California Dreaming

Fam bam!

I love you!

Thank you all so much for your wonderful letters! They came on the day that I needed them the most! Monday was my hardest day here at the MTC. The food I ate for breakfast made me sick and it was down hill from there. ( I wasnt necessarily discouraged, it was just a tough day :) Anyways,  your letters came Tuesday and it was such an encouragement! It really helped me to focus on my purpose and remember why I am here! I am writing you back individually, so please look for a very large orange envelope sometime next week :) 

Mom says you want to know all about the MTC! Of course I am so happy to answer the questions I assume you must have. :) Here is the day and the life of your not so average missionary! 

We start the day very early. 6:30 as a general rule, but Sister Jensen and I are so busy, half the time we wake up between 5:45 and 6! We start the day by getting ready and we are at breakfast by 7:20-7:30 where the elders from our district are usually waiting :) we beat them to class and everything else, but no matter how early we are, they always beat us to the cafeteria. Go figure. The cafeteria has lots of variety and it is indeed a mini Cannon Center (Boys, its your dream come true). There is almost always something you like, but for reals after the first week you get sick of it. Im looking forward to getting some real food. My tummy hasn't been feeling right for about two and and a half weeks now ;) 

After breakfast is class!! We have a three hour class where we learn how to teach in the most effective way possible. In no way is the MTC a place to learn about tactics or what to say or how to hook them. The MTC is a place to learn about love, and growth, and testimony, and how to apply the Gospel to the investigator in a way that they could understand the importance and relevance to their life and so the Holy Ghost can be there. I hope that makes sense. 

We sit in the same classroom all day everyday. When we aren't in class we are studying, but must remain in the classroom. The teachers here are all BYU students who have served missions! Each and everyone are incredibly humble and carefully chosen. Only the best are trusted to teach the missionaries. My morning teacher is Sister Hanshaw, and she served in Jordan's mission! She's been home for a year now. She is basically amazing and I will leave at that because what more can I say. My afternoon teacher is Brother Bishop. Can we talk about incredible?? Oh my lanta, I love what he does for our class. Ive never had teachers who have cared about me so personally or who truly want me to succeed. They are so humble and I love them dearly. My MTC experience has been incredible and they are two of the main reasons aside from my Savior and the Holy Ghost. 

I could go on forever about them. They indeed hold a big piece of my heart. 

We get an hour of gym time everyday! I love it! Sister Jensen and I always go to the weight room and fitness gym. They play mormon messages and its really quiet because it is the best kept secret of the MTC. Gym time is happy time and its when the spirit talks to me the most clearly outside of teaching investigators. This was true before my mission, and even more so now.

Wednesdays we get new districts for our zone! Sister Jensen and I were called to be STLs, so we have the privilege of going to the new districts classrooms every Wednesday night and welcome them to the zone! To my siblings, a zone is like a stake, and a district is like a ward. We have three districts in our zone and they are all wonderful. We welcomed four new sisters yesterday and we can't wait to get to know them. 

Now listen up. This is the most important part of your schedule here at the MTC. 

BYU ice cream days. 

Wednesday night and Sunday night we get ice cream here. Sister Jensen and I tease that we know how long we've been here by counting the number of bowls of ice cream we've consumed. We also have a one in two chance in guessing what day of the week it is when we see that the ice cream is out :) 

Sundays are much different. We haven't actual had a regular one yet because we have had two very special ones with general conference taking up the third! How lucky! 

I can't even explain to you how Sundays go. Its all a blur. When you get my letter, you will have more of an idea I promise. Sorry to sell you short. Ill tell you this. We get up very early and we have meetings from sun up to sun down and its the longest, yet most spiritually fulfilling day of the week. Missionaries never have a day off! 

You're probably wondering about Kyujin (I found out how to spell her name correctly ;P ) She is doing well! We actually aren't teaching her anymore and we were basically devastated when they switched up our assignments, but we poked our head in her door to say hi the other day and to talk to her. We love her so much! Thank you for prayers in her behalf! 

Currently we are teaching our last investigator!!!! WHAT? Her name is Sara and we had the hardest time answering her questions. 

Until last night. 

We found her need. The temple. She needs to know about the temple. Again, I will write more in my letter because that is an incredible story. 

So I hope that answers some questions about the MTC. Sorry babies, I will try to fill in the cracks with my letters home! I will respond to each of you.

Okay. Here is the for real important part. Mom you've been waiting my whole email for this. 

DEPARTURE TIME!!!! 

We got our flight plans!!! We leave the MTC Tuesday at 4:50 AM! Our flight is at 9:55 and we will be flying into Oakland! Our President will meet us there and drive us to Santa Rosa! Our trainers will be getting calls this week!! I can't wait! 

Family, I have to go now, but I love you all!! Thank you so much for everything you are doing to let me be where I am at right now. I can't explain to you the incredible joy I have and all of the experiences I've been having. Thanks for the pics too. I sure do miss my Tiny, and his pictures make me so happy. Rachel, your  ninja skills are on point. Thank you for the book! I read it to my companion, and I told my whole class about it!!! 

Lily, I sleep with the cat  you gave me every night! So much comfort. 

Christ lives. He loves you. This is His Gospel. I love my calling. 18 months isn't enough. In the words of the song, "Savior, Redeemer" it's "my joy by day, and my dream by night." Boys, Im so excited for you. Always and forever keep a mission in your plans, and the temple in your sight. Never underestimate the power of prayer or the power of the limitless Atonement. You are all so special. Never give up. Always move forward. Laugh lots. Smile often. Love always. 

Love you all!! See you in Cali!

Sincerely, 

Your happy missionary

Sister Jessica Julander

MTC Love

Dear Family! 

It's been one week here at the MTC and I am still loving it! Thank you for all of your notes! 129 is the correct number! 45 is the number of my branch :) Im grateful you didn't send anything to that or some other missionaries would be enjoying my mail right now.  I guess I will start at the beginning. 

I've learned so much since coming here, and there is very little time compared to all that I have to say! The MTC is not hard. It is challenging. Hard to me, means your pushing against a rock. I say its challenging because it is possible and there is so much growth. So I will share some sweet experiences, some fun experiences, and a few things that I've learned and then at the end of my stay here at the MTC I will send a letter with more!! Sound good?? 

I want to start off by telling you a little about my calling as a missionary! My job is to invite others to come unto Christ. Now I know you have all heard that, but it's true. That is my one and only job for the next 18 months! On Sunday, our Branch Presidency was talking to all of the missionaries in our district and Brother Neilson (one of the counselors) said this...

He said that Elder Holland was talking to the missionaries and he said that his job and our job is the same. To be special witnesses of Christ. It is an apostolic calling. He says his is an Apostolic calling with a big 'A' and our is with a little 'a' because his calling is for life, and ours is just for 18-24 months. I dont know about you, but that's really special to me. I get to stand as a witness like an apostle! I may not hold the keys, but I have been set apart to testify of Christ. Sister Jensen was sharing an experience she had with her pre-MTC tutor. He said that as a missionary, if we make a promise to an investigator, it will happen. If we promise them that they will find strength and peace if they read the Book of Mormon with true intent, it is so. That's why we must always listen to the spirit and make sure we are in tune with the Lord's will. 

Now, everyone tells you the spirit you have as a missionary is so strong. I can testify that it is. It's not sensational though. I don't feel a burning 24/7 and I don't have visions or anything like that. What I do have is clarity. Eric, remember when the doctor gave you your first pair of glasses and he said you would notice the leaves on the trees and the blades of grass in the lawn? You think you couldn't have really missed that much. The leaves are green and on top of the trees, and you know what they look like. Until you put on the glasses. Then everything is brought to such a clear focus, there is no questioning whether that is a leaf of not. That's what it's like being a missionary. The spirit is SO clear. Everything makes sense. The scriptures are incredibly easy to read, find, and understand. Knowing what to  say comes naturally, and you ALWAYS know when it's the spirit. I can't explain it. I wish I could express myself in a way that you could truly know what Im feeling. And the thing is, I will never have this same spirit again in my life. An apostle said that we wont. Even as an apostle, he said he doesn't feel the same way he did as a missionary. Wow. What a privilege it is to be on the Lord's errand!! 

Okay. There is the spiritual side of things. Now for the fun stuff! 

Mom, you asked if I knew sister Hurst. YES! Shes a Rexburgian! We went to school together. She saw our Madison county plates and rushed over to see who it was. Moments after walking away from the car I found sister Lee!! She walked right in front of me! It was a sweet reunion! Moments after that Sister Jensen found me and we've been together ever since! 

We have the best district! Sister Jensen and I are the only sisters, and we have five elders. A Trio giong to the NYNYS mission and a duo going to...Provo!! Haha! Love it. Anyways, they are so fun. I will have to tell you more later. 

The temple dedication was amazing!! The hosanna shout on Palm Sunday is a once in a lifetime thing. 

Before I go I want to to share with you my favorite experience with an investigator so far! Her name is Kuigen (Q-jin) and she is from Korea! Now, the investigators we teach here are either volunteers from the community, or they are real!!! And you don't know which is which. So always treat it like its real. Anyways. So we went to our first appointment with her and I will admit, I was prideful. We had been having a really good day, and I thought it was going to be so fun and so easy. 

Never, ever, ever do that as a missionary. 

The lesson bombed. We couldn't answer her questions and we stuttered and walked out 45 minutes later very embarrassed and quite frankly, very scared for our next visit. We decided to never let that happen again. We studied and talked and prayed and studied and prayed and discussed what we should talk to her about. Nothing came. We decided to really let the spirit guide for this one. We nervously went into our appointment and the Spirit was there! We re-established our purpose as missionaries and talked to her some more. Im not sure how it happened, but we transitioned to prayer. WE talked about how important it is to pray and to talk to Heavenly Father even though He knows our hearts. Kuigen said she doesn't pray very often, but then she suddenly sat up. She had suddenly remembered a story! She said the first time she had prayed in years was a few months ago when she was flying from Korea to come to BYU. She said that she only had an hour and a half in layovers and she explained that was not enough time for international flights. She had read the blogs and they all said not to take this flight, because you will miss your connect. She bought the ticket because it was cheap, and on her first flight she prayed. She said "God, please help me get on this plane. I need to." When they landed the pilot explained that the plane had landed an hour early! She had enough time to get through all the lines and she even had to wait for her plane. She turned to us and said, "Does that even happen? Does a plane land an hour early?" Then she said, "That was an answer to my prayer. I didn't even think about that." We then explained that Heavenly Father loves her and cares about what's important to her. She sat up again and just looked at us for a second. Then she said, "Do you have a pen and paper?" We quickly handed them to her and she started to write and write. Then she looked up at us, waiting for us to continue. Then she expressed how weird it was she was remembering that experience. We explained that was the Holy Ghost reminding her and telling her that God remembers her. He was trying to talk to her and testify that what we were telling her was true, and He testified of that using her own experience. She looked at us again and began to scribble down some more notes. The spirit was so strong. She promised to pray. Sister Jensen and I left the lesson almost in tears. We found an empty room and fell to our knees and poured out our gratitude for a loving, and merciful Heavenly Father who filled our mouths with inspiration for Kuigen and that He loved us enough to help us, and in turn helped her. Im so grateful He trusted us with that experience. It was a testimony builder for sure. I love being a missionary. 

Well, I love you all SO much!! I think about you everyday and you are always in my prayers and in my heart. Please. Keep Kuigen in your prayers. I think she is a real investigator. I love her so much even though we've met her twice. Keep up all that you are doing!! 

Love, 

Your happy missionary

Sister Julander