Final Memories of the MTC

Lauren sent home some pictures of her time at the Missionary Training Center:

Sister Jarvie with friend Rique Carroll, who saw each other at the temple

Sister Jarvie and her companions, Sister Martin and Sister Carter

Sister Jarvie's MTC District

The district in front of the Provo Temple

Sister Ting, a friend of Lauren's from BYU Hawaii

Elder Fackrell, the district leader

Surprise meeting with friend Clark Goldsberry on the way to the temple

The district and their trainer, Sister Christensen

Yesterday Was My First Day on The Square!

Hello!

Yesterday was my first day on the square! We weren't there for very long before all the new sisters got to go the WALMART to go shopping for groceries. So for this transfer my new official Pday is on Thursday from 1pm until we go back to our apartment. My companion is Sister Au-Yeung from Hong Kong, China! She went to BYU Hawaii too and we share a lot of common friends there, but I had never met her!  She is so great. She will be my trainer for the next 2 transfers (12 weeks). I am excited because she is so sweet and I have so much to learn from her. Everyone here loves her too so I know that we will have fun together. She speaks 4 languages I think!! Cantonese, Manderin Chinese, Japanese and English! So apparently we will be giving tours in all of those languages when needed! Well.....SHE will be giving the tours, I will probably just stand and smile! haha But it is rare in the winter time to have a big group come and need a tour in a different language.

We spend half our day walking around on the Square and the other half in what is called "motors". That is when we are making or receiving calls or on chat. We will spend a lot of time calling the referrals that we get while on the square. We are able to follow up with people, teach them the lessons and commit them to baptism before we send the local missionaries to them. We can call anywhere in the world except China and Middle East. It is great with so many international sisters here, it makes calling different countries so much easier.

All of the sisters here are so friendly! I am so glad that I was called here to serve my mission! I was able to talk to Sister Jenna Mettra a lot yesterday. This is her last transfer which is so sad but she has served a GREAT mission and made such a huge impact on peoples lives.

We are getting cell phones tomorrow! So we won’t have to be using pagers anymore. That will be nice. It is probably just one per companionship, pretty cool! Also we can only email family! So make sure that you have my correct address if you want to send me Dear Elder letters or actual mail:

Sister Lauren Jarvie

Utah Temple Square Mission

50 N. West Temple St. Rm. BSVC

Salt Lake City, UT 81450-1891 

I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to get mail so Pleeeease don't forget about me :) I know you must be sick of hearing from me because I have had 3 Pdays in the past weekish! Hahah Sorry bout it! There will be A LOT more to share next week!

LOVE YOU ALL!!!

CTR!

Sister Lauren Jarvie

         

I Only Have 5 More Days in the MTC!!

Sister Jarvie and her trainer, Brianna Hobbins

November 4, 2011

Hello!

I know it has only been a few days but like I had explained, I get two pdays this week! It is nice because I don't have to do any laundry today haha I just get to go to the temple!

So, I start Visitors Center training on Wednesday. It is awesome!!!!! I cannot express how much I love it.. Especially since on the first night we did "Chat Training" and BRIANNA HOBBINS is my teacher! If you're reading this right now, I love you! haha So, in class we were able to do some role playing, meaning we talk to each other as if one were the missionary and the other the investigator. We had to say, "welcome to Temple Square" and stuff like that. Then we had to practice sharing the first message of the Restoration in 5 minutes... We can't say the whole thing though. We have to learn how to discern what the investigator wants to hear. It is easier when we do a "tour" because we have more time at the beginning to get to know them a little. Last night we had TRC (Training Resource Center) and we set up a big room with pictures all over the walls. Then we met a visitor and showed them around and explained some principles that were depicted in the paintings. At the end we showed the Christus presentation. It was pretty cool, I haven't seen that for years!

Another great thing that happened yesterday is that we had more chat training. So at times during my mission we will be in a room full of computers waiting to talk to people who come online to chat through mormon.org. So they come on and ask us questions about the church and stuff. We talked to a real person yesterday!!! We were so excited. Its funny because it will be a group chat with my companion and I, AND the investigator. We have to communicate what we want to say to the person and stuff. Its really interesting. People are always online wanting to talk to missionaries.

So Brianna brought us Jamba Juice yesterday! OMG it was SO GOOD!!! The food here can get old at times, so it was really nice to have a fruit smoothie! YUM. She is the best. I hope I can be as good of a missionary as she was at Temple Square. That is my goal for sure!

We have our Temple Square Experience tomorrow! So in the afternoon we hop on a bus and drive up to SLC. Each of us will be paired up with a temple square sister missionary. And we will be actual missionaries! I am excited and nervous! So we will be able to talk to people and maybe even conduct tours?! I don't really know yet. I think they will tell us more tomorrow.

I have  5 days left here!!! It went by so fast! If you're going to send me a letter on Monday I think you should use my SLC address?

Thank so much to everyone that has been supporting me and sending me some LOVE!

LOVE you all so much!

xoxo

Sister Jarvie

I am so so so Grateful I Have This Opportunity to Serve the Lord

 Hello family and friends!

What an awesome week!! I saw so many people this week. I saw Matt Clayton, Stevo and Lee! They all teach here! And I saw Landon Ball who is now engaged to Lauren Porter?! Wooo!! Congrats you two! :) On Sunday we were walking back from the temple and CLARK got out of his car right by me!! OMG! I was so happy! It was so so good to see him! Then right after Rique pulled up too! So I was able to talk with them for a little while and take pictures. Clark took some with his Polaroid but they didn't turn out right away...GOOD news though Clark, it DID indeed turn out! So now I have a really awesome picture of us! I have also seen Jake Adams, who works here. I told him to send a picture of me to Lauren Call. Lauren Call write meeee!

Well this has been a good week. I really have been trying to learn the scriptures like the back of my hand. It is hard! Pay attention in seminary! Our elders left yesterday morning so we have been able to have some one on one time with our teachers. I had the most incredible experience last night in Sister Christensen’s class. We were able to talk to her about things we had questions about. We ended up talking about our human bodies and having hope. Hope is something that I am really focusing on here in the MTC. We listened to the most incredible talk by Dieter F. Uchtdorf!!! SO so good! I can't remember what it is called right now but it was great. It really pointed out that we need faith, hope and charity. And it is so true. I have been focusing on the Christlike attributes section of Preach My Gospel (I LOVE PMG) and it has been so helpful to go through and mark the scriptures that are about those attributes so that I can try to apply them to my life. This has been a wild experience. You get torn down, and then built back up. But that is just the way HF planned it for all of us, in ANY hard time we go through. I am so so so grateful I have this opportunity to serve the Lord. I wish that the youth understood just HOW great of an opportunity this is... EFY kids!!! YOU MUST serve a mission! Especially those who have the desire to serve are called to the work!

I miss all of you and I love you so much!!

Thank you for all of the love and support!

LOVE, Sister Jarvie

ps- I start Visitors Center training on Wednesday and so I get another PDAY on Friday!

Whooooop!!

Week 2--This Has Been Such An Awesome Week!!

                                  

Hello Hello!

This has been such an awesome week!! Last Tuesday night Richard G. Scott came to speak at our devotional. He did a Q&A session and it was so rad! I can’t believe that this week has gone by so fast. It has been so busy! We have to teach fake investigators every few days during something called TRC (Teaching Resource Center) where we are assigned a progressive investigator. We had a lady named Lawanna! She is the best! She has the craziest life story. She never knew her dad and her mom died when she was 9. So she was in and out of foster homes until she started living on the streets. So we had to teach her the message of the gospel. SHE is SO funny!!! Anyways, it was kind of a challenge but she ended up really liking me! So yesterday we had an appointment with her and halfway through, she broke character!!! It was the most awesome thing ever! She was like YALL ARE DRYYY! In her Atlanta accent! She’s so great! But she was just joking and she was saying how we are going to be awesome missionaries. I was totally crying! She said Yall befriended me. Yall came here to teach me da lessons and now we friendsss! haha! So it was the best experience I’ve ever had! To think you might be doing a horrible job teaching and then have your "investigator" say how incredible you are. Then she said, yall befriended me...and that’s what the missionaries did to me 4 years ago". OH my, AWESOME! I just couldn't believe it! It was the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Especially because these people are not supposed to go easy on us. Before we got here some other sisters went to teach Lawanna and she KICKED them out!!!! So I am just really grateful that we were able to be sensitive to the Spirit when teaching her... We were supposed to have one more time with her but she left yesterday to go to Atlanta because her best friend was murdered. So she’s going to go watch her kids for a little while back there.

So it was funny to see the new missionaries come in last Wednesday! I can’t believe how fast it’s gone by. It’s only been 2 weeks! I can’t believe how much I have learned! I feel like for the first time I really understand everything! I thought I did before...but I was SO wrong haha I feel like I have a pretty good foundation of knowledge now and we only have a week left of regular classes!!! All our elders leave Monday! :( I am going to miss them so much! They are so great! So then we start Visitor’s Center training!

ps- I am in the MTC choir! Ha I know. But I get really awesome seats at the devotionals! Stoked!

I hope everyone is doing well! I love you all!!

Have a good week!!

Sister Jarvie

First Week in the Missionary Training Center

Wow! I can't believe I made it to P-Day!!! I thought this week was going to take forever! It is so busy all the time here and we always have stuff to do! I have 2 companions and we are all going to Temple Square! Sister Martin is from Albuquerque, New Mexico. And Sister Carter is from Rancho Cucamonga, CA! She is so rad, I love her! We get along so well! It is kind of weird to have two people ALWAYS with you but it's not that bad :) The first day here was kind of wild. We went straight into classes and had TONS of personal study time! I think we had 6 hours of personal study time on Friday!! It's nice but it was a lot. Now that we have been here for a few more days, we don't have that much time, so I like that better! My teachers are the BEST! Sister Christensen served her mission in England, she's so cute and totally reminds me of Beana, it's almost weird how much! And I love every minute of it! We also have Brother Taylor. He served in Fresno and just got back a few months ago. They both know so much and are way good teachers! I'm so lucky to have them. I was kind of having a hard night on Friday. It is shocking! Adjusting to the MTC is not an easy thing! For me at least! So on Saturday Sister Christensen could tell I was having a hard time and came to talk to me. She said EVERYTHING that I needed to hear! She is seriously an angel! It was such an answer to my prayers! I love her so much! My district is sweet! Elder Fackrell (district leader) and Elder Tuttle are both going to SOUTH AFRICA!!! Elder Busdicker, Elder Lords, Elder Wilkinson, and Elder Ellis are all going to Alberquerqe New Mexico! Ok sorry I cant spell the name of that city. I guess we're not allowed to have spell check here? haha I dont know. Anyways, these boys are so funny! I love them, and what they bring to class so much! I can see why Brooke Clayton said I'm lucky there won't be elders in my mission because I could see it getting a little old! Hah no, they're great! Sunday was nice, we were able to have a little down time. But not too much! Ok so....WE are ALREADY teaching "investigators"!! So crazy right? We taught a girl named LAWANNA, yes, Lawanna! So Awesome... Anyways, the lesson was an hour long and we were just teaching her about the restoration and stuff. I guess we meet with her 3 times a week. Our teachers also pretend to be investigators and we teach them too! It is so weird! I wonder how good I will be at teaching by the end of my time here?! But I would have to make a TON of improvements! haha Well, the food here is so good! CAFFIENE FREE DIET COKE!?!?! Seriously? It's a crime.

LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU TONS!!!!

Sister Jarvie

PS- Everyone needs to DearElder.com ME! And remember to put your MAILING ADDRESS so I can write you back! The cool thing about that is that I get the letter you send the VERY SAME DAY!!!!

Missionary Training Center Address

Only a few more days until I report! It has all gone by so fast. It was only 6 weeks ago that I got my call and now I'm off! I will be in the MTC for 4 weeks. While I am there you can send me mail or packages :) to this address:

Sister Lauren Taylor Jarvie
MTC Mailbox # 213
UT-TMSQ 1109
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793

OR

You can email me:

lauren.jarvie@myldsmail.net

LOVE

Sister Jarvie

I hope to hear from you 

while I am gone!