Baby it’s cold outside

Hello Family and Friends!

So this week was Christmas! It was so wonderful! The MTC really tried to make it special for us and they did!

So, Mr. Creedy is now 20! woohoo!!! I was able to see him on Sunday, on Tuesday, and also Wednesday! Which is so great because we never get to see each other because he lives on west campus (which is Wyview). Everyone is in love with him! The Elders and Sisters mentioned to me that he is doing a great job, they love him, and that he is just the greatest person in the world. Creed’s doing wonderful in being an example to others!

This week they really focused on Christ, of course, and they also focused on making sure that the missionaries know that this is what they are supposed to be doing. A speaker asked us the question: Is this mission about me? Or is it about them?…It for sure is about them. We are the Lord’s hands to bless others with the light of the gospel. Of course we receive blessings along the way but the mission is not about our growth, it is about how we become servants of the Lord which in turn does help us be better children of God. I LOVE THE MTC! Seriously, there is such a wonderful spirit here and I have made fast friends with my district, my companion, and others from my zone. I think we have the best zone in the whole MTC.

Sunday night Creed and I were able to meet up and go to a devotional video. It was really funny. I was sitting with him and his companion and then of course with my companion, Hoffman Chamanim, and I gave creed a side hug and some of my district were behind and they were really concerned. They told me that they were like “NOooo Orme Chamamin!” haha they were just trying to look out for me. I later explained he was my brother and they breathed a sigh of relief.

During that Devotional we watched Sister and Elder Holland speak from a previous devotional given to the MTC. It was soooo good! (of course, it’s Elder Holland). He just brings fire and brimstone to the soul. He makes you feel such a fervor of strength! He was talking about missions. Some tidbits of his talk were:

– Your every effort is to have the spirit with you.
– We want all the months and everyday of your mission to be the hardest you have worked.
– The way you come back will be altered by the way you came.
– You don’t ever want to be “normal” again
– Keep the flame of your mission in your heart
– Don’t waste your time!
– Make sure every moment counts
– Go out and astonish somebody
– Salvation is not a cheap experience

Ok I could keep going but those were just a few highlights. He is amazing and just kept that fire within me burning. I know this is what I am supposed to do and I am sooooo happy I am doing it! I feel so at peace here.

We lost a member of our district, Elder Park. 😦 He is Korean and so he already knows Korean really well and so he got moved up and he leaves Jan 11th or 13…something like that. We were sad. Now we have a district of 2 companionships, with 3 people each.

Christmas Eve we had Elder and Sister Evans of the seventy speak to us. A very big thing that stood out from him was that we are delivery men, we have something very important to bring to the world. What an amazing gift we have to have the gospel in our lives. I am so excited to share it!

In class my teacher, Sagers Chamanim (sister), showed us the videos “Waiting on the road to Damascus”, “Have I done any good today” and also “What shall we give?”. Please watch them! They all made me feel the spirit and the love that God has for us.

Christmas Eve night, after the devotional, our whole zone decided to spend time together singing Christmas songs, and taking pictures together. It was a blast!

Christmas day our speaker was ELDER BEDNAR! WoOOooH! That was wonderful! So what he did was instead of just giving us a talk, he answered questions from us. There were cell phones passed around and we all got to text him a question if we wanted and he would answer a majority of them. It was so amazing. There is so much to tell about that discussion but I am only going to share a few points.

– His favorite theme is the “One by One” theme found in 3 Nephi 11:14-17. Jesus Christ did everything one by one. He felt each and everyone’s pains, sorrows, sins, etc. He healed One by One. He prophesied one by one.
– Discouragement is a tool of the Devil (Sister Bednar)
– Life is not about avoiding sin, it is about becoming better
– The age change for the males was to bring North America up to speed with the rest of the world. Other Countries have been experimenting with the age. They found no difference between the males that left at age 18 vs. 19. For the girls they decided to bring down as well.
– The best missionaries are selfless, they pushed aside all selfishness and look beyond themselves.
– You serve two missions: One for the people you will teach and for the other missionaries
– We are called to be missionaries, then assigned to a place. You are always in the place you got to be.

I am so excited to dedicate the next 18 months of my life to the Lord. There is no better place for me. I am making everyday count!

The last activity of the day we watched last years MOTAB Christmas which, of course, was amazing! That was the one Creed, Katie, Spencer, the cousins and I went to because Maria had tickets. Some of it was about the candy bomber story. I love that story and think it is such a wonderful story of love and selflessness.

I am so happy that we were able to focus on the true meaning of Christmas. I love you all tons! Thank you for the dear elders, they really make my day. So, don’t stop! hahah.

I love my Elders (the ones in my district, I call them my Elders because I kind of take care of them ahahh) and my companion Hoffman Chomanim. They are all such wonderful people and we sooooooo much fun together and we make each other laugh all the time. I seriously can’t tell you how happy I am to be here. What a blessing. The Lord knows exactly what we need.

Well, gotta go!

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

Love, Orme Chamay

Merry Christmas!!!!

Well, it’s Christmas day. I will give a full blown detailed letter on Friday. I don’t have much time to write.

I love you all so much and hope today is a wonderful day full of happiness and the love of Christ.

I am so grateful for all of you and I thank you for the examples you have set for me. They have really tried to make the Christmas season as amazing as possible. They have had a speaker last night who was Elder Evans of the seventy. He was amazing! Then we watched the nativity and Mr Kruegers Christmas.

I know that Heavenly Father lives and loves us. He has helped us all have the spirit and be able to learn super quickly. I already know how to read, say my prayer, and my testimony in Korean. What the??? right? The gift of tongues is real and I am so grateful for it.

It was fun, Creed and I ended sitting close by each other during the devotional. It was a pleasant surprise. This is the second time I have seen him. which is nice because he lives in Wyview. I will be able to see him every Sunday!!! yippee!

times up! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!
love you!!!!!

love orme chamanim

I can see you solo, solo, soloooo. Oooahhooo.

Anyanhasao Everyone! So, fridays are my pdays. Just fyi. The first few days have been really great!
So, the reason for the subject line….Guess what? I am a solo sister! And yes, you are probably thinking “what does that mean?” I don’t have a companion in my district. I am the only sister in a group of 6 other Elders. My companion is Sister Hoffman but she has been here for the past 3 weeks and she is in another district. The Elders in my district are the greatest! They are so kind and so sweet. They watch over me and take care of me. I love them! they are so cute and very spiritual young men. of course they are creedy’s age and so they seem like my little brothers. I either have to be with two or more of them, or with Sister Hoffman. Usually I spend more time with the Elders.

Sister Hoffman is sooo wonderful! She and I get a long very well and she has been very good to me. She is from Colorado and has flaming red hair. It is so beautiful. I live with two other sisters, Sister Bagley and Sister glauser. Kat knows sister glauser’s sister in their ward! Isn’t that a fun coincidence?

Since I am a solo sister, it is a little interesting. Sometimes we have to make exchanges or meet up with my companions to make sure that I am not alone. It’s kind of confusing to explain. I am with the elders most of the time and then with hoffman chomanim (sister) the rest of the time i am not with them. So, in korean we always have to say the name first and then sister/elder. that is why is is hoffman chomanim. i love it! korean is so exciting. it is hard but i am excited to learn more. the sisters speak so much korean and they have only been here for 3 weeks! that is going to be me!!!

wow. it really is amazing how much we learn. nim is also an honor form, so you add it when you are addressing people because you honor them all the time. but when you talk about yourself you never say nim. that is why my name will be orme chamay when i say it, but when others say it it will be orme chamanim. So, we have gone to a lot of meetings. They are really great but also really long so it is a little exhausting. We are starting to learn the Korean language. Wooh. It is hard but not as hard as i thought. At least that is what I think right now. Yesterday, I felt a little bit in despair because i was getting a little frustrated, but then I remembered that I am here for a reason and that I know I will learn this language but I shouldn’t expect to know everything now.

tonight we are supposed to teach an investigator in korean!!! aahhh! pray for me! i thought i was going to have to teach by myself because that is what i was told several times because I am a solo sister but then my teacher said that I could teach with two of the elders from my district. Elder Watson and elder butterfield. Watson is from Melbourne, Australia and Butterfield is from spring city, utah. they are probably my favorites. i shouldn’t but i do. they are the best and they watch out for me all the time. the other elders are amazing as well but these elders watch out for me more so. also i do spend more time with them anyway. i am going to switch so i can get to know all of them.

we met our branch presidency last night. it was awesome! One of the counselors is Brother and Sister Pierrton and they know the morrisons really well. Our Branch President is brother Yost. He was really kind and talked to the elders about me and their role in taking care of me. he said that it is hard to be a solo sister and so they should make me as comfortable as possible and also watch out for me and take care of me. i let him know they have been doing a wonderful job. he also wants them to answer to any special requests that i have. they all agreed and are very willing to do so.

Well, so far my experience in the MTC has been wonderful and such a blast! It has been fun to learn and also to become closer with my elders and sisters. I will write you next friday! I will have more to say then. Hey did you know that you can write me everyday and i would get the letter?? If you go to dearelder.com i can get that letter the same day, as long as you write before noon then it will get to me on the same day. so if you feel like writing, that would be great! haha. i want to hear how everyone is doing.

Ok, well I got to go!! Love you all!!!
Love, orme chamay

Entering the MTC

Hello! I’m just about to arrive into the Missionary Training Center. The blog is still under construction but more posts will be coming soon!

1 “Leaving on a jet plane”
2 Visiting the Brown Family cousins in Murray
3 The Brown Fam!
4 Visiting the Heimburger cousins in Midway
5 More Heimburgers
6 …And more cousins seeing us off. Thanks Jacob and Johnny!