Week 1! :)

Hey everyone!

Surprise!!!! You get an email from me 2 days earlier than you expected! :) The MTC has been great! :) They tell us that this shouldn't be like youth conference or EFY but that's exactly what the MTC feels like! :) My companion is awesome!  It's Sister Rachel Morrow (she's a girl I met on the sister missionary page on Facebook)!  I have enjoyed getting to know her and can't wait to get to know her even better! :) We get along so well and I will be super sad to split with her when we get into the field.  My district is amazing!  It consists of Sister Morrow and myself, Sister Brooke Taylor and Sister Hopkins (she's the girl i met in institute a couple days before I left for the MTC), Sister Lee and Sister Stauffer, and three Elders; Elder Larsen, Elder Turney, and Elder Dawson.  I have learned so much from these awesome missionaries and can't wait to learn even more!

Today is our P-Day and it's been great so far! :) We woke up early (and might I say that I haven't complained once about getting out of bed yet (: ) and exercised, then we got ready for the day, then went to breakfast and now I am here.  We now have personal time until around 2ish and then we have a planning session before we go to the Provo Temple!  I am so excited to go!  

They have kept us SO busy every single day.  We go from one class to a workshop, to studying, back to class, and then home for the night (with eating breaks in between). I have been learning so much and can't wait to put it into action up in Seattle! :) On Thursday we had the opportunity to meet with our Branch Presidency.  My new branch president is President Stice and he is awesome!  He talks about how he wants us to be exceptional missionaries and how he wants us to do that! :) I have really enjoyed the time we have to do personal study.  I have been studying the attributes of Christ and have loved learning more about them and how I can apply them to my life. :)

So for investigators, we are teaching a sweet girl named Violet.  Sister Morrow and I didn't know we were going to be teaching her until about 1 hour before we were going to teach her.  We had an outline of what we were going to teach John (our other investigator that 2 of our companionships in our district are teaching) but we only really had 15 minutes to plan on what to teach Violet.  I was quite nervous because I'm not great at teaching very well, but we went in there with the Spirit and was able to teach Violet about her loving Heavenly Father and Christ's Atonement.  It was so cool to see her reaction to it all and to tell that she was in tune with the Spirit.  It was so cool to see how if we teach by the Spirit, you can bring others to Christ.

Mom, thank you so much for the letter you sent me.  I was so excited to see that it was from you!  I realized that I forgot the cord for my camera to put pictures on the computer so could you send me it if you get a chance :) it's on my top shelf in my closet in the box still.  And also please send me my blue top I got from JC Penney's and my small hymn book (it should be on my desk in my room). I realized that I didn't pack those either. :) oops!

I am so thankful that I am here and that I have the opportunity to be here to learn more about bringing others to Christ.  It is such a neat experience and I would say to anyone that is wondering if they should go or not, GO!  It is an experience that you will never get at another time in your life.  I am so thankful for this gospel and for all that it means to me.  I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that He loves all of us very much! :) 

Pictures:

There is one of my companion and I in front of the big map :) There is also one of our district! :) 

I love all of you guys and am so thankful for the support you give me! 

Love,

Sister Megan Hills

P.S. Mom I sent you a letter in the mail with some more details! :)

The BIG day is finally here...Megan goes to the MTC!

It has been 15 weeks since Megan received her mission call and today is the day she has been waiting for.  I can't believe it is here!  It feels a little like a dream.  I find myself thinking the big day is coming but is still a little ways off and then I remind myself no, today really is the day. 

Megan spent the morning finishing packing her bags while I waited for the time to come to check Alli and Austin out of school.  Once everyone was home, we took some family pictures in the back yard and Megan told our dog, Rescue, goodbye.  We loaded up the truck and headed for Cafe Rio for Megan's last meal there for 18 months.  Jeff mentioned that today would be a good day to get a family photo at the Mount Timpanogos Temple for our family temple book.  Obviously we have all been to that temple several times but we had never took a family photo of us all there.  We had just enough time to get to the temple and take a few pictures before heading to the MTC in Provo. 

When we got to the MTC at 1:00pm, it was a parking lot. Lots of cars with new missionaries and  people there directing traffic.  The MTC has it down to a science.  There was no waiting time. Cars moved through quickly.  On the sidewalk, there were both Elder and Sister missionaries there to greet us, help the new missionaries with their luggage, and help them find where they needed to go.  We got the luggage unloaded and then came the goodbyes.  We shed a few tears as we each told Megan goodbye.  She was a little teary until Alli told her goodbye...by then, Alli had Megan laughing.  The goodbye at the curb was quick and a little hurried and then she was off.  We watched her pull her luggage towards one of the MTC buildings.  She had a big smile on her face.  She was excited.

Driving home, I found myself thinking about her and what she was experiencing.  I reflected on the past several months of a roller coaster ride...shopping several times with Megan to buy the clothes and things she would need, taking her to the temple, going over important information like her bank accounts and knowing how to register her for school when she comes back, preparations for the farewell dinner, working hard to get the yard and house in order, attending the temple a few more times with her, renewing her driver's license, shots, etc...  There have been so many things to think about and do but now it was all done.  There was a feeling of relief.  She was where she needed to be.  She had told me earlier that morning that she wasn't nervous anymore just very excited.  I knew that even though we were going to miss her, how could we not be excited for her?  It made letting her go so much easier.

A few photos of Megan's big day: