Hello family and friends,
Greetings from the Missionary Training Center. It's only
been two days since I arrived, but it feels like forever. I'm exhausted and I'm
overwhelmed. But overall, things are going well.
My district -- or the class I'm in -- has 6 elders and 6
sisters. I'm all about gender equality so I was pretty excited about the parity
in class. I'm the oldest missionary and the same age as the teachers, but I'm
trying not to let that affect how I treat people. It's hard. Most of the elders
are 18 years old and some of them are fresh out of high school. One, Elder
Peterson, graduated last week! They act like the MTC is a big party and they
goof off all the time. I'm trying, but usually failing, to hold my tongue when
they do stupid stuff. Last night after our meeting with the Branch President,
one elder looks at me, presses into the foamy hand sanitizer dispenser, and
says to me: "Sister, this is like the Atonement... see it's white and
foamy and it washes my hands." First of all, not clever. Second of all, please
don't make light jokes about the most sacred event in history. I told him the
latter. I told him that it is inappropriate to make jokes and analogies of
sacred things so flippantly. He shrugged. Did I really need to say that to him?
Probably not. But I did. I'm praying to have more love and more humility.
As a daughter of my parents, I'm also a big mouth in class.
I answer too many questions and I ask too many questions. I ask some deep,
challenging questions sincerely because I truly want to understand the details
of our gospel before I go out and preach in the real world. One elder says that
he appreciates me asking thought-provoking questions and another sister says
that they are things that she never thought about. I guess that's good. I hope
I'm not making my teachers sweat too much though. They are kind. And I like one
better than the other because he seems more confident in his knowledge of
doctrine. At the same time, I am correcting little things. For instance, we
talked about New York City and the teacher said that there are 8 million people
who live in New York. And I respond, "Well actually, there are 10
million." It didn't matter exactly how many people live in NYC
for the point he was making, but I had to say it anyways. I think I need to
stop this.
So there you go, my biggest weakness right now: being a
snobbish know-it-all. I'm working on it, guys. Just because I'm five years
older than someone, doesn't make me smarter, right?
My companion is wonderful! Her name is Sister walker and she
is from Rexburg, Idaho. She's 19 and did one year at BYU before coming on the
mission. She is kind and sincere and has great faith. She is helping me to not
get caught up on little details of doctrine that don't matter in the scheme of
living the gospel. I like her a lot.
I'm in a room with 5 other girls. We're all English
speakers. Four of us are going to Atlanta and two are going to the West Indies.
(um, jealous.) They're excited, but also worried about diseases and things.
Understandably. One sister, Sister Jones going to ATL, 19 as of two weeks, is
remarkable. She's from Missouri and joined the church when she was 14. She is
strong faith and sacrificed much to be here.
In our district, there are two elders going to Atlanta,
three going to the West Indies, and one going to Papua New Guinea! He's all
alone. He's great, he's half Tongan, half Samoan and from Hawaii. I told him
that I'm fascinated by what he'll learn in Papua New Guinea and I want to hear
all about the social and political and cultural dynamics of PNG. He said he
will email me and tell me everything. He gets me. The other elder was like,
"Wow, I wish I cared about that stuff."
First miracle: Upon arriving, I was nervous for several
reasons. For one, I was nervous about feeling out of place with all these 19
year old sisters. I was nervous about dealing with immaturity and homesickness
with my companions and roommates. Well, when Mom and Dad dropped me off, there
was a line of hosts to greet us. The hosts are missionaries who have been at
the MTC for a few weeks and they direct you to checking in and to your room.
It's all random. When you pull up, the next available host greets you and takes
you to get in check-in information. The sister who greeted me was a short (my
height) Vietnamese American sister from Colorado headed to Cambodia. As she
directed me about we talked and I eventually found out that she is 23 and
recently graduated from college! We both immediately felt an affinity for each
other. It was a special moment. Meeting her calmed me and she was excited to
meet someone who understands her situation. It was a relief.
Beth, you'll like to hear this! The MTC is now very aware of
dietary needs and has a special "diet room." Each meal, they provide
one "hot meal" of meat, vegetable, and starch -- sometimes decent
even -- and they tons of gluten-free breads, rolls, cookies, etc. I'm doing
okay food wise. Although my stomach has felt weird for the past two days from
stress and all that.
The days are long and it feels like there's never a moment
to stop and breathe. We're at 6:30 and we go all day from class, to activities,
to meals until 9:30. I'm tired, but happy.
I have worries about the mission field, but I am also
anxious to get out and work with real people instead of just talking about it.
Miss you all,
--
Sister Deborah Sutton
Georgia Atlanta Mission
112 Governors Square Suite A
Peachtree City, GA 30269
