1st Letter From the MTC

Chelsey Furniss [chelseyfurniss@myldsmail.net]

hOLA!! hEY yA'll!!! How is everyone DOIN???? Well I am officially a missionary and I LOVE it so much. This is my new email and ANYONE can email me. So send lots of emails!! Tell everyone that this is my email and that I can receive emails from anyone. I sure do love letters!! wink wink... You can also go to dearelder.com and write me FOR FREE! and I recieve it that night. So when Jiller has her baby dearelder.com me right away!! : ) You can also put this on my blog or whatever and forward it to the family if ya wanna.OH and PS I got that letter from Dad and Alvin.
Well the MTC is the awesomest place on earth. There is such a sweet spirit here. I don't know what it is but on thursday I decided I would count how many times I felt the spirit and it was more than 20 that is for sure. Also I don't know what it is, but when you are a missionary you have this fire up your butt and you just wanna go talk to everyone!! My roommates and my companion are like "Sister Furniss you are so outgoing and so nice to everyone".. I'm like WHOA are you serious?? I can already feel the mission starting to change me and I love it. I am trying so so hard to make so many new friends. I am learning so many new things each and every single day. I also have noticed that I am saying things that I never knew I could say either. I just go by the spirit and follow that and I start saying all these crazy things!! haha.. I am also really trying to understand the gospel principles that I am going to be teaching. It's really hard!! I pray and pray that I will be able to gain a better knowledge of them because like Sister Lint said yesterday... Scriptures are the power to what we teach.. I am also really concentrating on just following the spirit in everything I do. The spirit is REAL!! Use it!! : )
I live with 3 other sisters. My compaion is Sister Palmer and she is 21 and from Utah. I love her so much. She is really shy and not very confident in herself YET! I am helping her a lot. She is the senior comp.. but I knida feel like I am the senior comp.. haha.. I pray that she will over come her scaredess and become "BOLD " and speak with Power and Authority like it says in preach my gosepel. Cuz she is so shy she doesn't think she can do as much. I just try and be positive and tell her she CAN DO IT!!! She is also heavier set gal, so at gym I stay and walk with her. She asks me why I am so fit and why I eat so healthy all the time. She told me that she thinks there is a reason I'm her comp, so I can help her. I dunno If i really have.. haha..
There is also my roommate Sister BArton! She is my best friend here at the MTC. She is from VIRGINIA and going to Georgia.. I have never laughed so hard in my lifetime.. We joke and just have fun because we have the same personality. It totally makes her comp jelous.. haha!! I will send pics today and you can see her. She is this really big african american girl and she makes me laugh all day long. Every black girl we see she will always be like.. "hey sister furniss do I look like her"... HAHA.. She thinks that white people always think that black people always look alike.. HHAHA.. OH MY she is funny...
Last night we watched the Joseph Smith movie with all the elders here in the MTC.. and OH MY it was a great movie.. I also heard like 5 farts... GOSh! haha... Elders just get to comfortable that they just let it all out.. .but really its prolly from the food cuz it's pretty NASTy.. It all just comes out the other end... I usually just eat a salad every meal.. haha... cuz the food just hurts my stomach....
I love my district too...... There are like 6 elders and 4 sisters and everyone is goin to Atlanta Georgia except me and 2 other elders.. TENNESSEE REPRESnT!! The MTC is so great but sometimes you feel like you're in a cage.. and y ou're just ready to go out and start talking to people and meeting people and having some fun.... I am also the music director for the branch... So I lead like everytime cuz the sisters hate getting up in front of people... haha.. Whateve... Music is so powerful...
So my P day is every monday and that is when I get to check my email .. So send lots!! I also get to write all day long so I'll keep on sendin all the pics..
I love this gospel SO MUCh!!! My testimony has grown so much in this past week that it's so incredible. My desire to learn has increased tremendously and I know that the power of prayer is REAL!! I pray like 50 times a day and I can tell that thats why the spirit is with me all the time.. I have a funny story about Sister Barton too.. I'll have to write that in a letter or somethin....I am so thankful for the restoration of this church.. Without it I wouldn't be sitting here and I would be nothing. I have so many things I wanna tell you guys of all the things I'v learned that I'm runnin outa time!!
How's easton doin????? How is the family?? Has Jill had her baby yet??? Tell me everything ! I also LOVE pics so send lots..
I am feelin great. They say after sunday everything gets better, but seriously everything got better the day I became a missionary. I thought that I would be a lot more homesick.. I don't think i've cried once missing home. The only tears I've had is the power of feeling the spirit. Tonight we are teaching the 1st lesson.. AHH! My philosphy is just pray for the spirit and he'll tell you what to say. You are basically just teaching what you know and it's the investigators part to pray about it and find out for themselves. I am just christ and heavenly father's helper into finding people to come unto christ. I can make them change their lives. It's between them and lord........
Well I could probably write a novel on all the awesome things I'm learning and how my testimony has strengthened.. but I need to go study some more.. I love you all!! and I know that serving the lord blesses your family tremendously. So feel it!! I also know that sacrifice brings blessing!! LOVE life fam!!! It's the best thing that god has given us!!
LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love,
Sister Furniss