Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! We just got back from a devotional with Russell M. Nelson, that was so good! One of the things he said that really stood out to me was, "Obedience brings success, EXACT obedience brings miricles." I've heard some version of that quote many times since being in the MTC, but when he said it, it was different! We must also have FAITH to bring about those miricles! 

Mormom 9:21 "Behold, I say unto you that whoso believeth in Christ, doubting nothing, whatsoever he shall ask the Father in the name of Christ it shall be granted him; and this promise is unto all, even unto the ends of the earth."

I know that is true! Later today we are doing a service project and making 175,000 soup mix bags! On Tuesday, our tiny zone of 6 Elders and us 2 Sisters showed up to GYM and the 1st cousoler in the MTC presidency was waiting for us. He asked if we would help him and the rest of the MTC presidency (except President Nally) unload and set up everything for the service project we are doing today! That was so cool! We got to get to know them and work together with them for 2 hours. THEN, yesterday, President Nally (the president of the MTC) walked up to me in the cafeteria at lunch and asked if I could come see him in his office after I was done eating! A couple minutes after that the intercom that goes throughout the MTC said, "Will Sister Sidney Reilly please come to the front desk." ....twice within like 5 minutes haha! I went up there and President Nally was waiting for me. He invited me into his office and we talked for a while, he asked me to share my testimony with him and we just talked about my mission and everything. I had no idea what was going on. Some other missionaries had been called up to his office and they were getting transferred!! So I was really scared! He then told me that my grandparents had taken a package to the front desk for me and he happened to meet them and he told them he would give me the package himself! haha, that was a cool experience! So ya, I'm tight with the whole MTC presidency now :). haha! Thank you Hal and Rebecca Jensen! We're all still trying to figure out how you just walked into the MTC with a giant package! I loved it by the way! 

Speaking of packages, thank you so much to whoever sent me a package with cinnabon and pumpkin bread, I wish I knew who you were! Just know that I am so thankful (and so is the rest of my zone) :)! 

I leave for Indonesia in 4 days!! I could not be more excited! I have loved the MTC so much, it really is a spiritual powerhouse! On Tuesday night at the end of our devotional the speaker asked if we could all sing "Come Thou Fount" and it was so cool! The spirit was so strong, I love that song and it makes it even better when there is 2,500 missionaries singing it all together! My love and testimony of the Savior and his atonement has grown so much here. My testimony that this is His church restored on the Earth today has grown. My faith has grown, and my desire to share this gospel with everyone has grown. I have been so blessed to have grown up with a knowledge of this gospel. I know the people of Indonesia need this gospel, I know it will change their lives and I am so grateful to be able to be an instrument in the Lord's hand and take it to them! I have no doubt that these next 17 months will be challenging, but I know that in the strength of the Lord I can do ALL things! I heard something this week that really stood out to me...your mission is a short time and you have the rest of your life to think about it. I will serve with all my heart, might, mind and strength for 18 months. I seriously cannot wait. I am going to open my mouth and tell everyone I can about this amazing gospel and how it can bless their life! Since it's Thanksgiving, I just want to say that I am so grateful for all of the family and friends I have supporting me as I serve my mission! I really am so blessed! Have the best Thanksgiving!

Love,

Sister Reilly

Happy Thanksgiving!

My Fav Indo sister!

Stoked on packages!! Thank you!

Working hard!

p.s. sorry if I didn't write back to letters this week, we have just been crazy busy!

Hebat Minggu Lagi di MTC

(Another great week at the MTC!) I will be on my way to Indonesia in 12 days!!! Ah I am so excited. Yesterday my district got to be hosts for the over 800 new missionaries that came in yesterday. We would go up to the cars pulling in with the new missionaries, wait for them to say bye to their families, and then we helped them get all the stuff they needed and got them all situated at the MTC, it was fun! We got to be their very first impression of the MTC! If the Sisters I helped out weren't excited about the MTC after I talked to them, then I don't know what would get them excited haha! Also, on Tuesday the MTC asked if I could take care of 5 international Sisters that came in early, so I got to show them all around and get them all settled in. They were from Samoa and Brazil and they were all awesome! I also met my new companion!! Her name is Sister Fredrickson, she is from Denmark and is so sweet! I can already tell she will be a great missionary. 

I had some awesome experiences teaching this week. Yesterday we planned for two lessons we were going to teach, and when we got into both of the lessons, we ended up teaching two completely different lessons than we had planned. We taught to their needs and the spirit guided us to what we needed to say. They ended up being some of our best lessons so far. I like this quote that one of my teachers shared with us a while back: " The spirit will be doing most of the work, but he cannot do what you can do for yourself." When we are putting in 100% of our effort, truly trying to be the best we can be, and when we really have love for the people we are teaching, the spirit will guide us to the things we need to teach. We get to be an instrument in the Lords hands! One of the things we talked about a lot this week was enduring to the end. My purpose as a missionary is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them recieve the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and ENDURING TO THE END. It's not over after baptism...everyday we should be striving to be better and become more like Christ everyday. I love this scripture..2 Nephi 31:20.. "Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life." Nobody is perfect, I know I'm not, I have to repent everyday and pray for help everyday, but he atonement truly does have redeeming and enabling power. We can have hope everyday through the Savior. 

In one of out devotionals this week the speaker talked about being of good cheer and smiling because we really do have so much to be happy about! She also talked about doing everything with love. That is really what it is all about! True happiness comes when we learn to love others and serve them, like Christ did. I say this every week, but this really is the greatest work that I get to be a part of, I'm loving it. If anyone reading this who is thinking about serving a mission..go. You won't find greater happiness then when you forget about yourself and focus on serving others. The MTC is awesome, I've made so many friends here and It will be hard to say goodbye to the ones that I will be leaving, but I cannot wait to get to Indonesia!! I love you all so much!! I love hearing from everyone, it's the best! Savanna Reilly, all I have to say is...Nice pipes tamika! I just listened to your song from Beaus homecoming talk and you killed it!

Love,

Sister Reilly

My new comp Sister Fredrickson

Beings Hosts for the over 800 new missionaries that came on Wednesday!

Our tiny zone at the temple!

The only Sister in the MTC from Indonesia...we love her!!

My district was pretty stoked on all the stuff my Gma Gail sent...it was gone fast :) Thank you Gma!

Sangat Siplah Minggu!

Really sweet week! Time flies when your doing the Lord's work! I can't believe it's already Pday again and we only have 2 more at the MTC! Waduh, gila! (Wow, crazy!) Every week has been loaded with spiritual experiences and so much learning! As of Monday I'm the only Sister in my zone, it was sad saying bye to everyone that left on Monday! We went from a group of 21 to a group of 8! It's fun though, the 8 of us are really close and everyone works hard! I moved buildings and I'm with 3 Sisters that are going to the Philippines now, they are awesome! It's definitely different though because I have my own room, but I sleep in their room. We are getting another Solo Sister who is going to Greece next week though, so she will move in with me and we'll be companions. I've been called to be the Sister Training Leader, so I will get to train her and the rest of the Sisters that we get until I leave, I'm so excited about that! 

Highlight of my week: On Sunday we got to watch a talk given in the MTC by Elder Bednar called The Character of Christ. Wow, it was the best talk I've ever heard! The central message was TURNING OUT. He talked about how naturally, we want to think about ourselves, we care about what we want and what we need, we turn inwards. But that is the opposite of what Christ did. He talked when Christ had just returned from atoning for our sins, something that was harder than anything we could ever possibly imagine and he came back to find his apostles sleeping (he had asked them to stay up and wait for him). Then Judas comes with a mob of people and betrays him and he is taken by guards. One of Christs followers then cuts off one of the guards ears with his sword, and what does Christ do? He heals the guards ear. Never once does Jesus ask for sympathy or feel bad for himself. In one of the hardest times of his life, he turns out and is caring about OTHERS. Elder Bednar just tells it like it is, it's not about me. He actually says "Get over yourself." It's about helping others. THAT is how we develop the character of Christ. We can only become like this through the atonement. We can be given strength beyond our own through the atonement. He also talked about being truly converted. There is a difference between having a testimony and being truly converted. That is what I want for the people I teach, a true conversion unto Christ. It was probably one of the most powerful things I've ever heard. My new moto for my mission is TURN OUT. When we lose ourselves in the service of others, that is when we truly find ourselves...when we are not looking for OURSELVES. We also got to hear from L. Tom Perry on Tuesday! It was so amazing. When he walked into the room you could just feel something different. Something that really impressed me from his talk was what he taught about listening to people. Being sincere and truly caring for the people you teach. It all goes back to teaching people, not lessons. Everyone has struggles and challenges, and this gospel can help everyone. 

The more I learn about Christ and his gospel, the more I love it and realize that everyone needs it. I have come to love the scriptures so much, I can't get enough of them. The Book of Mormon is true. It is evidence that Joseph Smith was a true prophet and that CHRISTS' true church has been restored to the Earth today. It testifies of Christ and can answer so many questions we have. The more I read it, the more I know it is true and know that anyone who reads it and asks God with a sincere heart, having faith, will know of it's truthfulness also. God answers our prayers, I testify of that. This is one of my favorite scriptures I read this week: 3 Nephi 18:24...24 Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do. Behold ye see that I have prayed unto the Father, and ye all have witnessed.

I love you all!! Until next week!

Love,

Sister Reilly

My new "companion" that are going to the Philippines 

The cripples Elder Drew, he sprained his ankle playing basketball this week!

Elder Marcello and Elder Armstrong taking model pictures with my camera!

Doing missionary work at the temple...hahah!

haha I miss these Sisters already! That's how they say What's Up in Armenia

This tends to happen to Elder Haws and Elder Mangum

And then they get written on...

It's Pday again!

It was another amazing week! I can't believe it's already my third week here, the time is flying! It gets better an better everyday...except for the cold. I seriously feel like everyday is colder than the last!! I'M ALWAYS FREEZING, haha! I don't think I could have been called to a more perfect place since Indonesia is hot ALL the time, even when it's raining it's hot...that's my type of weather :). Alright so some fun stuff from this week...in one of our lessons this week I started with the opening prayer, feeling all confident with "Dalam nama Yesus Kristus" (In the name of Jesus Christ)! I realized it, said sorry an started over, but everyone just started laughing, it was pretty funny! Longest word I've learned in Indonesian so far: mempertanggungjawabkannya!!! hahah It means "to take responsibility for"...pretty crazy, huh? Alright something else crazy...so as you all know I'm a solo Sister which means I'm the only Sister in my District, but as of Sunday I will be the only Sister in my whole zone! It will definitely be interesting, I'm going to have to move into a different room with some Sisters from another zone, but as far as during the day goes it won't be too different because I'm already pretty much with the Elders all day...I have to keep them in line!

 I'm going to miss all the missionaries that are leaving from my zone so much though! It was so hard to say bye to all the Greek missionaries last week. It's crazy how much I have come to love everyone here so much! Even if we've only known each other a few weeks, I have come to love all the Elders and Sister in my zone SO much! 

One of the things that stands out to me in general since being here, but a lot this week is the amazing power of prayer. I know God is listening an will answer our prayers. As I have started my scripture study with a sincere prayer, asking Heavenly Father to guide me to what I need to read for our upcoming "investigators" and to be able to liken the scriptures unto my life and theirs, I have been amazed at the influence of the spirit and what I have been able to learn. I have come to love the scriptures so much! Alright, I know I am skipping around a lot, but Ether 12:27!

"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

That is such an amazing scripture and I know it is true. I am so far from perfect, but as I have turned to the Savior and asked him for help, I have seen such a change in my life. The Savior wants to bless us, all we have to do is turn to him and let him. I get to share that message and so many other amazing truths with the people of Indonesia..I really have the best calling! I already have such a love for the people of Indonesia and I am not even there yet! One of our "investigators" that we are teaching is Mas Joko,he is someone that one of our teachers, Brother Rohl taught when he was in Indonesia last year. Brother Rohl brought in a picture to show us where Joko actually lived and it was so humbling. Mas Joko, his 2 kids, and his wife live in a shack probably half the size of my room, made of bamboo and scraps of sheet metal raised above a rice field. That really hit me hard. I know people like Joko are waiting for me and need the gospel in Indonesia and I can't wait to go find them. I know that Christ's true church has been restored on the Earth today, I am so blessed to know that and to have the opportunity to share that and help others come unto Christ! Here are some awesome quotes that I heard this week...

"When you go as far as you think you can go, that is when you realize you can go further!"

"The best way to find truth, is to go to the origin of all truth, and ask."

Oh and THANK YOU SO MUCH to anyone that has sent me something, you have no idea how much it means to a missionary to get a letter in the mail. Everyone in my zone loves me because of Wendy's peanut butter cookies and mom amazing Mom's pumpkin bread!! haha :) ALSO, check out the site "Dear Elder" you can type out letters and they come to the MTC the same day...I'm pretty sure it's free too. :)

I love you all so much!

Love,

Sister Reilly

3 Nephi 5:13 "Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life."