Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Change of Box #
Some of you may still be writing to the wrong box number. It was changed from #118 to #92. Please make a note. Thanks!!
Week Three
Hi, mom/family.
Thanks for all the Christmas things you sent!I got lots of packages and cards and letters from people and it was awesome. Although I was saying that coming into the MTC around christmas time probably gave me unrealistic expectations about the amount of mail I will regularly be receiving. But oh well. It sure was nice.The MTC is so fun around Christmas time. We had a bunch of devotionals and firesides and talent shows and activities. It was awesome. Neil A. Anderson came and spoke, as well as L. Tom Perry. And Barbara Thompson from the General Relief Society Presidency. Oh and Greg Olsen. Amazing. Neil A. Anderson's talk was by far my favorite, though.. He talked about the condescension of God and personal revelation and how we'll be able to see miracles on our missions and literally see the spirit of god come down and touch the lives of the people that we serve, as well as ourselves. I have like fifty pages of notes from his talk. So good.L. Tom Perry's family stayed around and ate Christmas Lunch with us. That was pretty cool. He had all his grandkids and stuff and they did a little Christmas program for us. Oh. The talent show was so funny. I especially wanted to mention this to Corey.. and to Dad.. you know that Sblime song, Santeria? One of the Elders remade the song on the piano with the lyrics being about waiting for his visa. There are lots of missionaries here that have been waiting for like 15 weeks to get to Brazil because they have been having visa problems. Anyway, it was the funniest thing ever. And that line where it says "believe me when i say that i got somethin' for ya punk a..." he said "that i got something for your family.." ha. it was good. Very funny.Christmas dinner was pretty pathetic. I've got pictures I'll send home sometime. But they just had us make sack dinners. We could have four items. One was a nasty nasty sandwich that I opted out on. So I ended up eating an apple, and orange, and some cheddar sun chips with a bottle of water for my christmas dinner. Nice. Luckily between all of my roommates, we had enough Christmas goodies sent to us in packages to make up for it. We had a little district Christmas party. It was so fun. The elders in our district are just amazing. Have I mentioned that before? They are such good kids. They all have amazing testimonies and work hard and are so funny. I was so worried about feeling annoyed of hanging out with little 19 year old boys, but these Elders are awesome. I wouldn't spend my time hanging out with any other 19 year old boys on the planet. Anyway.. Have you ever heard of a Tim Tam slam? I hadn't either. But a tim tam is this cookie that's from Australia. It has like carmel or chocolate filling in the middle and it's a rectangle shape. Anyway, you bite off two little corners on opposite sides so it's like a straw. Then. You dip it in some hot chocolate and drink the hot chocolate. The cookie then starts to melt from the inside-out, and when it starts to get soft, you slam it all in your mouth and you have a little taste of melted chocolatey heaven. The elders have been obsessed with it. We have videos of our Slam party. We also gave each other presents and had a little Christmas tree and everything. Not quite like being at home, but it was still an awesome Christmas.In other news, Elizabeth Smart is my nextdoor neighbor. I don't want to like pimp her out or anything. But She is super nice. I had talked to her a lot before actually in the bathrooms getting ready for bed but I never knew it was her. She's really funny. Anyway. Then I found out it was her because she played the harp at the talent show and they announced her full name. Crazy. She's great.My companion left for Madrid at about 4 a.m. this morning. Crazy. I can't believe I've already been here 3 weeks. Except at the same time if feels like I've been here for 3 months. But now I will be back in a tri-panionship with Hermana Smith and the new Sister in our district, Hermana Rohr. It should be great. They are great girls. We've already started teaching the First lesson in Spanish as a district.. We call ourselves the celestial district. Ha. But we don't have to officially teach it until week 6 which just seems crazy.. so we started this week. It's amazing how much we already know. We kind of just threw ourselves into the fire yesterday and tried it without preparing. I surprised myself with how much spanish i knew. I mean, it's very possible that none of it made sense.. but to me I felt like i was speak spanish.Well, I am loving it here. Something that I really learned this week is that Heavenly Father really answers prayer and we can receive personal revelation. He is so aware of each of us and wants to help us if we ask him. I had a very very neat experience with receiving some personal revelation and it really just strengthened my testimony of prayer and of talents. I think missions make you more confident. I know that Heavenly Father loves me&has given me unique talents. I know that I'm being sent somewhere that my unique talents will be the most helpful. I know that the work I will be doing for a year and a half is exactly what I need to be doing right now and is so important and crucial. I don't have to worry about anything because I know with all of my heart that the things I am teaching are true and good. I don't think it would be possilbe to be a missionary and work as hard as it is required if you DIDN'T know it was true and good and really believe in what you are teaching. Anyway, I know that Heavenly Father really does know us all and want us to be happy and wants the best for us. I promise you.Thanks again for all of the packages and mail and stuff! It really helps me to feel like people out there haven't forgotten about me. I miss everybody and think about you often. Have a happy new year!
xoxo
Hermana Morrill
Thanks for all the Christmas things you sent!I got lots of packages and cards and letters from people and it was awesome. Although I was saying that coming into the MTC around christmas time probably gave me unrealistic expectations about the amount of mail I will regularly be receiving. But oh well. It sure was nice.The MTC is so fun around Christmas time. We had a bunch of devotionals and firesides and talent shows and activities. It was awesome. Neil A. Anderson came and spoke, as well as L. Tom Perry. And Barbara Thompson from the General Relief Society Presidency. Oh and Greg Olsen. Amazing. Neil A. Anderson's talk was by far my favorite, though.. He talked about the condescension of God and personal revelation and how we'll be able to see miracles on our missions and literally see the spirit of god come down and touch the lives of the people that we serve, as well as ourselves. I have like fifty pages of notes from his talk. So good.L. Tom Perry's family stayed around and ate Christmas Lunch with us. That was pretty cool. He had all his grandkids and stuff and they did a little Christmas program for us. Oh. The talent show was so funny. I especially wanted to mention this to Corey.. and to Dad.. you know that Sblime song, Santeria? One of the Elders remade the song on the piano with the lyrics being about waiting for his visa. There are lots of missionaries here that have been waiting for like 15 weeks to get to Brazil because they have been having visa problems. Anyway, it was the funniest thing ever. And that line where it says "believe me when i say that i got somethin' for ya punk a..." he said "that i got something for your family.." ha. it was good. Very funny.Christmas dinner was pretty pathetic. I've got pictures I'll send home sometime. But they just had us make sack dinners. We could have four items. One was a nasty nasty sandwich that I opted out on. So I ended up eating an apple, and orange, and some cheddar sun chips with a bottle of water for my christmas dinner. Nice. Luckily between all of my roommates, we had enough Christmas goodies sent to us in packages to make up for it. We had a little district Christmas party. It was so fun. The elders in our district are just amazing. Have I mentioned that before? They are such good kids. They all have amazing testimonies and work hard and are so funny. I was so worried about feeling annoyed of hanging out with little 19 year old boys, but these Elders are awesome. I wouldn't spend my time hanging out with any other 19 year old boys on the planet. Anyway.. Have you ever heard of a Tim Tam slam? I hadn't either. But a tim tam is this cookie that's from Australia. It has like carmel or chocolate filling in the middle and it's a rectangle shape. Anyway, you bite off two little corners on opposite sides so it's like a straw. Then. You dip it in some hot chocolate and drink the hot chocolate. The cookie then starts to melt from the inside-out, and when it starts to get soft, you slam it all in your mouth and you have a little taste of melted chocolatey heaven. The elders have been obsessed with it. We have videos of our Slam party. We also gave each other presents and had a little Christmas tree and everything. Not quite like being at home, but it was still an awesome Christmas.In other news, Elizabeth Smart is my nextdoor neighbor. I don't want to like pimp her out or anything. But She is super nice. I had talked to her a lot before actually in the bathrooms getting ready for bed but I never knew it was her. She's really funny. Anyway. Then I found out it was her because she played the harp at the talent show and they announced her full name. Crazy. She's great.My companion left for Madrid at about 4 a.m. this morning. Crazy. I can't believe I've already been here 3 weeks. Except at the same time if feels like I've been here for 3 months. But now I will be back in a tri-panionship with Hermana Smith and the new Sister in our district, Hermana Rohr. It should be great. They are great girls. We've already started teaching the First lesson in Spanish as a district.. We call ourselves the celestial district. Ha. But we don't have to officially teach it until week 6 which just seems crazy.. so we started this week. It's amazing how much we already know. We kind of just threw ourselves into the fire yesterday and tried it without preparing. I surprised myself with how much spanish i knew. I mean, it's very possible that none of it made sense.. but to me I felt like i was speak spanish.Well, I am loving it here. Something that I really learned this week is that Heavenly Father really answers prayer and we can receive personal revelation. He is so aware of each of us and wants to help us if we ask him. I had a very very neat experience with receiving some personal revelation and it really just strengthened my testimony of prayer and of talents. I think missions make you more confident. I know that Heavenly Father loves me&has given me unique talents. I know that I'm being sent somewhere that my unique talents will be the most helpful. I know that the work I will be doing for a year and a half is exactly what I need to be doing right now and is so important and crucial. I don't have to worry about anything because I know with all of my heart that the things I am teaching are true and good. I don't think it would be possilbe to be a missionary and work as hard as it is required if you DIDN'T know it was true and good and really believe in what you are teaching. Anyway, I know that Heavenly Father really does know us all and want us to be happy and wants the best for us. I promise you.Thanks again for all of the packages and mail and stuff! It really helps me to feel like people out there haven't forgotten about me. I miss everybody and think about you often. Have a happy new year!
xoxo
Hermana Morrill
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Week Two
This week was awesome. Christmas time around here is the best. Sister Uchtdorf came to speak to us at Relief Society. She is so awesome! Hermana Smith and I shook her hand and talked to her for a little bit. She's so German. It's awesome. Her talk was amazing though.. For a minute she was talking about us being sad that we were away from our families for Christmas and just in general to be missionaries. And she said, "But this work requires your all. It's not about you. It's about the savior. And the people." So good! And so true. Because for the most part, I love it here. But every once in a while a thought will creep into my brain like, "what have i signed myself up for? this is hard!" And that is the perfect advice. It's not about me.
My spanish is coming along. I can bear my testimony, share a quick message about Christ and the restoration, get to know somebody, and pray. We got a new district in this week and they're all native speakers and are so sweet and help us a ton. I practice my spanish with them a lot. Hermana Montes de Oca and I went to the TRC this week and we had to get to meet somebody and share a message with them (in spanish) as well as ask to come back and teach them. And then come back and teach the first lesson in English. The volunteer that we taught was from Ecuador and he was an adorable old man. But he said my spanish is good and my accent doesn't sound like a gringo. Yay!
So the other day, i had been sitting for a while and my skirt rode up a bit. Like the seams of my knee-highs were showing. The new sister in our district told me I was hanging out and we laughed.. The mtc is probably the only place on earth that you can feel immodest when the bottoms of your knees are showing. Ha. I probably distracted the poor Elders from thinking straight.
Everyone here calls me a hippie. It's funny. I'm the hippie and one of the elders in our district is the redneck. He loves nascar and hunting and big trucks. I'd rather be the hippie than the redneck though.
OH. Our old stake president, Stephen Allen, is now the Head of the Church Missionary Department and he came and spake to us at a fireside on Sunday. Man oh man he is a good speaker. Everybody loved it and I was like, yeah... that guy was my stake president. Boo ya. Sundays here are so good.
Christmas is going to be great. One of the apostles is going to come and speak to us. It's funny, rumors here go around so fast. All you have to do is tell one missionary something and soon the whole MTC knows. There are always rumors as to who is speaking at the firesides and devotionals. It's always the prophet. Or Jefferey R. Holland. Always. My roommates and I decided to spread the rumor that the Osmonds are coming and performing at the big talent show on christmas day. Ha. I shouldn't find so much joy in telling lies. I am a missionary. But you have to do something around here to keep your sanity.
Anyway, this has been an amazing week. Thanks to everyone for the letters and cards and packages. I have definitely felt loved.
Oh, mom, can you please thank Peter's parents for that blanket they sent me? I love it. I never have to make my bed because I don't get under the covers, I just sleep on top of the bed with that blanket. Saves me an extra five minutes a day. Woot. Ah, I feel like there is so much more I need to talk about but I have about zero time. It's so great here though, and I know you'll be able to come and experience it some day too. The Senior missionaries here are so awesome. ok. i have to go. merry christmas. i love you.
xoxo
brittany
My spanish is coming along. I can bear my testimony, share a quick message about Christ and the restoration, get to know somebody, and pray. We got a new district in this week and they're all native speakers and are so sweet and help us a ton. I practice my spanish with them a lot. Hermana Montes de Oca and I went to the TRC this week and we had to get to meet somebody and share a message with them (in spanish) as well as ask to come back and teach them. And then come back and teach the first lesson in English. The volunteer that we taught was from Ecuador and he was an adorable old man. But he said my spanish is good and my accent doesn't sound like a gringo. Yay!
So the other day, i had been sitting for a while and my skirt rode up a bit. Like the seams of my knee-highs were showing. The new sister in our district told me I was hanging out and we laughed.. The mtc is probably the only place on earth that you can feel immodest when the bottoms of your knees are showing. Ha. I probably distracted the poor Elders from thinking straight.
Everyone here calls me a hippie. It's funny. I'm the hippie and one of the elders in our district is the redneck. He loves nascar and hunting and big trucks. I'd rather be the hippie than the redneck though.
OH. Our old stake president, Stephen Allen, is now the Head of the Church Missionary Department and he came and spake to us at a fireside on Sunday. Man oh man he is a good speaker. Everybody loved it and I was like, yeah... that guy was my stake president. Boo ya. Sundays here are so good.
Christmas is going to be great. One of the apostles is going to come and speak to us. It's funny, rumors here go around so fast. All you have to do is tell one missionary something and soon the whole MTC knows. There are always rumors as to who is speaking at the firesides and devotionals. It's always the prophet. Or Jefferey R. Holland. Always. My roommates and I decided to spread the rumor that the Osmonds are coming and performing at the big talent show on christmas day. Ha. I shouldn't find so much joy in telling lies. I am a missionary. But you have to do something around here to keep your sanity.
Anyway, this has been an amazing week. Thanks to everyone for the letters and cards and packages. I have definitely felt loved.
Oh, mom, can you please thank Peter's parents for that blanket they sent me? I love it. I never have to make my bed because I don't get under the covers, I just sleep on top of the bed with that blanket. Saves me an extra five minutes a day. Woot. Ah, I feel like there is so much more I need to talk about but I have about zero time. It's so great here though, and I know you'll be able to come and experience it some day too. The Senior missionaries here are so awesome. ok. i have to go. merry christmas. i love you.
xoxo
brittany
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Week One
Ma! Hola! Well, I made it to P-day. The MTC is amaaaaazing. Everybody says the first 4 days are the roughest and the rest is downhill from there. I happened to think the first 4 days were incredible so I can't really imagine it getting better. The food here isn't really that great. But I've still been managing to be a veggie :) ... they have a wrap/salad bar that I usually hit up. It's pretty good. Did you get the letter I sent?
We got a new sister in our district so now Hermana Montes de Oca and I are just companions and the new Sister and Hermana Smith are companions. I feel naked only having one person by my side constantly now instead of two. It's nice though, we're both on the same page about a lot of things so I think it will be a beautiful companionship while it lasts. (She leave for the Madrid MTC in about two weeks.)
It's P-day today which is so exciting. It was weird to wake up and put normal clothes on. I feel very out of place in them already and I've been living this life style for less than a week. Funny. We get to go to the temple, do laundry, write letters, shop a bit, and then at 7:00 there will be a devotional.
Speaking of devotionals, Sundays here are incredible! First of all, Sister Elaine S. Dalton (the young women general president) came and spoke to us at Relief Society. Because there are much less sisters than there are elders, R.S. is combined with all the sisters in the MTC. Holy cow, Sister Dalton is a powerful woman. Her talk was amazing. She told a story about how she was running with her husband and he started running up a hill that she wasn't planning on doing. She got intensely tired half way up the hill and told her husband she was going to turn around and run back down. And her husband said, "Oh, Elaine, don't you know you should never turn around in the middle of a hill?" She related that we should never quit or turn around when we are going through something tough in life because the view at the top of the hill is ALWAYS worth it. She is so great.
Then for our little Sunday Fireside, the BYU men's chorus came and did a Christmas program. They have the most beautiful voices! Some of them shared their conversion stories and then they sang and it was just delightful.
So I got pretty sick this week. Remember how I wrote you in that letter and said "i'm here, i'm healthy..." ha. false. It was a little bit miserable but I feel like I'm getting better and my companions sure helped me a lot. It was funny because the second night I got here I prayed to have humility because I feel like I never admit that I need help.. and sure enough I woke up sharply at about 2 a.m. with the worst throat pains I've ever had and my sinuses felt like they were going to explode. So Heavenly Father gave me the chance to admit I needed help and go to the doctor and tell my companions and rest and etc. Our prayers definitely do get answered. I guess there is some truth to the saying, "Be careful what you wish for."
Well, I feel like I could keep typing forever but we have extremely limited e-mail time. Sigh. Oh I did want to say I got that package from the 9th ward. They are so great! If you see anyone tell them I say thank you. I am going to write them a card today.
Tell people to write me!! The elders in our district are definitely one-upping us sisters. That can not fly. Ha. Miss you.
Love,
Britt
We got a new sister in our district so now Hermana Montes de Oca and I are just companions and the new Sister and Hermana Smith are companions. I feel naked only having one person by my side constantly now instead of two. It's nice though, we're both on the same page about a lot of things so I think it will be a beautiful companionship while it lasts. (She leave for the Madrid MTC in about two weeks.)
It's P-day today which is so exciting. It was weird to wake up and put normal clothes on. I feel very out of place in them already and I've been living this life style for less than a week. Funny. We get to go to the temple, do laundry, write letters, shop a bit, and then at 7:00 there will be a devotional.
Speaking of devotionals, Sundays here are incredible! First of all, Sister Elaine S. Dalton (the young women general president) came and spoke to us at Relief Society. Because there are much less sisters than there are elders, R.S. is combined with all the sisters in the MTC. Holy cow, Sister Dalton is a powerful woman. Her talk was amazing. She told a story about how she was running with her husband and he started running up a hill that she wasn't planning on doing. She got intensely tired half way up the hill and told her husband she was going to turn around and run back down. And her husband said, "Oh, Elaine, don't you know you should never turn around in the middle of a hill?" She related that we should never quit or turn around when we are going through something tough in life because the view at the top of the hill is ALWAYS worth it. She is so great.
Then for our little Sunday Fireside, the BYU men's chorus came and did a Christmas program. They have the most beautiful voices! Some of them shared their conversion stories and then they sang and it was just delightful.
So I got pretty sick this week. Remember how I wrote you in that letter and said "i'm here, i'm healthy..." ha. false. It was a little bit miserable but I feel like I'm getting better and my companions sure helped me a lot. It was funny because the second night I got here I prayed to have humility because I feel like I never admit that I need help.. and sure enough I woke up sharply at about 2 a.m. with the worst throat pains I've ever had and my sinuses felt like they were going to explode. So Heavenly Father gave me the chance to admit I needed help and go to the doctor and tell my companions and rest and etc. Our prayers definitely do get answered. I guess there is some truth to the saying, "Be careful what you wish for."
Well, I feel like I could keep typing forever but we have extremely limited e-mail time. Sigh. Oh I did want to say I got that package from the 9th ward. They are so great! If you see anyone tell them I say thank you. I am going to write them a card today.
Tell people to write me!! The elders in our district are definitely one-upping us sisters. That can not fly. Ha. Miss you.
Love,
Britt
Monday, December 14, 2009
First Letter! Hurrah!
If you click on the letter it gets bigger, but here are some highlights if you can't read her writing. She was obviously in a hurry. :)
1. She is very busy and extremely grateful to have a gym break every day.
2. She has two companions, and one of them was born in, of all places, OKINAWA. What are the chances of that??? Eerily awesome!
3. She is feeling the Spirit and really knows she made the right decision....she's where she should be right now.
4. She wants letters!! Write to her! The easiest and fastest way is through www.dearelder .com. Just click on the Provo MTC link, put in her name (Hermana Brittany Morrill), box #92, and write away! She will get it the next day and be so very happy. :)
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
The First Day
Hello to all you faithful followers of Brittany's blog. This is her mother. I just received the following email from the MTC:
Dear family of Brittany Rose Morrill,
We are pleased to inform you that your missionary has been safely checked in at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah. We thank you for supporting your missionary and know that your family will be blessed as a result.
Your missionary's mailing address while at the MTC is:
Brittany Rose Morrill
MTC Mailbox # 118
TX-MCAL 0210
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793
Today was a bitter sweet day. Bitter to know I will not get to see her for the next 18 months, or call her, or talk to her, or enjoy her presence in my house. Sweet knowing she is doing something she really wants to do, and the Lord is looking out for her. All of you who know her as I do have no doubt she will be an awesome missionary. The past 4 months having her home, if you can call it that since she spends more time out with all of you, her friends, or volunteering in Mexico, has been a wonderful growing experience for both of us. I am privileged to call her my daughter and I thank all of you for your love for her. I will be posting her letters and photos here on this blog and keeping you updated on her experiences. I know time will fly by and she will back before we even realize she left. Good grief I love this kid!
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
adieu
my stake president shared with me and my family/friends tonight that "adieu" is the only french word in the book of mormon. it means something to the affect of "to god" or "i commend you to god." or god be with you 'til we meet again.
i'm very excited to embark on this new adventure. i am excited for the things i will learn and the people i will meet and be able to serve, and the ways that i will grow as a human being, and for my knowledge and love for jesus christ to grow. i am so grateful for the people i have had the pleasure of knowing and being in contact with thus far in my life. i truly think that everyone is put into our lives for a reason, and i know that i have learned so much from each and every one of you. i am excited to see what the next 18 months will bring, for me and for all of you. adieu.
all my love,
sister brittany morrill
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