Her first email!!

So I received the first pictures and email from Sorella Spencer this week! (It is so weird getting used to calling her that.) I have been very fortunate that she has some friends that work in the MTC that are willing to send me intel about how she is doing. This is helping me cope with not being able to talk with her. I am not sure how I will deal once she is overseas. Anyway enough babble. Here is her email for "The outside world" as she called it.

Well according to my branch president I'm already a third of the way done with my mission. He says that the mission can be broken into four parts. Your first four days in the MTC, the rest of your MTC experience and your time in the field. As wonderful as the MTC is, it's also incredibly tough. We had a devotional last night discussing how many things pertaining to the gospel are not easy because the path to salvation isn't cheap. I've also come to understand that the reason we were sent to earth is to become like Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father and we cannot grow without experiencing challenges. (It's amazing how many things I have "known" my whole life and I'm only starting to understand now.) The language is beautiful. I can already bear my testimony, and pray without referencing anything, and I have taught 3 lessons to a mock investigator Chiara. The first lesson I told my companion what I would like to say in my prayer and testimony and she translated it to Italian for me (she speaks fluent spanish and the languages are similar enough that she is excelling). I read them when she told me it was my turn to speak. However, I have made great progress since then. Yesterday my companion went to Salt Lake to get her visa and a teacher sat in on my lesson and I gave the majority of the lesson while only referencing difficult words like atonement. (Look it up it's crazy in Italian) I have learned that I can do hard things with the help of the Lord. I have done things that I never would have even attempted and it's amazing. I can't believe what I can accomplish. Thank you for all the mail. You have all been a huge support! Mail is such a big deal to missionaries. Sometimes at the end of a really tough day it's nice to read that the people who love you still believe in you. Also I have this theory that the Lord slows down time in the MTC so that we can learn everything in 6 weeks. So while it feels like I have only been gone a week to you, it feels like at least a month and a half to me. So I miss all you guys like crazy. Also somehow with the constant presence of the spirit I love you even more than when I left.

A couple of other fun things. There is a runner from the BYU track team in my district, David Graham. He's our district leader. Also one of the kids in my district is in a really famous youtube video. Two cousins One mission.

much love
-Sorella Madyline Spencer.