love to laugh and smile

Dear family and friends,

Just 3 weeks so far! haha so this week, missionary life is a hard adjustment! But i believe I've already been fully dipped in and Im ready to go now! Does that makes sense?  Anyways so we work hard and sometimes our lessons still fall through and our days werent perfect... but SATURDAY was a day of miracles!!!!!!!!!!

First, i tried (poorly) to talk to this man on the bus, but i was just not understood or speaking good french at all, haha but then Soeur(Sister) Eyre swooped in, and he came to the baptism with us that we were on our way to!! so coool! classic i loved that! The baptism was in the ocean too! Also, we had been fasting to be able to understand this family that we were teaching, their needs, but also just to be able to understand them because they are difficult to understand!  Then we had  a super good lesson about families with her and i could just feel that it affected her and now she  WANTS to believe! This is so great!  Then we had a family night with them last night that was just really too much fun and the mom looked at me and said, "you love to laugh and smile and you are funny i just knowit" i wanted to cry, i was so happy, how does she even know that i barely have said anything! it was so cool! and then we taught about the spirit and i just know i was there FOR  this family! Yes, I was affecting them! just little me!! with the little french i know was helping them come closer to Christ! amazing!!

Second, to top it off, we were teaching a hindu priest who is super close to baptism. We went to his birthday party pretty much because it was his birthday on Saturday, and we just felt like we were having too much fun again! His friends were there and were like 'preach!' so we totally had a lesson  and he totally came to church the next day! oh my life rocks!

Third, Sister eyre and I  are like concerned were having too much fun haha but i think with that family, they could just see how happy we were and thats really what this is- the gospel is a gospel of happiness, so that was just  confirmation.. CONTINUE having fun! its good if you have fun while you work!

oh!! i just know that we were able to see those miracles because we were obedient and are expecting and prayng for miracles!! i realy do already love being a missionary so much! I love the fact that i havent even been on my mission a month! I feel so young in the mission, but i never wanna grow up in the mission- its so fun to be here!!

I love you all! My favorite thing to do each night is pray and communicate with my Heavenly Father because i know he is there listening and Ive just had so many prayers answered as i try and listen to Him every night and really just all the time.

love you all!!

Soeur Tenney 

Time to "rock" in Guadeloupe

  

Mamacita!!

mamacita and friends and everyone i know and love!! what a crazy week!! i will try and explain it all on this french keyboard at the church in GUADELOUPE&!!!!!! yes im in guadeloupe!!!!

so first offsyies.  the last 2 days in the MTC were a party with me and the district that i love from all over the world!! oh i love them! then our flight was monday morning at 330 am and it was just a long day of traveling! so we went to TRINIDAD for the first night; ive been to TRINIDAD! haha trinidad is great thats whre the mission home is which is where the mission president lives and the apès are and stuff. anyways so customs was crazy in trinidad but we all made it through and went right to bed;  then the next day was orientation with the pres and he was awesome! it was super hot (my hair was  already in a bun on top of my head) but it was great! and i know i joke about it a lot but i really was jet lag that day haha i was EXHAUSTED. but it was alll good and my president is so great. he loves us so much and i love him!

so then my flight to guadeloupe wasnt til thursday so i had all day wed to just do nothing! they didnt even tell us to go contact people or anything me and the other sister that got surprise called to speak french just hung out in trinidad, studying french i guess? then we went to the mission office and found some sisters so we went out with them to see the new area they were opening: so we got to see some of trinidad! trinidad is great! the people here rock! its weird being the minority as a white person haha

so then thursday we left for guadeloupe but because our first flight was late we missed our connecting flight and ended up staying the night in BARBADOS!! hahaha ive been to bardbados! all free! we got dinner and breakfast and everything; there were 4 other people with us so we all became friends that was cool but i woke up on valentines days in barbados!!

finally i made it to guadeloupe friday!! and we went straight to work! oh my goodness thankfully!! i was feeling so useless and pointless in my limbo in trindad and barbados haha but we went to work friday and saturday!!

oh my goodness so my life now!! my real life in guadeloupe!! it rocks. my area is called goyave and its so great. OH!!!! important part of the story!! my trainer is sister eyre!! who, yes, i like kinda know and is lizs friend!!! oh my goodness i was so excited when i found that out pres mehr told me right when i got in the car and i just about screamed! she rocks! shes the missionary i want to be and we are just going to work so hard together and this transfer there will be miracles i know it! we both know it! we are both so excited and pumped i cant wait!

but ya so my place is SO NICE we just like leave the doors and windoows open all day everyday oh i love it so much i could cry. and thats what everyone does here! doors are just always left open! something thats so cool is that if they have a gate you just stand in front of it and yell "tuh tuh tuh!!" and they'll come out. oh i love it! so its hot yes. i wear sunscreen and bugspray everyday but so far my wardrobe is great for the west indies and i love it!

my french. not too bad!! better than i thought itd be!! their accent is not that hard to understand. if the spirit is really strong in the lesson i can understand everything thats going on. sometimes i dont catch everything but mostly i get it! and speaking is still a little scary but i just try not to think about it because the lord really has prepared me and i know i'll learn QUICKLY with his help.

so fri and sat i was just kinda getting my bearings but we planned our week last night and i know most of our amis (we call investigators amis de l'eglise or friends of the church- so much better than the word investigator!!) and im so excited to work really hard this week! its still a little scary with the language but im just trying not to let that get in my head because i got this! im here to work and i know i can do this!

sorry this was so long but so much has happenned!! i love my mission and i love my life im really excited for this week and this transfer because miracles are coming. i know it.

 

Sister Tenney

Krista in Trinadad

Pictures from the MTC

Krista's District:

Krista's Companion:

ETERNAL PREPARATION

  

Wow! MTC, each day, is literally a roller coaster of emotions.  I go from every end of the emotional spectrum within each day! these last few days though, it's most just been the happy end, because I'M SO HAPPY BEING A MISSIONARY! maybe at the beginning i set too high of expectations for myself and was wanting to do everything and be the best that i could be at everything but i learned, "just do what i can! be the best that i can be!" which is what i've done my whole life so i don't know why i had to relearn that here! but i have!
being a missionary is so great. and it came when i was trying not to be one which is why i love it even more! even here at the mtc i just love EVERYONE i see, which is so awesome i don't really know how to describe it! i have the BEST teachers out there. I know they are my teachers for a reason i have learned so much from each of them. and i'm glad i'm learning in english! this is my native tongue! it will stick so much better! BUT! i have had a couple french ''investigators" to practice on (teachers) and they say my french is not bad! and onw of my teachers served in my exact mission so me and him just talk about the mission that i already love and he loves so much. he says my mission presidents are aweome and he said that he knocked on every single door on one of the islands! how cool! i'm so excited to be an islander!

I watched an old devotional sunday night from elder bednar that's only for missionaries that was truly mission changing. and because mission is preparation for life... it's truly LIFE changing!! he said that when the natural man would turn inward, Christ would turn outward. wow! and there's SO MANY examples of this in the mission! so, in my desire to come closer to Christ, i decided to try and act liike him and turn outward when the natural man in me would turn inward or be selfish.  WOW! what a cool thing to learn! and the being a missionary thing just kind of falls into place afterwards! so amazing!

Honestly, i cannot get over how much I love my companion sister Bartsh. she is so great. I'm so blessed! we laugh so much! (probably too much) but you know what, no! God wants us to be happy! it's ok! i will miss her. I know that I'm going to have an awesome time in the west indies and i can't wait to meet my companions or my mission presdients or the people! i know that the mission is going to be even harder than the MTC but it's ok! i've already seen how happy it can make me but really who cares? for the next year and a half I am the Lord's tool! I need to just forget myself and go to work (and who would have guess that that's the key to happiness? oh geez this gospel is perfect)

So, i'll be there monday night! pray for me! i feel it! and your letters and support mean SO MUCH on a mission! i knew that but didn't fully realize until i got here. so grateful for all of you and especialy for family and grateful that i can be here!

Sister Tenney

MTC Employee to Missionary

Hello! I'm a missionary! This is so awesome and crazy! The MTC has been so great so far! Let me try and explain!

So first, grandma dropped me off and then I went straight to my class and let me tell you, I HAVE THE BEST DISTRICT EVER! I walk in and there's 3 girls from Europe all talking in their cute accents! I fell in love immediately! I had to go watch an orientation video with one of the sisters from GERMANY! and guess what, I find out that she's my companion! My companion is from Germany!!! She is so amazing! She's so ready to teach its amazing she has such a strong testimony already! I have learned so much from her in just these 3 days! Also, there is a girl from the Philipines in my district and the other two are from Norway and Sweden.  Seriously? Best district ever. Honestly, we all just love each other so much already! I cannot believe how blessed I've been by being put in this awesome companionship! 

So, the first day, the MTC was just so fun with all my girls. So fun! I decided to take it upon myself and eat the stereotypical American food so everyone from my branch can make fun of me. (yes, it is very weird eating the food that I once used to serve) Oh ya! That's the other thing! Not only is my district the best ever, so is my branch! We have sister and elders from all over the world going all different places! It's amazing I love my branch so much! Second day, was kinda crazy! I had to get three shots (ouch.) and our schedule was kind of changed around a bit and really, we just didn't get very prepared for the day.  I learned this from my branch president that "If ye are prepared ye shall not fear." so ya yesterday there was a little fear because, as comforted as I was with my European and Philipine sisters there already loving me, the mission is still a very hard and scary thing to do! But I'm learning step by step.  Well I guess I should mention that our district is an English speaking district so that was making me nervous too... when am I gonna learn French?! I'm really not fluent! haha but I just decided to trust the Lord and the French will come.  I know it will.

I've learned so much about teaching! So much. I have some amazing teachers.  (one of my teachers served in my mission French speaking as well) I think the thing that has stuck out to me the most, is that I must be "firmly attached to Christ." Because with so much that I am being taught and because I am only here for 2 weeks, I don't know what I should be focusing on! That's probably going to be my main focus though over these next 2 weeks is coming closer to Christ, and other things! Because there's a reason why I'm with this English branch so I'm going to soak it in and learn as much as I can in my native language!

Seriously, best companion ever.  She's so hilarious! and chill! so perfect for me! I'm just so grateful for the experience I've had so far and can't wait for more!

Email me? anyone? haha krista.tenney@myldsmail.net

Love,

Soeur Tenney