Letters Home are Fun!

7/29/2006

So I think it is fun when you get more than one letter from one on a different day. The mail goes out at different times.

It was funny- I forgot to wear my tag all day today- almost all day. It was like I was naked. It was a weird feeling.

It is so much fun to write home. I get excited to write you guys letters. It is fun to share what is going on with me and how the Lord is working on me. It is fun to share with you how awesome the Lord is and how the Gospel makes perfect sense. It is perfect everything about it is perfect! What an awesome plan He has!

I also want to share with you some of my temple experience. At first going into the temple was like going into the MTC because the MTC is set apart from the world anyway. But when I went to leave and I had to put my name tag back on it was really weird because I had forgotten I was a missionary. I had forgotten where I was and what I was doing. In the temple I was just another daughter of God. It was the coolest feeling at the same time. Really cool actually.

I learned sooo much! I had some questions answered. I loved it! I wanted to stay forever!

The Lord really answers your prayers right away while you are in the temple. He is close. He is right there! I felt the Spirit so strongly. I felt the burning in my chest like I have never felt it before my eyes burned too! It was cool. I didn't want it to go away. I wish I could go to the temple with you to be able to share all of this with you and learn from you. It was awesome to go as a family. I hope we can go more together when I get home now that Sacramento Temple will be so close.

I also learned tonight that people will understand by my personal worthiness. And I can't convert someone past my own conversion. I really need to work on myself to allow others a better chance and true conversion so they won't fall away. I need to make sure I am righteous so I can help them.

I know I need to pray more and get help more. I need to remember to kneel before the Lord.

It is really nice of Carolyn and Jason to keep up to date with me. I really like them. I hope they are doing great. That is cool about Paul had checked the blog too! They are some of my fav's even though we really never see them. They are awesome.
Temple was Great!
God Lives and is Real!
His plan is amazing!

Love Hermana Jamie

I got called as co-ordinating sister today! It is the one who is over all the sisters in the zone. Out 4 neighbors are leaving next Monday. So now I do will do it over us 4. I am now the senior companion and feel like I need to step it up and be an example and be totally obedient.

Sister Vicki Matsumor the General 2nd counselor in the Primary Presidency spoke to us in RS today. I have to run to a meeting. I am meeting with all the wives of the MTC presidency to learn how to be the co-ordinating sister.

Gran probably hates me because everything I write her I tell her she needs to get baptized! :)

Another Week at the MTC

7/29/2006

Yet another week at the MTC. This week went by so incredibly fast. I can't believe it! Did you get the tape I made for you? Did you listen to the tape? I hope you liked it. I bought a temple recommend holder today at the bookstore and it has the Oakland Temple on it. I was excited about that. We finally get to go to the temple today for the first time. I am way pumped but a little nervous because I've only been once and don't really know what to do. I told my Hermana's they have to help me out. It makes me feel better that a lot of the Elders have only been once too!

So, we have to have D&C memorized in Spanish. It is 7 verses. I have one memorized the 1st 3 in English and Espanol. As I was trying to memorize it I realized how EASY it is to memorize things in Spanish! ( Holy Cow!) I appreciate English so much and when I have felt like I couldn't learn things in the past - now all those things are so easy because I am trying to memorize. Slowly but surely, the Lord is helping me learn it quicker then other wise though.

Okay, so this may sound rude but it isn't. The Elders make the Hermana's feel so good about ourselves because we learn and pick up on things so much faster. They hate teaching us Spanish because they think we are so much better. It makes you feel good. The fact of the matter is we are more mature and study more. So really it is just the extra effort we put in. The Elders want us to help them but I don't really know how to help them. It was awesome the other day. The Elders who sits next to me in class, Elder DeMille is 20 and a real cool kid. He has only been sober for 6 months. He is awesome. He was having a bad day and another Elder told him his Spanish was horrible and he should know more. I didn't know that any of that had happened. I had asked him if he wanted to study with us and work on his Spanish. We worked on conjugations and then taught each other the 1st lesson by each person saying 1-2 sentences at a time. Afterwards him and his companion said that it had helped him so much. They felt so much more confidant about their Spanish. Then later he told us all that had happened and then we helped him so much. It was the best thing ever! It was so fun to be able to help them and feel needed. The closest we can get to serving other people now. It was one of the highlights of my week for sure!

So, I realized this week that I really need to pick it up on the Spanish. I am hesitant to speak it because I don't know how and I don't want to do it wrong. I'm only going to be able to do it if I keep practicing and make those error's. I've always done it with ____(cant read the work she wrote it looks like "spoits") too. If you don't try hard you won't fail but if you never fail you will never get better. So, that is what I need to work on this week.

This week our district did our 1st SYL, speak your language day. We could only speak Spanish until 6 pm. It was so good. You totally just started thinking in Spanish and get in the mode. It is awesome. You realize you can say more than you think but you also realize you don't know hardly anything. You could really tell how much it helped. You can speak more than you think for sure. I also didn't talk too terribly much. We have a district goal to SYL M_F until 6 pm, dinner everyday. It is hard but we have to learn it and Hermana Morphis and I only have three weeks from Monday left to learn everything we need to know!

Half way mark was the beginning of the week!

I'm also really wanting to learn to have charity. I was reading in Alma this week and came across the scripture about mourning with those that morn and comforting those that stand in need of comfort. I am so bad at that, we all know! I really want to learn to do that. I want the love of Christ and I want people to see it in me. I always think of Lyndi because she is so much that way. I saw her again last night and she just makes me so happy because you can see the love of Christ in her. She is great!

I also saw a friend from school yesterday, Kristine. She was one of the girls in my PETE program. Her husband works here. It was so awesome to see her. I totally ran over to her and gave her the biggest hug. She is awesome. It totally pumped me up so much to see her. I haven't seen her like in three months it feels like forever! It was awesome!

You sent those pictures of Nara- I kinda totally forgot about her! :) (She is our new Kitty) I loved the pictures you sent. They are all hung up in my room on my desk. They are fun, I love getting pictures. You can send them all the time and of what is happening to the house. I hope you are taking care of my bike. So, since I can't excerise like I used to, you and Dad have to do it for me. You have to go for a 20-30 minute walk 2 times a week for me. Get out of the house and enjoy nature for me. I don't see much nature since I can't go too many places! :) Do it! You will love it! It is not even that much it will help you relieve stress and clear your mind!

So we taught the 1st lesson in Spanish a lot this week. It seemed like Hermana Lee was always listening to us. Unfortunately Hermana Morphis got back into the not let Jamie talk mode so I don't feel like I taught that much but I pointed it out and we did better the next time. Hermana Lee thinks we are doing really well with the Spanish. She liked how we taught the Restoration. She made us do it in front of the class! I was so nervous because I hate when everybody is watching me and paying attention to me. She could tell we were nervous. Even though I don't full know what I am saying when I repeat the 1st vision it is still so powerful to talk about what Joseph Smith saw and what was revealed to him. It is awesome to be able to recite it and then have a testimony of it in Spanish. It is awesome. I know the Lord is already blessing me with the gist of tongues because sometimes I say things, I don't know if it is correct but afterwards I've forgotten what I said. I love to bear my testimony in Spanish because it is so simple. I can only say the basics but that is all you need. As long as I have the Spirit with me. I am working on having the Spirit with me. I'm getting better at it but still need more work.

Hermana Morhpis and I were also asked to give a lesson to the district on companionship. The DL said we were the model companionship in the district and we need to tell everyone what works for us and why we work so hard! I laughed. I told the district she drives me crazy but the things that drive me crazy, I pray for myself because I am the only one with problems and she is just being happy. Like everytime we walk down the stairs I feel like she thinks she is in "singing in the rain" play- singing and dancing like as if in a theatrical number. Anyway it was flattering but we are far from and example companionship. She doesn't like that I am not myself around her but am around others. She thinks I am too normal and fit into the crowd too much. Oh well!:) I like it that way. I just don't feel like myself around her but I am working on it and doing better. We spend more time together than if I was married!

Our district played the other district with our Hermana neighbors in softball. We kicked their trash! 25-10! It was so fun! It was some of the most fun I've had since we've been here! The sprinklers were in the middle of our game too but is was awesome! We also had sister soccer day that was fun! 5-5. Most of the girls aren't athletic but oh well! Tuesday soccer day! :)

I got a letter from Monica in Ohio yesterday. She is awesome. She says the work is not what she anticipated. They teach all the time but most Spanish speaker are illegal immigrants so they always skip town. Crazy! It was great to hear from her. Allie wrote me too! I thought that was way nice of her! I can't believe she is married. I'm way happy for them. That was way nice of her to write me. It made me way happy!

I can't believe Nelson and Di bought a house. They better not leave Atherton forever because I love it there too much. I need someone I can go visit down there. It is the best place! That's cool though. I'm glad they finally made a decision. Nana and Papa have written me a lot and updated me on what is going on with them. It is fun to hear from them. I really like hearing from everyone Even if they think they are boring I like to hear. It just reminds me why I am here and why the Gospel is such a blessing, because I have a family at home who loves me and is proud of what I am doing. I love long letters but I love the short ones too! It doesn't matter, just to know they're there. Ya know! It is hard to explain. I'm glad to have the blog because I don't have enough time to write everyone all the time.

So, I'm sorry LeAnne is down again. She held off better this time than with Paige. That would be awesome if she name the baby after Gran. Gran is great and that would like make her life. She has done a lot for us all. I hope LeAnne makes it full term and the baby is OK. I'm sure she will be. I'm not too worried. I can't believe she is almost due. Time goes by so fast. I can't wait to hear when she is born and to get pics of the new baby. Crazy!

Fill me in on everything- the Temple, Ace's BD party, Nelson and Di the works! Let me know!

This week has been really well. I am almost done with my journal already. I have never written so much in my life. I will send it to you when I am done. You can read it and post whatever you want. We are all really bonding and getting excited for the work. We are getting so anxious to get out of there. I know so many of my faults already. I know it is going to be hard for me to open my mouth and straight up just tell about the Gospel. I have to though! It is their salvation and I could be the only one that they will have the chance to hear it in Spanish. This week in the referral center I sent the missionaries to a couple of people. One lady I just layed it on the line. She has read like 20 pages in the Book of Mormon. She is golden. We talked for 15 minutes. She lives by herself in Florida and wanted something to comfort and guide her. I was so into it! I was pumped! She wanted the missionaries and she committed t reading and praying. I promised her blessings if she will do it and I bore by testimony a ton. She was so happy to talk to me and she hoped to talk to me again. She was awesome. I told her I would be praying for her. It was one of the best things ever to share that with someone and then be able to promise them blessing because I know it will happen and the Lord will speak to them and bless them if they do it sincerely and take that leap of faith! I had a similar experience with a man from Arizona. It was so much fun! I loved it! I felt so good afterwards. I was pumped and wanted to keep talking to people. I'd had like 3 people hang up on me that same day but it didn't matter. None of it mattered after I'd talked to those other 2 people and that I'd hopefully been able to help them in their life. We knows what will happen but I know we both felt the Spirit while we were oh the phone and the Spirit was what was getting us both excited. It was awesome!

Thanks for the snacks and Thanks for everything. Thanks for letting me be able to come. Thanks for begin supportive and doing everything I ask. Thanks for all your help and everything you've done. My prayers are with you every day. Don't forget Dad to tell me stories from your mission. I've appreciated all the notes so far. It is so fun to get letters all the time!

Out time is almost up here and then the real struggles begin. That is when the real blessings will come.

Life is great! Hard and tiring! I've never worked so hard and learned so much! No better of a cause! I can't believe it has been a month since I have talked to you all. It has gone by so fast and will continue to go by fast! The Lord is blessing us all. Are you reading Preach my Gospel? You should!

Happy Birthday Mom:) I hope you enjoyed your present! (She sent me a tape of all the girls singing in Spanish Happy birthday and then she talked for a bit. Yes I did cry and loved the tape) Ok I'm out my hand hurts! I have nothing more to say!

We get to go to the Temple today!!!!

Love Hermana Jamie:)

So being out here has really helped me realize the importance of family. I really want to hear from everyone all the time. I want to write to the whole family and let everyone know I am thinking about them. You all are really what matters in life. We are eternal. Too bad I am such a jerk to everyone and you all have to deal with me for eternity! Everytime I teach about how families are a gift from God my testimony is strengthend in families. I know they are! Good thing we all love each other so much!!! It is fun to be gone and be able to see what the family really thinks of me! We are a lot closer then we all think and want to let on! Tell Kyle and Jen hi and to send me a pic of Henry. Nana could send on too!

I've only had one nylon run! Everyone else has thrown a ton away already! How about that!

I am Blessed

Jamie in front of Provo Temple

7/22/2006

Hey there-

You expect my letters to be exciting but we do the same thing everyday. The days run together like you wouldn't believe. The days last forever but the weeks are starting to fly by. 3 1/2 weeks now. I make my own calendar all the time counting down. It is great here but it will be so much greater in Chile. It is all still so unreal.

It is amazing because of how much we study. There is a new meaning to always having something to do. We don't have any tests, nothing to study or any deadlines to meet. It is really cool to stop and think that the reason we are studying so much is because of how much we love the Lord. We are doing it all for the Lord. I don't get sick of studying. I can't learn enough or fast enough. I know the Lord is working in my life because there is no other way that I could be wanting to study this much. It is all for bringing people unto Christ through the restored gospel. It is really cool to have this as our motivation and drive to keep you going.

We try to use every part of the day. I'll take my Spanish dictionary to dinner and during gym time while I run I study my flash cards. I need so much time to study. We pray in Spanish always now, just simple prayers but still. We have taught the first lesson in Spanish a few times. Very broken Spanish. We are teaching another district and my teacher was listening to us and I didn't know it. She said she was really impressed because I was nailing all my conjugations. I was way pumped. She said I was doing great. I felt so good about myself because I definitely feel like the "slowest" learning sister. I was pumped. I knew it was going to go to my head because the next day my Spanish was not as good! :) Such is life!

You all know that I am not the best at loving people. I have been constantly praying for charity. I can feel the Lord blessing me with it bit by bit. My comp and I are doing better. I'm learning to love her for her differences. As we call people in the referral center becauseof pass along cards, advertisements, etc, I truly care about the people I am talking to. At first I wasn't having very much success because I was fearing man more than God. I was too worried what the people might think. It is essential that everyone know about the restored gospel and the Book of Mormon because it is their salvation on the line. I learned that we can't be casual about these things. You have to just lay it on the line, bear your testimonyand pray that they feel the Spirit while you speak.

So I started the Book of Mormon when I got here, I am on page like 270 something. I am in like Alma 22. I am cruising through it, 10 pages a day at least. I am learning so much. We've all decided that we just crave it now, we want to read and read. I also finished the Gospel of John today. Last week I finished the the Book Our Search for Happiness. It was a good one! I love reading in the New Testatment too, all about Christ's life.

I hope the 24th celebration was fun and not too hot. It is usually pretty good and lots of people usually come. (It was 112 that day) Thanks for the note off DearElder.com. They are way appreciated because they come so fast. I way like that. I got a letter from Grandma this week. That was really nice of her. I got the blog you sent, that is fun. Nana wrote me too. Chan wrote on DearElder a few times and the boys. The notes from the boys are way cute. Her letter was really nice. She says she knows I can do anything I want and I am an inspiration. I smiled, it was nice of her. Erica sent me a long letter too, it was fun too. I like getting all these letters, it makes it easier to not be able to talk on the phone.

So the other day while I was running I was wondering why I am so blessed, why I have been given so much like born into the covenant, good family, blessed with good people in my life and not really to many trials. I have so much. The Spirit strongly told me that I deserve it because of my valiance. I don't feel like I deserve all that I have but it still feltgood to have the Spirit comfort me about it. Sometimes I feel bad knowing I have so much but it is all about what I do with what I have. So it is a good thing I am here then.

We were talking to a Senior couple the other day. He was telling us why girls have to be 21 to go on a mission. First it is a priesthood responsibility and second if there were more sisters they would take over because they work harder and are more into it. Third, if they were the same age it would be the biggest dating community! It was funny. He said, if you want something done right you have sisters do it!

It is really cool to see how the spirit works in my life. I feel as if I am becoming more sensitive to the spirit as long as I head to what he is telling me. I am learning to not procrasinate what the Spirit tells me to do like I usually have done. I feel him stronger and so I act on it quicker and then I feel good because I've done it and then the next time I am more likely to hear him again. It is way cool!

It is so amazing to think that we have to be experts in the Gospel and in Spanish. We have so much to learn. It is amazing to think how many words we know in Spanish. We have so much to learn! It is amazing to think how many words we know in English and now we need to learn it all in Spanish. It is fun though, challenging but fun! People we came in with are already leaving. I'm glad to learn a language. I saw one of my friends from school my 2nd year. Her name is Lisa, she lived in the South Downs behind us. She is going to San Jose. I wonder if that is Nelson and Di's mission. She will leave before we do. Next week is our 1/2 way mark! :)

We taught the 3rd lesson yesterday. It was fun. Our investigator said she had to pray about it. Hermana Morphis called her on it and made her pray right there. It was all pretend but our teachers said you have to be that forceful and have faith that the Lord will testify to them. It was cool to think that when it is their salvation you have to put yourself on the line with them. Hermana Morphis and I talked the other day about how we were good for each other. And how she stressed and I don't. I always tell her not to worry and we are doing great and that makes her feel better. So that is good. We talked about why each other personalities are good for each other. Our district leader wants us to give a lesson Tuesday night about companionship.

Apparently they think we are the model companionship in the district because we are ALWAYS working studying and were haven't really had any problems. That made me laugh. I have no idea what we are gong to teach about. It is cool none the less.From MTC cookies will you send

us some caramel corn? (can you believe this! We did!) I way appreciate the letters, keep um coming. Can't wait for pictures!

Here is our purpose in Spanish: ( it is really hard to ready her writing and I know English so

if some of this is spelled wrong or whatever dont blame the typist)

Invitar a las persoras a venir a Cristo a fin de que recibian el evanjerio restaurado mediante la

fe en Jesueristo y su Expiacian, el ar repentimiento, al recitial del don del Espiritu Santo, yel perserverar hasta el fin.

Sometimes I can't write in English because I have Spanish in my head. I'll try saying or

writing or spelling things in Spanish. It is cool though. Everyone thinks we are the best at Spanish, we aren't. It is cool to see how the Lord is blessing us with knowledge because we are studing so diligently. He truly blessed us because of our obedience.

I know this work to be true. I pray that the Lord is blessing you all. He works in amazing ways. I've never loved the church so much. I've never been so excited to see what the Lord is

going to teach me each day. I'm working on my weaknesses, I know what most of them are. I can't do any of this without Christ, I know that!

I hope you are doing great. I hope to hear all about you all soon! Thanks for everything!

I saw Lyndi again a couple of times this week. She is amazing and I love to see her. She gives

me the longest hugs, it is so nice to see someone I know!

I have a trick- put a dryer sheet in your shoes so they don't smell so much! Tell everyone thanks for all the letters, I read them all the time!

Love, Jamie

42-D District

Jamie and Hermana Morphis pointing to their Chile Osorno Mission

Jamie, and Roomies

Pratt, Morphis= Chile Osorno Mission, Brinkerfauff=Chile Concepccion Mission

McGuire=Washington DC Spanish Speaking Mission

District 42-D

All to Chile Conecpccion exect the ones mentioned above and two to Spain

P-Day Fun!

Roomies being silly!

Fun with Yo Yo's that Sister Morphis sister sent!

Life at the MTC is Good!

Hermana Pratt (Jamie) in the middle of the MTC Provo!

7/15/2006

Yet another P-Day! This week went very quickly. The beginning of the week was really slow and now it has picked up a lot. The days run together, it feels like we are doing the same thing everyday-well we pretty much are! I like this Dear Elder.com thing. It is nice getting the letters right away. It doesn't seem like it takes my letters as long to get to you as it does for yours to get to me. Dear Elder if you submit by a certain time it will be same day delivery.

It sounds like Alli's wedding was good. I bet Lael was way excited to see you at the reception. She said it would be weird to see you guys without me. I bet they were excited you showed up though.

She has a little bit in the letter here where she is responding to some things we wrote to her and asking for me to send more things to her and even stamps!

That is awesome you went out on the lake- so jealous! That sounds so awesome! You guys buying a house for a project is a blessing in disguise. It is great for you to have something you need to work on and stay busy. (Not sure if she thinks we just sit around all day)

I'm sorry you're having such a hard time. ( I had a few bad days! But better now) It is getting easier for me, now that I have gotten letters from home I have been happier and haven't had any problems. It is still hard to want to pick up the phone but can't.

Sorry to hear about Chris. My prayers are with him. Chris is her uncle and he was in an accident. He is doing well now!

So Landen Faulkner came into the MTC Wednesday. I saw him Thursday, he came up behind me and surprised me while I was vacuuming. (She vacuums?) He is going to Mexico City. I think he may be in our zone. I will find out tomorrow if he is at church/our Sacrament meeting. I had no clue he was coming in! That was cool! He seemed really happy. Those first few days were hard!

I don't know if I told you, I wrote a talk in Spanish about baptism and I will write one tomorrow for faith. They don't tell you who's talking until after the Sacrament. So, everyone has to be prepared. The sacrament meeting is totally in Spanish. We have a counselor from Chile. After listening to him and his wife talk-we have A LOT to learn! It is so hard to understand them! I had to teach a principle last week as part of our meeting with the Branch Presidency.

It is amazing teaching the lessons. I am getting so familiar with the lessons each week that you memorize what the scripture is, where it is with out even trying. This week was #2 about the plan of salvation. It is a lot harder because there is sooo much we know about it and you don't want to share all the deep doctrine at first. We taught a volunteer investigator the second lesson and he asked questions like why would God allow the fall if he loves us and why does he allow so much sorrow! We were like - hello - first time teaching this. It was good though but he pounded us with questions.

Hermana Morphis and I are doing better I think - well it is me. She is a tomboy more so than me. She is a sport/theater/music person (weird combo). She sings and dances constantly. Totally nerdy but a hard worker.

It is amazing how much this place stretches you. We do so many things that I'm not usually comfortable doing. Getting in front of people teaching, spilling all your thoughts and desires, sharing testimonies, anything you could can think of. You have to get outside your box, that is the only way to learn. That is the only way to share the gospel. It is hard in the referral center and calling people we don't know and then sharing your testimony and hoping they will accept the missionaries onto their home.

We had John K Carmack speak to us. An Emeritus of the 70. He showed us where in the Bible the law of Moses justifies Nephi killing Laban. The most interesting was where in the Book of Mormon it shows that poligamy at certain times is called of God (Jacob 2:29-30). Times when he needs his people built up. He had everyone raise their hands if they came from poligamy. I swear 3/4 of the audience did. It was amazing. I laughed and proudly raised my hand. :) He also showed us a Book of Mormon that Hyrum Smith was reading before he died. He showed us where Joseph Smith had written in it. It was cool!

Erica sent brownies this week. That was so nice of her. She always does really nice and thoughtful things. Have fun with them on the lake and for Alli B-Day party coming up. Tell her happy B-Day for me!

I'm sending you all of my pictures. I have some extra photo albums in my container with the rest. Will you put all my pictures in some sort of album for me or in a bin in order or something. That would be great!

So this week has been a lot better. I'm praying so hard for the spirit to be with me. I'm praying to have charity. I'm trying to learn to love and care about my comp but she never shuts up. She's always talking and singing. It isn't as bad as it sounds though. ( I love that she is having this struggle. This is the one thing that Monte and Jamie always complained about me. They would always want me to be quiet and not talk. And I just wanted to share with them. So I love this! HE HE)

If I weren't going foreign I would be leaving this week. The Elders in our district get to go to the Spain MTC for the rest of their training- Lucky! Things are going well.

I can tell the days the Spirit is with me more because I learn and remember better.

I don't really eat anything anymore. 50 minutes of gym time isn't enough to get an appetite.

The Lord really is blessing and helping me. It is amazing how right everything feels. I can pray in Spanish and for the most part bear my testimony in Spanish. Not perfectly though. We are teaching the first lesson in Spanish this week, next Friday.

I'm Being taken care of. Things are good. I miss calling home for the most part I am too busy to think about anything. Thanks for everything! It was nice to hear from you so much this week. It helps a lot to hear from home.

I think I've told you everything I can think of. Stay Strong! Pray for the Spirit to be with you! Be happy for the Gospel is a message of happiness and joy!

Love

Jamie

I miss my first name already!

She writes this on the envelope: Don't worry, I already lost my Spanish hymn book-bought another one then found the one I lost the next day. Lost my Spanish Book of Mormon! I am hoping it will show up before I buy another one! I haven't changed that is for sure! :)

These two Elders are the only two that wait to walk with us and open the door for us. We don't open too many doors for ourselves. As it should be. The other Elders always race for dinner!

Left to right: Elder Jermain, Elder Rowley, Hermana Stacy Brinkerhauff, Hermana Amy McGuire, Hermana Jamie Pratt, Hermana Mandy Morhpis. Outside the Parley P. Pratt Building.

Jamie and Stacy Brinkerhauff with the Prophet Joseph Smith Statue at the MTC

Left to Right: Heramana Pratt, Hermana Morphis, Hermana Brinkerhauff, Heramana McGuire

These are Jamie's room-mates and Hermana Morphis is Jamie's companion. This was taken just outside their room at the MTC

Letters for me at Last

We received this letter on Monday. It took more than a week to get here. It looks like she wrote it in the evening after she wrote the previous post. Much different tune in her voice. I will edit this letter some as it answers alot of the questions we had asked her about.

7/8/2006

I gotta write super fast so I can go to bed. I got your letters - ALL 3 of them tonight. The one you sent last Saturday took a week. I was happy to get them-believe me! WAY HAPPY! I was getting sad if you couldn't tell.

It is hard for me not being able to call. I see workers with cell phones and I have a plan to ambush them and how we are going to steal them! :)

Ok I am going to share this. Before she left I tried to get her take the directions to her new camera so she would know how to work it. But she didn't think she would need them. If I remember correctly she said they are easy to use and she didn't need directions.Will you send me the directions to my camera. I know you told me so... ya ya. Ok I love this because you should always listen your Mom. They do know best! :)

I loved you sending me a copy of my blog and seeing others comments. That was fun. My roomies thought it was fun too. I liked it, thanks.

The pics you got of us at the MTC were awesome. Good thing Dad has been training for that moment since he has been an appraiser!

Must I say--good ole Virginia Sterling. She is a crazy lady! She must have written Jamie a letter. She always ask about her at church and wants to know how she is doing, even when she has been at school. If she wrote her a letter how nice is that!!

One of the members of the branch presidency is from Chile. His wife doesn't speak much English. The wives come around and check on us. She came in as a native speaker--we all realized we have A LOT to LEARN!!! She is so cute but hard to understand her at all!

Thank you for writing I was about to have a little chat with you.

Love Hermana Jamie Pratt

By the way I was smiling going into the MTC because what else was I supposed to do. You have to be happy when you are first meeting people!

Hope Allie's wedding was great! Can't believe I missed it!

Hey Mom- my roomies think you are pretty tech savvy! Had to add this comment! I am pretty proud of myself for figuring this thing out!!

Send Me Mail!

7/8/2006

Hi Mom and Dad,

So, you guys are in trouble because I haven't heard from you yet. Erica has written me a letter and so has Lael and that is it! (I have written her, twice so now I am wondering what has happened to them, plus I sent her a copy of the blog. Monte has even written once.) Everyone else is getting tons of mail! I can't believe I haven't' heard from you yet! I guess it is probably my fault for asking for things in the last letter. So, what did you guys do in SLC? How was hanging out with the Finlay's? Anything new going on? Has LeAnne come up with a name yet? When is she due again? She better be named after me! :) How was Allie's wedding? You should be there right now or on your way there as I am writing you. How have you guys been? Is it weird having me gone or are you a-okay? I know I've been gone before but this time it is really different because I can't ever call you. I heard though that when we travel to Chile we can call you at the airport. That would be cool!

So, I have been keeping notes all week so I wouldn't forget everything I wanted to tell you. First of all, we have had a lot of speakers talk to us. They have emphasized the fact that the Lord has called me as a missionary. He chose me before this life to go and preach the Gospel in Chile. That is pretty cool to think about. I'm supposed to go and find my best friends in Chile that I promised to find before we came to this earth. They are people only I can effect. People who are waiting for me because somehow I can touch their lives differently than anyone else. Pretty powerful to think about I would say.

One other thing while I am thinking about it, if you go to Dear Elder.com you can write letters to me and they will be delivered same day or next day. Just to let you know. (We did use Dear Elder.com last night and it is a great web site and she get the letter the next day. You have to create an account and you make donations to the cause but the site is free and they deliver the letters for free. And it is so quick)

We heard a clip from Elder Bednar. He said that as an Apostle they can never have a bad day or be in a bad mood. The reason for that is because our message/Gospel is supposed to make us happy, that is what is supposed to set us a part of everyone else. As missionaries we have to be the same way. Nobody wants to listen to us if we are in a bad mood. Which I struggled with this week.

It is amazing here. I have never prayed, sung, testified, studied, and felt the spirit so much in my life. We live, eat, and breathe the gospel of Jesus Christ. I don't understand how people can go on missions and fall away. You can't deny the power that you feel! I just don't get it!

Oh yeah, so I haven't stopped since I got here. We are working constantly. I did get a nap last week (Sunday), which I needed more than anything. My point is that we work so hard there is no time to do anything for Jamie.

So, I also need your help. I wanted you guys to rack your brains. I want to know what you all remember about my blessing and my setting apart. Could you ask everyone what they remember and let me know. I want to record the blessings and then at the end of my mission see how the Lord has blessed and helped me on my mission. That would be great!

The bookstore here has everything. We have $8.00 a week to spend. They even have the scripture marker refills, so if you haven't gotten any yet I can get them here. They even have my chapstick, which makes me the happiest person ever! I also wore the thigh highs the other day and they weren't' too shabby. I put them over my underwear and they were good.

So, that first week was really rough. It was so hard and so overwhelming. It has gotten so much better. We are in classes all day and study so much. Yet I still have the motivation to study and memorize as much as I can on our personal time. I'm having a hard time clicking with my companion. I know it is my fault, it is my pride. She is 100% obedient, we cant do anything wrong, like chew gum. I feel like she knows everything and I know nothing. She sings all the time, which none of us are all that bad. I have been praying for help with that. Everybody was right about me, I guess I don't get along with people. We taught the 1st discussion twice yesterday and I felt like it drew us closer together. Usually when we teach I feel like she overpowers and doesn't trust me that I can have anything good to say. She finally did and I got more time to share my thoughts and it went great. It pumped us up, I think it helped us a ton. The discussion and lessons are so powerful. I want you guys to read "Preach My Gospel". You will then know what we are studying 24/7. We also work in the referral center and the #'s you call from a pass along card or order free Book of Mormon and DVD's from the church website. That is cool. I haven't' sent the missionaries yet by many people who are right there on the fence. It is powerful.

I saw Lindi today. She is so amazing! It was amazing to see someone I know and love. She stalked me and looked up my schedule. It felt good just to hug someone close to me. She is an amazing girl. I don't think she knows how much it meant to me to see her.

I miss home, I miss you guys. I get tearry every once in awhile when I slow down to think about it, luckily we don't slow down very often. Thank you for taking me out here and seeing me off. Thanks for supporting me and allowing me to come. Thanks for your love and your great examples, to raise me valiantly and faithfully to help me make right decisions. I have so much I still need to work on but I know this will help me work on those things. You are all in my prayers every night. I hope selling the house goes well. Tell everyone hello and I think of them often.

Don't worry, I'm learning lots of Spanish and lots about the Gospel. I 'm working hard, don't worry I'm already tired.

That's all for now, I hope you are great. I miss my teddy bear! :) I'm wonderful. I know the Lord wants me here, the Spirit tells me everyday. He is taking care of me. He is opening my mind and helping me learn.

Oh yes, when I finish my journal I will send it to you to read. So, if you are missing out, you wont be. I write a lot everyday.

If you want to come to Chile, I'm sure we could work it out. (She has been worried about us coming since it will be Christmas time)

Love, Jamie

Get 'em Off Their Bums!

This is a different kind of post. This isn't a letter from Jamie. This is a post for Jamie, I guess you could say. A little bit of encouragement from her family. I think my mom says sometimes she prints out the posts and mails them to her, so hopefully she will see this.

Last night I was putting Allison to bed and it came to the part in the routine where it was time for prayers. Allison starting going through all the usual, bless us to sleep good, bless us to be safe. Then she got to the end and she said "Oh yeah! Please bless Aunt Roar on her mission." She has been getting into the habit of blessing Aunt Roar on her mission, but since it is still kind of new, she sometimes forgets. Or in this case, almost forgets. (Aunt Roar is what Allison calls Jamie, but that is an entirely different story). Then she went on... "Bless Aunt Roar in the whole world that she can learn and be happy. Bless Roar that she can be a good missionary and teach people that Jesus wants us to go to church and to get off their bums and do what their moms and dads tell them to. Oh and keep her safe and happy." And that was the end of Alli's prayer.

So Aunt Roar, go out their and get all those people off their bums and doing what their moms and dads say! There's a little one back here praying for your success!

Down to Business

Well I guess I fibbed. This letter from Jamie gives me a lot of instructions on things she needs me to send her and do for her. I will save you from all of that and just enter the part of the letter that will interest you. I won't leave anything good out!

I have had some questions asked about the name I have been referring to Jamie with. For those who don't know Hermana is Sister in Spanish. Wait no longer here is the second letter.

7/1/2006

I Hola!

Today is P-Day so you get two letters from me this week, but usually you will only get one. So, don't get to used to it. So, I am going to business first. (This is the list of things she wants me to do for her)..... Then she says I think this is it but I will keep you updated for sure. :) Always needing Mom, Huh?

We don't get to go to the temple today so we get more free time, which is really nice! We will probably study, write letters ya know.

So, Thursday was by far the longest day of my life! I have never done sooo much brain work of so long in one single day. We met our teachers at 7 am, breakfast 8, class 8:30-1, lunch 1, meeting 1:30-3:15, class again till 6, then dinner, class AGAIN at 6:45-9:30! Then we come back to the room do companion stuff, journal, etc, yesterday our schedule won't be as intense.
I am with my companion and my roommates 24/7 pretty much. All 4 of us are in the same district, same classes, everything. We learned lots of Spanish right off the bat. We are right into the discussion. We taught each other part in English. We watched missionaries teach "fake" investigators. Those missionaries have been here awhile. That was pretty interesting. We are going to do that next Friday. It will be pretty nerve racking. We also went to the referral center. We called people to confirm that they received the gift they wanted, like a free DVD or Book of Mormon or whatever. The first number I called was like a sex hot line. I was like, oh great, what a sick joke somebody played or this person has a sick answering machine. I talked to one girl that had received a Book of Mormon and had them share a message with her. That was cool.

We have so much to study. We have learned how to pray in Spanish. We have memorized the First Vision in Spanish....She writes the song in Spanish..I will spare you of that. Really I am not sure I can type all of that! Then she wants me to check a Spanish/English dictionary to see if she is right.

My companion I are getting along fairly well. She is super straight arrow. She wasn't to sure of me chewing gum because they told us we couldn't. We went out for P-Day today. We played softball. It was fun but I need more exercise or I will go crazy! That is for sure. We do some things in the room at night.

My friend Monica, from my major, the one going to Ohio is on my floor. She lives right down the hallway. I see her once a day but she is leaving on Monday. It is fun to see her. I saw one of my friends husbands too, he works here. So that is cool. I haven't seen Lyndi yet but I will.
We are just trying to learn the ropes, get into the Spirit of the Gospel. We have good Elders in our district, they are for sure 19. :) Our teachers are great though, a lot of fun. There is just so much to learn.
I think today is the first day we were really happy. The first two days were long but now we are more into a routine, getting a little more sleep and getting excited to learn. My companion want to go meet all the sisters on the floor (because I am social :)). Oh yeah, all of my classes are in the Parley P Pratt building. We are singing in Spanish too! That is fun we aren't too good but getting better.

I can already tell the Spirit is helping me learn. Everyone is so strong here. I fell so far behind. I have so much to learn before I can get out there but I can't wait.

We get to watch the Stadium of Fire tonight from the fields here. We are way pumped on that. I better get going, my hand hurts, not used to only writing. I wish I could just send copies of my journal so I didn't have to write so much.

This is where she gives me more things to do.....Remember I can only write on P-days but we are supposed to write our families once a week.

I Adios!
Love, Jamie

She also tells me on the outside of the envelope that she is making her bed everyday! Is this the Jamie we all know?

First Letter from Hermana Pratt

I will be posting her letters just as she writes them, no editing! I will spell check my typing though!

Dated 6/28/2006

Hi Mom & Dad

Just to let you know they are telling us to write tonight and let you know that we are still alive. They haven't killed us off yet.

Guess what? My companion is the girl that we met outside the chapel. We stuck together the whole time. Hermana Morphis. So that is cool that you guys already met her and we saw each others families.

We went through check-ins, then we got all our books, they weigh a ton. Lots of Spanish books. Then we had tons of time to unpack! It was the quickest I've ever unpacked in my life! It took like a half hour, tops! It was nice that I packed all my winter clothes in one thing because I just put it under my bed.

There are 4 of us in a room. I have the bottom bunk and Hermana Morphis top. Our room mates are going to D.C Spanish speaking and Chile, Concepcion. We went to dinner, I was starving but couldn't eat much. It is a really nice cafeteria though. We had a new missionary orientation. We met in our district with our branch president and covered tone of rules and stuff. I am exhausted. 7:00 AM class will come early enough. There are 8 Elders to Spain, the rest to Concepcion, Chile. One counselor in the Branch Pres is from Chile. The Branch Pres's wife knows Keith Stutznegger, she was best friends with his older sister growing up. Small world!

Our P-days are Saturday. They are usually the only days we can write. Those are the days we go to the temple. Unfortunately it is closed for 3 weeks. I was really looking forward to that. Oh well. Such is life. Tomorrow is classes and into the routine.

I'm exhausted and need to go to bed. We have already had turn to bear our testimonies. They are emphasizing that the Lord chose us in the pre-existence to serve for Him! That makes me excited. I feel like it is 1 1/2 times of girls camp BUT more intense! I'm losing it already. I really like Sister Morphis already, I'm glad it is her and not my other room mates. I think we will click better. She is the senior companion because M comes before P in the alphabet.

Stay strong Mom. The Lord is taking care of me, let Him take care of you. Stay busy to not think about it. Gotta go to bed!

God Bless!
Love,
Jamie
(AKA Hermana Pratt)

Hermana Pratt is Official

As Sister Pratt checked in and received her name tag she officially became Hermana Pratt. I really wanted to take her picture with her name tag on, but we couldn't take pictures in the chapel. She looked so cute with her new missionary clothes and an official missionary name tag!

After a short presentation and testimonies given by the MTC presidency and a tearful good bye, Hermana Pratt exited one side of the chapel and we exited on the other. We stayed a reasonable distance but we did wait for the long line of missionaries to exit the building and board the busses. There we got one last wave good bye. These digital camera's are so slow sometimes you miss the picture you really want. Hermana is in line and borading the bus, but behind Mandy and you can't see her in the photo. Bummer!

We have been by the MTC many times but I wanted to drive by one more time to remember what it looked like now that Jamie was going to be there. To our excitement we arrive just as Hermana Pratt was getting off the bus and walking in to the MTC.

With Monte's experience as an appraiser and being able to take still photo's at 25 mph we snapped a couple of photo's of her. She never saw us, but we saw her! It gave us great pleasure to see her with her new friend and happy and heading off to do the Lord's work. Some may say we were stalking her but really it was an accident that the timing was so great! Couldn't' have planned it better! :)

Sister Pratt Off To The MTC

What a bitter sweet experience the MTC is! Happy she is there, sad she is leaving for such a long time! Emotions all over the chart! Comfort comes from knowing she will safe and in good hands.

We arrived in Provo on Tuesday and went to dinner with Aunt's and Uncle's that live in the area. We then waited for morning to come to deliver our missionary to the MTC. Some waited differently than others! (He is playing games on his IPod. Most of us use our IPod's for music!) :)

We were unable to go to the MTC as they were training 122 mission presidents at the time. The Apostles are the ones who train the Mission Presidents so they explained to us that is was a really cool time to be in the MTC as the missionaries will most likely see one or two of the apostles as they come to teach. We met in a chapel next to the stadium and they motor coached the missionaries to the MTC after we had said good byes. There were 371 missionaries entering the MTC that day, (June 28). And think they do this every Wednesday! They said there are 2,200 missionaries in the MTC at any given time.

As we arrived at the parking lot we were escorted to the tents to have Sister Pratt check in and drop off luggage. Oh my, the luggage!

Then we headed for the chapel. As we stood in line to enter the chapel we met another family from Chino, Ca who were dropping off their daughter to serve no other than the Chile Osorno Mission. (Her name is Mandy but I can't remember her last name. We will have to wait for Jamie to let us know that info.) That was really exciting to meet someone going to Jamie's area first off!

Jamie Becomes Sister Pratt

Jamie was set apart as a Missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on June 25, 2006 by President Papa. He gave her a wonderful blessing! What an experience it was. Who would have ever thought that the Monte Pratt family would have a missionary!

President Papa asked each of us to say something to Jamie that we might not otherwise say to her. It was very tearful and sweet. Even Granny (Great Grandma) chimed in.

After she was set apart Jamie bore her tesitmony and thank us all for being there for her. She also told us that she wanted everyone to know that she was not serving a mission because she HAD to, she was serving because she wanted to! She said that 18 months was the least she could give to the Lord for all He gives to her. She has a very strong testimony and is a great example to us all.

Family and Friends and President Papa at setting apart.

Sister Pratt and of her Grandparents only one Grandpa and Grandma missing

Sister Pratt and her parents.

After being set apart we came home and had a big party for our missionary. Friends and family galore where in attendance. They came from near and far to be with Jamie on her last day home before heading to the MTC.

Jamie Receives Her Call

Well here I am learning how to do a blog. Jamie has put me in charge while she is gone. This could be scary! But I thought I would go back a little in time and start at the beginning of her missionary experience.
She received her call in Provo at school. She had the will power to wait three days to come home and open it with all of her family and friends around. She opened her letter and began the experience on March 22, 2006.
Needless to say she was excited to go to Chile Osorno!