Sister Shelby Ostler's mission to Poland: 4th week in the MTC

Shelby Ostler shelby.ostler@myldsmail.net
1:00 PM (8 hours ago)

Hey there!!! How's life? Thanks so much for your letter Mom, I loved it. How was your Mother's day? I sure hope it was great. I was thinking about you all day. I hope you know how much I love and appreciate you! I'm glad you liked my letters. Were you able to wait until Sunday to open that one?? I was curious to see if you did :) I sure miss you all! I think about you often. I hope you're happy :)

So this week was the hardest week so far, but it was also the most growing week for me personally. I have a new testimony of learning little by little and line upon line. I see how missionaries change on missions. Not because they decide to change something and it becomes better over night, but because you pray so hard for specific attributes of Christ that you want to improve and the Lord teaches you little by little. He gives you tough days, then he blesses you with confidence and comfort. Then your tested and it continues to repeat. That's life for ya, right? I am thankful for this opportunity I have to focus of Christ and attributes that He has. It has been guiding me through this experience.

So I had a very eventful, learning week! I learned so much! First of all, on Tuesday in our workshop, we watched a talk from Elder Bednar and it was powerful. One quote in his talk said, "What doctines if understood, would address this challenge they are having"? Now this applies to investigators, members, anyone! What doctrines if better understood, would change us? Our families? Our relationships? I kind of reminds me of the Peace Giver. Such a wonderful book. I really think that if we look for the root of what our problems are, we will find answers and solutions in the doctrine of Christ.

So another day, we were studying and my companion shared the words to hymn # 127, you should look it up and read the words, I think it's a really neat poem. Then later on, we heard from the President of the MTC here and he said, "This is your season of giving to the Lord". I thought about that a lot. I thought about how each of us have specific times in our lives where we are giving our all the Lord and it sure makes you feel good doesn't it? For some it is being a full time mom. For some it is fulfilling your calling in the church. For some it is working all day long in order to support your family. There are so many situations where we give all we can for righteous purposes and it brings great comfort and confidence. What a blessing it is to be entrusted by the Lord with such important duties and responsibilities! :) I love it.

So I faced some personal challenges this week and I learned a lot about patience and lasting love. I know, more than before, that I am with the companions that I'm supposed to be with. I have learned so much from them every day. I have adapted to them, and still am. I have come to have a deeper love and appreciation for their willingness the serve AND to put up with me- they think I'm a little crazy.... :-) So it's been so neat.

I watched a Mormon message yesterday and it said, "Your best attribute if you're going to be an effective (cowboy) is to work hard- that's the best attribute you can have in anything." I loved that, because you can put anyting in those parenthesis and it applies! Hard work is just important. And I'll tell you, I sure feel a lot better when I crawl into bed at night knowing that I worked my hardest than on the days where I know I could've given more. I'm glad we have a loving, forgiving Heavenly Father.

So a few days ago, my feet were cold and I was freezing in our classroom and I thought, "oh how I wish I could be wearing sweats and slippers right now" and then I had this huge light bulb come on. How is it that I complain and want to be wearing slippers, when 38 million people in Poland don't have the knowledge that Jesus Christ lives and that they can be with their families for eternity??? It just hit me like a ton of bricks! I am amazed at how important this work really is! I was humbled and remined to get to work. I needed it.

Our district is really coming together . We set some awesome goals, and we have been working on being more diligent. What other place on earth do you get to spend hours a day learning another language, learning about the gospel, sharing testimony, playing basketball and beach volleyball together in a huge group of awesome, strong, motivated people??? No where!! :-D I just can't believe how neat of an opportunity it is to serve a mission. I wish everyone could experience it! I really really do.

So I don't know what the MTC does to people, but it's sure weird! Maybe it's the food, and maybe this is a little too much info.... but that's okay! haha :-) But I have all sorts of weirdness going on! Ear Wax, dry face, Zits coming out the yin yang! and goobery eyes! What in the world could it be?? I have no idea, but we laugh about it :-D

So, one last thing. Yesterday in Sacrament, an elder gave a great short talk of repentance. It was fantastic! He talked about how it is not an obligation, it's a gift. He talked about the importance of blood. The cleansing blood of Jesus Christ is so symbolic of our literal need for blood. We have 3 uses for blood: 1-nourishment 2) It heals us 3) It rids us of the waste we have inside of us. Now, you could really do a lot more research on that and find some pretty powerful principles, I just wanted to share that with you. It's pretty cool.

Well, my time is winding down. I really hope you're all doing good. Tell the family I love them SOOOOOOOOOO much! I'm so sorry about Hanna's arm! I hope she's okay. Tell Ash and Kels that their letters are on their way! I wrote Barb and Lou back and I'll write Trisha as soon as I can! I loved what she sent me! They are all so thoughtful! I hope you have an awesome week Mom and Dad and everyone. I love you all so much. Thank you for your prayers and your thoughtfulness. The church is true!!! :) :) :)

Love, Sister Shelby Ostler

P.S. Mom, thanks again for your letter, I'll be sending you one shortly to answer your email. Stay strong and know that you are amazing. Dad, keep training hard, you can do it! I love you both!!! I miss you!!!