Sept. 13, 2020 Jaime's farewell 
We were blessed to have a small farewell for Jaime. She gave a wonderful talk.
September 15, 2020
Prayers were answered and Jaime was able to go to the Ogden Temple and receive her endowments the day she was set apart to be a missionary. We were the only ones in the temple session and it felt wonderful to be back to the temple. My eyes filled with tears as I entered the temple.
Jaime was set apart at our home the evening of September 15, 2020. It was very special for me to be able to pin her name tag on her. Usually the first time anyone gets to see their missionary with the name tag on in person is when they get off the plane to come home, as they get their name tags at the MTC in Provo. It has been special to see her wearing it around our home.
She's officially Hermana Lott !!!!
Adam had a flag football game the night she was set apart so this was her first outing as a missionary.
September 16, 2020
WELCOME TO THE MTC HERMANA LOTT !!!!!
I converted our spare room in the basement to the MTC. She sleeps upstairs in her room and then goes downstairs to study.
Hermana Lott is having fun getting to know the Elders and Sisters in her district. I went in to take this picture of her and they all wanted me come in and take a close up of them posing.
(Los siento, you guys will be receiving two emails today. I totally forgot that I only had p-day to send them out. So there will be week 1 and 2 today😅.)
It has been such a great week. I was able to go through the temple on Tuesday and then get set apart after. It was so good to be back in the temple. It is really easy to lessen the importance of the temple when we are surrounded by temples in Utah. I know that when the temples get back to normal I am going to go as much as possible.
What is the Home MTC like? (Some of you probably have some questions about the Home MTC, so hopefully my stories and pictures will answer them.)
-The Home MTC is awesome! I love it. My district has 4 Hermanas and 8 Élders. They are from Oregon, Idaho, Illinois, Montana, Arizona, and Utah!! My district is so much fun! I was a little scared to see what they were like but all is well they're great! Turns out my companion Hermana Stewart lives in Syracuse, Utah and that is only a 15-20 minute drive away. We are so excited to get together and do companion study in person and spend P-days together. She is so sweet and funny. I can't wait to meet her in person!😆
-I wake up in the morning at 6:30, then exercise, eat, shower, say my morning prayer, and get ready. I am doing the MTC down in our guest room in the basement and still sleeping up in my room. It is nice because my bed is new and I am glad that I still get to use it! For the past couple of days I have had meetings all day. I have had a workshop from 8am-9am, a class from 9am-12pm, companion study, personal study, language study, a workshop from 4pm-5pm, and a class from 5:45pm-8:45pm (snacks and food in between) the workshops are pretty much 30 to 185 missionaries being taught a lesson at once. The first one was called "Welcome to the Work" I really enjoyed it. There is one teacher and it is nice because we can all be on mute at the same time and listen to what the teacher is saying. If we have a comment to make, you can raise a virtual hand by pressing a button or leave it in the chat. So far I have done 5 workshops in three days, and I will do more in the future.
-The days are flying by so quickly. I was kind of worried about how doing the MTC on Zoom would work, but it has been a cool experience. It allows us to split off and talk to our companions or in small groups. My teachers are able to share their screens with us so we can see it and comment on/annotate things. I didn't think that it would be in this interactive because it is over computer. There are some pros and cons to doing the MTC online. The pros are I can be sitting in my chair with a blanket on and fluffy sock (our basement is freezing), and I am able to be with my family for a longer period of time. One of the cons is I wish that I could have somebody to exercise with. I am not fond of exercising especially running (a known fact about me). Luckily I don't have to run because I would need a family member to join me and my mom and dad can’t!😀 So, what I've been doing instead is riding our stationary bike and doing exercises that I can do indoors.
-I have seen people splitting up their emails into spiritual stories and funny stories, so I am going to try that out. Hopefully that will add an element of organization to my emails.I'll start out with the spiritual stories.
Spiritual stories:
-In two of the really early workshops that I had they talked about the change that Christ brings into your life. The first workshop had a story about missionaries and how throwing themselves into the work and forgetting ourselves in the Lord changes them. They showed a picture of a missionary before they went out on their mission and after they were out there for ½-3/4s of their mission. In the second picture their countenance had changed. They had a glow in their eyes and in their face that was so different from the picture that was taken before. Their smile was more genuine. In the second Workshop they did the same thing except it was someone who was being taught. In the first picture he didn't look happy. He looked like he was missing something. After the gospel was taught to him he accepted it, and decided to be baptized, something changed within him. The second picture of him was on the day he was going to get baptized and he looks like a totally different person. It didn't matter that he got a haircut or put on a nicer suit. The world changes your appearance but God changes your person and who you are on the inside. The man looked more happy, he had a glow in his eyes and you could tell was the light of Christ. It was really neat to see the before and after contrast to how the Lord can make a change in you and make you better.
-We talked about what our purpose is as a missionary. We may just think it is just to baptize people and to share the gospel with them, but it goes deeper than that. On page 1 of Preach My Gospel it has our missionary purpose. It says, "Invite others to come unto Christ by helping you receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end." As missionaries are supposed to be inviting and helping the people that were teaching. The second part of our purpose isn't just done before baptism it's done the rest of your lives. We need to be repenting, listening to the Holy Ghost, enduring to the end, and having faith in Jesus Christ and his Atonement throughout the rest of our lives.
-As I was prepping for companions study today I came upon a scripture quote in Preach My Gospel. It is Doctrine and Covenants 9: 7-8. It is when the Lord is kind of chastening Oliver Cowdery saying, "Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me. But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right." This really stood out to me because sometimes I think that the Lord is just going to give me the answer but in reality I need to be studying and then asking about it. This reminded me of the scripture that says faith without works is dead. Studying without works is dead. If we want to receive answers through the scriptures we must be studying them and then praying about what we studied to receive what we are seeking.
Funny stories:
-There is an Elder in my district whose last name is Green. Green in Spanish is Verde. He told us that he wants to be called Elder Verde.😂 He was hoping that when he got his name tag said it would say Elder Verde instead of Elder Green. So now we call him Elder Verde. 😂
-Today we were having a zoom meeting discussion about a missionary devotional that we have watched. We started the zoom around 8 p.m. and about 15 minutes in my internet died. I got kicked out of the zoom session and couldn't get back in. About five minutes later I looked at my phone and I had gotten a text on Google Hangouts (my district is communicating over Google Hangouts) from Hermana Skinner that said, "Hermana Lott did the mosquitoes get you?"😂 I had told them that the mosquitoes are really bad out in Hooper. One night I was going to bed and in the bathroom there were 10 mosquitoes. I can't go to bed if there are mosquitoes in the bathroom because they will follow me into my room. So, I took the next 10-15 minutes to kill them. (Back to the actual story) Finally when I was able to fix the internet about 10 minutes later. When I got back on they asked me if I was okay and if I killed the mosquito or if I was killed. At the end Hermana Skinner asked if I was willing to say the prayer if the mosquitos wouldn't get me. It was really funny.😂
-Two of the elders in my district had long hair and mullets before they started their mission (Elder Green and Elder Carter). They were talking about how much they miss their long hair and how glorious their hair was. They showed us pictures and their hair was thick and long. Which somehow led us to the topic of mustaches. My companion apparently LOVES mustaches😂
-My teacher Hermano Mansfield told us a funny joke during class the other day. It is “¿Cuál es la diferencia entre la novia de un misionero y una pera? Una, es pera. ¡La otra no espera! (What's the difference between a pear and a missionary's girlfriend?. One is a pear. The other doesn’t wait!) It was hilarious!
Week 2 HMTC Email
¡Hola mi amigos y familia!
It has been such a fun week. I have gotten to know my district better. I absolutely love my district. They are super fun and have taught me so much in the little time that I have known them.😊 This week has gone by so fast. I only have four weeks left, which is crazy!
Spiritual:
-After I met with my tutor Hermano Welsh yesterday, I asked him how long he has been speaking Spanish. (In Spanish) He said that he had been speaking for about three years, and two of them were on his mission. He said that he could not have done it without help from God. I have been having a hard time with putting sentences together and memorizing things in spanish. When he told me this I remembered a scripture that I had read in 9th grade. I thought it was in Moses but it was in Exodus 4: 10-12. While I was in Moses I found some other scriptures that relate to it, they are Moses 6: 31-32: 7:13. These scriptures really helped me. These prophets were asking why God chose them because they couldn’t speak eloquently and were slow of speech. God then said, “I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say. (Exodus 4:12)” This comforted me and showed me that I will be able to speak Spanish, but only through hard work and God’s help.
-This week I have been reading about Helamen and the stripling warriors. The 2,060 young men had never been to war when they decided to take up arms to help the Nephites protect their families and their country. When Helamen asked them if they would go to battle they responded, “...behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that we should fall.” They remembered all the things that their mothers had taught them and lived righteously. God will always be with us when we are righteous and faithful. I also read the epistle from Moroni to Pahoran. In the epistle Moroni is chastening Pahoran for not sending provisions and help to their armies. He says a lot of not nice things to Pahoran. Unbeknownst to him, Pahoran had his hands full with the king-men and their rebellion against the government. Instead of lashing back at Moroni, Pahoran said that he was sorry for what they were going through and that he wasn’t mad. He rejoiced in Moroni’s heart. Pahoran had every right to get mad at Moroni, but he chose to be Christlike.
-The other night before I went to bed I listened to the talk “Are We Not All Beggars?” by Elder Jeffery R. Holland. I just want to quote one of the paragraphs it says. ”For one thing, we can, as King Benjamin taught, cease withholding our means because we see the poor as having brought their misery upon themselves. Perhaps some have created their own difficulties, but don’t the rest of us do exactly the same thing? Isn’t that why this compassionate ruler asks, “Are we not all beggars?”11 Don’t we all cry out for help and hope and answers to prayers? Don’t we all beg for forgiveness for mistakes we have made and troubles we have caused? Don’t we all implore that grace will compensate for our weaknesses, that mercy will triumph over justice at least in our case? Little wonder that King Benjamin says we obtain a remission of our sins by pleading to God, who compassionately responds, but we retain a remission of our sins by compassionately responding to the poor who plead to us.” This really stood out to me because we all are beggars. I have begged to Heavenly Father so many times in my life. I need to serve others and be as charitable as I can. Here is the link: Are We Not All Beggars?
Funny:
-On Sunday, my district thought it would be awesome if all the Elders wore floral ties on the same day. On Wednesday they actually did it! It was really funny. I got a picture of them holding their ties up to the screens. We are going to try to all match one day.😂
-I just came out of a break out room with my teacher Hermana Hart to Elder Carter having his face right up in his screen. He said that he was different from the teacher from the teacher in Incredibles because he has green eyes. While I was gone, he apparently mentioned that when he grows a mustache it looks exactly like the teacher in Incredibles. So if he goes bald he will look like the teacher. 😂
-Hermana Stewart and I did our first TRC this week. TRCs are pretty much teaching practices. You schedule a time to teach someone who is playing a part and then get rated on your teaching. After you finish teaching, you and your companion answer a survey on how you thought the person felt and the person you taught answers a survey about how they actually felt. You then receive an email with both of the surveys side by side. Hermana Sterwart and I thought that we did pretty bad. The lady we were teaching wasn’t asking questions or really paying attention. We were super scared to go over the report. According to the report we suck at reading people.😂 The lady put the exact opposite of what we put down🤣. Hermana Stewart and I learned to not judge ourselves so quickly and that we may reach people even when we don’t feel like we did.
-This Thursday was my little brother Ethan’s 12th birthday. He wanted to go out to eat at a place in Ogden called “The Pi Pizzeria.” I have a class that starts at 5:45pm so we had to leave to go eat at 3:30pm. My mom told me that when she told my dad how early we were leaving he asked, “What are we 90?”😂 I have accelerated the aging process in my family. The pizza that we got their 23” pizza. That is a BIG pizza! The slices were humongous! It was really yummy.😋 You can't tell that it has pepperoni because of all the cheese.
I hope that you guys have a wonderful week!!
Here are some pictures from this week:
This week has gone by sooo fast. It is crazy that next week is week 4 of me doing the MTC at home.😆 At the end of this month I will be done with the HMTC and I will then go out into the field!
I said last week that I was so excited to meet Hermana Stewart, but that didn't end up happening. She was told to go into quarantine because at her cousin’s homecoming she was in contact with someone who tested positive after the homecoming. So, now I can't see her until the 12th😥. But, I am looking forward to when we actual meet.😂
Spiritual:
I am grateful for General Conference and the ability that we have to watch it in our homes. Yesterday, my district spent the last 20 minutes of class talking about prophets and finding scriptures that related to that. Elder Bates put into the chat Amos 3:7. It says, “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” Prophets receive revelation from God to then give to us. The things said in General Conference are said for a reason. God knew that we would need to hear those things. I went into General Conference with a question and I have received insight on it that has really helped me. I'm excited to hear the talks tomorrow.
I taught my first TRC with my companion in Español yesterday. Hermana Stewart and I were so scared. We were going to teach a lady named “Karen” over zoom about God being our loving Heavenly Father and families. We tried to prepare the best we could. Part way into the lesson I shared a scripture (John 3: 16-17), and asked what she liked about it. She answered and Hermana Stewart and I only understood some of the words😂. I then asked her if she had any questions about the scripture. She asked a question and had to repeat it, so I could understand. She asked how she could be with her family forever, so I had to think of a response on the spot. That was pretty difficult because I didn't know some things in Spanish that I wanted to say. In the end it worked out. We gave her an invitation and ended the lesson with a prayer. After Herman Stewart and I talked about it for a minute and how we did. Whether or not she understood our Spanish, the Holy Ghost can testify to people of the truth and help them understand.
Funny:
I have been mixing up fish and sin over the last week. In my tutoring session, my tutor asked me to answer a question. I told him "… superar neustro pescados." I thought I said to overcome our sins. My tutor then told me that I didn't say sin, I said, "...to overcome our fishes."😂 I've learned that knowing vocab and verbs is important.
My teacher Hermana Hart kept freezing, so my class decided that we were all going to pretend to be frozen. About 15-20 seconds into doing that our teacher disappeared. The MTC had now become the Hunger Games. We talked about for a second who we would make alliances with and what the food currency would be. We finally got our teacher back on. And then Hermana Kircher disappeared. When she reappeared she said, “Clearly I'm the first to go in the Hunger Games.” Then Elder Verde said, “the weakest links went first.” Our teacher was the one who went first.😂
We got onto the topic of CTR rings and Hermana Stewart said she could only ever find ones that said HLJ. She was confused because it looked like a CTR ring but didn't have that. So, she said it stood for Hailey Loves Jesus.😂😀 Which is super cute. We told her that that still worked. I want to get one because I'll be speaking Spanish.
One of the lessons that we had this week was on families. Hermana Hart had us draw people in a family tree. Needless to say we had a lot of fun and enjoyed testing out our drawing on zoom.😂
Here are some pictures from this week (and a couple from last week):😊
