Received Tuesday, May 2:

Hello family!!!!!! It has been a wicked crazy week! It has been full of lots of crying and laughing. The sisters in my district, which are also in my room, are so awesome! I have been super blessed to have the sisters that I do! My companion is Sister La'au. She is from San Francisco but originally from Samoa! She is also going to the Oklahoma Tulsa Mission with me! Wahoo! The other sisters are Sister Randall from Orem, going to St. Louis Missouri and Sister Quiocho from the Los Angeles area going to Ft. Lauderdale Florida. They are super awesome and we have a good ole time. We have found 7 other elders that are going to the same mission with us. They are not in our zone though so we don't see them a whole lot.

We also have awesome teachers!!! They are so good at helping us get the vision of our purpose as missionaries and help us think about ways that we can help the investigator feel the spirit and receive revelation from the things that we say to the. The MTC is definitely harder than I thought it would be! It is so much work and it is also spiritually draining. I never thought I would be studying so much! But I enjoy studying the gospel and learning new things everyday and feeling like I am becoming a better missionary and getting a better vision of my purpose.

My roommates and I enjoy our gym time! We have a BLAST playing volleyball. There are a lot of Samoans and Tongans and so we all play a game. Sister La'au enjoys talking to every single Polynesian we see! Its funny. She says she's going to teach me Samoan so I can understand what they are saying! She also said that after our missions we are going to go visit Samoa together! It will be a blast! I'm so happy that she's my companion and like I've told you before, I could not have asked for a better companion for my stay here at the MTC.

I'm so grateful for my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I know I can't do this work without them. It has been hard for me to more rely on them and I am still learning exactly how to do that. I think that is the hardest part for me - recognizing that I can't do it without them and receiving revelation and recognizing it as such. I need to be more aware of my feelings I am having and ponder more of what I am studying instead of just keep reading and doing what I think I need to do. I need to listen and let the spirit tell me what I am to do.

The mission is super hard but it is rewarding! I know that I am going to receive many blessings as I do the Lord's work and obey the rules He has had set. I know they are there for a reason. We have an awesome branch president and he is truly an inspired man. Everytime words come out of his mouth, I cry. I have been the biggest cry baby while I've been here. But it's good. That means that I'm growing! I love the scripture Ether 12:27. It has helped me a lot while I've been struggling to become a better missionary.

Thank you for your letters! It is so nice getting them!

Thank you for your love, support, and prayers. When ever I am feeling down, I remember that I have people who love and care about me and are praying for me. We get to go to the temple later today and I'm excited to get to go again! I am thankful for this gospel and that I had such great parents and family and ward family to raise me right in this gospel. I'm so excited to got Oklahoma and spread the word. I'm not quite ready for that yet though. I still have two weeks to learn what I need to here at the MTC. I will be flying out to Oklahoma on May 16.

Well, my time is about spent! Thank you again for your support and prayers! Please keep them coming and keep the letters coming!

Love you all.

See you soon then.

Love, Sister Pahl