read the Book of Mormon in Spanish and it's crazy how much it has helped with our Spanish because we can see the principles we've been taught put into action!!! 

Yesterday, I was appointed as coordinating sister for my zone, and essentially I'm in charge of making sure all of the sisters are happy and healthy and modest... not too hard. I also get to do the orientation stuff for new missionaries in our zone. Hermana Sorensen was appointed music director for the zone, so every Sunday morning we get to be companions for branch council. That way our companions don't have to come. Yesterday I had meetings all afternoon because I'm new to the coordinating sister thing, so my companion was off doing something else all afternoon and I was alone with a bunch of sisters I didn't know. It was like when my companion was in the hospital it felt strange without her, but three more weeks and I go out into the real world and get a new companion, I'm going to miss Hermana Rivera.

No apostles as speakers as of yet, however I'm holding out for Easter they usually come for the big holidays, but the speakers have been good I can't really complain about that. 

 Classes are good, they are going to be making big changes to the curriculum soon or at least class set up and they are redoing the cafeteria floors and are only having one option for meals our district joked about having a group fast until we leave the MTC. 

 Sorry about the spelling, spanish has made it more difficult than ever before. 

 Running out of time love you all...send letters. Hermana Dilzer

Has Mamma Fackrell had her baby yet?

Week 5: April 11

Hola familia & amigos,

All is well here at the MTC, so not much has happened here. I'm finally in a regular routine and my companion has healed really well. We had to go to a doctor's appointment for her post op checkup on Thursday, you know it's funny it seems wherever you go someone knows somebody who's served a mission where you live, and that's what happened at the doctor's appointment. So we show up and first the receptionist is where are we going and then she asks where we're from. Then she tells me she has a brother who served in the Hartford mission 10 years ago. It's crazy the things you find out about people when you're a missionary.

 Last Sunday Vai Sekehempa spoke to us and I was so happy because I didn't have to take notes!!! He told us just to sit back and enjoy and listen, it was a nice change of pace. Then on Tuesday, Elder Robert C. Oaks spoke to us and my companion was in charge of the benediction so I got to sit up on the stand, and I had a really good seat. Elder Oaks spoke about the importance of using the Holy Ghost as a missionary and how to use it in our planning to make us more effective. I got the chance to speak with him after the devotional, and he said to say hi to dad. I thought that was cool. For those of you who don't know, he was my Stake President when my family first moved to Pennsylvania. He and my dad were both diagnosed with cancer at the same time. So they made a special bond together when we lived there. 

 Overall it's been pretty low key, we do a lot of role playing to practice learning and teaching the gospel.  Because it's the MTC we get to be the investigators too. A trio of elders are teaching my companion and me, and we are getting baptized in two weeks, but right now I'm not sure about the word of wisdom and so I have to gain a testimony about it. It's really cool being the investigator and pretending you're someone else with real needs and because it's the only way for missionaries to get good practice the Lord really gives missionaries inspiration for the investigators even fake ones like me. It's really amazing because we pray and study for each of our investigators and as long as we are in tune with the spirit we receive revelation for them. 

We got a new district this week, and I'm super excited about it, we got new hermanas and they're really shy so we haven't gotten to know them very well yet. But it's nice to have new blood because the other two districts leave next week and then the week after, so it's good.

I got to go to the temple again this morning, having P-day on Monday really starts the week off right. 

Oh yesterday the BYU men's chorus came and gave us a concert instead of a fireside which was awesome!!! They sang a bunch of different songs and they are sooo gooood!!! Other than that not much to talk about today. Pretty low key, I'm tired but that's to be expected, and that won't go away until I come home. Tell me about everyone and everything. 

Love you all and I pray for you all ten thousand times a day. Hermana Dilzer

PS tell casey to write me!!!

Love you

Week 4

                                                                                                           Actual Date: April 4,2011

Dear Family and Friends,
       This week got off to a rough start. we had a teaching appointment that did not go so well as I had hoped it would, and on top of that my companion (Hermana Rivera) woke up in the middle of the night with stomach pains but not wanting to bother she didn't tell me until 7am. As soon as I found out we went and got her a blessing in which I felt prompted by the spirit to keep an eye on her and that it could be appendicitis. When the clinic finally opened we went to see the doctor and guess what....he thought she had appendicitis too! So we went to the hospital where she had a CT scan and yes, she had surgery that afternoon to remove her apppendix. I find it amazing how the Lord blesses his missionaries and uses the spirit to direct us.  Hermana Rivera has been healing well. Oh, funny story, so when Hermana Rivera was transfered from the ER to surgery  I went with her. Since everyone knows we are missionaries they would ask "where are you from?" I told one of the nurses that I was from Connecticut. Come to find out she was Elder Braggington's mom. If any of you remember he served in the Ellington Ward about a year ago. She said that Ellington was his favorite place that he served on his mission and he loved the people of our ward. She gave him a quick call to tell him that she had met me. Small world we live in...particularly in "Mormon Land" aka Utah. Well I got a lot of reading accomplished this week while Hermana Rivera was in the hospital and while she was recovering. I almost finished reading the book Jesus the Christ. Also Hermana Rivera and I began reading the New Testament and The Book of Mormon together too. It has already brought us greater unity and strength in our companionship.
I hope you all enjoyed conference. I know I did. I received a lot of answers to questions I've been seeking.
Love, Hermana Dilzer.