Last week ahhhh!!

Oh my goodness so much to report for this week.  

First of all, we leave Monday at 6 am for Lyon!  I can't believe it!  We got our travel information and I'll be at the airport Monday morning.  So family, expect a call from me then!  Dad, is there any way I can get a hold of you at work?  I might be able to call later from Chicago to talk to you if you're busy when I call home.  Anyways, my flight leaves at 11 MST so I'll call before that sooo expect a call around 12 your time?  We will be in Chicago between 3 and 5 Chicago time so perhaps expect another call around 4 and 6 if I didn't catch you the first time.  So yeah, layover in Chicago and then we go to London (my favorite city!!) and then we fly to Lyon.  We're kinda bummed out that the Paris people in our zone are not flying with us--they're leaving the same day but have a direct flight to Paris!  We'll have to say our goodbyes Sunday night.  

That being said, the last day I can receive mail at this address is Saturday, and Saturdaymorning, because they stop doing the mail sorting in the afternoons on Saturday.  So yeah, if you happen to have any letters to send me (wink wink :D) they have to arrive here by that morning!  

Ok so some cool things will happen this week.  Yesterday Soeur Hafen our instructor held us back after class to ask us if we would do something for her.  She's been praying about it and wants Soeur Christensen and me to teach one of her old investigators via skype for our TRCtomorrow.  She taught her a lot during her mission but she still isn't baptized.  She apparently is very strong and loves the church and the missionaries.  But she wants us to teach her!  Our first REAL investigator!  It's rare to have that in the MTC because everyone we've taught so far has been a member that is either playing themselves or another character.  So this is a real missionary experience even inside the MTC!  It's still not all set in stone but she's working on it.  Oh AND it will be in ENGLISH YESSSSS.  That's the best part haha.  Less stress.  

Juna came to see me yesterday morning!  Yayyyy!!!  She brought me AMAZING cookies, (my recipe of course ;)) and we walked around the hallway for like twenty minutes just talking and it was so great!  Also I was weirdly speaking franglais to her and she might have been confused a few times.  That's a good sign!  It's coming more naturally!  The other day I gave a prayer in a zone conference too, in English, and it was hard!  Isn't that weird?  I just forgot how to say "thank you" in English.  It didn't flow.  

We got some really cool news about the French consul general coming to visit us.  She's second in foreign affairs to the French ambassador, and she's the one that helps us get our visas.  Apparently she only comes when they have trouble getting visas for people going to France, which last time was 10 years ago so I guess this is a big deal.  Anyways, they've chosen our district to be the one that she comes to visit cause apparently we're just that awesome...?  I think it's cause we have a lot of sisters hahah.  And two international people so it makes us look more diverse since everyone else is basically from Utah, of course.  So yeah, we're going to have a Q&A with her and talk about France and it will be great!  Kind of a lot of pressure but I think it will be a good experience.  Elder Hinckley from the Seventy and one of the MTC mission presidency members will also be there so that's cool too!  That's happening this Friday.

Our lessons this week were both ughhh and yayyyy!!  Saturday we taught Muriel and SHE COMMITTED TO BAPTISM HOLLLAAA.  We love her so much because we've been teaching her since the very first week!  She has come so far in her faith and we finally talked about eternal families with her and she committed to be baptized March 7.  We were so happy!  We were so happy that she has finally chosen to take the next step in her faith.  Hospice is also progressing.  We still haven't set a final date of baptism with him because we keep forgetting to do that (still lots to learn about missionary work) but he's getting close!  We deviated a bit from the string of commandments lessons and taught more about the plan of salvation and how everything in the gospel is all linked together.  After the lesson Frere Ritchie said he didn't really have any commentary for us cause it was so good!  Yes.  Progression. 

This week one of the elders in our zone had to go home and it was pretty sad for all of us.  I didn't really know him that well, but our elders were pretty good friends with him so it was rough on them.  After lunch we were just saying goodbye, and then the missionaries going to Fiji just happened to be coming to the their classroom even though it was their P-Day.  They're on our floor, and the elders have come to be good friends with them.  So they decided to sing for him as he left, and it was BEAUTIFUL.  They're all Tongan, Samoan, or Tahitian or something else so when they sing it's amazing because its just a huge part of their culture.  None of them were amazing singers, but nothing can sound better than singing from the heart and that's what it was.  Then they even did the haka for him haha.  I think they got chastised for that later but oh well.  

Another super cool thing was Saturday night they were singing again because they were practicing for a musical number in their sacrament meeting the next day, and we heard them down the hall say "we need more sisters" so obviously we're like poking our heads out just BEGGING for them to come to our room and ask us to sing with them (did I mention how good looking this whole district is?  Is that allowed? hehe).  Um yeah so they asked us to sing with them and it was seriously like the best day at the MTC!  We sang a bunch of songs from the Tongan and Samoan hymnbooks and we had NO idea what we were singing or how to pronounce the words but it was amazinggg!!  Then they wanted to be nice to us and sing some songs in English, so we sang a Child's Prayer and Love is Spoken Here with just us four sisters singing the girls part and like 15-20 men singing the other.  Ahhhhh!!  Amazing.  

Something funny that happened in a lesson this week:  I was trying to say "Nous avons les âmes" (we have souls) and instead I said, "Nous avons les hommes" (we have men).  Which...we don't cause we're sister missionaries so yeah that resulted in lots of laughter from our teacher.  

Elder Ballard came for a devotional last Tuesday!  He gave a lot of great advice to us about serving our missions.  I took notes but right now I can't remember specific things.  But it was a great talk and I like him a lot.  This Sunday Stephen Allen who is a member of the Seventy and Managing Director of the missionaries or something like that also came and gave a superb talk.  It was very engaging and it was all about Satan and how he doesn't want us to serve missions and so he's going to try to push our buttons to get us discouraged or want to quit.  He has been watching us all our lives, and therefore knows exactly what buttons to push.  All I can say is, yeah.  I can feel that.  It's interesting to see how the second I talk to my companion about my goals of having more charity and patience, the following week was HARD with that.  I was having attitude up and down about some of the things we were learning in class and the way my teachers teach and I'm all like 'this is stupid, you're not teaching this well, you're only 20 years old' and stuff like that.  Then of course I would feel like what is wrong with me and why can I not have a good attitude when I'm praying for it ALL the time?  Satan is a real enemy and he's working hard!  But he'll never win, and my good attitude is back :)

On Sunday President Snow (who's a district president but kind of like the equivalent of a stake president) came to our Sacrament meeting along with President Trost who is one of the new members of the MTC mission presidency, so that was cool.  But you know how Allison said that in Sacrament meeting you find out if you're speaking or not when they announce it over the pulpit?  in French, too.  Well yep, that happened to me this Sunday.  We prepare talks every week and so far I've been lucky enough to not have to actually give mine.  Well, they chose me this time.  No pressure or anything, only special guests.  Ahh!!  It was ok though.  I mean I was only a semi-robot cause I try to make my talks normal but I was definitely reading it because I can't speak normally in French yet so oh well.  I looked up like four times haha awesomeeee.  But it was fine.  

So Frère Call came into my classroom yesterday and said he knew my friend Hannah and my old roommate Aly and that he was hanging out at my apartment with them.  What the heck!!  I don't know why but it was the weirdest thing for me haha I have this world of Provo and my life there and then I have this world of MTC Provo which is COMPLETELY different and those two worlds just collided and it was weird.  But he should date one of them cause he's the best and Allison had him too and loves him and I would approve of him dating one of my roommates/friends!  Love that.  Even though its weird to think of a figure of authority in my life just chilling on my old couch in my old apartment with my loves haha yeah definitely weird.  

Ok I think that's pretty much it!  I love you all and I can't believe I'm off already!  So sad to leave everyone because we've made such great friendships and we'll all be totally separated for the rest of the mission.  It's so big that we might never even cross paths.  I'm praying for an awesome trainer!  Maybe it'll be Allison?  Haha thattt would be funny.  I look forward to talking to you all at the airport Monday!

Ok love you all!  Je vous aime beaucoup!!

Love, Soeur Hurd

 Last temple selfie! #noshame

 

"Ran into" Juna, woop woop!

Last temple trip! The large group is our whole branch I think. Some of the missionaries are going to Tahiti!  The next picture is the group of us that are going to Lyon. There are a couple other missionaries not in our zone that are joining us. One of them is Elder Engel. He is one of the "hobbits"

Yes, this is what we do for fun when we find a large bin in the hallway.

More temple pics

MTC Lyyyfeee

Bonjour, ok ready for France!

Tomorrow I'll have been here for five weeks.  I remember friends telling me that five weeks was when they felt about ready to leave....yes!  That's me!  Unfortunately we still have 12 full days here left though.  It's ok, I can do it.  Lots of people I know had to be here for 12 weeks so if they did that, I can handle 7 and a half.  I am SO excited for real food again though!!

Not a lot to talk about this week.  We taught a native French speaker for TRC and it was hard!  The woman was so nice--she lives just outside of Paris, has two daughters, and her husband is in the stake presidency (I think that's what she said, at least).  Which makes it hard because this woman clearly already has her life together and so it's difficult thinking of what to teach for thirty minutes when she probably already knows the answers to life.  It's ok!  We'll do better tomorrow.  

Our amis both came to church this week!  Muriel came, even though her boyfriend couldn't, and she really felt the spirit.  She's coming sooo close to baptism I can feel it!  She knows Heavenly Father loves her and knows it's true, she just needs to have the support of her boyfriend to commit to anything.  Unfortunately we won't be able to teach him again before we go because he's "going to Canada for a month to visit family" (really, it's Frère Call and he's getting his own district and can't sit in on our lessons anymore. So sad!).  Hospice is preparing for baptism and getting closer!  We still have to teach a couple commandments to him so that will be interesting haha. 

 Haha.....we watched this video in our class from "the District" videos about these missionaries teaching the law of chastity to this investigator, German, and it was SOOO BAD HAHAHA oh my gosh, they couldn't teach it comfortably, and they did a HORRIBLE job of explaining what it meant.  4 days later at a follow-up lesson, they asked how it's been going for him and he talked about how he's trying so hard to be good and follow the lesson and how there was this girl that used to be his sister's roommate that he thought he might be interested, but he just reallyyyy wanted to obey the law of chastity so he didn't talk to her or anything!  It was the cutest thing but sooo sad!  One of them said, "There's nothing wrong with going on a date" and he was like "Oh, really?  Oh I'm so confused."  Haha so sad!  He thought he like wasn't allowed to even date anyone!  Anyways, just a funny random story that I remembered.  Definitely teaches us the importance of teaching doctrine clearly and simply and asking questions to ensure that they understand it haha.  

Last Tuesday we had a really cool devotional!  I can't remember if I mentioned it in my last letter, but we got a new MTC mission presidency this past week.  So last Tuesday was the last devotional for the previous presidency.  Elder Nelson came again!  He's the sweetest 90 year old man.  He gave us a lot great advice including the importance of looking happy.  "If you look grumpy, who wants to be like you?"  He also mentioned his conference talk a year or so ago when he often exclaimed, "Ask the Missionaries!  They will help you."  Then he pointed out....now we're the missionaries.  And all of us were like....oh crap.  Do we know how to answer everyone's questions??  He assured us that yes, the Lord will always give us the ability to answer any question through his Spirit.  That's a relief.  Elder David F. Evans of the Seventy also spoke, which is cool cause that's my friend Mike's dad!  He was the one I went to conference with last April.  Elder Evans is the Director of the Missionary Committee and a few other members of the committee were there too.  Several special people!  They said we should be getting more special people tonight for the devotional with our new presidency.  I'll keep you posted.

Well MTC life is interesting because things that you never before thought were fun or funny are now fun and funny.  We've found a way to entertain ourselves for the next couple weeks while we're here.  For the last week or so, our district and the district that came in with us are all in a month-long game of tag.  Reverent, subtle, slow motion tag.  No tag-backs, and once you're tagged you have to wait an hour to tag someone else.  We play all the month of January, and then whoever is the last person is it for the whole year, and then we start again in January of 2016.  Also this is intended to be a lifelong game.  Now I don't know how realistic this would ever be, but they want to keep it going so that we can fly across the states and even internationally to tag each other over the rest of our lives as we grow old.  My companion is from Canada and one sister is from Denmark, so that will be interesting haha.  It would be pretty cool if we did actually keep it going though.  We're pretty much all family now so why not?

Well I hope all of you have been doing well!  Chrissy, mom says you got your braces off!  Send me a pic in the mail!  Also, have Julianna show you the pictures she gave to Sarah to print off for me of you and Stephen--hahahah now you can know what pictures I can show everyone of my family.  Thank you, Dad, for the French tips!  I haven't read them yet but I know they will come in handy.  The subjonctif and conditionnel are KILLING me right now.  I can do everything written fine, but then I start to say things in a lesson or a prayer and have to conjugate verbs in my head and I'm just so slow.  It will come though.

An elder in zone says to check out his blog cause he has lots of stuff on there and pics of a lot of us if you want to check it out.  Elder Acheson from Provo.  RacetoLyon.blogspot.com

Je vous aime beaucoup!!

Sister Hurd

From the first Sunday

IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL THIS SUNDAY

If you don't have MTC pictures at the world map did you even serve a mission?

Week 4

Bonjour!

This week has been AMAZING here.  I don't even know where to start!  Soeur Christensen and I have improved an incredible amount in our lessons since we started teaching.  She is SO good at bringing in the spirit and if she doesn't know a word in French most times I've been able to help her out, so we work really well as a team!  We had our first experience with TRC this week, which is where we go and give a 20-30 minute lesson to church members that volunteer to come and speak French with us.  It's hard because we have to plan a lesson but then follow the spirit to discern their needs and then figure out how to alter our lesson to be specific for them.  It's tricky!  We meet them and teach a lesson in such a short amount of time.  Also our first lesson I just felt like--this man is so righteous and already has his life put together, what could I possibly share with him?  But he was so sweet and we learned from him.  Our second lesson at TRC was with a younger BYU student probably about my age.  It was so good!!  My companion was inspired to share a scripture and right after we read it he said that scripture is very personal to him right now because he's in the middle of making a tough decision.  I had a personal experience that I thought was pertinent and so I shared that with him and bore testimony of what I knew to be true.  I feel like we might have actually really helped him to think more about it!  I don't know.  Maybe not.  He looked really pensive though haha and we had no idea that we would get to know someone so well and help him in such a short amount of time.  We have TRC again tomorrowand this time we're skyping members in France.  Ahhhh!!!  I've been ok with the language thus far but now I will get a taste of real French and I'm scared!  It's ok.  I have confidence that we will be able to follow the spirit and teach what the Lord would have us teach.

We had an amazing lesson with one of our investigators, Muriel, this week!  We've been teaching her for several weeks now and we've made a lot of progress but she lives with her boyfriend and he discourages her from getting baptised.  He's an atheist and kind of makes fun of the church.  We taught him with her this week though!  We talked about the Book of Mormon and how it's the keystone of our religion.  We talked about its importance in conversion and how the Gospel blesses families and makes us want to be better.  We read several scriptures together and Muriel had moments here and there to tell us and her boyfriend, Luc, about special experiences she's had.  I found myself telling him that Muriel needed his support and that he needed to read the Book of Mormon with her.  When did I get so bold?  Haha.  Then we got him to pray for us at the end!  So good.  We've been learning about how to ask inspired questions that really help people think about the things that we talk about.  And it sounds a lot easier than it is.  But we've been getting so much better at it and I know it's been helping!  We invited Muriel and her boyfriend to church but they didn't come. :(

But Hospice did!  Hospice is another one of our amis d'Eglise who we've been teaching for a few lessons.  Yesterday we had a lesson about the Sacrament and its importance to us because he went to church and he didn't know the significance of it.  After explaining it to him and asking him questions and bearing testimony about it, we asked if he wanted to be baptised and he said yes!  YAYYYYY!!!  Our first one.  It's funny cause none of these situations are real in that each of the investigators are actually my teachers and they're playing a role.  But it's cool to see how happy and invested we become in these characters' lives, because that's just how it will be in the mission field.  We pray about them for real, ALL the time, we sincerely love them, and we are truly guided in the questions we ask and subjects we teach.  The Lord is fully aware of us and our needs!

This past Sunday was such a good day--very well one of the best days I've had here at the MTC.  We had a really great Relief Society with the wives of the men in the mission presidency, and it was good to hear from them because it's their last Sunday! :( So sad.  The presidency is getting released today and others will be called.  They are the cutest people!  Sacrament meeting and District meeting were great as well.  I still haven't been called up at random to speak on something in French but I'm sure it will happen soon.  Then in the evening we had Richard Heaton come speak for our devotional.  He's the MTC administrative director and he already spoke for us a few Sundays ago, but he's great and gave a great talk.  He talked about the phrase "Mind the Gap" and how we need to mind the gap between our investigators' lessons.  The real conversion comes when they are praying on their own, reading Book of Mormon on their own, and attending church on their own.  We can help them, but we need to really help them do that on their own in the gaps between our lessons.  Great insight!  He had recent converts in the congregation come to the mics and share their story of the moment they knew they wanted to be baptized, and it was SO GOOD.  I could have listened to the stories the whole time.  Everyone felt the humbling power of God in what we are doing as missionaries.  

That night after the devotional, Sister Markham came to our residence and gave us "Château Markham" which is their grape juice that Brother Markham makes with grapes from the vineyard in their backyard.  I vaguely remember Allison saying something about this too, but it was sooo good!  And they make the best grape jelly too.  They've been perfecting it for years and they just give hundreds and hundreds of bottles away every year.  Amazing.

THANK YOU EVERYONE for the letters and packages you have sent me!!  I really feel the love here and it's so comforting.  It's so nice to get a little piece of home, even if it's the littlest thing.  

Chrissy and Steve, still waiting to hear about the goals you've set for this year.  Don't think I haven't forgotten--I'm a missionary now so I must follow up on commitments! ;)  I heard that the new youth church theme for this year is "Embark in the Service of God."  Cool huh!  I love that!  I hope you guys have some awesome plans for how you can serve this year, even in small ways.  I know that just by being an example for your friends at church and school that you can serve others and change someone's day.  Stephen, Dad tells me that your voice is changing.  If I had my phone right now I would make the emoji with the huge surprised eyes.  What!  That's not allowed.  You must be a 8 year old bishop steve forever.  You can go to dances in a month!

Random Fact:  Here at the MTC I am known as Soeur Durd.  Yeah, not the most attractive name.  One of the elders thought that was my last name was Durd for a good two weeks before he figured out it wasn't, so now it's stuck with the rest of the elders, and also "Soeur" is hard to say the French way all the time.  So my name has morphed to "Sir Durd."  With much emphasis on the Durrrrr.  

Well I'm out of time but I love you all!  Hope your new year is off to a great start! 

Je vous aime beaucoup!  

Soeur Hurd

Last tuesday we had a party during laundry time.  And by party i mean we just ate food and wrote letters and that's it.  Also those two other girls are our roommates that are going to Denmark!  They're really sweet.  One of the sisters in my district/room is from Denmark so she was super excited.  In this picture they are eating some of her Danish candy, which is salt licorice and is NASTYY.  Actually I might be the only one that hates it THAT much. but it's bad.

Finishing up the troixième semain

Bonjour!

Everyone says after week 3, the MTC time just flies by.  And I can feel it starting to happen already.  It seems like just a couple days ago I was emailing!  Also speaking of which, everyone should use DearElder to talk to me!!!  I actually don't know the real website but it's something like that and it's basically like sending me an email but they print it out and I get it the day you send it and I don't have to wait until Tuesdays to read them.  Then I can reply with snail mail sooner.  It's the best!!  So yes, I would LOVE if you all wanted to partake in this great opportunity to tell me about your life through DearElder because receiving mail in the MTC IS SERIOUSLY THE BEST.  Everyone always said it but now I fully understand.  

YAYAYAYAY 4.0!!!!  Thank you dad for diligently checking.  Julianna and other siblings: I can testify that the the minute you decide your grades don't matter that much, you will succeed and get straight A's.  Kind of like those who lose their lives in the work will find it, those who spend time searching for their life will never find it.  Haha.  Congratulations Juna on getting a great grade in chemistry!!  It's a hard class and now you don't have to take it again.  

Sister Christensen and I have just been made Sister Training Leaders for our zone/branch.  We're not entirely sure what our responsibilities are haha but it's a good opportunity to lead and serve the Lord some more.  Basically we just take care of the sisters in our zone andtomorrow we will be with the zone leaders in welcoming three new French speaking missionaries to our branch.  Also, we get a cell phone, which is programmed to only call the front desk, so it's about exciting as going to the mall and not having a penny to spend.  

Last Sunday we had a really good devotional with the Director of all the MTC Media.  He showed us a bunch of the things the church is doing right now with technology to make things easier for missionaries AND church members to spread the Gospel.  It was way cool!  It's definitely an exciting time to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, especially a missionary.  Tonight we have another devotional with a general authority and I'm excited to see who it will be.  

One of the highlights of the week:  I got new pens!!!  I know, it sounds pathetic.  Never have I been more excited to buy pens but I was pretty happy about it and they're all different colors and it's just great.  I was really needing some.  Also I have officially recited the First Vision twice perfectly in French in a lesson with an investigator.  Yay!  The language is coming along.  There are still a LOT of things I have to learn but we've set goals as a district to speak only in French in class time and each week we increase the times we speak it.  The last two weeks we're here we should be speaking only in French.  It will be a lot harder than we think, probably, but I know we can do it.  Speaking of which, we leave four weeks from yesterday for Lyon!  So excited.  Also scared.  

Interesting fact about the MTC that my companion and I learned at our training meeting:  Missionaries are not allowed to give members of the opposite sex high-fives or fist bumps.  ONLY handshakes.  Also apparently rubber rain boots are not allowed.  So that's interesting but exact obedience is important so we have been trying to uphold that in our district/zone.

Another Interesting fact:  Someone gave me a kiss at the MTC.  You can calm down, mom, it was chocolate.  This little missionary also going to Lyon but in a different zone (he's in a district of many short missionaries--they're like 5'2" so we call their classroom the Shire cause they're all hobbits) came up behind me in the cafeteria and when I turned around he said, "Sister Hurd, I have a really strong feeling right now that I should give you a kiss."  And I was like aahhhhhhhh back up!!!  So I had this terrified look on my face and started backing away cause he started leaning in and I was like NOOOO and then he stopped and held up a little chocolate kiss.  And I just busted up laughing and that was that haha so yeah, that happened whether it was allowed or not.  

Today we got to go to the temple and do a session!!  It was sooo nice to go and feel peaceful and not have to worry about the next lesson we're planning or anything like that.  Also every time we go outside the gates into the real world it's the best thing ever.  Now that school started back up in Provo I'm always looking around for anyone I know that happens to walk by!!  So pathetic!!  But that is life in the MTC.  

I will be sending another letter home by snail mail in the next few days so look forward to that!  I forgot to email some things about Christmas the last couple weeks so I'll just send them in a letter.  Thank you for the letters you have sent to me thus far!!  They REALLY brighten up my day when I get them.  Also mom, I didn't miss the "n'est-pas?" scribbled out at the bottom of the page in your last letter haha.  Good work!  Dad, you should write a letter to me in French to help me practice!  

Little Hurds: this is me following up with you about the invitation I extended to you in my last email!  Have you set goals for the new year?  How have they been going so far?  Have you rededicated yourself to reading your scriptures and praying to your Father to strengthen your relationship with him?  I'd love to hear about it :)  I'm embarrassed to say that in my first letter I totally said the wrong thing in French--rather than "Send me letters" I said "See me letters" so that doesn't work.  Duh.  But here I am repenting of it. "M'envoyez des lettres s'il vous plait!"  

Je vous aime beaucoup!!

Soeur Melissa Hurd

Week 2!

Bonjour!!

So I have hardly any time to write cause uploading pictures takes FOREVER so won't be doing that over email anymore.  Also I apologize for all the spelling and grammar errors that I make because i know I'm usually a nazi about that stuff but, ain't nobody got time for spellcheck in the MTC.

Anyways, this week seems to have gone by a lot faster because of Christmas and everything.  And....I have to admit, Christmas is better at home!  Don't get me wrong, Christmas at the MTC is amazing.  They definitely try to make it nice for us and we had lots of special activities and we got to watch two movies.  One night we watched The Nativity (not a church movie, weirdo one) and then Christmas night we watched Ephraim's Rescue, which was pretty good.  But the best part was President Nelson coming to speak to us that morning!!  He is so wise, and he's 90!  And looks like any moment he could just do a backflip!  He talked about the doctrine of our gospel and compared it to a diamond with numerous facets that each help the diamond itself sparkle and reflect its brilliancy.  It was very nice.  All in all though, I have no regrets in saying that there's no place like home for the holidays.  It's just the truth!  No matter how amazing it was here, nothing beats being with the family at home for Christmas.  Also I hope you couldn't tell when i started to tear up on the phone in our phone call because I didn't want you to think I was sad because I wasn't!  I just wish I had been able to be at home.  But I'm glad I'm here too.  Also, families are exactly what the whole church is all about so I don't feel guilty at all for saying it's better there haha.  

This past Sunday we had another special devotional!  David Archuleta came!  Haha I have never been a huge fan of him I guess but then....he got on the stand and smiled and the camera showed a close up and I was pretty much in love.  No, I really fell in love when he started to sing!  He is pretty dang cute, and very much just as talented as he's cracked up to be.  What's more awesome about it is that Allison just saw him in Lyon!  And it's hilarious she said that he sang "Il est ne le divin enfant" (don't yet know how to put accents on letters because it never works with these computers) because it's such a traditional French hymn but the tune isn't that great but Allison was right and he pulled it off!  And his pronunciation was actually way good!  So that was cool.  He's following the Hurd sisters around.  He brought Richard Elliott who is the principal organist for MoTab and he is soooo talented.  He played a couple songs for us and talked to us a little about his conversion and it was awesome.  Playing the organ looks so difficult!  

After the devotional we watched a recording of a talk given by Elder Bednar a few years ago at the MTC on Christmas Day on the Sabbath.  They only show it at the MTC and it's SOOOO GOOOOOOD.  I can't remember if Allison talked about it but it really was just as good as everyone kept saying.  It's cool to see him not so straight laced and stern as he is in conference.  He was actually funny!  He impersonated the cookie monster to illustrate the natural man.  That talk may have just changed how I view everything and definitely the vision of how I want to be--now I have a more clear idea of how to get there.  The gist of it is, basically the Character of Christ is turning out when the natural man would have us turn in.  So good.

Also I need to make sure that I say THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR PACKAGES.  Seriously I have been loving being able to open things and spread Christmas across a couple weeks and not just one day.  There are still some things from my stocking that I haven't opened because I try to only open one thing a day and that way I can make it last.  Last week I found those buckeye peanut butter things in there and I was so excited cause those are some of my favorite treats and I was so happy!!  Also how did you even know I love those?  We usually never make them.  

Today we cleaned the Provo temple!  On P-days we normally go do a session there but it's currently closed for maintenance so groups have been going to clean on P-days instead.  Today we went and the sisters got to clean the celestial room!  (we're spoiled)  I spent probably a good hour and a half dusting allllll the walls as high as I could reach (with God I can do all things. And he provided me with a swiffer duster pole).  It was kind of scary dusting around the intricate chandelier light fixtures but thank goodness, there was no accident.  I know the celestial room very well now!  It was a special experience.  

I know in my last letter I was saying how the MTC is kinda hard and monotonous, but it's getting a lot better.  The past couple days I've come home and said my prayer at the end of the day and I've though, today was such a great day!!  I LOVE my companion Soeur Christensen and our district gets along so well.  There are four sisters and four elders and we're all going to Lyon.  The other district is made up of six guys and they're all a hoot, but I think they could benefit from having some sisters in their district....haha.  Sometimes we walk by their classroom and they're playing "Sauver the Soeur" which is basically Hangman called Save the Sister because I guess we're the ones getting hanged??  Rude.  Everyone in our branch is great though.  Our branch presidency is also great and so loving.  So are their wives.  

Shout out to Lacey for her birthday on Friday!!  Love you Lace, I can't believe you're 11 already!!  Send me a pic of you doing birthday things.  It was so good to talk to you and the boys on Christmas!  

Christopher and Stephen, I am SO EXCITED for you to go on missions.  I already know that you will be great missionaries because of how you act now.  Really try hard to read your scripture everyday and you'll be blessed for it.  Pay attention in seminary and try to learn what the SPIRIT is trying to tell you.  As you try and try day after day, you'll learn how to communicate with Heavenly Father and learn the things you should to help you grow in light and understanding.  During this past conference Elder Scott gave a talk and I can't really remember what it was about but I know that I realized I had to wake up an extra twenty minutes early to read my scriptures instead of trying to get it done at night.  I HATE waking up early so I knew it would be hard, but I also knew I was not getting everything out of scripture study that I could.  From that day on I set my alarm twenty minutes earlier so I could read my scriptures early and know that I would spend the right amount of time doing it and I wouldn't be in a rush to go to sleep.  I know that by doing that, I was more prepared for my mission.  I also know that sacrifices are not sacrifices when you're getting more out of it than you put into it.  I encourage you to set a goal of that sort for the coming year--it could be prayer or scripture study or something else that you want to improve.  I KNOW it seems like there are some things you just think you can't do or are too hard to do, but I promise that when we act in faith just do those things anyways, everything works out for our good!!  (Also I invite everyone to do this, not just my brothers. :)) Christopher and Stephen, write me back cause I want to hear from you!  And I want to hear what kind of goal you think you could set for yourself. 

I'm so sorry if I forgot anything but I love you all so much!!  I had a dream last night that I was home and I did something I guess not good and mom said, "you just don't appreciate our family enough."  And I woke up really sad and I want you all to know that I love you so much!!  Je vous aime beaucoup!!  I appreciate everything you all do for me and friends too.  I have the BEST family and friends.  I appreciate all the prayers said on my behalf and know that I'm praying for you too.  

Je vous aime!

Soeur Melissa Hurd

AHHHHH the MTC

Bonjour Famille!

Ok the first ten minutes at the MTC were rough because I was tearing up the whole time.  Ok here's something about me that I feel like has been happening over the last year but confirmed at the MTC--I'm turning into a big baby!!  When it comes to anything about the Gospel and testimonies and the Savior and my family I start bawling.  And by bawling I mean getting a HUGE lump in my throat and trying to stifle it down for the next twenty minutes and shallow breathing and eventually my face starts to crumple and maybe I reach a point where I can't keep my composure, so not really bawling but might as well be.  And it's so embarrassing.  My companion can sweetly shed a few tears without revealing any sort of emotion in her voice and can continue in the conversation--I just choke up and have to stop singing/talking to swallow it down!  Gotta work on that.  

The first full day here at the MTC was kinda rough because it was seriously just SOOOO LONG.  And I knew that was what it was going to be like, and I knew we were going to be in class all day, but nothing can fully prepare you for how long it is haha.  And we're in the SAME classroom.  All day.  We eat breakfast at 7 and go to class at 7:30.  We stay there until lunch at 11:30 and then come back at 12.  Then we stay there until 4:30 and leave at 8:15 for gym.  That's our typical schedule for Monday, Wednesday, Thursday,Friday, and Saturday.  Tuesdays are P-days and Sundays are a little different.  But we still have a few hours of classroom time even on those days.  Normally on P-days we can walk up to the temple and do a session, but unfortunately the Provo temple is closed for the next two weeks for maintenance.  :(  So today we have a little more free time but next week I think we're actually going up to the temple to clean it?  We'll see.  

So, collaboration is HARD.  I thought that I had gotten better at it with my job since changing bosses and fellow coworkers I've had to do a lot of it in the past month as I write the family programs, but this is a new level!  My companion and I have to plan out every single word we're going to say to our investigator Muriel, and we are pretty similar in a lot of ways, but we don't exactly have the same teaching methods maybe.  I've learned that although I'm pretty sure I'm always right (I am), I need to let her take the reigns on almost everything because that's how I'll learn patience.  And by that I mean it's not like I don't do anything, but if she makes a suggestion that I don't fully disagree with, I let her do it.  Because the Lord is trying to teach me something and I think he's trying to teach her something too--but neither of us know all the answers.  Maybe both of us are right, and both of us need to work together and figure out what the BEST way to teach Muriel is.  I just didn't realize it would be so mentally exhausting to have to plan EVERY SINGLE STEP in the teaching process and even plan out our prayers!  When you're learning a different language, you have to do that kind of thing haha.  I said the closing prayer at church on Sunday and during the whole last talk I was planning out what I was going to say word for word because I knew I would stutter and say things totally wrong in French if I didn't.  

Speaking of the language, I'm SO GLAD I have a background in French.  It has definitely come in super handy and I understand almost everything our teacher and investigator have said so far.  They are American, so it's very different, but I'm still glad.  I seriously have NO idea how people can go in completely cold not knowing a language at all and learn it at the MTC, it would be so incredibly frustrating.  I've seen that in some of the elders here in my district.  But it will come in time!  Also, I'm pretty sure that the advantage I have will only last for a little bit, and then it will be a struggle in France and I'll just have to learn it as soon as possible.  I've started to read the Livre de Mormon in French and it's getting easier too!  I'm slowly starting to pick up on the scripture words like "it came to pass" and "for behold," things like that.  The gift of tongues is real!  Also every single time someone talks to me, even outside the classroom like in our residence or at meals, my first reaction is to respond in French.  Which is funny cause I kinda secretly make fun of those fresh RMs that always have to speak their mission language like it's the greatest thing so they speak it everywhere and it's like....we don't care that you speak Spanish....and now I'm that person!!! Ahh so nerdy but whatever.  I have to be!  That's how we learn!  This morning I woke up with the words of "Mon Objectif" (my purpose as a missionary) running through my head in French.  So that's probably a good sign.  We memorized that and now we're trying to memorize the first vision in Joseph Smith's words.  Work at the MTC is hard and long, but at least memorization is something I would be glad to do.  

So we eat dinner at 4:30 here..... yeah don't know whose idea that was but needless to say we're starving when we get back to our rooms at 9:30 and so naturally we have to snack.  Each of my roommates and I have gotten a package of some sort with goodies in it sooo yeah.  If we gain weight, it's not because we're making unhealthy eating choices in the cafeteria (because we're pretty good about that), it's because people love us and send us treats.  And we LOVE that and are not complaining in the slightest :)

Speaking of which, I got a Christmas package from the ward and it was SO CUTE!!  There was this adorable banner that said Merry Christmas and Lacey's primary class all wrote a little message and signed it, some very sweet letters from people in the ward, lots of candy, and a photo album of everyone in the ward holding up cute little signs.  And a picture of us!  Because I'm always that in that awkward college student phase of coming home only for a couple weeks at a time twice a year, I don't know a lot of people in the ward and in the photos but there

were plenty I did know and recognize and it was still the sweetest thing!!  I will definitely be glad to have those photos later.  

One of the best parts about this week is that my best friend Ren Ren came to see me at my building yesterday!!  I so desperately wanted to see a familiar face so when he poked his head in the door I was so happy.  He works at the MTC and had just finished a shift teaching Japanese.  Maybe that's not allowed for him to find me but I think the Lord was ok with it and he was probably just following the Spirit cause I just really needed to see a familiar face!  It's hard to believe that life is still going on outside the MTC...I have a sliver of a window in my classroom and while the view is mostly ugly MTC buildings, I do have a small view of the mountains behind them.  And I look out there and remind myself that I'm close to home and that little bit of familiarity is nice.  

Also, SURPRISE CALLING ON CHRISTMAS, WHOOP WHOOP!  I will be calling the home phone at 4:00 pm mountain time so that means 6 for you, family!  Please be ready!  If no one answers the home phone which is highly probable then I will call Dad's cell phone number (Mom's will likely be dead or ringing upstairs where no one will hear it... ;))

Ok probably have to go soon but I'M SO EXCITED FOR CHRISTMAS HERE it's just going to be the best.  I love my companion and my district and there will be a general authority and I just know it's going to be so nice and I'll probably just be crying the whole day of happiness but it will be great!  The spirit here is pretty tangible.  I wish you all could experience it.  Linda Burton had a relative that wrote during Christmas and said "I was feeling sorry for myself being here alone for Christmas but now I feel sorry for all of you that can't be here during Christmas!"  So there you have it.  I'm sure that's how I feel on Thursday. 

 Je vous aime et me voyez des lettres!! :D

Joyeux Noel! 

Sister Hurd