Last letter from the MTC

February 14, 2014 

Molly sent us a few messages today, they are included here.  She answered some of the questions we had sent her as a family about life in the MTC.

Dearest family and friends,

This will be my last email from the MTC! I leave for Nampa on Tuesday morning- our flight leaves at about 9am (11am your time). I'm hoping to call you from the airport! I'll call Mom's phone- so just be prepared because I'm not sure what time that will be at. Also, I don't know if I told you this, but I was also assigned by our mission president to be the travel leader for our mission. Ohhhhh yeahhhh.

Happy Valentines Day! A group of elders came up to our district this morning, handed us all red hearts, said "Happy Valentines Day, Sisters!" and then walked away. They normally sit at the table next to us during our meals. We said "thank you! How sweet!" and they walked away... When we looked down at the hearts we noticed that they said "Song of Solomon 1:2".... -_- REALLY?! Look it up. You can imagine our reactions- as well as our insane laughter. Sorry everyone, but Heavenly Father is my Valentine today!! :D He's awesome- and He loves me!

The MTC has gotten to be fabulous! I love it. They always say, "Just wait until Sunday- it will get so much better!" But it's really true! We've gotten the swing of things around here and really feel at home. I can't believe I leave on Tuesday and have to say goodbye to some of these sweet sisters! They have been such a blessing in my life as we've shared life experiences, testimonies, and laughed together. And I don't know if I told you about my MTC teacher- Brother Bishop. But he in a gem. Wonderful guy! He got back from his mission a year ago- he went to California, Oakland. He's the best example ever and helps us grow so much. We get to go to the temple today! :D So pumped. I love the temple! So excited!

Ohhhh... My sweet, sweet companion.... Sister Tyler... What a gem.

Today was laundry day and, well, she thought it would be a great idea to put some red pajama bottoms in with her garments. I spent the next 30 minutes or so teaching her how to use the washing machine/ dryer and how to get the pink out. Moral of the story: PLEASE HAVE YOUR CHILDREN LEARN TO DO LAUNDRY! Hahaha! She's so great. Her parents send me some chocolates for V-Day! :)

Yesterday we had In-Field Orientation- which is a full day of classes and workshops devoted to teaching us how to live out in the field. One of our teachers was... *drumroll* Elder Christensen! From "The District"! Okay, well, it really wasn't that exciting... But one of the Elder's actually stood up for him like he was a general authority. SO AWKWARD. Haha! But he participated in a play that they wrote to help us laugh at ourselves. The play was all about how a greenie normally acts the first week in the new ward. Just watch The Best Two Years... And that's a perfect representation of the play. ;)

Q: DearElder letters?

A: I've gotten all of the Dear Elder's! Unfortunately, we literally have barely any time to physically write letters to anyone. So I've been holding on to them and reading them before bed!

Q: Bring sheets? Pillow?

A: Nope! they're provided here in the MTC. But I brought a blanket to remind me of BYU-Idaho! :)

Q: Is there anything we can send?

A: Nooooo. Please don't! I've gotten your packages- and they're great! But I haven't even gotten into the food you sent me. We get all you can eat in the cafeteria... So we're never hungry! haha

Q: How's the food?

A: Like I said... All you can eat. (Which is great for Elders!) But it's really not anything fantastic. Edible, yes. 5 stars? Nope. :)

Q: Free Haircut?

A: Ehhh... Maybe! We seriously have no free time at all. But I'd like to!

Q: Exercise time?

A: We go to the weight room and lift weights, as well as use the machines to bike.

Q: Devotionals?

A: WAY AWESOME!!!! They're always so great!!! On Tuesday, we had Elder Zwick come and speak with his wife. They talked about patience: being patient with ourselves and patient with others. Dang it- I wish I brought my journal with me to write you. I was going to, but I forgot... I'll have to tell you later!

Q: MTC Choir?

A: .........I haven't done it. :/ Sister Tyler and I have been SO busy with meetings (which happen while everyone else has free time) and the choir meets during dinner time. So we normally take that dinner time to relax and take a MUCH NEEDED break. I miss singing so much. I can't even explain how much. But if I don't take that free time, I. Will. Die. haha!

There's this Elder in our zone- super awesome! He has Asperger Syndrome and I just LOVE him. I told him about Chase and now me and him are best buddies. Haha! We are constantly being told here in the MTC that we shouldn't be flirting with Elder's and such, blah blah blah. (It's really not that hard to not flirt people. Just take a moment to realize why you're here at the MTC and get your head in the game.) But when we were reminded again, Elder Walch turns to us Sisters and asks, "When we talk... are we conversing or flirting?" Ohhh mannn. It was adorable. Super awesome. He is a SUPER AWESOME missionary and our Zone Leader. :)

I learned something awesome recently- well, 2 things.

1: Sister Tyler and I taught some awesome lessons to our investigators this week. The Spirit was definitely the teacher! But as the week went on, we started getting prideful that we "already knew the lessons really well". So we just kind of threw together a lesson and studied a little bit for our investigators. We slacked off in personal/ companion study... Yeah. We were really bad. But let me get to the point! We went in to our lessons and NOTHING went right. There was contention between us and an investigator. We couldn't explain ANYTHING right. We didn't know the answers to a lot of questions. The Spirit was NOT telling us what to say...

So we beat ourselves up. We were so discouraged and felt like we were terrible missionaries. So we repented. We prayed together to Heavenly Father and asked him to forgive us for being prideful and not thinking about our investigators.

The next day, we planned ALL DAY. We studied ALL DAY. We prayed ALL DAY. And guess what?! THE LESSONS WERE AWESOME! The spirit definitely taught our investigators. We were able to answer questions that we hadn't even considered before. I don't want to get too in depth- because some very great miracles happened. But, let's just say, things came out of my mouth that I hadn't prepared to say. It really is true that the Lord will tell you in the very hour what you should say.

2: Did you know that the Lord will put bad memories into our minds so that we can better help others?

On Sunday, I went to church asking Heavenly Father, "What should we teach Sarah in our lesson on Monday?" I sat through church, nothing was really coming to mind... All I could really think about was myself. And then on Monday, my thoughts were consumed by EVERY BAD THING I HAD EVER DONE. Every bad thing I had said about someone. Every time I wasn't fully honest. EVERYTHING. I was miserable. Truly miserable. I kept thinking, "SATAN! YOU JERK! Stop it!" And I wondered if I had something that I needed to repent of that I hadn't. I questioned whether I was worthy to be on a mission. Grrrrr. It was terrible. I prayed to Heavenly Father to make it go away- but it stayed. Ugh. 

We went to the lesson with Sarah that night. Sister Tyler and I prayed right before we walked in the door- asking Heavenly Father to help us know what to say in the lesson. We had no idea. But as we met with Sarah, got to know her, she expressed to us how she believed that God didn't love her because of all the bad things that she's done. WHAT?! I was able to testify to her that God DID love her! And because he loves her- he provided a way for her to repent- through Jesus Christ's Atonement!!! 

Did you know that Heavenly Father can place memories in your mind that may cause you pain- so that you can better help one of His children? :) Awesome!

AH! So much to say, so little time. I love you all!

Reid- congrats on JV! That's so awesome! I wish I was there to watch your games! Kick some behind! 

Chase- Thank you for your encouraging letters! I have been looking for spiritual experiences every day- just like you told me to! :)

Ryan- Thank you for the stickers! I've been using them well! :) Whenever I send a letter to a friend, I put one of your stickers on the envelope. And if Mom and Dad get you a dog, I will be pleasantly surprised. ;)

Mom and Dad, Thank you so much for your letters and constant encouragement and prayers. It keeps a missionary like me going!

Love,

Sister Gubler

By the way, I'm so glad that people are reading my letters and benefiting from them. I hope that people know that they are free to write me and ask me questions about my mission, etc. 

Please let everyone know that sharing the gospel is SO EASY! Don't be afraid to talk about who you are, what you believe, why you believe it! NO ONE can ever argue with YOUR TESTIMONY. Because IT'S YOURS!!! And hearing about the gospel can only HELP people. 

Will you please send me Austin's address? I'd like to write him a letter. :)

Also, sorry for misleading you... But I wasn't the one who said that quote... :/ It was President Uchtodorf. I wish I was as wise as an apostle though. Sorry if that miscommunication causes a burden!

Oopsie,

Sister Gubler

By the way (again),

My companion is from Texas. And she refers to it like it's a foreign country. "People in Texas do this..."

I just want to make all Texan's aware- it's not.

Most of the time, It's not a Texan thing. It's a teenager thing. ;)