Hooray, Washington!

Christmas Greetings from the Pacific Northwest!

 

Don't worry, the rain is plentiful and the sky has been cloudy 99% of the time I've been here.

 

Here's the dish: 16 of us flew into Seattle on Tuesday morning. The sky was so clear and, shock of the century, Mt. Ranier was visible. Beautimous. President and Sister Wilson greeted us at the baggage claim and all rejoiced. Then we all drove to the mission home/their house in Mill Creek for a bigfat lunch. Don't worry, we have a mission cook and her only job is to make delicious meals big enough to feed hundreds. My stomach died of joy.

 

After a brief, one-on-one interview with Pres. Wilson, we went through some technical goodness with some of the senior missionary couples (cars, finances, medical jargon and the like). Fast-forward to an hour or so later, where 16 trainers are brought into the room, one for each new missionary. Naturally, I scan the 4 possible female candidates for who my trainer might be. The stars smile upon me and I get the one who looks most like she would have been my friend in the real world. God answers prayers, people.

 

Quick companion profile: Sister Anna Hone. 22. From St. George, Utah. Cowgirl to the max. Loves hunting, rodeos, and...wait for it...television shows that were popular in the 1990s. Do we quote Clarissa Explains It All and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air to eachother constantly? Of course we do. She's been in the ward for 3 months already, and she's a rockstar missionary, so basically I walked into a cushy situation where everybody and their dog (and there are a lot of them) loves the missionaries. Thanks, universe. Basically, Sister Hone and I teach like Lewis and Clark traveled: expertly and in sync. Will all of the people in our area be better because of us? We don't hope so, we know so.

 

Brief area profile: Granite Falls, WA. The second I got here I thought, "What in the Forks/Twilight/Edward Cullen is lurking around somewhere is happening here?!" People, I live on the Twilight movie set. For real. Everywhere we drive I either point out how beautiful the landscape is, or make a comment about Twilight. I'm convinced Taylor Lautner is running shirtless in these woods and it's my job to locate him and bring him to Jesus. Challenge accepted. In real news, Granite Falls is tiny and relatively small-town ghetto in most areas, but there are spots of middle class woven in for good measure. Second surprise of the century, I kind of love the people here. Everybody smokes like a bandit and makes all kindsa excuses for why they can't come to church but, oh my heavens, are they humble. They don't have much, but they're thankful for our efforts and they love people who take the time to care. I'll take that kind of area any day.

 

Presently, my fave investigator is a woman who's friends with a family in our ward. The family is having their 8 year old daughter learn the missionary lessons because she thinks it's important that her daughter understand fully what's she's doing by being baptized. A bit unorthodox, but cool. As the mom of the member family talked to her friend about what the daughter was doing, the friend immediately asked if her daughter (who's 7) could learn from the missionaries, too. Bonus. As Sis. Hone and I taught the woman's daughter this past week, the woman listened and kept the daughter focused. The 7 year old can only handle about 10 mins of religious info at a time, which is cool, so we shifted to teaching the mom. Cue magic. The woman  has a ton of thoughtful/genuine questions about the church. The more answers we give her, the more questions she has for us. Long story short, the woman has guilt issues about raising her children without an established faith annnnddd she has a husband who is: a) abrasively Atheist and b) adamant that she and the kids cannot pray in the house. I feel like this is something you talk about before marriage? Anyway, her heart is so pure and all she wants is to know that she's being a good mom and that her daughter has the option to choose religion if she wants it. We are in love with her already. Updates to follow.

 

My final thought for the week is a testimonial of hard work. This work is exhausting, and you can't really understand that until you're doing it. As I reflect in the last week of how much I've learned, I think about all the times I've reminded myself, "this is not about what I'd prefer. This is about doing what's best for other people. End of story." You want to preach about God's unconditional love for his children? Live it. Love them.

 

I love you all. I pray for you constantly. If Mom Goodpaster hasn't told you 1,000 times already, my address for the rest of the mission is this:

 

Sister Carlyn Goodpaster

Washington Everett Mission

P.O. Box 13390

Mill Creek, WA 98082

 

I'd love to hear from you more than you know. The mission office will forward all my mail to wherever I am so I don't have to update you all every 6 weeks. Good? Good.

 

Be well. Live well. The Church is true.

 

Love,

Sister G.

Week 3 at the MTC!

Hola from week 3 at the mtc! Only 6 days left! It's by divine design that when you start to get comfortable, God picks you up and moves you.

By the by, nothing too interesting happened this week. What I feel inspired to share is a list of the 10 most important lessons I've learned in the last 3 weeks. Buckle up, comrads.

1. Less is more. People respond to more of God's inspiration and less of me running my mouth.

2. The work is supposed to be hard. People are worth it.

3. First impressions are usually incorrect.

4. Often, God answers prayers with other people.

5. Exhaustion at the end of the day = success.

6. Remember to laugh...hysterically. On an hourly basis.

7. Be equal parts patient with others and yourself.

8. Be thankful for frustrating circumstances. You're growing.

9. Listen more intently. Answers are in the details.

10. It's NOT about me. It's about them and God.

There you go. I still have galaxies to learn, but I'm getting there. I might actually be a functioning, capable adult when I get back from my mission...I hope.

I love you all. Thank you as always for your prayers and support. Next Tuesday I fly to Seattle to start the next leg of this journey. I'm excited like you can't believe.

love one another,

sister g

Second week at the Missionary Training Center (MTC)

Salutations from another week at the MTC! As always, life is busy and my brain feels like it has the capacity of a teaspoon. I'm at the halfway mark here, which is bizarre. Part of me feels like its been 2 months, while another part of me feels like it's been 2 minutes.

In travel news, I ship out to Everett on the 13th of December. We'll (me and 6 other members of my district) get on an 8 am flight to Seattle and then drive the - our estimate - 45 mins to the mission home in Mill Creek. Can't wait to be out in civilization again. This place is packed full of inspiring experiences, but sometimes you just need to see people without missionary tags on their lapels....and also, Chili's.

I wish I could explain all of the genuinely uplifting experiences I've had this week, but reading all that jazz would make you all jealous, and coveting is a sin. I joke, but really, here's my gem of the week: wait, 2 gems...The first is a command, really. On whatever music-searching/listening device/app/website you prefer, look up "Alleluia" by the men of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Elder Russell M. Nelson shared it with us when he spoke on Thanksgiving. He asked us to close our eyes and think about those we were thankful for. Music does amazing things, y'all. Do what I say; you'll thank me...probably.

Okay, official gem of the week (besides all of Turkey Day, which was lovely despite not having friends/family around): having a teaching session with a woman who told my companion & I that praying was hard because she's angry at God. She said in the past she prayed for her marriage to work, but it failed despite all her best efforts. All of the sudden it comes to my mind to tell her that we shouldn't be upset with God when what we pray for doesn't come to exact fruition. God would cease to be God if He took anyone's right to choose away. I told this woman that God was answering her prayers in ways she couldn't see now. Bold words. But here's the point: if another person's bad decisions (in this woman's case, her husband left her with 5 children) make you think God's not listening, think again. He's opening windows everywhere. We just have to look for the sunshine and decide to make positivity for ourselves in the midst of unfortunate circumstances. At the conversation's end, this woman thanked me for my words and I thanked her for her stellar example of strength. I love this work. If it wasn't good, true, and right then I wouldn't be wasting 18 months of my life on it.

In more lighthearted news, I refuse to let the mission make me fat. You heard it here first. Hold me to it! Almost every day, I and other members of my district (12 people in total) do intense yoga. Our district leader is basically sensei-status. Please Google the "advanced plow pose..." I'll wait...I'd like to announce that I'm capable of this pose and deserve my own 6 a.m. yoga show on the Oxygen Network when I get home. Watch your back, Madonna.

Final thought: I love you all. Be wonderful to each other.

Love,

Sister G

Our First EMail from Sister Goodpaster

Dear Family,

First week at the MTC, complete!! Can't even explain how exciting the last week has been. And by "exciting" I mean "exhausting," "challenging," and "mind-blowingly humbling." The MTC is hard, y'all. I've never been so tired before in my life. I didn't realize that I'd be sitting and filling my brain with knowledge for 16 hours a day, every day. This cranium can only hold so much, people. I cope by praying, a lot. A lot. While it's the busiest I've ever been, it's the most fulfilled I've ever felt. We're training to help people feel closer to God, to be happier, and to have hope. The rest is just details. Awesome details, but details nonetheless.

I could explain lots of minutia to you about how the last week has been (i.e. how the cafeteria food is and what my companion's like - she's the perfect partner for me, p.s. - but this ticking clock only gives me 30 minutes and I'm already down to 23. Let's get down to business.

What I really want to tell you is not to worry. God's with me constantly, even when I don't realize it. I'm thankful to not have to learn a second language, because learning all this stuff in English is hard enough. My days are filled with experiences that teach me that I'm not here for me. I'm here to serve others. I'm here to forget myself and go to work. I want to reassure that I sleep well, eat well, and feel loved pretty much every second of every day. Surprise of the century: I don't miss television, Internet, or iTunes. All of those things are pieces of heavenly technology, but they're not what makes life meaningful. Hold me to this statement in 18 months when I burst through the office doors at home and proclaim, "sweet merciful goodness! An Internet connection!! Praise be to God!"

As I sit and write I realize something: I need questions! Me just sitting here and bleeding out my random thoughts (the MTC will make you forget what day it is, p.s.) probably won't give you all the juicy details you want, so give me 3-5 questions to answer. I welcome questions from both family and friends.

Second random thought, the only letter I've gotten whilst at the MTC is from Gary Beemer. You peeps are slacking and I'm calling you all to repentance. I know your lives are busy, but you can't really know the joy of getting mail until you're here in this spiritual compound. I know stamps are pricey, y'all. But I refuse to look like the loser with no friends when my entire district (4 sisters and 8 elders) gets piles of mail, and lowly Sister Goodpaster is left with an empty desk. Womp womp. Off soapbox.

P.S. I'll give credit where it's due. I feel your prayers. You may ask, "Really? How can you tell?" I'd answer by saying that this entire week, I've felt pretty incompetent. Scratch that: GROSSLY incompetent. But there are moments when something bigger than me reminds me that people care about me enough to think about me while I'm gone. Apologies for the run-on sentence. The point is that while I'd adore correspondence, I know you guys love me. I can feel it in my heart. And I thank you.

Potpourri time. All 4 of the sisters and 3 of the elders in my district are flying to Seattle on 13 December. When I first got here that date seemed like FORREEVVVEERRR away. Not even kidding, now it seems like it's coming up too fast. Truth: when we commit ourselves to an important cause, God qualifies our menial (meanial? they already know me as the grammar/spelling Nazi here, no surprise) efforts. One foot in front of the others, friends. One foot in front of the other. Also, sharing a room with 5 other women is...interesting. Estrogen runs rampant like lions at feeding time. Scary.

Write to me! Email me! (carlyn.goodpaster@myldsmail.net) Pray for me!

I love you all, even if you're just stalking the blog because you have nothing better to do with your time. I was you not too long ago. I understand. :)

Peace and blessings and so much love,

Sister G

Farewell and Adieu

So, Carly's dad and I hauled her to the airport bright and early this morning. I should say dark and early because we got there at 4:45 a.m. She is winging her way to Salt Lake City, where a dear friend and former roommate is picking her up at the airport to take her to the MTC (Missionary Training Center) in Provo. She has to check in there by noon. Last night was a very sweet experience as the president of our stake, Robert Howell, formally set her apart as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. His additional counsel was profound, and our family felt the strong presence of the Spirit. I'm just beyond excited for her that the Lord will grow her in the way in which she should go. Thanks also, everyone, for the loving support that you've shown her so far.