Tuesday, July 30, 2013

MTC = Pretty much Disneyland!!

Hello Family and Friends!!!!

Holy Cow!!!  The MTC is AMAZING!! :)  So this is my one and only P-Day in the MTC because I leave Monday EARLY in the Morning!!!  AHHHH!!!!  I can't believe I am already leaving!!!  This place is amazing and I love it so much!!!  So my flight is at like 6am so we are leaving the MTC at 2:30 in the MORNING!!!  Can you say early??  Yep it is pretty early@@@  And then we heave a layover somewhere...haha so Mom that is hopefully when I will call you!  So like 11is but I'll probably write you a letter to tell you because we don't have that much time to e-mail it says we only have 30 minutes on the computer instead of an hour I guess...not really sure.

Well if my body is true to form it will not matter that she waits to call me from the layover I will still be up watching the clock starting at 2:30am.  It's a missionary mom thing!  Sigh

Wow so much to tell you, like I said in my letter I am in a Trio with two AMAZING sisters!!!Sister Grant and Sister Winward and I love them both so much!!  They are amazing!!  Mom ask the Lord why I am in a Trio I don't know why haha but he knows :) love you!

So I have been e-mailing with Sister Winward's mom and we were both curious why they are in a Trio when there is suppose to be like 14 sisters heading to Chicago this transfer.  Guess they are just special.

Did I find what Tiffany left bahaha...Nope No clue!!  So that is sort of a lost cause I guess.

One of her roommates from Snow buried something for Sister North and Sister Attanasio when she was there about a month or so ago.  Guess the girls didn't find it.  Sad day.

I can't believe Zaner broke his arm!!  That is so Sad!!!  And I hope you are feeling better too!!!  Sounds like things have been pretty crazy!!!

The night Sister North left Zane was standing on the slide in the backyard watching the fireworks (Pioneer Day here in Utah on July 24th) and he dropped his candy and tried to get it and fell.  He broke both his radius and ulna near the elbow so a full arm cast for him.  I have had a kidney infection that has been NO fun and taken way too long to get control of for my liking.

Letters I have received this week!

First letter was from Bishop Lindsey!!
Then yesterday I got like 3 from my mom!!  haha not sure how that all worked out but yep finally got them.
Rebecka Bischoff (and family)
and today Janelle Sanchez!!!

So that is totally crazy, I totally would have been the first letter if mine didn't get stuck in some limbo land!  O well, glad they finally showed up.

Thank you all for your letters@  They are so fun to read!!!  Seeing how I leave this week I would send mail to my Mission home so you make sure I get it and my Mom can write that down because I don't remember it ;  But I love mail!!!!  And I have more time to write letters then to e-mail so WRITE ME!!!

Man I don't even know where to start!!!  I freaken LOVE my District!!  They are so Amazing!!!  We work really well together and for the most part we stay pretty focused!  All the Elders (six of them) are going to Santa Rosa, Cali and then us three sisters are going to Chicago.  Mom to answer your question on why I am not with more Chicago people I guess because I'll work with them in the future.  Not really sure but I love it!!!

So for one of our investigators we have been teaching Jen and she is our teacher Sister Freeman.  At first it was weird to teach her but it is completely different from her being our teacher than when she is our investigator.  But man Jen is amazing and I love her!!  Yesterday we started teaching Gabby and she just wants to know about our church.  We had no idea what we were going to teach her and planned so many different things but in the end I don't think we taught anything of what we planned but the Lord helped us teach to her needs.  It was awesome!!  We are meeting with her on Wednesday.  Tomorrow!  We are really excited about that!!  Sad thing is after we meet with her we have to tell her we are being "transferred" which is a bummer but it was an amazing lesson and we have really grown to love her so much!!!

To get them use to teaching people they have teachers play the role of investigator or they have other people come in a play a role.  Sometimes they meet with actual investigators they never know for sure what they are getting.

Wow!!  Sundays here are AMAZING!!!  Relief Society is super cool with EVERYONE!!! (all the Sisters) and before that we were able to watch Music and the Spoken Word which was Grand!!!  Before Relief Society we sang the one song that Janice KatPerry (or whatever her name is) wrote to the tune of Sister in Zion and Holy Macaroni!!!  The spirit was so strong!!!!  Totally brought tears to my eyes and made it hard to sing!!!

O my goodness blasphemy her name is Janice Kapp Perry - You can listen to the song here http://ldsmag.com/article/1/12869 it is about halfway down the page.  I can only imagine how powerful that was with all those sisters singing.  Brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it or reading the words.  

The Sisters of Zion - Words and music by Janice Kapp Perry

The sisters of Zion are called to God's labor
We willingly serve Him with spirit and might
We go to the nations with truth everlasting
We teach of the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ

We thank thee, O God, for a prophet to guide us

We trust in His words and our purpose is clear
The angels of heaven are walking beside us
We'll share our glad tidings with all who will hear

We go forth enlisted with Helaman's Army

In numbers much greater than ever before
With power and spirit we'll faithfully witness
The heavens have spoken, and truth is restored

Our Branch President is AMAZING!!  President Willes he is an inspired man!! The first time we met with him we all shared something about us and bore our testimonies and had discussions and then we met with him and at the end one of the Elders received a blessing and all the Elders helped.  WOW was the spirit so straong!!!  It is AMAZING!!!!

Pretty much every day just blends together but I have made it a goal to write in my journal at least a little every night so hoopefully that will help me keep some of the days different.  We are always learning so much and at first the days were so long but now it is like I have so much to study and not enough time!  There is SO SO much to learn!!  It is crazy awesome!!! :_

GYM time is one of my favorites!!  It is such a wonderful break from studying!!!Our first GYM time we went and played sand volleyball as a district and pretty much it was a BLAST!!!! :)

Well, I love you all SO SO SO Much!!!!  I am so excited to be here serving a mission!!  The Lord is cheering us all on!!  This Gospel is so true!!!  Please pray for my investigators that they will be able to understand the truthfulness of the gospel.  Keep working hard!!!!

I love you all so much!!!!

Love,
Sister North!!!

AND

NUTTY HAPPY BIRTHDAY (tomorrow) PS I don't have your address....Hard to write you Happy Birthday when I can't send it  hehhehe  I love you Nut!!  Hope you ahve a dandy day!!!

Well me thinks that means a Nut has not written Sister North yet.  Tsk tsk  :)

Ok, so everyone she loves letters and her excitement is readily evident in her letter.  Seems she is coming out of her skin.  :)  So pick up a pen and write her, it would be cool for there to be letters for her when she gets to the mission home.


Sister Amber Jeane North

Illinois Chicago Mission
800 Waukegan Rd #203
Glenview, Illinois 60025



Saturday, July 27, 2013

July 27, 2013 - First Letter!

Written on July 25, 2013

Hey Fam!! :)

Just writing a quick letter before study time in a little bit.  (It's not even 7am)

My first day at the MTC has already been AMAZING!!  I love it here!

I am in a trio which is pretty awesome!  And for now it is just us in our room so we each have our own bunk.  We are living the life! :)

My companions are Sister Winward from Logan and Sister Grant from Moses Lake Washington.

I've only eaten one meal here and that was meh...breakfast ins't for like two hours...

We taught investigators yesterday in a classroom size and even with so many of us it was AWESOME!  We are learning how to listen to the investigators.

I saw Sister Attanasio last night and we freaked out!  She even picked me up and spinned me around!

July 26, 2013

Day two was Amazing!  I have the BEST district ever!  It is "The Triplacets" = Us Trio! and the six Elders!  They are ALL going to Santa Rosa California.  We have only been together for a day and a half and we are already a family!

Pretty much so much happens in a day and it all becomes a blur of when this or that happens.

For example yesterday when we went to lunch I thought we were going to dinner.

I have run into Elder Johnson a few times yesterday, saw Elder Cooper at dinner!

I/we met our branch president last night and he is so awesome!

Pretty much this place is amazing!

Today we are going to be teaching our first investigator "Jen" (It's one of our teachers).  I'm pretty excited about that, and a little nervous but it is going to be AWESOME!

We did service this morning and it is almost time for breakfast, Yay!

Well I got to go get ready.

I loveyou guys so much!!

Love,
Sister North :)

Usually missionaries are with one other person and that is their companion, sometimes out of necessity they get put in a group of three instead.  Also in the MTC each room now holds six missionaries.  It use to be four to a room but with the increase of missionaries they now have three sets of bunkbeds to each room.  

Sister Attanasio is her roommate from Snow College.  Elder Johnson is like a brother to Amber, the Johnson family kids and our kids have grown up with each other.  Elder Cooper went into the MTC the same day as Amber and is our neighbor.


As you can tell she thinkgs everything is super and awesome but what else would you expect from Amber!  Love that girl.

July 24, 2013 - Goodbye for 18 months

The day started off early.  Missionaries have to be up at 6:30am.  Ate breakfast, I made a couple of peach cobblers and sat around and talked and waiting for the post office.  Ok, that might sound a bit odd but we knew Jered's mission call had been assigned and would be coming today.  However we leave to take Amber before the mail comes.  So I had contacted the post office to see if it would be possible to go and pick it up in the morning if it really did come.  I called at 8:15am not being able to take it anymore.  The lady went to check with the mail person.  Waiting...waiting...waiting...I'm sorry we don't see it yet but we sort until 10:30am.  She took my name and number and told me she would call if they found it.  UGG, lots of prayers sent up that it might be possible and more waiting.  We got the call about a half an hour later that they had it.  YIPPY, Amber and I ran down to get it and Jered made calls to friends and I made calls to family letting everyone know it is here and we are going to open it at 9:45am.  (In about an hour)  We grabbed it from the post office and then ran to Walmart to grab some donuts for the opening and a watch for Amber.  Made it back as everyone was arriving.


Amber was really happy because she really wanted to be here for the opening of another brother's mission call.  Well I guess I will not keep you all in suspense, Jered got called to serve in the Guatemala Cobán Mission, he reports to the Guatemala MTC on December 11, 2013 and we will speak Spanish.

After all of that excitement it was time to say goodbye and head out.  Amber was full of smiles except when her best friend Nutty (aka Kendra) started crying and then she started loosing it.  She told Nutty to knock it off and all was better and there were smiles all around.  We are sad to let her go but o so happy for her and excited about this wonderful opportunity she is going to have.  I tend to get the most sad in quiet moments by myself or if I am talking about missionary work, then I get all emotional.
Amber with Great Grandma Nielsens.
 She is 96 years old and an inspiration to us all.

Amber with Grandma Mary, Great Grandma Nielsen, and Grandma North
Aunt Karolina, Mary, Olivia, and Mosiah

SIBLINGS (only missing one brother Elder Bryen North who is serving in the Arkansas Little Rock Mission)
It's Nutty
Saying goodbye to siblings who will grown and change a lot in the next 18 months.  Why do we do it?  We do it to obey our Heavenly Father and to help bring people unto Christ.  We also know it will help each of us.  It will help Amber grow and develop her talents and we will each grow through her experiences.

Oldest Brother Deven
(Deven went on a mission to South Carolina Columbia)

Amber with Jered who just
got his mission call
This is Mikel he is 16, Amber will come home
from her mission and it will be time for him to put his papers in.

Ceaira is 13, she has been letting Amber bunk with her for the last few months.
This is Taryn she is 12, just getting into the teenage world.  When
Amber comes back she will be ruling it.

Taylynne is 11

Zane is our baby.  He is ten now.

After saying goodbyes it was time to pack the car and head to Provo where the MTC (missionary training center) is.  As Amber loaded her stuff she found a Taylynne trying to stow away.




Jed and I then took Amber down to Provo where we had time to stop in at the flag shop.  We have little 4" flags of the kids missions.  We needed one more Arkansas flag and now the Guatemala flag.  We also had lunch at Los Hermanos.  Lots of places in Provo give free meals to the missionaries entering the MTC that day.  Los Hermanos is one of them.  We didn't know it at the time, we just like the place but were pleasantly surprised by the banner announcing it as we pulled up.

   After eating it was time to head to the MTC.  They are very busy on Wednesdays.  After waiting in the line of cars that were also there to drop off their precious cargo we got our little pink sticky note and headed around to the drop off zone. 

 As soon as we pulled up to the curb Amber was jumping out and hugging someone that was not in the car.  It was one of the Hosts and she knew her.  I forgot to ask her who it was, after all it is a traumatic time for a mommy.


We get her luggage out and we give final hugs and have them take a picture and then she is off.  

We will get to talk to her on Mother's Day and Christmas, other than that it is through letters.




July 23, 2013 - Officially a missionary!

This is the day she has been waiting for.  Started it out with dinner at Texas Longhorn Steakhouse.  It was very yummy.  Got to spend some mommy and daddy time with Amber before she left.


She was set apart on at 9:30pm by President Tracy.  All the family was there plus Grandma and Grandpa North.  It was an amazing night and the spirit was strong.  President Tracy asked me to say the prayers so of course we started off with crying.  The spirit was so strong and I can only take so much.  She was instructed that after she was set apart that she would be a full time missionary and all the rules of a mission apply.  That includes things like not going anywhere without a companion. (me or her sisters would work for that)  Going to bed by 10:30, ok so she was a little off of that one since she had to finish packing but she did pretty well.  Then up by 6:30am.

Under the direction of the presiding authority, one or more Melchizedek Priesthood holders may participate in a setting apart, including a worthy father or husband (see 20.1.2). These brethren place their hands lightly on the person’s head. Then the priesthood holder who acts as voice:
  1. 1. 
    Calls the person by his or her full name.
  2. 2. 
    States that he is acting by the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood.
  3. 3. 
    Sets the person apart to the appropriate office in the stake, ward, quorum, high priests group, or class.
  4. 4. 
    Confers keys if the person is entitled to receive them. (In stakes and wards, only stake presidents, bishops, and quorum presidents receive keys of presidency when they are set apart. The word keys should not be used when setting apart counselors, high councilors, high priests group leaders, presidents of auxiliary organizations, the bishop’s priests quorum assistants, or teachers in an organization.)
  5. 5. 
    Gives words of blessing as the Spirit directs.
  6. 6. 
    Closes in the name of Jesus Christ.
A setting apart is an opportunity to give a blessing. Detailed counsel and instruction are normally provided when a person is taught his or her duties rather than during the setting apart.
A setting apart should not be expanded into a formal meeting. It is not necessary to have prayers, testimonies, or instruction when someone is set apart.

So after we got back home she got back to packing.  We managed to get everything packed as her sisters tried to lay claim to some of her stuff.  Some she gave to them other's she said put back.  I still need to go pack up the rest of the room so Ceaira can have her room back.  Amber had been bunking with Ceaira since coming home from college the start of May.


Tomorrow we say goodbye for 18 months!  That is going to be very hard for me because I am use to being very involved with Amber's life.  Even when she was at school we would talk on the phone and we could watch her daily facebook status updates.  We were connected and with a mission there is not as much connection.  I know that is how they grow and it is necessary for them to loose themselves in the word but that doesn't stop a mom from wanting to be a fly hovering about knowing how its going.

July 21, 2013 - Farewell talk and get together

Amber spoke in church on Sunday, July 21, 2013.  She was a bit nervous but did just fine.  She also sang with a friend of hers Aimee Smith and they both sounded wonderful.  After sacrament we came back to the house for some food and fellowship.  It was a great day and we are so thankful for all the support that everyone gave to Amber.
I was amazed at how well Amber held up when it came to goodbye's.  She cried more about leaving her roommates at the end of this semester then I saw her cry ever about saying goodbye for a whole 18 months.  I think that goes to show how excited she is about serving a mission.