ARGENTINA!!!

HOLY COW!!!!!! Estoy en Argentina and wow... I´m already loving it! It took about 2 days to get to Bahia - SLC to LAX to Atlanta, to Buenos Aires, and the last airplane to Bahia Blanca. President Detlefson and his wife were waiting there with the AP´s and office elders. The Detlefsons don´t speak English! So we had a translator, but I understood most of what they said anyway, which was encouraging. I´m sure they were talking a little more slowly than normal, but it was great. The AP´s took us to the mission home and when we got there, they said ¨who wants to contact right now? There are some girls across the street?´´ so I jumped out and ran to talk to them! Me and Hna LaPray and Hna Seegmiller did a good job! And the AP´s came to help finish it with us, but it was a blast!!! I spoke very poorly, but I had the courage to do it! So, then last night we stayed at a hotel and I stayed with a native Chilean and Argentine- two adorable sisters! They only knew Spanish, so I got to practice.
Then this morning we did a bunch of visa and passport things. I talked to a woman in line. Her name is Augustine and she´s from Guatemala. I told her my casi cunada (almost sister in law- Jackie!) lived there and we chatted for at least 15 minutes in espanol. I talked to her about the Book of Mormon and told her that if she prayed, read the scriptures, and kept the commandments of God, she would be blessed with help to find a job. I even got her information! My 2nd contact- and I did it ALL by myself!!! I will pray for Augustine tonight. I hope the other missionaries will go find her and teach her.
Later, I got assigned to my FIRST COMPANIERA - but it was crazy because President Detlefson didn´t interview me first! He interviewed all of the Elders, but never got around to the Hermanas. I mentioned that to Hna Seegmiller as he was telling everyone who their comp was and she said, ¨Yeah, but Hna Tingey, he HAS THE SPIRIT!´ haha. Yeah, I knew that, but it just surprised me he knew without even really talking to me. However, my first COMPANIERA is fantastic - her name is Hermana Kjar (pronounced ´care´) from Centerville, UT. She´s so great!!! At first I was a little worried I wouldn´t be learning as good of Spanish, but she is AWESOME and her Spanish is amazing! She dresses way cute. she´s been in the mission for a year already, so she knows what´s up. I know there are many reasons why she´s with me and why I´m with her. I´m excited to find out why!
My first area is right here - in la ciudad Bahia Blanca! At first I was a little disappointed because I wanted to go somewhere more exotic, but then Hermana Kjar (pronounced ´care´ just so you don´t forget! haha) said that the work is really strong here in Bahia! So, hopefully I´ll be just working hard and blessing a lot of lives- that´s why I´m here anyway! The city is very different than Ukraine- a lot is happening. Everyone´s chill and happy it seems like. The atmosphere is very ¨relaxed busy”and kinda carefree normal. Yeah... that didn´t make perfect sense, but I´ll explain it better later. I´ve already had the famous Argentine empenadas- SOO good! I´ve also had an alfahor de matecol (cookie that´s kinda peanut butter flavored), lots of dulce de leche- which seems better than nutella to me right now- yeah, it´s THAT good! :), and HELADO (ice cream)!!! I already am in LOVE with the food! haha
Oh yeah, so when I having a couple doubts about everything, President Detlefson was speaking and he looked at me straight in the eye and in Spanish talked about how important this work is. Then later while we had our interview (in Espanol- an AP was there to translate, but I didn´t use him! yeah me!), he looked at me in the eye and said, ¨will you covenant to work with all your heart, might mind and strength?¨ I promised yes, and he said, ¨When you´re down and things get tough and difficult, just remember what you promised me and do it. And the Lord will bless you.¨ In both of those moments, I felt the Spirit so strongly. President Detlefson is a man of God; Sister Detlefson is a sweetheart; and I am so excited to have a wonderful trainer! I promised President Detlefson and the Lord that I would serve with all my heart, might, mind, and strength! And I will!
Ok, so a few little things: Dearelder.com still works here! The office prints it off and gives it to the zone leader to pass out. So, that´s a good thing! Also, there IS a new address for my mission. I don´t know it yet, but I´ll let you know next week (pday´s are Wednesdays). Grandma, thanks for sending me that package before I left! You have been so great! And Mom, don´t send peanut butter (tear tear...) or Beef Jerky or electronic items or anything expensive because I´ll have to pay a ridiculous tax on electronics. Hna Khar said to send packages in the plastic-paper package holders and not a box because those go through much better. I´ll let you know when I know better. Um, the area seventy challenged the missionaries to do 215 contacts weekly! Besides that, I don´t know much about the mission going´s on yet. OH! They totally have Siesta here! Everything closes down from around 1:30-3:30 and people sleep. So, at that time apparently we will be going home and having language study. Crazy, huh? Oh, and I live in a very poor looking apartment and area. The cities around here look MUCh poorer than the US, I can´t believe people said Argentina was like the US- it´s not. Even Buenos Aires looked poorer than Ukraine. But, I´m super excited to be around it- I´m sure it´s really humbling!
Ok, so Hna Kjar said we have a few teaching appointments tonight... I´m excited! I love you all SOOOOO much!!!!!!! Daddy, Mommy, Benji, Jackie, Biffy, Abby, and Snacky.... and everyone else... I love you all SOOOOO much! I pray for you! Please don´t forget to dearelder.com me when you can and pray for my Spanish and confidence. I´m always praying for you!!! HUGS!!!!! Love, Hermana Tingey 4/22/10

MTC Travel Plans

I HAVE MY TRAVEL PLANS!!! I am leaving bright and early Monday morning!!!!! I'm flying from Salt Lake City at 8:33 to Los Angeles by 9:33, then from LA to Buenos Aires Tuesday morning at 7:45... I have no idea how that long flight works, but that's what it says. SO, I get to CALL HOME!!!!!! :) I can either call home HERE on Saturday or Sunday, or I can call at one of the airports. Please dearelder.com me your number (sorry, I forgot the Montreal vonyage one!) and when the best time would be to call. I want to make sure I can talk to everyone! ANd maybe Elizabeth can get on Skype or something!

I FINALLY saw Ben! It was literally 5 minutes after I got my travel plans, so I was bouncing off the walls and then in walks Ben! So I ran up and gave him a HUGE hug (my last hug to a boy for a year and a half!). It was so great to see him! He looks so OLD - and by old I mean mature, handsome, and content. I am SO excited for him and Jackie. Wow, what a wonderful day it will be! I am devastated when I think about what I'll be missing with the family, but there's no where else I'd rather be than on a mission right now.

Ok, so the major things I've been learning and practicing this week are 1. Being creative and memorable and 2. Having fe (faith). My maestro Hn. Dallon talked to us about why missionary work is not getting "better" in that we're not producing as much as we'd like. President Hinckley in 1998 or 9 that the members could double baptisms and we haven't yet! WHY? His take is a very interesting one: we're doing the same thing wrong over and over. Missionaries do the same things and say the same things all the TIME! "Hi, we're missionaries and we have a message of happiness..." When they go to members homes they give a spiritual thought and then beg for referrals. Hno Dallon is an intense individual, but he said this is a load of garbage and needs to stop! He has an idea called "the revolution." He said that when missionaries go to members homes, we should one of the orange activity boxes in PME (PMG). Then do a different activity the next week we go over. Then maybe a week or two later ask them to make a new friend with a non-member and then NOT talk about the gospel. The idea is that after a couple of months of loving and genuinely befriendly them, THEY are bound to ask, "So about your church..." or "So, why don't you drink alcohol?" And once THEY open the door, then the member has the opportunity to "dive in" spiritually. He said that this is a great way for us to teach the members how to be good, NORMAL member missionaries. (Instead of teaching them to be awkward full-time ones)
(Oh, and Mom do you remember when I asked you to call the Fox family? I want to follow up to see if you'd have a chance to do this. Because I realized I already talked to you guys about this a little bit and THIS is the idea. While he taught this I thought of THEM, and honestly, I think this could work with them! Mom, will you make sure you give them a 5 minute call? Will you promise to do that? I'm a missionary- I'm all about giving committments now! :) haha)

Another idea Hn. Dallon has is with street contacting. Hn. Dallon says, "Do not say you have a MESSAGE to share"- He said NEVER say that! haha He said be different, be memorable; give them something they actually WANT or NEED in this life. "Hi, we're missionaries and do you know anyone with troubled teens?" Then go to that family and say, "We want to talk to about how to better your teenage children..." He says it's not lying and it's not persuasion, it's giving them what they NEED. I really like his ideas. He is a very intense, weird, crazy teacher, but I love the fact that he's innovative and has these ideas that frankly, I think will help me out a GREAT deal! The two others sisters going to Bahia Blanca and I want to try this out in our mission.

The other thing I've been focusing on is faith. Faith is such a deep concept when you think about it. If I have the faith the size of a mustard seed, I could move mountains! WOW! What an incredible thought! So, then I was thinking about faith and how it applies to me as a missionary. In Eter 12, it talks about how the wonderful missionaries Alma, Amulek, Nefi, Lehi, Ammon, and others had FAITH and because of their faith, they were mission changing missionaries. That's what I want to be! Dad gave me the challenge to be a mission changing missionary! To do so, I need to seek and strive for the faith of these missionaries and disciples of Christ.

Norma! Oh really quickly, in the RC I called a woman named Norma originally from Mexico (yes, all in Spanish!). We talked about Christ and families and after a while I asked, "Do you know any mormones?" SHe said YES and then she said to me, "Can I go to your church?" YES!!!! I was SOO excited because even here at the MTC I finally was able to help someone's life!

I LOVE this gospel! I LOVE the Book of Mormon! I love how when we keep the commandments, we are blessed (by laws of Heaven). I LOVE the temple! I LOVE being a misionera!!! It's my last week, so please keep me pumped! I love you all SOOO much!!!!!! Thank you for your prayers. HUGS and HANDSHAKES!!!!

Hermana Tingey

General Conference & Easter in the MTC

Feliz Pascua! (Happy Easter) Thank you SOOO much for the package, Mommy! The Lindt chocolate was exactly what I needed! :) A lot of the Hermanas in my district and a few of the Elders received packages. We ate SO much candy, it was ridiculous! So this week I'm having a candy/dulces fast! It's helped a lot so far! I have more energy and I'm feeling a little better.

I am not leaving next week. I met with the Argentine Consul today and he was GREAT! He told us ALL about Argentina - WOW, I'M GOING TO ARGENTINA!!!! I still can't believe it! He said the people are very open, loving, and inviting. A huge change from Ukraine! haha He said we have to be careful though, because many people will just want to talk to young Americans and won't want to know anything about the church. He said they are very touchy and often kiss each other on the cheek. Most of the Elders looked freaked out by it- clearly they have never been outside the country. One of my favorite quotes was the Consul said, "Argentines are all a little nuts!" He said Pedestrians do NOT have the right of way; the mail system is awful; that if they insult you it's a sign of affection; there's a LOT of Italian influence, so sometimes people are moody; there are 40 million people and it's the size of UT, CA, TX, and quizas AZ combined.

I have not received my travel plans, but we're scheduled to receive them this week! So, I will let you know by Tuesday! It's frustrating because we don't know if we have Visa issues until a week before we leave. Hopefully I'm fine- keep praying! Also, I will be able to call you either here at the MTC or at the airport. I'll need your number again. Oh, and can I have Ben or Jackie's number again? I'm going to put some extra things in a box and leave it at the front desk for them to pick up. So, I have not yet accidentally run into Ben yet, but I keep trying. I went up to the fifth floor to see him, but I couldn't find him. I am a very obedient missionary and I promise I want to keep all the rules, but I really do want to run into my wonderful older brother before he gets married! OH! I got a picture with Ben Portwood, Sean Livingston, and Luke Walk. Go Park City missionaries!

I finished the Book of Mormon again! It's true- I know it! It's so wonderful to feel the power of the book. Conferencia was INCREDIBLE!!! I absolutely loved it! Time flew by and I couldn't get enough of it! I especially loved D. Todd Christofferson's talk, Holland's talk, Uchtdorf's, Anderson, etc. We also got to see the YW's broadcast. I thought of Abby the whole; a little about Elizabeth too, but a lot about Abby because she's an amazing Laurel facing all kinds of challenges. I absolutely LOVED Uchtdorf's talk. I've realized that I LOVE the "Happily Ever After" stories! I love the adventures of princesses and courageous heroines - like Belle, like the Jane Austen books, like Chronicles of Narnia Lucy and others, like the Shannon Hale books, etc. These women were courageous, virtuous, and obedient daughters of God- princesses - who are going through the refiners fire of adversity to eventually be crowned queens. This has so much more significance to me now being endowed as well. Abby, you are one of these courageous princesses! I know it's hard; but I promise if we do what the Lord asks of us - if we pray with real intent, study the scriptures, serve others with a smile, go to seminary, be a missionary, etc. We will be blessed and ultimately become royalty! I miss hearing that all the time- YW's was so great because it was such a great morale booster! :)

Hermano Dallon said something that hit me the other day. He asked us what is the most powerful missionary tool. We all said, "The Spirit!" "Scriptures!" "Member help!" and everything else we've been taught. But he said, "WHO YOU ARE is your most powerful missionary tool!" And he showed us the Rasband talk from the Priesthood session. My missionary call was from a Prophet of the Lord through inspiration. I am needed in Bahia Blanca- there are certain people I am supposed to influence, love, and teach. That's quite an interesting and wonderful responsibility. It's funny because I wrote in my journal about meeting TJ McMullin two years ago and hearing all of his mission stories. I LOVED Argentina from that point on. I was never sure exactly why, but after I received my call I knew I had been preparing my whole life, and that that incident with getting to know TJ was a tender mercy of the Lord. I've also been pondering about Ukraine and my experiences there. It was wonderful; it was hard. It was preparation. So was seminary, everything I learned from my parents in our home, sports, college, Education in Zion, etc. etc. etc. EVERYTHING was preparing me for my mission and for my marriage and family after, as well. I am grateful for all who helped get me where I am today. I am grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ and for the sacrifice He gave for me and He felt my physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, etc. pain, in the Garden. I will be forever grateful for his love, mercy, and grace. I am longing to testify to the people in my mission- I am longing to share with everyone the message of the Atonement and Restoration! I LOVE this gospel! HUGS (to family) and HANDSHAKES!!!! :) Hermana Tingey 4/6/10

Happy Easter and Conference

Hola familia! Como estan uds.? Wow, another wonderful and busy week at the MTC! So, I want to tell about a few experiences I have had lately and then I want to ask a few questions. So, first of all, I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY! I love the life I have right here and right now! And I am looking forward with my whole heart to get to Argentina in 3 weeks and teach the gospel to those I've been called to teach! It still sometimes doesn't seem real to me. This life as a missionary is something I've wanted to do my whole life and it's FLOWN by! We've already been here a full transfer- 6 weeks! YIKES! I feel like I have grown so much, and yet there's so much more I can learn and do. Especially with Spanish; I am struggling and struggling. I have to have more faith in the Lord and pray for the gift of tongues. Thanks for Elizabeth for fasting for me again this last Sunday- love you! So, many of my gym-time friends have left and gone into the mission field. So now volleyball isn't AS fun as it was before. But I have been playing more basketball (and out of nowhere I can kinda shoot the basketball fairly well! Are these extra blessings from the mission? :) haha) and I've been running a bit. My FAVORITE exercise time is the morning when we have our exercise classes for sisters. My favorite are step aerobics (which gets intense! who knew?) and kickboxing (a lot like Tae-bo, but even better!). My favorite Spiritual times are when we teach, devotionals, and probably la Junta Grandes (large group meetings). My favorite meals is la comida mexicana because I'm going to miss it!!! And right now I love eating Sourpatch watermelons that we get out of the vending machines! Haha My favorite personal time is when I'm getting a lot out of the Book of Mormon or delving into Predicad Mi Evangelio (Preach My Gospel). I LOVE el Libro de Mormon! I've been reading it again, in ingles, and I hope to be done either tomorrow or Thursday, so I can start it again in Spanish! Hermana Crosby and I had an incredible time teaching in the TEC. We taught Hermano Tidwell once earlier in the week when I was flustered with my Hermanas being sick and things, so the Spirit was not presence. It was a disaster! haha (ok, not THAT bad). Then later that week we prepared well, prayed for the guidance of the Spirit, and felt the peace of the Spirit as we began. The lesson flowed, we used wonderful scriptures, and the Spirit was present! And the greatest part (for me) was that I was able to speak more clearly and much better Spanish with the Spirit! It was truly incredible! The Spirit guided the way and helped me be able to conjugate more quickly and use better sentence structure. I was so grateful! I know I can do this THROUGH the Holy Ghost. I can understand the language of the Holy Ghost much better than I can Spanish, so I will use both as I preach, teach, testify, and commit others unto Christ. Lately I've been really focused on diligence. Austen Archibald talked to me a lot about diligence and as I've been reading the Libro de Mormon again, I've been noticing all the times the word "diligence" comes up. I wasn't feeling completely well this week and I had to try and learn diligence diligence diligence. I was getting a little discouraged towards the end of the week, because I faltered a bit with my diligence. But on Sunday, the mission presidency talked about a lot of things, but President Clegg (the 2nd counselor) turned to the scripture in D+C that says, "Courage brethern (and sistern :-D), on and on to victory!..." And then he made us stand up and sing, "We are all enlisted 'till the conflict is 'ore. Happy are we!" It was wonderful because I realized that diligence requires a smile, courage, and a positive attitude to be successful. I've been thinking a lot about my family- and YOU guys- and about how lucky I am to be born in the covenant, reared by goodly parents who love the Lord, and to have had so many wonderful experiences. Thanks Mom and Dad for everything! And thanks to all those who have touched my life. I am SO grateful for the blessings we have received from the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. And as we celebrate Easter, to know that Christ the Lord is risen and HE LIVES! What a wonderful message that is: I KNOW that my Redeemer LIVES! This is the message I want to share to all the people in Argentina! And I can't WAIT for Conference this weekend! How lucky are we to have living prophets on the earth today. They are incredible men of God; I can't WAIT to here them!

LOVE YOU ALL SOOO MUCH! This church is true! The Book of Mormon is true! Please don't forget about writing me every once in a while! HUGS HUGS HUGS!!!! (just to fam! :) and many handshakes!

My MTC Family/District

Ok, so I always laugh with my companions about what we write in our family emails. They all talk about the funny things that happen and I always focus on the spiritual. So, I decided to write a little about how my district sometimes starts laughing in the middle of singing hymns or during prayer- and sometimes I am the cause of the laughter because I don't always pronounce the Spanish hymns correctly or an Elder's voice cracks or we get off tune or something- it's hilarious! Our district is honestly like family! Oh, guess what? I have a calling- I am the newly called Sister Coordinator of my zone! So, we have the Branch President, then Zone Leaders and a Sister Coordinator, and then district leaders. I was called on Sunday and I felt a huge responsibility on the shoulders. I have already felt a deep love and appreciation for all the Sisters in the Zone. They are courageous women, Sister Scriptorians, and women of God. And many are as crazy as I am! :) We have a lot of health problems right now with the Sisters. I have a sister with kidney stones, one with pneumonia (in my room!), and three with colds. I keep begging the other sisters to stay healthy! haha But I love them with all of my heart. I am so grateful for this calling because I was just starting to feel like I was thinking about myself too much again. Missionary work is all about service, and now I have been so much happier focusing on others. We're getting three new sisters this week, so I will be their "Madre" or "Hija Mayor"- I am so pumped! Ok, so we finally had an apostle come! Quentin L. Cook came on last Tuesday's devotional and talked about the Holy Spirit and how the field is white because of the economic conditions and situations of many. He said this is an exciting time to be a missionary. One of my teachers, Hermano Dallon, talked to us about changing the way missionaries share a message in a members house. He said how many people have had missionaries over and how many spiritual thoughts do you actually remember? and how many people actually referred people to the missionaries? He said he does not think this very effective on a large scale. Hermano Dallon encouraged us to go to members houses and do one of the activities in Preach My Gospel (Predicad Mi Evangelio) and then ask them to make a non-member friend. Just make a genuine non-member friend and DON'T talk about the gospel! He said to just wait until they ask a question or bring up the fact that you're Mormon. It might take 1 week, 8 months, 1 year, 3 years, etc. but he said that does not matter. And the ENTIRE time he was talking about this new idea, I thought about the FOX (or spelled Foxx?) family in Park City! Mom, I'd like to challenge you to call them and just say hi! Tell them you miss them; tell them Ali says Hi! But just be their friend! Then when you move back to UT eventually (when are you thinking about doing that by the way???), invite them over for dinner sometime! Don't even mention the gospel unless they bring it up! And eventually I know they'll want to learn more and more - they will feel your genuine love for them and your love for the Savior. I don't think it was coincidence that I thought about them. They are WONDERFUL and I miss playing LaX with Bailey! So, Mom and Dad, will you please do that? I know you're busy, but the phone call will only take 10 minutes max. Ok, so I was reading in Alma the other day and for the second time in my play, I received a direct answer from reading the scriptures. I've always relied and had a testimony of the power of prayer and I always felt the Spirit as I read, but the answer was in the TEXT of the Book of Mormon. I was wondering why there's so much poverty, genocide, and sadness, and I was reading in Alma 14 where Alma and Amulek are watching Amulek's family and people and records be burned. In the verses after, it talks about agency of men, the judgment and justice, and that those people will be taken up in glory. I received the answer and I was so excited! Then in a meeting later that day, we talked about questions of the soul (preguntas del alma) and someone brought up this one! I raised my hand and shared this whole experience. It was a wonderful experience for me because I have been praying mightily to have a stronger, more fervent testimony of the power of the Book of Mormon, so when I committ my investigators to read, I will do it with power and be able to testify of the many blessings we get from reading the Book of Mormon. I am so grateful for tender mercies of the Lord, like this one. Uncle Scooter and Chase saw/met Victoria, eh? :) haha Mom, you're incredible! All of the experiences you share with me are amazing- and you are such a great example to me of doing missionary work as a wife, mother, and friend. How's Dad? Is he home yet from Austrailia? Oh, and on Sunday we had Sister Camille Olsen come to speak (she's a professor at BYU). She was INCREDIBLE! I want my testimony to be as strong as hers! And she mentioned a scripture in Jarom 1:11 where the people were so righteous and they acted like Christ had already come to earth (for the first time). She mentioned what it would be like if we lived as if Jesus Christ had already come again. Wow, that would change the way I would act, for sure! Thanks for Aunt Sharryl for her letter, and the Jarvis girls, and so many others! I'm excited that the wedding plans are on full throttle! Exciting! While I did sealings today I thought about the wonderful blessings of this ordinance. Wow. I am grateful to have been born in the covenant and I am excited to one day be sealed to my future husband for all eternity. What amazing blessings we receive when we keep the commandments, keep our covenants, and endure to the end happily! I LOVE being able to share this message with people! I LOVE this work! I love love love love love you!!!!!!!!! Hugs and Handshakes to all! Hermana Tingey

MTC Week 4

Hola Familia! Esta semana fue muy divertido y espiritual! Wow, I love being a missionary! First of all, thank you all SO much for writing me, dearelder.com-ing me, and for your constant prayers on my behalf (Mars, uncle Scooter, Amy Brown, todos!). I can feel the power of the Lord helping me; our Father in Heaven truly answers prayers! Special thanks to Holly, Greg, and DeVore family for the cute card! Muchas Gracias! And Mom, MUCHAS GRACIAS por las galletas (ga-shhe-tas pronounced with the Argentine accent! :) haha) My class and maestro were so grateful for the pick-me-up! I hope Dad is feeling better! I put his name on the temple role...again! :) I love going to the temple every week on P-day. I am learning so much as I truly ponder the teachings of the endowment and feel of the Spirit in the Celestial room. It's one of my favorite parts of my week! On a different note, I have another favorite part of the week: Volleyball! I play every gym period and I've finally started to learn how to do a "semi-spike!" But the best part is that old habits die hard - I counted EIGHT bruises on my knees this last week. EIGHT! haha And one HUGE one that's been bothering me. I also had a bruise on my palm of my hand for a while, but I just love playing volleyball! And it helps me have fun during gym time, then work hard during study time. Oh, and I see Mallory at least every couple days. She's incredible! Pues, Every week we write a talk for Sunday. Then the Bishop gets up and calls two people to give a talk in Spanish about what we prepared (but we don't know beforehand if we're going to give it or not). This week was about repentance, so I studied and thought about repentance, about CHANG(E)ing our hearts all this week. I did a lot of soul searching and I have felt the love and mercy of my Savior and Redeemer (Salvador y Redentor) Jesucristo. Ok, so Tuesday's devotional was Bruce C. Hafen. He had a wonderful talk about truly knowing the gospel is true. And that we don't have to know everything right now, but we just have to have the desire and work ethic too. I've taken that to heart and thought about a few parts of my testimony that I needed to do better on. I challenge all of us to continue to re-evaluate ourselves in a positive way. Because it has changed the way I study my scriptures and said my prayers. Plus my weaknesses have truly made me humble and I have put my trust in the Lord to lift me up. Similarly, in class Hermana Jesperson talked to us about a talk written by Joseph B. Writhlin called "Follow Me." It talks about casting our nets aside, like Peter and Andrew, and follow Christ. She encouraged us to cast our nets aside and follow Christ with our whole hearts on our missions. I love this quote from it, "As Jesus the Christ stood on the shores of the Sea of Galilee 2,000 yearas ago, so He stand today, issuing the same call He gave to those faithful fishermen and now to all who will hear His voice" "Follow Me!" We have nets that must be tended and nets that must be mended. But when the Master of Ocean, earth, and sky calls to us, "Follow me," we should leave the entangling, worldly nets behind and follow His footsteps." On Sunday, Sister Margaret Liffereth of the General Primary Presidency spoke to us. She's a very powerful woman in that she always focuses on our Father and Jesus Christ. And then one of my favorite moments this week was singing We'll Bring the World His Truth with the entire MTC. And you know what? They changed the words for us to sing, "We are as the army of Helaman, we have been taught in our Youth. And we ARE NOW the Lord's missionaries to bring the world His truth!" I AM A MISSIONARY!!! I am sooo grateful to my Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ to have this opportunity to serve them and their children. This is truly una obra marvillosa! Ben (and everyone), I LOVE TEACHING! I feel like I've been doing it my whole life. I feel like it comes very naturally. I am grateful I had opportunities to teach with the missionaries before my mission and also to teach Gospel Principles- that helped a great deal! I always go with what I feel in my heart. Sometimes Hermana Crosby doesn't always see where I'm going with something, but in the end the Espiritu Santo is always present and I know that we're doing our best and the Holy Ghost is taking care of the rest! Ben, I would LOVE for me and Herm. Crosby to teach you as a progressive investigator! OH, and this week I have a pretty difficult goal. I have decided that I want to actual be a representative of Jesus Christ in what I say, do, think, etc. I AM lucky enough to be His representative now as a set apart missionary, so I want to do as He woudl do, say what He would say, think what He would think. So far, there's been a clear distinction between the Spirit and Satan working on me trying to pull me in opposite directions and it's been a great experience. We have the FULLNESS of the Gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth! I KNOW we have a modern-day Prophet, named Thomas S. Monson. He leads and guides this church- he has all the keys necessary for the work of the Lord. He must talk to the Savior often. Oh yeah, and this week is my first week of teaching in SPANISH! Yikes! I am very very very nervous because I feel like I can not express myself in Spanish yet. It will probably take a few months, but I will trust in the Lord like I have been taught by goodly parents. I love all of you SO much! So, is Dad feeling better? I was hoping to see him at the temple (haha), but just know that I was thinking about you a lot today, Daddy! Mom, you're AMAZING! I don't know how you do it all! Did you receive my letter yet? I wrote about my schedule and life here at the MTC in greater detail. Biffy, I LOVE YOU SOOO MUCH! I'll write you again! Ben and Jackie, my prayers are always with you! Abby and Jack, keep those smiles on and you'll be a great missionary in your crazy school! :) Hermana Tingey P.S. Mom, can I get Dad, Ben, Jackie, and Biffy's email? Can you dearelder.com me your letters from last week? I miss you Mommio! HUGS AND HANDSHAKES!

MTC Week 3

HELLO!!!! Wow, SOOO much has happened this last week. I can hardly believe that by tomorrow I will have been here for 3 weeks. I am a third of the way through! (If my Visa works out!) First of all, thanks SO much for those of you who have dearelder.com-ed me and sent me letters. Biffy, Benji, Mom, Dad, Grandma, Scott Carlson, Nate Hendersen, Aunt Holly, Abby, Jack, Amy Brown, etc. MUCHAS GRACIAS! I absolutely LOVE getting mail! (Mom, PLEASE dearelder.com your emails to me! I have NO time to read emails, but if you dearelder.com I have time to read aobu it, write an outline for what I want to say for the next P-day, and then be able to write you back. Thanks, love ya!) Ok, so Richard C. Edgely from the Presiding Bishopric came last Tuesdayl. He is a darling, powerful man. Oh, and we had something crazy happen in our district. I have never really understood how the philosophies and ideas of men "mingle" or combine with scripture to make false ideas until this last week. My district leader, bless his heart, is a convert. He has always been really interested in balance, Karma, Hinduism, Buddhism, finding the center, etc. So he has been teaching us how to use our "energy" instead of the Spirit or something. All of us just take it with a grain of salt, but someone talked to the Bishopric about a certain time when he talked about some things that made everyone a little uncomfortable. The Bishopric pulled the Sisters aside and asked if any of us had been offended. We all said no. They urged us to be bold and not to worry about the "status" of the DL's or ZL's or AP's, but to go with the Spirit to know if what someone is teaching is correct doctrine. I had not even thought about correcting him and I felt kinda guilty I hadn't. But now I will never allow that to happen again. He's still our zone leader and we all love him, but he just had to be corrected on what he could do. Pues, Hermana Crosby and I have been working on the 2 lesson this week. It's a toughy- it's the plan of salvation. Ben or anyone- do you have advice on how to effectively teach this lesson? I LOVE it, but it's hard to give a 20 years of learning it lesson to a convert in 30 minutes! :) In class the other day, my maestra Hermana Jesperson (who served in Argentina) drew up "La Gloria de Dios" (the glory of God) in a Sun on the board. She said stay fixed on that and don't let your eyes wander. She then started to write up words all around the sun, but I was determined to keep my eye fixed on the Sun. After a while it got really hard to keep focused, but I can gratefully say I obeyed and never looked at what she was writing. After she said we could look I say that she wrote, "Distractions, Boyfriends/Girlfriends, Music, etc." All around the Sun with La Gloria de Dios in it. The object lesson was to show us how to keep our eyes single to the glory of God on the mission. It was a great lesson for me! I was grateful I never lost sight, but after a while my eyes started to hurt and I forgot about God and his Glory. Then I told myself, "No, think of my Father and His Son!" And I was able to do so! It's not just that distractions are there, but also that we get into the motions of doing everything and forget the purpose/why we're doing it. I told myself I never wanted to forget my purpose as a missionary and I wanted to stay 100% focused on bringing salvation to people of Argentina. I had a great experience with my testimony. Saturday an Elder bore his testimony in a class I was in. I said thank you to him and he said, "Tomorrow is fast sunday, will you bear yours?" I told him I would. I thought about it the rest of the day and into the next morning. I woke up with such a fire in my heart, I KNEW I had to do it! And when it got to testimony meeting my heart was pounding and pounding and I knew I had to do it- and I must obey. So, I got up there and my voice and hands were shaking. I said I felt in mi corazon (my heart) that I had to bear my testimony in Spanish. I tried my best, but my Spanish was bleah and I spoke a little English. BUt I focused on what the Holy Ghost wanted me to say. Afterwards, I had so many Elders and Sisters come up to me, individually, and thank for me for the Spirit that I brought. "Hermana Tingey, you have such a strong Spirit and I felt the Holy Ghost so strongly as you spoke!" I heard that over and over. Wow, I probably have the WORST Spanish in my branch because we have all intermediate and advanced Spanish missionaries there. But I am so grateful that the Lord showed me on Sunday that, "Hermana Tingey, you can teach with the Spirit and that's enough for now." I know the Spanish will come! I know if I have enough faith and if I trust in my Heavenly Father an Savior and do ALL I can, I will be blessed because I am not wanting to learn Spanish for myself anymore. I want to learn it for my future investigators. I have been thinking and studying in the scriptures the topics of: Faith, Goals, Miracles, etc. It's truly incredible- really, miracles happen everyday! And even small ones; little tender mercies of the Lord are miracles to me. Thanks for all of your prayers. I am praying for all of you too, everyday! Benji, I am SO excited you get to see Jackie in tres semanas! And Biffy- you're incredible! You already are such a great missionary! Abby and Jack- I miss you two SOOO much! Keep it up! Mom and Dad- I pray for you and your decisions everyday. I KNOW we have the fullness of the gospel in these Latter-days. I LOVE the Plan of Salvation. And I hope I can stand at the last day like Enos in Enos 1:27 and have God say, "Come unto me, ye blessed..." LOVE ALL OF YOU!!!!!! Hermana Tingey