Week 4: I Want to Ride My Bicycle

Hi, everyone!

This has been such a fun week! I ended up writing 26 pages in my journal this time around, which is a pretty substantial increase. At the beginning of my online CCM experience, I was showing my dad how much I’d written in my journal already, and he joked that I would fill up the entire thing before I left Utah. I don’t think that will happen exactly, but this journal is about two-thirds of the way full. Looks like I’ll have to hit up some good stationery stores in Tennessee!

Speaking of Tennessee, I heard from TNM (that’s what the cool kids are calling the Tennessee Nashville Mission) right after I finished my weekly email last week, and I learned that there are bikes in my mission! I’m not exactly sure how riding a bike in a skirt is supposed to work, but I’m sure my trainer will have some tips.*

I got new glasses! You’ve heard of “two heads are better than one.” Get ready for “two pairs are better than one”!

And no, I still don’t have my flight plans. I’ve been able to connect with some other missionaries headed for Nashville, and Hermana Gomez (resident cool girl of district 8E) is also reassigned there, so at least I know that all of us have no clue what the future holds together. What’s also nice about Hermana Gomez being around is that she was able to warn me before the TNM called on Sunday to schedule an interview with the mission president! So that’s fun.

I’m sure you’re all wondering about gym (I’m sure me complaining about it is the highlight of your week), but this week I have good news! Our instructor’s WiFi wasn’t working, so we had to watch a video he’d previously recorded. The routine was much less intense, and I actually felt happy after working out. The blessings given to us by the Lord.

My Phoebe costume (with a helpful “Magic School Bus” background so it’s clear who I am).

Halloween was super fun! Before I started my mission, I put some thought into what I could possibly dress up as, because Halloween costumes are very important to me. I ended up going as Phoebe from “The Magic School Bus,” which was a costume nobody could guess but would make everyone go “Ohhhhh” once I told them who it was. Gotta love a collective “Ohhhh” moment.

An inside look at Elder Young’s “exclusive” birthday festivities.

But the highlight of the week was definitely Elder Young’s birthday on Tuesday. We celebrated by playing “Las Mañanitas” in Hermano Rivera’s class, and Hermana McCauley put together a video of everyone in the district saying their favorite thing about Elder Young! Our district is so close, and they’re really all the best . I hope that we’ll be able to have a little reunion after we finish our missions.

What? A “Happy New Year” hat? This is clearly a “Happy B-Day” hat of the highest quality.

I also had a great time representing the district during a meeting some of the CCM teachers were having. The hermanas I met were very nice and complimented my Spanish, which I don’t think I necessarily earned, but I was happy to accept their kindness.

This week, I learned something very cool, which was that one of the elders we have our weekly workshops with, Elder Murdock, sang on the 2020 Youth Album! I have to be real with you guys, I’ve never really liked the Youth Album songs. I can appreciate the sentiment, but if I’m having a spiritual moment with music, it’s more often while listening to the Tabernacle Choir. How grandmotherly of me, I know. But now that I’m a missionary and can only listen to certain types of songs, I’ve given this genre a second chance. I’ll be honest: I don’t like every song. But there are some that will definitely be on my mission playlist, including this song. Give it a listen, and see if you can find songs this week that help you feel the Spirit where you might not have expected it!

An especially important scripture to me this week is found in 3 Nephi, when Christ appears before the Nephites. It says:

14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.

15 And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.

I know it’s easy to feel stressed and overwhelmed right now, and I know it’s easy for that to devolve into feeling hopeless. And it’s OK to be scared. It’s OK to not know everything. It’s OK for things to not make sense. Something I’ve been learning (and trying to accept for myself) is that being brave isn’t being foolhardy. It’s living and fighting what you believe, and continually working toward becoming the person you want to be. And something that I’ve felt testified to me again and again is the reality of Christ. How we can come unto him and know for ourselves of his life and his love. I hope we can all be partakers of the gift that knowledge is.

So much love,

Hermana Newton

* The dress code for sister missionaries includes trousers now.