Week 2

Hey Family!

This week has sped by! They didn't lie when they said the first week is slow and then everything zooms by.

We got our flight plans this last week! Reality finally really sunk in when I looked at those flight times. We fly out of SLC at 7:30a on the 26th (which means I have to be ready to leave the MTC at 4am. We fly into Detroit and have 50 minutes to get to our connecting fly to Columbia, SC. We'll arrive there in the early afternoon. Mom, be prepared to get a call early Monday morning while I'm still in SLC. I have no idea if I'll have time to call while in Detroit.

I sent a package home late last week. I put a note in it to ask for a couple of things. I won't really need them until I get down to South Carolina, so if you can get here before I leave, that's fine, but if not, send it to my mission home.

This next week is going to be full of music. My district is doing a musical number in sacrement meeting next week(because we're leaving). I'm also working on a musical number with Her. Cottam and our pianist from our trio, Elder Forest Howell who got here on Wednesday, to audition on Thursday. I'm excited to sing with Her. Cottam and to be working on music period. I have loved being in the choir. Tonight we'll sing "Consider the Lillies".

So we heard about the BYU game this last weekend....too bad. I thought our team had more in them. Oh well, I guess they'll have to work harder.

I love the weather down here right now. It doesn't get too hot, so when we have study time in the late morning or afternoon we like going outside. I love being in nature while I study (so much better than being stuck in the classroom all day which averages at about 65 degrees or colder.).

One of the greatest lessons I've learned while here in the MTC is how to invite and listen to the Holy Ghost. The HG is so key to conversion and teaching the gospel. We can do nothing without it. Until the investigator feels the HG, they won't progress. It's been a challenge for me to let myself concentrate on the investigator and the Spirit's promptings rather than worrying about what I'm going to say next or how I'm going to explain a concept. When I let myself see the investigator as a real person, feel God's love for them, and put aside the desire to remember everything we want to teach, I am able to feel the Spirit more clearly and am able to be more personal with the investigator. It will become easier with time and experience, but it's something I've started to learn, and I know the Lord will help me. We learned yesterday in class from a devo. Elder Bednar gave a couple years ago, that a majority of the time we won't recognize that what we feel is a prompting from the HG. If we're being "good boys and good girls" we will be where we are supposed to be to fulfill God's will. Only rarely will we receive strong promptings and confirmations. That was very comforting for me, because I don't often receive those strong promptings, though I get them more often than I did.

In the devotional yesterday the speaker (MTC district pres.) said something powerful at the end of his talk. He said that this is our time. This is our time to make a mark on eternity. I keep hearing that we were fore-ordained to serve missions at this time. It's a powerful idea I never had before. I know the Lord has a purpose for me. There are people only I can touch, and there are things that I learn while I serve that will bless my future generations in ways that I can never imagine.

I love the Lord. I love this work. I am so happy to be here. Next week I'll be writing from SC!

Love Sister Cottam

week 1 in the MTC

Hey y'all!

This first week has been a challenge for me (as it is for most new missionaries), but as I strived to learn the lessons the Lord wishes to teach me, the Lord has strengthened me. Two of the greatest things I've learned is how to listen to the Spirit and how to stay focused on my purpose here: (yes I'm doing this from memory) to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them 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.

My companion is amazing! Her name is Sister Robertson. She has a wonderful bubbly personality and a strong love for the Lord and for others. She studying social work at BYUI and spent 7 months last year nannying in Germany--so she's pretty much fluent and I can only pick up a word here and there when she speaks s-l-o-w-l-y. It's been a wonderful experience getting to know her and her personality and how she teaches. We've learned how to bounce off each other and it's amazing, because when my mind goes blank she knows what to say and vise versa...the Spirit is amazing!

I absolutely love my district! We have 4 sisters and 3 elders. 2 of the elders schelduled to come postponed their date. It's actually really rare to have a district with more sisters than elders. The best part is that we are all going to South Carolina! We have all become close friends and our elders are all fairly mature (I think we help). They all have strong testimonies and love for God and this work. I hope I get to see them all every once in a while out in the field. My companion and I met a sister from SC before the fireside on Sunday. We talked with her for a minute and I loved how she saide y'all every time instead of you.

I loved Sunday. I was grateful for the chance to take the sacrement again and have my heart uplifted by all the words spoken in our meetings. For the fireside they commemorated 9/11 . It was a powerful reminder. I heard a story about how if the towers had toppled to the side it would have wiped out wall street and other important businesses and thrown this country into caos. God is so aware of His children and knows their needs.

I learned about God's awareness of His children as I've taught our progressive investigators Mark and Meagan(teachers). Through the Spirit we know what doctrine we need to teach next and in the last couple of lessons our lesson plans have been almost right on. Our first lesson was really rough because we were still trying to figure it all out and Meagan was really quiet and shy, but as we've strived to listen to each other, to really get to know the investigator, and listen to the spirit we've improved and made more progress.

Yesterday we taught in the Training Resource Center for the first time to teach a "referral". We got to the classroom to study and there was a note saying we needed to be there at 9:30a. When we got there we were all flustered, but they gave us a few minutes to prepare, we went and the referral was wonderful and receptive and we just taught from our hearts. It was an amazing uplifting experience for everyone in my district.

I'm so happy it's P-day and the temple was amazing!

I know this gosple is true. I love this work, and I am so glad the Lord pushed me in this direction so I can learn and grow and prepare for future experiences. I know I am where I am meant to be. I pray for yall daily. Love you lots!!

Love,

Sister Cottam

Sister Cottam’s Addresses!!

On September 7, 2011, I will leave for 18 months on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in South Carolina Columbia!

MTC (Sept 7 -Sept 26, 2011):
Sister Rachel Diane Cottam
MTC Mailbox # 168
SC-COLU 0926
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793
USA

Mission:
Sister Rachel Diane Cottam
South Carolina Columbia Mission
1345 Garner Ln Ste 307
Columbia, SC 29210-8362
USA

South Carolina is calling

Well I have a whole hour and a half until I am set apart as a missionary. The nerves are building, but so is the excitement. There are so many unknowns when it comes to a mission. I am going to be tracking, teaching, and sweating while I serve. I keep hearing that a mission is really hard work. I'm sure it will be, but I know that as I do my best the Lord will do the rest. He will give me the strength to endure when times are hard and guide me when the pathway is unclear. I know I'm going to learn sooooo much while I serve, and I can't wait to get into the thick of it and experience my mission for myself. I am excited for life after the mission too. I'll get to play oboe again, spend quality time with friends and family again, and eventually find that special someone who I will marry.  Life is so full and so worth living, even if sometimes I want to skip forward several years.

Now South Carolina is calling, and tomorrow I begin the next 18 months of my life!

TTFN  y'all!