Sister Tiffany Knab: First Official Letter

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Hello my favorite family!

Okay, first of all, I love you guys so much. Holy cow. I got to the MTC and the next day I had a package and many letters from you that came. Only you would think to send me packages and letters before I had even left so it would be there for me when I arrived! Haha. You guys are amazing. Thanks so much. I understand now why missionaries get so excited about letters. It is the best thing ever. You made all of the other missionarie so jealous! Haha.

So my flight over was not bad at all. So I made the subject of my last letter 'Your Jet Lagged Sister Missionary' because I was assuming it would happen to me when I sent that email. But... I actually never got it. Is that normal? Kinda weird. But I adjusted to the time pretty well. (I think it was because I used the travel pillow and ear plugs on the flight from Chicago to Manchester and just passed out the whole time so I started sleeping at 7PM our time but it was really bedtime in Manchester. That helped so much. I never experienced any excessive tiredness or jet lag so that was nice!

A little about my flight-

When I was going through security, the guy checked my license and then said, 'Enjoy your flight to Arizona!' Which made me naturally look straight down at my boarding pass in panic, to which he said, 'Hahaha made you look'. Goodness. Gave me a heart attack.
In Salt Lake was when I felt like a celebrity. People bought us cookies and gave us encouragment and cheered us on. (Chicago was a different story though ha)
I sat next to a 14 year old girl named Tatyana flying alone from Salt Lake to Chicago. She wasn't opened to talking to me at first but soon she was comfortable and we talked most of the plane ride. She's going through some rough things right now with her parents getting divorced and her dad wanting nothing to do with her. It broke my heart. But we bonded and had a good time together. We even got into a discussion of the difference between Catholics and Mormons becuase her dad had told her that they were the same thing so I was able to bear testimony of what we believe and it was great! I gave her my pass along card that the travel office gave me and I wrote a message on it. When I explained to her what missionary work is, she was most impressed that I would get on a plane for 8 hours, not leave for a year and a half or move to another country. Haha. (she hates flying) Anways, that was a fun little starter experience. When we got off the plane, I noticed had a little shadow. She wanted to walk with me and the elders to find the baggage claim. Haha it was so cute.

This week has FLOWN by. People either seem to be haters or lovers of the MTC and I happen to be a lover. A few things about the England MTC stay so far-

All of the teachers and about 80% of the missionaries here have an English accent. It's hilarious! The first couple of days I had the hardest time taking them seriously when they would teach lessons because I just felt like they were Americans mimicking Harry Potter characters or something. But I've gotten used to it. Too used to it actually, now I've caught myself a few times reading with and English accent in my head. And then I catch myself. That's always weird.
They let youth groups come through and tour the MTC to encourage English young boys to serve missions, which is an AWESOME idea I think, but it means that we have people peering into our classrooms every day. I feel like putting up a sign that says, 'Please do not disturb the missionaries in their natural habitat'. I really do fee like it's a zoo haha but it's okay. On top of that, the view from our classroom is AMAZING. It overlooks a pond and it's gorgeous.
A few of you have asked me if I am going through phone withdrawls. The answer is, not really. The only problem I've been having is there's been 3-4 times where I was in serious panic trying to find my phone until I realized I don't have it with me.
In the beginning before missionaries learned my name, I was known as the 'sister with the american accent' haha because i'm the only sister from america and there are only a handful of elders from america. (the ones who flew across with me)
I found a sister missionary who likes to go running so we got permission for her and I to go jogging every morning. One of my favorite things ever!! I love the crisp, morning England air. I can actually breathe when I run and it is BEAUTIFUL. It starts my day off right. (Especially since we have to sit ALL DAY LONG.)
My companions are Sister H. (From Taiwon) and Sister G. (From Germany). I seriously think they are so great and we get along really well. Our challenges are language barriers becuase they both know little english so I have to talk in very simple terms. Sister G. and I are getting good at figuring each other out though. She will describe a word she is looking for and then I try and figure it out. It's kind of like catch phrase! Haha. We're getting better though.
We are a part of the Ammon District :) Haha. So my information says: Sister Knab/Ammon Haha love it.
Our boundary is a 2 mile radius around the MTC. Which is super nice because it gives us somewhat of freedom.

Oh, so the day we got to the MTC, President Walker called me into his office, which was surprising. That was unexpected. He called me to be the Sister's Coordinator for the MTC. That was even more surprising! I didn't know sisters got callings? Anyways, he shared with me an experience about being impressed to call me to this position. He got emotional, which got me emotional and then we talked for like an hour. Haha. We really connect!!! I love him and his wife! So I really feel so blessed to have this calling because it gives me a chance to do personal one on one mini interviews with each of the sisters. I find out how they are doing, how their companionships are going, and what struggles they are having. It has really bonded me with each of the sisters. They are such great girls and I can already say that I love them SOO much. They are amazing girls. Anyways, we had our first leadership council meeting with the District Leaders and Zone Leaders and the President. Those meetings are so spiritual as we try to plan everything out and make sure everyone is happy. It's a great opportunity.

Oh one experience with that- I had been praying for a way we could all bond more as sisers and had the idea to have a testmiony meeting. Well, during Reflief Socety, we went around and introduced ourselves and all of the girls just started opening up and sharing why they are here, which led to a testimony meeting!!! I was thrilled. It really brought us together. Afterwards, I apologized to the teacher and said that it was probably my fault that she didn't have time because I had been praying for that kind of opportunity. Ha. But it was just what we needed and we all feel really connected now.

Well, I'm doing well. No need to worry about me! I love it here, I love the missionaries and leaders and teachers. I survived the first week. I have never felt the spirit for such an extended lenght of time. I feel like the MTC is going to be lifted into heaven! (Especially on Sundays) It's amazing and I can see transformations happening all over the place.

I know the gospel is true and I am getting more and more pumped to get out there and serve!!!

Have a great week!

- Your sister missionary :)

Sisters at the cafeteria. Country of origin from left to right, Canada (French speaking), Scottland, Taiwan, Singapore, Germany, America and Sister Knab mentioned the last girls name, but not where she is from.