Four Minutes in Manhattan

"In a sense, your four minutes have already begun. The clock is ticking. The words of the Apostle Paul seem so fitting: to run the race, that you may obtain the prize." -Gary R. Stevenson

Many of you (dearly beloved) will look at the title of this post and think "wait, I am 99.9% sure Manhattan isn't in Hermana Voss' mission boundaries, and can only go there every six months for temple trips, why was she in Manhattan for four minutes?" That would be a very good question (and one I will answer).

Rascacielos

Hermana Gourley and I were on the way to a trainer-trainee meeting at the mission office in Queens, coming from Brooklyn. If you know New York City well, then you would know Subways don't run from Brooklyn to Queens, so one has to go under Manhattan. This wasn't the problem, going under Manhattan was pre-authorized by the mission president, plus one is never actually above ground in Manhattan. The problem comes when you hear a voice in the Lexington Station stating that, "due to a stolen train car, all queens-bound N, Q, and R trains are not running in this station." My first thought was "someone stole a train car? How odd." In the following *train* (ba dum tsh) of thought I realized how this foiled our plans. We had to figure out a new way to get to Queens. Now, there was a station six blocks down with different trains running to Queens, so we figured we should go to that station, but the only way to get to that station was either an hour and some detour under Manhattan going through heaven knows how many stations to make a loop (and we were pressed for time to make the 10:00 meeting, despite leaving at 7:30am) or to go above ground and walk the couple of blocks. 

We called our zone leaders, who laughed at our situation and told us to get back underground as very quickly as we possibly could. And then we walked the six very short blocks along Lexington from 59th to 53rd. Spanish word for skyscraper? Rascacielos (scrape the heavens) which I think is darling. It was very applicable, given in those short six blocks we saw around twenty. It was absolutely awe-inspiring - I LOVE NEW YORK CITY. We were very focused on getting to the train station quickly so we didn't see much, but what we did see reminded me of how beautiful cities are. Brooklyn is
amazing and Atlantic Avenue is pretty gosh-darn cool, but Manhattan truly does have a different feel. 

Our moments of freedom in Manhattan!

After our four minutes we went underground and luckily all the trains were in working order there and we got to Queens safely, soundly, and only ten minutes late. Trainer-trainee meeting held a lot of gems of wisdom as well. One thing I love that one of our Assistants said was, "If we want to have
power, we must work within the keys." The keys of baptizing in our mission are held by our president - if we want to have the power necessary to convert and baptize, we need to work under those keys,
and obey the mission rules. At the MTC I learned that "obedience brings blessings, exact obedience brings miracles, but living the higher law brings power." My goal is to not only exactly obey, but to go above and beyond to obtain the spiritual strength and power I need to find, teach, and see others through to baptism.

After we successfully went back to Brooklyn entirely underground, we visited the church for a dinner appointment that involved pupusas. I don't really know how to describe the flavor of a pupusa, but I think it's probably a little like heaven. Nevertheless, there can certainly be too much of a good thing. We were given very petite, small plates "so that you can be skinny and go home and get married". In the Hispanic culture, we heartily approve of this mentality, given one is often very over-fed (note: the guest is always given more than the host eats. And they serve you to ensure you eat enough). Our goal is certainly not to be "gordita", and at all our dinner appointments thus far, they have alluded to making us skinny, so hopefully we are already too gordita and their goal is to get us in shape! After two pupusas we were pleasantly full and happy, but she misunderstood our satisfied smiles for, "oh they want more, I'll go give them more." She got up to retrieve more, as my compañera and I looked at each other in dismay. Hermana Gourley in haste asked, "wait - but what about being skinny?" "Oh honey," she replied, "you can be skinny tomorrow. There's always tomorrow." Needless to say, we ran a total of four times this week to perhaps fend off the averse effects of eating more than necessary for two not terribly large 19-year-old girls.

What the member said afterward, though, touched me. She said, "also, your mom is praying for you to have a good dinner tonight." My mom expressed in her email to me how she prayed for me to have good meals this week, and I testify the spirit speaks through others all too often. Thinking of home is always wonderful (sometimes I fondly look back on having Frosted Flakes and watermelon for every meal and cry silent tears of nostalgia). But being here is such a blessing as well, and I'm glad I'm in the hands of members and missionaries who only wish for my happiness.

The last couple of nights my sleeping habits have been very consecrated. I've been waking up approximately two or three times a night thinking it was 6:30am, praying, and brushing my teeth. Each time my companion followed, then suspiciously looked at her watch after I went through the motions, and told me to go back to bed. However, my prayers are more frequent than ever, and I'm glad that even when I'm hardly awake, I try to be exactly obedient to the missionary schedule. Oh, and for my first time ever, I saw a nun. Naturally I burst out into "how do you solve a problem like Maria?" the moment she stepped out of sight. Actually, I burst into song fairly often. That's not too
uncommon. But it was still cool. :)

We also are working with a darling little Hispanic family right now that we found last week. We love them! They have a 5-year-old and 7-month old that are the cutest things. Since they are currently
rooted in Catholicism, we are trying to help them see for themselves the truth of which we testify. We are doing a lot of finding, given our pool is very very small, we talk to hundreds of people each week,
but finding people who are willing to listen makes it all worth it.

And finally a happily ever after story to give you old maids (*cough* McKinney *cough*) some hope and also for my personal felicity and inner romantic. Elder Weisler, one of our Spanish-Speaking Elders (whose birthday is today), told us how his parents met and it was super cute so I'm relaying it here. His mom came from Britain for a church history tour, and met his dad in Utah where she stayed for nine days, and they went on a couple of dates and such. She asked him to drive her to the airport so she could fly home to Britain, and he turned to her when they got to the airport parking lot and said, not un-awkwardly I'm sure , "so.... Will you stay? I guess what I'm asking is... Will you marry me?" And she said yes. :) I just think that is so darling. Disclaimer: Don't worry mom and dad I have absolutely zero plans to do anything of the sort in my life.

Rainy day without an umbrella in Bayridge

Thank you for all of your support! I love getting your letters, emails, and the little things you send that make me smile. You are all wonderful!

"Dear friends, you are in the midst of an exhilarating journey. In some ways, you are racing down the half-pipe or sled track, and it can be challenging to perform each element or navigate each turn along the way. But remember, you’ve prepared for this for millennia. This is your moment to perform. This is your four minutes! The time is now!" -Gary R. Stevenson

-Hermana Voss, "La Jefa"
(what pretty much everyone calls me. It's a decent little joke since everyone knows at least a little English, and given "V's" are pronounced as "B's" by Spanish-Speakers.)

A few pictures of my apartment

How do You Cook your Vegetables?

Hello you very attractive and charming readers!

This week, I'm going to begin with a story. To give some background, there is a large Jewish population in Brooklyn, New York. Jews dress very modestly, in dresses and skirts that are around as long as ours (at least from what I've seen thus far of the Orthodox Jew religion). So, to the innocent Jew passerby, we typically look Jewish. The only distinguishing factors are our name tags, the fact we don't wear stockings in the crazy humid summer, and upon closer inspection that we don't speak Hebrew. So we get a lot of inquisitive looks from Jews, and some even try to talk to us before realizing we aren't Jewish. We are, indeed, quite Mormon. (Conversation normally cuts off around the
time they see the name of Jesus on our tags.)

Gorgeous Sunset in Brooklyn

Occasionally, though, some don't realize we aren't Jewish. This happened on the bus the other day. A middle-aged Jewish man looked at us and asked us in a booming voice, "how do you cook your vegetables?" I was caught off guard, Hermana Gourley was beyond befuddled. And we weren't the only confused ones - approximately half the bus had noticed the odd question. Feeling as though this was some form of test to see how well versed we were on Jewish faith, and aware that at least ten people were listening for our answer, Hermana Gourley and I looked at each other briefly, and turned back to the man. "We don't? We serve them raw...?" Hermana Gourley hesitantly replied. "Don't worry, I'm not trying to hit on you!" He laughed. "I have a girlfriend." At this point we were genuinely concerned (and trying very hard not to laugh, especially given the smirk on the Hispanics' face next to him).

As we recollected ourselves for a moment, we realized he was for some odd reason trying to talk about how to serve vegetables, giving a basis in Songs of Solomon. Now, I'd never read Songs of Solomon before, but I was almost 100% positive it didn't talk about vegetables (also, I read it in my personal studies, definitely no vegetables mentioned.) We were considering how to tell him we weren't Jewish, but it was a fairly interesting lecture, so we kept on looking at him with wide, puzzled eyes and even more puzzled ears. After further Isaiah and biblical discussion (Note: apparently Moses was called *twice*, once as a prophet and once as a Jew) he informed me of how to properly serve vegetables as I awkwardly nodded and smiled. There's some oil and vinegar involved and pepper too, I think. As we reach our stopped we smiled at the Jew (grimaced might be more accurate) and walked away from the bus feeling just about as bewildered as we had ever felt. So, moral of the story: if you're ever asked how to cook your vegetables, turn to Songs of Solomon and read from there.

My week was lovely, though. Now that my companion and I are completely over being sick, we've been able to run twice in the morning! Since we live so close to the ocean we actually jogged over there in about ten minutes and saw Staten Island. It's a gorgeous area, with many breathtaking cathedrals. I never would have expected the amount of religious worship centers I see, and on the scale I see them! Specifically there are a lot of Catholics and let me say, they really know how to make their churches. But personally, I prefer Mormon temples. ;)

We went on exchanges with the sister training leaders on Tuesday which was very enjoyable. Sister Shiobara and I ate dinner at a lovely young families' home from Utah. They had a darling white little dog named Scout after Scout Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird, which reminded me a good deal of a white little dog I had at home who went by the same name. Also they had two darling children (though I find most children darling, it's true). We ate burritos and root beer - a very inoffensive first dinner appointment for my mission! We afterwards went tracting in a park where I looked a good deal like Elder Calhoun in the Best Two Years (definitely watch it).

Splits with Sister Shiobara!

District Activity

On top of the world!

The next day I was with Sister Fields. We went to go see a returning member (euphemistic language is my favorite) who had three very energetic under-four-years-old youngsters. They were very sweet.
Exchanges taught me a lot. First of all, that Carvel's ice cream (vanilla with rainbow sprinkles, whipped cream, and a cherry) is always a good idea. Also New York pizza. That stuff is pretty great.
Also, I learned the importance of talking to everyone. I've always talked to someone, waited a safe distance, and then talked to someone else. Sister Shiobara taught me to go right down the line and talk to every soul that crossed my path. We actually talked to a terribly interesting lady who studied theology at Harvard. She had an awful lot of respect for religion, and we adored hearing all of her
perspectives!

On the way back to Bay Ridge with Hermana Gourley we had a mini miracle. We were talking to a Hispanic lady on the bus and felt a prompting to give her a Book of Mormon. As we got out the book to hand it to her we heard three voices on the bus pipe up as surrounding Hispanics asked for the book as well. We only had two on hand but we promised the others books as well if they called us. It was such a blessing to have people receive us and the Book of Mormon so well.

One of my favorite aspects about life using public transportation are the rare action-movie-worthy moments. On Thursday we learned a good deal more about that than I would have liked. We were very close to missing curfew as we got on the N train headed towards Manhattan. On the next stop we knew we would have to catch the R for Coney. We arrived, and saw the R pulling in on the opposite side of the station. We looked at each other with big, round eyes as we both knew it was
time to prove ourselves. The moment the doors opened we sprinted out of the train in leaps and bounds as passerbys shouted encouragement. We took the stairs four at a time, with a singleness of mind on our purpose: to make the R. We ran down the stairs on the other side as the doors were closing, but I refused to let almost-closed doors discourage me. Mid-sprint I stuck my hand in the door and it bounced back dramatically as we breathed in victory and smelled sweet success in conquering the train. As the train left the station we nostalgically looked back over our shoulders at the quickly disappearing station as we pondered what it truly meant to triumph, which naturally lead us to think of our savior triumphing over death. Sound dramatic? Well it definitely happened and is pretty much a depiction of my daily life. Later that subway ride, we had a car all to ourselves as well. It was a good day. #killedit

A subway car to ourselves!

Service at the senior center.

Tortas at Los Margaritas!

For Preparation day today my district went to the Dock and looked over Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty! It is gorgeous by the sea! We also climbed trees, played catch with footballs, and had a picnic (I am a firm proponent of the Oxford comma, for any wondering). Also for any wondering, I have the best district (and best mission) in the world. #NYNYS

Manhattan Skyline!

Hermana Gourley and I always have fun!

Tree climbing

And I can't have a blog post without a spiritual thought, so here it is: " 'The bright side of it is,' said Puddleglum, 'that if we break our necks getting down the cliff, then we're safe from being drowned in
the river' " -C.S. Lewis 

We may be falling down cliffs and having difficult times in our lives, but with Christ by our side we can always see the positive and endure through it all!

¡Tenga un buen semana! (Have an enchanting week - loose translation)

All my love,
Hermana Ally Voss

Our hilarious elders!

Musings from Buddy the Elf... er, Ally

Hello! Bonjour! ¡ Buenos Días!

I'm writing this in the rain, so my first order of business will be to say how very extraordinarily much I adore the rain. Also, I love getting sopping wet about two hours after I take a shower because (and
my apologies to the inordinately kind Elder and Sister Johnson for saving us) I forgot the key to our apartment. Oops! Also, I love singing in the rain. ("I love singing. Singing's my favorite!" *Name
that movie.*)

Ally in the big city

Getting to Know You:
Hermana Gourley - Grade-A trainer, ballerina, soccer-player, singer (she doesn't believe that one), mean public transportation rider, hair-flipper extraordinaire, and testimony builder (like a body
builder, but with testimonies).

The not-so-boring business part:
Tuesday was pleasant because we had interviews with President Reynolds. Talking to him and his wife is always so comforting and spiritual. Sister Reynolds makes one feel so comforted and happy. Talking with her brought so much peace to my heart. Also, our Assistants to the President (two elders who, as aforementioned, assist the President) gave a wonderful workshop on the technology in our mission.

In addition on Saturday we had a "zone conference" (see 'zone' definition in Cultural Awareness) in the which we taste tested from some sweet, some bitter, and some bland batches of technology, agency, and other assorted flavors of topics.

Public Transportation

My District

Entertainment and food:
What was super fun is that our Spanish Elders (Elder Creager and Elder Weisler) had two baptisms this week! And Spanish culture denotes that after any activity of significance, food is requisite. Therefore we had two fiestas, and one was a legitimate barbecue! (Hermana Gourley told me at church last Sunday that there was no way it would be an actual barbecue - rather there would be rice and chicken, and perhaps fruit if we got lucky. The ward did amazingly though, and I 100% think it counted. The lack of barbecue sauce was perhaps questionable, but there *were* hot dogs to be fair.) Also, I love how the Chino Elders in our district came and tried to talk to the members. The members
here just love missionaries and it is so lovely that though they can't really talk to our Chino Elders, they still kiss them (something I'm acclimating to day by day) and speak to them in broken (or fluent)
English.

In other food news, we ran into a member on the street and she said she would walk us to the bus stop we were going to, since she was going to a small produce store right behind it. What we didn't expect
was to be coerced to go inside, coerced to accept half of the store's fruit and drink contents as a gift, and then left with a kiss, smile, and apology she couldn't have made us real food or given us more.
Hispanic hospitality is so genuine!

As a last item in regards to food, we pretty much have to buy half our meals in the city. We are hardly ever actually at our apartment since it is so far away from everything (like an hours public transportation or a bit less on a good day). It's very nice that we have a grocery store across the street from us, but I fear we underutilize it by a far cry.

Cultural awareness:
My district (group of elder and sister missionaries that work in the same area and use the same church building) consists of a Mandarin and Cantonese speaking trio of Elders, two Mandarin and Cantonese speaking sisters, Hermana Gourley and I (Spanish), and two Spanish-speaking elders in our same ward. I absolutely love coming to church on Sunday and seeing them all! We see our Spanish Elders, Elder Creager and Elder Weisler, almost all the time. With all the languages, I feel like I'm still in the MTC. In fact, our Zone (group of three districts) has Hatian-Creole speakers, English speakers, and Korean speakers, too. That's six languages! The diversity is so amazing here in Brooklyn!

English class was amazing again. I feel like teaching English really actually helps me improve the way I speak. There are some grammatical features for which I forgot the functions, and going back to the basics is more humbling than I ever would have expected.

Musical Moments:
I got to conduct the music in both baptisms and church this last Sunday. :) Elder Weisler played piano, since not too many members play, (I've yet to meet one, though I'm sure that's not always true!) and I was allowed to use the skills gained in my conducting class. Honestly, I think choral conducting was one of the most profitable college classes I took, and I've used it in practice probably more than any other class!

Also, Hermana Gourley has a lovely voice. When we were locked out of our apartment we decided to sing (for once I was able to harmonize - my skills in that regard are rapidly improving), and were stopped by several people who told us how much they enjoyed it! I love sharing the gospel through music!

My Crazy Awesome Zone

Near-death experiences:
In exciting news, a pigeon tried to kill me this week. We walked by, and naturally I expected the pigeon might, you know, move or something. Well, it didn't. In fact, it flew pretty much right into my
face. So that was fun. Also, we walked into an apartment building, and felt the spirit go away in a noticeable *whoosh*. Needless to say, we walked out pretty quickly.

In additional experiences, what's fun about being a companionship that stands out so much is that people come right up to us! It happens *all* the time. Just this week we had probably three people walk over to us and ask to know more about the church. My companion says it never happens, every time it happens. It feels almost normal to me now, though. However standing out doesn't always end extremely well. For example, the drunks are fun, and many others enjoy getting in our face a little. Luckily we have a force field of the spirit surrounding us (think Wizard of Oz with Glinda in her bubble or The Incredibles with Violet's powers) so no one has yet tried to kill us.

Me and Hermana Gourley Weekly Planning

An Empty bus at 9:00am on Sunday morning.

Spiritual insights:
One of my insights from the week I gained in our zone meeting. One of the workshops was on submitting to the will of the Father. I remembered something I learned in Book of Mormon that our Heavenly Father has access to everything we have right now or ever could have in the future. The one thing He does not have the capability to take from us is our agency. So us submitting our will to Him is giving Him the only thing He doesn't already have. I think it is so beautiful that we can give up the very central feature of our personalities and lives, and present it as a gift to the God we love. I heard a quote this past week from President Thomas S. Monson, which states, "The greatest decision I ever made was to give up something I dearly loved to the God I loved even more. He has never forgotten me for it." I know with a surety that God will bless us as we submit our will to Him, and as we allow our lives to be steered by His loving guidance.

So long, farewell, auf weidersein adieu,

Hermana Ally Voss

Some MTC Pictures I received this week

Brooklyn, New York!

Well! Start spreading the news! I'm being a part of it here in New York, New York!

My first area is (drumroll for dramatic effect): Brooklyn New York!

Me on the street in Brooklyn

The city is crazy. We use subways and busses to get everywhere, and we talk to people from every country, language, lifestyle, and religion. A new street is a new country and a new people. I have had conversations with Russians, Chinese, all kinds of Hispanics, Jews, Catholics, Africans, etc. My area is Bayside/ Dyker Heights region, but we extend to around Coney Island, and up above the Manhattan bridge in the Park Slope area.

The church is in the middle of Chinatown, which is kind of hilarious. It wonderful for the Mandarin and Cantonese elders and sisters in my district (group of about ten missionaries who one sees almost every day serving in their area), but my favorite part is how the white church steeple sticks out above the apartment buildings.

Me and Hermana Gourley in Jewville.

My outfit and tag.

I also love seeing the huge cathedrals right in the middle of the city! There are so many different religions here, and I adore seeing how they all come together to form all these many walks of life. My favorite moments, though, are when Hermana Gourley and I are talking or standing in front of cathedrals or in the city when a thunderstorm rolls through and epic lightening lights up the sky. I feel so powerful - like I'm in an action movie or something. Also, I get to enjoy singing in the rain which is delightful.

My first two days here were insane. After Delta airlines had their power outage our flight was delayed six hours to New York, so we waited in Detroit (and ate McDonalds and Chick-Fil-A thank the good heavens after all that MTC food). We got in at 9 and met President and Sister Reynolds, who are the sweetest, kindest people pretty much on earth. They are small and quiet, but have a kind of gentle power that one doesn't find too often in this hectic world. I got a heavenly nights' sleep on a mattress that felt like a cloud, and upon awaking we ate croissant sandwiches and walked around in a lovely back yard filled with flowers and bees and all the greenery I so badly missed in Utah. Also, the air here on the east coast is so wonderful! Humid, thick, and breathable. The humidity is a bit much occasionally, but for the most part I am quite thrilled to be back. After a devotional on our goals in this mission and our abilities to baptize and change lives, we received our trainers, and I am with Hermana Gourley! She is great - we are very alike and it has been wonderful getting to know her. (She is from Utah) We got to Brooklyn around three o'clock after our leisurely morning. Brooklyn, however, was everything but leisurely.

Pictures of the district: Mandarin, Cantonese, and Spanish companionships.

My first day in the field.

You see, we were 'blinded' into the area, in some missions I think they call it whitewashing. Regardless, it means two missionaries were taken out a transfer and a half ago, and we came in with a dead pool. So we have essentially no investigators, or people to teach. It's been fun building our list of people back up. On Tuesday we were supposed to teach English class, but we were unable to figure out the lock on the door of our apartment for two hours until our elders helped us, and then we got on the wrong train so we ended up not teaching, given we were an hour late. We ended up planting seeds. {A note on this, for all who are highly confused, wondering why I would be gardening. 'Seed planting' is our way of saying being kind, saying hello, and helping people get to know Mormons. We try to get the name of the church out, and be congenial and friendly. Some call it proselytizing, but for the most part we are just trying to talk to and be sweet to others.} Another very fun aspect of life here is running to catch busses. Which happens basically daily. One time we ran almost a mile to catch the bus which felt ridiculous to me, but it was better than walking three more miles! (Running is especially not my favorite right now because I have a cold my MTC district left me as a parting gift.)

Also, I am a Facebook missionary. I do not anticipate posting, but I'm using it to friend investigators and teach them lessons and all that jazz (cue jazz hands). We have taught several lessons, planted many seeds, brought a less active member to church, and met so many people this week. I am adoring the field! Like President Gordon B. Hinckley always enjoyed saying, working and praying can solve almost any problem. I am praying and working like never before, and I can wait to see the fruits of all my labor. :)"

President and Sister Reynolds.

My first picture in the mission home.

Also, our freezer freezes very oddly and my water always freezes
around the outside and not the middle so I get these lovely
glass-shaped ice sculptures.

I love you all! Keep being wonderful!

¡Nos vemos!
Hermana Voss (pronounced Bós by pretty much everyone)

Power in Perspective: MTC Week 2

¡Hola todos!

The Missionary Training Center here in Provo is terribly exciting, but I'm afraid to say I leave next week! We got our travel plans on Wednesday, and I'll be gone by 7am on Monday the 8th!

Hermana Pace and I are kinda cute

My father asked me, jokingly I'm sure, if I had any baptism commitments yet. I'm sure he expected me to say, "Alas, no, I'm sorry for disappointing you Father." However, I am exceptionally astonished to say I have! So, story time my wonderful friends.

I started teaching in the TRC here (I believe it stands for Teaching Resource Center) on Tuesday. Investigators can range from members or teachers to true investigators. I'm almost 100% sure our investigator is an actual investigator. Especially given what he has said, his emotions, how he wants to keep in contact with us as we go on our missions, and how we go almost an hour over in every lesson. I teach in Spanish and feel fairly inadequate, but needless to say the spirit is always in the room extraordinarily strongly. Teaching Ryan (name has been changed) is such a pleasure. When we walked into the room on Tuesday it was like a wave of the spirit hit us. He testified to us after we had talked about how he knew we were truly his sisters and how he felt in his heart that he knew us before. He committed to be baptized that first day. His tears and spirit touched my heart, and his curiosity and questions are so genuine and heartfelt. He mentioned how many missionaries he had talked to before, and how he felt we were the first missionaries to make the gospel make sense to him. He has had several wonderful spiritual experiences since we began teaching him on Tuesday, and I am so excited to keep up with his conversion throughout the next week as we teach him and as we go into the field the week after! His testimony is so strong, and I know he will do wonderful things.

That's not the only exciting thing to happen to me this week, though! I played in a musical number on Sunday. I played with Elder Gomez in my zone, and it went marvelously! It was so exquisitely refreshing to have a last hurrah with my instrument. I played 'If you could Hie to Kolob' and it sounded every bit as thought provoking and lovely as I could ever imagine. Choir was also absolutely amazing. We sang 'Where can I Turn for Peace?' and it was so powerful and amazing to sing with the missionary choir. When 2,000 missionaries sing, there is enough strength to spiritually overwhelm almost anyone.

Traditional name tag-at-the-Provo-temple
missionary picture

Our wonderful, fantastic zone!

Hermana Aguilar and I matched in class on Tuesday :)

Hermana Pace loves me (and we both love the temple).

Listening to Elder Bednar's talk, "The Character of Christ" gave me so many thoughts and questions. The primary question that I came out of the devotional with was, "If our goal as mortals is to gain the mind of Christ, then how would I do that? How could I possibly ever gain the mind of Christ as an imperfect human?" I went to the temple this morning with that question in mind, and obviously it would be impossible to gain the mind of Christ all at once, but I came out of the session resolute that my first effort would be to obey perfectly, as Christ, and my second would be to always give everyone the benefit of the doubt, of which I am not always completely phenomenal.

One of my favorite things I did this week was an in-depth study of the atonement. I decided to read through all of the four gospels' perspectives on the atonement and pick out words and phrases that were different. I then researched the backgrounds of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and attempted to depict why the differences were significant based on the writer and the purpose of the writings to the readers. Through this I learned so much about the power in perspective. It applied to the gospels, and it applies to us. Our perspectives and contributions are so powerful, and some of our impressions and thoughts will change the world.

Gym time is still some of my favorite time of the week. Playing volleyball, knockout, foursquare, and running laps and jumping rope are all wonderful ways to release my energy and give me endorphins. In the words of Elle Woods, "Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people don't kill their husbands."

We love endorphins!

My companion got deathly sick this week, which was fun. Pretty much half of my (pretty dang amazing) district did as well... Luckily, I am still quite healthy, though we shall see if that changes!

Quotes of the week:

"People say, 'I was born in the church.' Well, I was born in a hospital, but my parents took me to church pretty quick after."- Brother Nilsson
"It's good to obey, it's better to be exactly obedient, but it's best to follow the higher law. Like Samuel, we need to stay on the wall in the places the spirit can continually reach us." - Brother Nilsson
"Take that you doubting French - we have witnesses!" - President Condie on God and Christ being witnesses to the Sacred Grove experience of Joseph Smith.

TRAVEL PLANS CAME!

Pioneers.... of laundry.

On Wednesday we wear pink! (the Elders humored us)

Have an extraordinarily exquisite week,

Hermana Ally Voss