March 1, 2021 Home MTC

 Brothers and Sisters!

I DEEPLY apologize. I've been really busy with the MTC, family, and packing that I haven't had time to send replies  to everyone who was kind enough to reply to my first email. But thank you, they were all so sweet. And last week I was a little stressed with the email that I forgot to send some of the best moments! 

From my second week in the MTC: At one point, our teacher asked us to grab random items in our house. I cheated (but only a little) and ran and caught a chicken. I'm pretty proud of how surprised everyone was. We ended up having to relate our item to how God is our loving Heavenly Father (I nailed that analogy by explaining that just as a hen gathers her chicks under her to protect them, so does our Heavenly Father gather us under his wings). 

At another point, Sister Higgins (my FREAKING awesome companion) and I were in a TRC. A TRC is a fake teaching appointment where fledgling missionaries such as ourselves teach an actor pretending to be a nonmember, or in some cases, an actual nonmember. We prepared two loose lesson plans on what to share, but when we started our meeting, she threw us a curveball and we had to scramble to play catch up. We had a really rough lesson and Sister Higgins and I both felt awful. Gail was either an extremely talented actor or an actual nonmember! She called us ministers instead of missionaries and thought we where getting paid for this! Which made us super nervous for our next lesson. If  got it wrong, Sister Higgins and I were terrified that we'd be the reason she didn't feel the spirit. We were supposed to meet with Gail again the next day, but each idea that we tried to plan felt wrong. We really didn't know what to do and we contemplated canceling the interview. No scripture or short video or even broad idea felt right.

We didn't. And I'm so glad that we continued on. Though we were completely unprepared, Sister Higgins and I listened to the spirit and were guided to give a really good lesson. Gail was touched and she promised to act on our invitations.

I turned 20 years old! Two decades feels like a lot, and I'm sure I should feel more mature than this. On the SAME day, my sweet brother Isaac got his mission call to Cape Town, South Africa. He leaves June 24th and will be an absolutely fantastic missionary.

My district is awesome. We had an ice cream party for my birthday and then we also pranked the elders again by coming to class wearing white shirts and ties! (They were very difficult to tie and I have a lot more sympathy for the men now...)

On Saturday, my MTC district said goodbye to each other. It was a bittersweet experience because I know that they are all flying off to bright missionary futures, but I'm really going to miss those guys.

Another miracle happened this week. Last Sunday, my family was exposed to covid. While we were waiting for the results, they had to self quarantine. While I luckily had two sets of amazing grandparents who were willing to take me in for the week, I was really disappointed that my family might not be able to hug me goodbye or see me off. Saturday night, this really hit me hard. I said a prayer and within two hours, the negative results that we had been waiting for arrived. Because of that little miracle, I was able to spend the last two nights and the final day with my family before I flew out. 

It's really interesting. Something happens when you wear a name tag. People stop and smile. People notice you. And you make friends instantly. Also, any other missionary that you might see in an airport immediately becomes your best friend. I've never had so many strangers come up to me. I met with two other missionaries on the flight to Pheonix, then two missionaries that were returning home in the Phoenix Airport and another three missionaries who were flying to Omaha.

Everyone seems very nice. As we came into Omaha, we drove past a swimming pool that was apparently the location of the Hot Wheels movie jump. 

Last thing- so as was waiting in a church building with the other sisters, I jumped up to touch the ceiling. My dress came up JUST as the Mission President's wife and all of the Office Elder missionaries came around the corner. There could not have been worse timing... Oops.

Anyways, I'm excited to go to work.

Love,

Sister Brice