Sister Harley Munk: November 2015

Hey everyone!! I am here and I miss you all so much! But don't worry I am loving it and having tons of learning experiences! My companion is Sister Fa'ulao she is hilarious and we get along and work really well with each other. I am in district 1 zone A and the elders and other sisters in my district are all really awesome! We all get along really well and have lots of fun together! So far we have been in class pretty much the whole time and we learn so so much. Basically prayer is everything here. My companion and I joke that we pray more than we eat here. Speaking of eating the food here is really good and they do a good job making sure we have enough to eat. Anyways teaching investigators is harder than I thought. The teachers here have really instilled in us that we have to love the people we are teaching so much and that we as missionaries are only here to be mouth pieces for the Lord. If we aren't teaching by the spirit then nothing is going to happen. Sister Fa'ulao and I taught our first fake investigator Lynne.(It was really just our teacher Sister Evans) We talked to her about God and explained that she has a loving Heavenly Father who wants her to be happy and have success in life. He loves her so much that he sent his son to come on earth and die for us which we call the atonement. Then we talked with her more about that and she said that she didn't really know whether or not God actually cared because she always felt alone. So sister Fa'ulao shared a story about when her grandmother passed away and she prayed for comfort. It was a really spiritual lesson and Lynne loved the idea of prayer so we taught her how to pray and invited her to pray on her own and ask God if he was there and if he cared. So lets hope that she took the invitation to heart and prayed. It is kind of odd and nerve racking teaching our teacher because we honestly have no idea what we are doing. I mean we pray and plan and role play so that we know what we are going to do and say but we are kind of on our own to figure it out. Sister Evans told us that at the MTC we aren't going to learn skills on how to teach we are going to learn how to love someone and teach by the spirit. Rejection is also obviously something that we have to prepare for. So brother Mckay helped us to figure out ways that we can teach and use the rejection to our advantage, that way we can better understand what they are struggling with and it is usually faith. If we have faith then we got it! Faith is everything just like prayer. I have sometimes gotten down on myself because it is hard to simplify the things of the gospel. I know it and I have a testimony of it but it can sound kind of crazy to people who don't totally understand it so we have to simplify it to help them understand. I am super blessed to have Sister Fa'ulao because she is good at it and is patient and helpful with me.

So far I still have not met any other sisters going to Sacramento haha but there are three elders going there from my district. Sister Fa'ulao is going to Jackson, Mississippi which fits her perfectly because she has that southern charm about her hahaha and she has a background with strong Catholic and Baptist beliefs. She is going to be amazing! The elders are elder Pennington from Texas, Elder Holliday from Mississippi(his accent is awesome), Elder Calvert from Alabama. Elder Pennington is our district leader and he is really cool. Sister Fa'ulao and I have been called to be greeters because when we met our Branch President Brother Metcalfe we laughed and talked and laughed the whole time and he said we were the happiest companions he has ever met on day 1. hahaha we pretty much are the same person she is just the bigger, Tongan version of me :) Anyways the MTC is great but hard work. It is definitely pushing me out of my comfort zone but that just means I am growing and learning! Pray for me and Sister Fa'ulao that we can continue to grow and learn. Also pray for Elder Lea who is also in our district and has been sick this whole time. Poor elder! I love you all and can't wait to meet and teach new investigators and then tell you all about it! Remember to pray for anything and everything. Heavenly Father is pleased to hear from you even if it is just to talk.He loves you and wants you to be happy and successful. Love you all Lots!

Love, Sister Munk