Day 1... EXHAUSTED but alive.

March 13, 2013—

Dear Mother and Father,

It’s 9:32pm and I AM EXHAUSTED. But alive, so all is well :) I immediately stopped crying once my host started talking to me and then I went through a maze to get my tag and other info. Today was long, but it was really good. I feel really happy. And everything is just focused on missionary work—which the gospel of Christ is the focus of. I sorta feel like I’m at girl’s camp or something because we are CRAMMED into a little room and have communal bathrooms. I will definitely be living out of my suitcase for the next 2 weeks! We have 6 girls in a room—4 are in my district and the other 2 are going to Paris, France. One was in my ward freshman year. All 12 people are going to Riverside that are in my district! Kinda crazy. My companion is great. Her name is Sister Haycock and she’s from Bountiful, Utah. She’s normal—which I was really wanting. And we both are OCD…which is either going to be a good thing or a bad thing…only time will tell. She is awesome, though. So far I really lucked out with her. She turns 20 in October. The food is cafeteria food—which is fine. They have us on a super tight schedule—it’s nice to be busy. P-day is next Thursday—we only have 1 p-day. So I can email then and write letters to other  people. I’ve only met one of my teachers so far—she seems like she’ll be a good teacher. The other one comes tomorrow. What’s funny is that I am only remembering I have a headache right now. I didn’t even think about it all today. That’s pretty neat. Tonight we participated in a 2-hr long group investigator appt. There was a big room of us and we “taught a lesson” to 3 different people as a group—Doug, Daniel, and George. The people are generally paid actors—but their stories are real. Sometimes it is a non-member. But they don’t tell us. It felt pretty real. I said something during Doug’s lesson. I figure the more I try to open my mouth, the better I’ll learn the right and wrong things to say. But anyways, today was good but I AM TIRED! Tomorrow we have six hours of class time! The MTC is an absolute zoo. But a good zoo. I was so dazed and confused when I got dropped off. Dad, remember at my setting apart you said you hoped that I would be able to control how I feel the spirit? Well, I am! It’s so neat. We sang Called to Serve with 100’s of new missionaries and I didn’t cry! And then they made us sing We’ll Bring the World His Truth”. I didn’t cry then either! I think as feeling the spirit becomes a 24/7 thing—it won’t overwhelm me to the point of ugly sobbing and tears. Instead of crying during the spiritual moments, I am just so happy to be here. Tears have been replaced with happiness. The MTC is a very different place. But I like it so far. It’s weird to call each other “sister”. I’m still getting used to telling people my name is Sister Chase versus Amanda. And I think I’ll have enough time to get ready and pluck my face :) so that’s a relief. Anyway, I hope you know that I’m doing well. I can’t wait to get to California. I love you both very much:)

Love,
Sister Amanda Abby Chase