How are you?? I was so happy to receive your email. I loved every bit of it. I laughed and I cried :) Thank you for giving details and everything. It's so nice to hear how things are going! Thank you both for your emails. I love having one from both of you. So I don't even know where to begin! I am so full of joy! Every time I look down and see the name tag on my chest I just can't believe it is finaly real! I am just in awe at the power of the spirit in this wonderful place. It has already blessed me so much!
So, as far as facts and questions go.... I have 2 companions, one is from Provo, Sister Allen, and one is from Payson, Sister Howells. They are pretty darn awesome! We all get along so well and we have had a blast together. We sleep in a room with 3 other sisters, 2 of which are going to Poland in a month and the one other is going to Albania or somewhere like that. We have 8 elders in our district and we have gotten so close. At the end of the day on Saturday we were all very exhausted and worn out. You could tell we were all overwhelmed with the language and from sitting in class ALLLLLLLLLLL day :) So our teacher put on an amazing talk for us from Elder Holland Called "Miracle of a Mission". I don't think it's released yet... but we all just bawled through it. We cried together and then afterward we asked permision to have a little talk about it and it soon turned into a testimony meeting. We grew together that night. We are all from different circumstances and different backgrounds, but we all love the gospel of Jesus Christ and we are determined to get through this and be successful together. I really love our district. I can't wait for more!
So I have loved the hard work. That may sound funny, but for once in my life, I feel like I can literally give EVERYTHING that I can to the Lord. I feel like every single moment, and every single effort I put forth is for good! It's such a rewarding feeling! My testimony has grown (in english and polish hehehe) and I have loved being able to share it with some people in my new found language! Polish is hard stuff! But something I learned that has been very valuable to me is that all of the work that Christ did on the earth, all of the work his disciples did, and all of the work the prophet and apostles do today is HARD WORK. It is not easy and it is not going to happen without serious focus and dedication. When I remind myself of that, the work doesn't seem nearly as hard. If it was so hard for Him, why should it not be hard for me?
So yesterday was just wonderful. Sacrament had new meaning for me, and I got to hear from Sister Dibb (president monson's daughter) and we got to take an hour walk around the temple as a district. It was so beautiful and so nice to be outside!! I love the mountains right here and the flowers are everywhere here in the MTC. It's just a spiritual place to be. I heard a great piece of advice, that is now embedded in my personal prayers on a daily basis: "Learn to pray for patience with yourself". For years I have prayed for patience.... and that's it. Just patience. But now I need a new kind of patience. My spirit is so willing and sometimes my body just can't keep up or my brain or something like that, so I know that I just have to be patient and faithful that the Lord will help me :)
Well, I'm running out of time, and I can't seem to type fast enough :( I'll try to answer some questions. So my P-days are Mondays. I can occassionaly right letters throughot the week, which has been so nice. I really really miss texting you or calling you and filling you in about my day and all of the awesome things that happened, but it's been nice not to have a phone, I actually LOVE it!!! but anyway, yes, gym has been awesome, Basketball is a blast and .... I'm not kicking butt TOO much ;) ;) Haha, I know, I need more humility. But it's been so fun. I get to play outside tomorrow, and I'm so excited! Mom and Dad I sent a letter in the mail to you today with my SD card in it. Hope you like the pics! I can't send pics from the computer. I don't have time, errrrrr, I want to write more! Just know that I love you sooooooo much! You are in my prayers everyday and I hope the family is doing good. I can't wait to hear from you again. I love to get letters in the mail :) :) :) (hint hint hint hehe) Love you! Kocham Cie!! Oh, and my phrase for the day, "Wszistko naj lepszego!" All the best!!!!
With oodles and oodles of love,
Sister Shelby Ostler
Shelby and her 2 companions.
Shelby's District, All going to poland
