Baby Missionary’s First E-mail

Howdy y'all 

I have finished up my first week of MTC and it was such a good experience. I have loved being a missionary so far. GOD IS SO GOOD! My companion is Sister Maxwell. She is from Heber City and I absolutely love her. We are already really good friends. She is going to Knoxville too so we will be able to be plane buddies! My district is so amazing! We all have just been laughing and feeling the spirit all week. I am excited to get to the MTC and be able to hangout with all of them in person. My teachers are also a big blessing. They both have just returned home from their own missions and have so much stuff to pass onto us! I have learned so much from them and I am looking forward to all the rest of the stuff they have left to teach us for the next two weeks!

My setting apart was such a cool experience. Since my stake president was out of town, I was able to be set apart by President Leishman and President Garrett! Both of them live in my ward and have been big spiritual influences on my life so it was super cool to have them there with me. I am not going to lie, I was very nervous and sad about starting my mission which was very weird to me because I have been looking forward to this my whole life. I was pretty sad when I got to the stake center but as I went in to talk to President Leishman, a huge wave of calmness and peace hit me. I only felt happy and excited for what I was about to do. The Lord knew that I needed confidence that I did not have before to be able to start my mission with a good attitude and mindset. That was such a huge blessing and I am so thankful for it! Even my family was able to notice a change in me when they came in for the setting apart. As I was getting my blessing, me and my dad were able to feel the presence of my sweet grandma and other angels around us. My dad said that he knew that they were going to be coming with me on my mission. This was the coolest experience ever. During my personal study this week I was able to dive into the subject of angels and this scripture I read is so important to me! 

D&C 84:88 "And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round you, to bear you up."

This week consisted of so many walks, church movies, lots of Dr. Pepper, lunch dates, and all of my classes. Sister Maxwell and I taught our first two lessons this week and man oh man we were so stressed about them. We were freaking out all week about them because 1. teaching on zoom is a very awkward experience and 2. we are just baby missionaries and feel like we know nothing haha. We were both able to prepare through the week and the spirit really helped us through those lessons! One thing that I have been more aware of this week is God's hand in our lives. He loves each and every single one of us so much! Even when we mess up, God is still there with his hand stretched out still (2 Nephi 20:4) waiting for us to reach out to Him. Our Savior and our Heavenly Father want to be in our lives and be sources of comfort but they can only do that if we let them into our hearts! I like to think of the picture of Christ standing at the door knocking, wanting to come in but there is no handle to open the door. We have to be willing to open that door and then the goodness of God can bless our lives! 

Anyways, I head to Provo on Wednesday. I am super excited. Everyone saying goodbye to me makes me feel like I am dying so I like thinking of it more like a "see ya later" type of thing haha. I am so grateful that I have had this past week to be at home with my family and my bestie Shelldog. I am also so thankful for all my sweet friends who have come over and taken me out to lunch, you guys made my whole week! My parents said that when they were in the MTC that they did not have drinks with caffeine in them (who knows if that is even still true) but pray for me as I go through Dr. Pepper withdrawals. I know that leaving my family and everyone will be hard, but I know that if I rely on the Lord that everything will turn out okay! I am going to miss good ole Syracuse but I seriously cannot wait to get to Tennessee to tell people about this awesome gospel! 

I'll talk to y'all next week from Provo! 

<3 Sister Erekson 

Sidenote- I told myself that I would never move to Provo in my life but here I am packing up to live there for the next couple of weeks haha.