Sister Tasha Singer

Hello Family and Friends!
Thanks you so much for the emails, pictures and letters. I love hearing from you all and knowing whats going on on the other side of the world. Congrats to Maria on the engagement! Thats super exciting! I am doing great! Sorry if this sounds repetitive every week but I love Germany and I love being a missionary! Last week for P-day we went ice skating and Elder Loynes and I started talking to this older man that was skating around that was really good. He is a professor of Russian and speaks great English and he is atheist, like most people we meet on the street. He taught me some good skating tips and we talked about the gospel and how God really does exist. He didnt buy it because “hes a scientist”. We talked about how we even though we cant see gravity, we know it exists because of the effects we see from it and the same is with God. Just because we dont see Him, doesnt mean he doesnt exist and I know he exists because I have seen the effects. I love sharing my testimony that I know God lives and he is our loving Heavenly Father!

The snow is almost completely melted and its nice to see the sun more often! I am really excited for spring and for warmer weather, as much as I love the cold too. This past Saturday was my ONE month mark here in Germany! I cant believe how fast it has gone by. One morning this week Sister Bangerter told me I was talking in my sleep the night before and I said, “You just have to believe, you just have to have faith!” She tried talking back but I didnt respond.

We taught a couple this week with a member named Bruder Heidler. They are theology students so they know the Bible well. They had a lot of questions but in the end they just wanted to argue and were not willing to pray and ask God of the truthfulness of the gospel, specifically the Book of Mormon and if Joseph Smith was a prophet. Bruder Heidler handled the situation very well and was a great example to us of loving the people and respecting their views, but also bearing bold testimony that this is the true church of Jesus Christ on the earth again! If anything, my testimony was strengthened of the fact that everything that we teach as missionaries depends on their testimony of whether or not Joseph Smith was a prophet. When you know that, you also know that Christs church has be restored the same way he organized in when he was on the earth, you know that we have the proper authority and priesthood to baptize, you know that the Book of Mormon truly is another testimony of Jesus Christ, and you know that we have a prophet today that gives us modern revelation for our day.

This next Sunday we will be having a baptismal service and 4 people will be getting baptized. We are very excited for them and it will be a great service. Some complications have come up with Michael but we will continue working with him to reach his goal for baptism.

This past Friday the Institute Center was reopened and dedicated from when it was being remodeled. It is a beautiful center complete with foosball table, ping pong table, and a pool table on the way. There are also rumors of a Wii on the way too, but not for the missionaries We will start teaching there and it will be great to finish off a lesson with a little ping pong. Yesterday at church I had a surprise visit from Anne! She was in Vienna with me this past summer and is here in Germany as a nanny now. She came to visit a friend in Leipzig so it was fun to see her.

Thanks again for you support and love! I love you all!

Love, Sister Singer

P.S. Here are some pictures from our visit in Berlin plus the ice skating fun!!

Sister Singer skating with Russian Professor

Sista Bangerter and Sista Singer

Wow! What an incredible weekend! But I’ll start with the rest of the week first. We taught some really great people this week! We taught some of the less actives and it was a good lesson for me to just listen to people. Some of the members that live alone just need someone to talk to! One member we have taught talked straight for the whole 45 minutes and we covered everything from the battle of the Alamo to the French Revolution. I also gave the other Sisters a Texas history lesson this week and Sister Bangerter can now proudly recite the Texas Pledge from memory. Thats love!

This week we had 5 appointments that all fell out in one day, but its amazing to see how the Lord still blesses you when things dont work out how you want them. The next day we met with Michael. He is such an awesome guy and super humble. He is an American that speaks fluent German so its perfect that we can speak Danglish (Deutsch + English) with him and he understands. He is 20 and has had a hard life but its amazing to see what comfort the gospel brings him and is learning so much. We set a baptism date with him and are very excited for him!

Ok so the weekend was the real amazing part. So many miracles and tender mercies! As we were preparing the night before I was ironing some things and burned a hole in my polyester skirt. I was wearing the skirt and forgot the iron was on and then I started smelling something burning. I turned to find my skirt melted on the iron. I reacted somewhat dramatically since it was my favorite skirt, but it made for a good laugh in the apartment.  I also fell down the flight of stairs in front of our apartment door. I definitely got some air on my way down and was only left with a bruise all along my arm and bottom. But dont worry Im fine. Anyway….
On Saturday morning we drove up to Berlin for our own private meeting of all the missionaries and President Uchtdorf. It is a very rare occasion that the entire mission meets together, if ever. The Autobahn is my new favorite thing and we got from Leipzig to Berlin in an hour and 45 minutes! When President Uchtdorf first came in he shook all of our hands and greeted us. So cool! Elder Texira and Elder Kopischke from the Seventy also spoke to us as well. They gave great messages and were very inspiring. They said our most powerful tool is the Book of Mormon and our personal testimony. They spoke in English, but President Uchtdorf spoke in German! It was great to hear him speak his native language and especially that I understood it. Plus his German is beautiful! He told us that if anyone asks how long we have been out on our mission, we should just say, “Im in the middle of my mission.” He also told us the German is the language in heaven…just so you know. What was really special is that he gave us an apostalic blessing as missionaries. This is something I will never forget. I accidentally left my journal in the chapel building so once I get it back, Ill write more about what he said. Sister Geurts said the closing prayer so she was pretty excited about that and she did a great job. Afterward we walked around Berlin and took pictures with the other missionaries. It was pretty special to talk to people with Sister Geurts and learn from her and watch her as a missionary.

On Sunday there was a special conference for all the German speaking saints in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. We were back in Leipzig but it was broadcasted all over. It was a really special experience, especially for our investigators that came with us. Everything that was said was exactly what we and the members here needed to hear. Earlier this week we as Leipzig missionaries had a special fast and the conference was totally an answer to our prayers. The overall message was about sharing the gospel with our friends and neighbors and fellow ward members. I have never been to a conference where missionary work was so heavily emphasized or maybe I just noticed it more from a missionary perspective. That morning President Uchtdorf also rededicated Germany, just like President Monson had 30 years earlier.

I love you all so much. I know that we have a Heavenly Father and he will give us what we need, whatever is best for us. I love being able to bear testimony of that to the people we teach. In Preach My Gospel it says that our willingness to share the gospel is a reflection of our own conversion and our own understanding of the gospel. I am so blessed to have the opportunity in my life right now to be doing that. Thanks for your prayers and support!

Love, Sister Singer

Sister Bangerter und Sister Singer in front of Bach's Organ

Another great week! Up to this point in my life, there is no greater joy than sharing the gospel! This is Christ’s true gospel! This week I had the privledge to teach a young mother named Charity from Africa. She is really sweet! She speaks and understands German but Englisch is better for her so it was a great opportunity for me to practice just teaching as opposed to teaching plus speaking German. Due to scheduling, we switched companions for the evening so I taught with Sister Liboschik. She doesnt speak very much Englisch so I taught in Englisch and Sister Liboschik taught in German and Charity understood everything that we both said. Its amazing what can happen with the Spirit! She is so prepared to hear the gospel. We had 14 lessons this week and I am very blessed to be teaching so often. It has been interesting to see the difference between those that are prepared and open and ready to hear the gospel and those that are not.

On Wednesday we had a Tausch…I think its called a switch or exchange in Englisch. I went to Jena and served with Sister Habermann and Sister Bangerter stayed in Leipzig and Sister Monson came to her. It was really cool to see this smaller town that I have heard so much about from Sister Geurts. We had a great time there and its good to see how other missionaries do things too. While I was there in Jena, I began to see my, Tasha Marie Singer’s, personal purpose more clearly as a missionary. There was a quote on the wall that said, “You are here to teach PEOPLE, not lessons.” I really loved that and it made me think. I love people and I am needed here to love people. I am so interested in learning peoples’ stories and then helping them relate and use that with the gospel! There is a sense of security and trust that is built when the other person has no doubt that you love them. As a missionary I am a true representative of Christ anyway, so I might not be able to relate to everyone and understand where they are coming from like He can, but I can try to love them like He does!

We met with two other investigators that are preparing to be baptized! Their names are Dotto and John and they are also from Africa. They invited us over for lunch and made us an African favorite called Ugali. It kind of looks and tastes like cornbread and then you take a piece with your hand, roll in a ball and then scoop up some beans and sauce and stuff it in your mouth. Yes, Mom, I ate with my hands and I was a messy eater and I loved it and they said I was great at it. We had a great discussion and I am so impressed by their faith.

For Valentine’s Day I also participated in some other international traditions. There is a Sister serving in Chemnitz from Armenia that got us all to participate. In Armenia, the day before Valentines Day you make “cookies” without sugar but with lots of salt. You eat them right before bed and you can’t eat anything afterwards or brush your teeth. Its supposed to make you super thirsty and then when you dream, your future spouse will bring you a bucket of water to quench your thurst. We tried it and it didnt work for any of us. We didnt dream about anything so we just ended up eating disgusting cookies, waking up with dragon breath in the morning, and had no mental image of what our future husbands looks like. Bummer. I guess that means we’re focused missionaries, right?

We are all super excited for President Uchtdorf’s arrival in Berlin this weekend. We will leave here about 6:30 in the morning to be there. This is a rare occasion that the entire mission can gather together and have a private meeting with an apostle of the Lord. I am so grateful to be serving a mission and I love this gospel of Jesus Christ. No matter where we are or where we come from, the gospel is the same and as God’s children we all need it.
I love y’all so much and thank you for for support and prayers!

Love, Sister Singer

P.S. The picture I attached is of Sister Bangerter and I in front of Bach’s organ and we saw his grave too.

Liebevoll Valentinstag! …a little bit early I know

So it I started my first full week here in Leipzig and life is still great. Last P-day we went bowling and I won! Its funny that Grandpa suggested going to the music places here because Sister Bangerter has designated today as music appreciation day today so we will be seeing whatever significant sites that we that relate to Bach and  the other greats. This past week was also Sister Bangerters one year mark so that night we had a “birthday party” and played SkipBo and drank cactus juice with Sister Nelson and Sister Liboschik. Sister Nelson also made tacos this week because they all really miss them and its been a long time since they’ve eaten Mexican food. The Elders and the Sisters also took me out this week to eat my first real German Döner. I told them I had some in Vienna, but they said that didnt really count. I loved it and it tasted soo good!

One of the miracles this week was when we were teaching English lessons. We are teaching a man named Bert and we decided to teach him using the Articles of Faith. We got to the 2nd one, “We believe in being punished for our own sins and not for Adams transgression,” and he had a ton of questions which led into a long lesson about the Plan of Salvation. It was really cool!

We are so blessed here in Leipzig by the members of the ward! They love the missionaries so much and would do just about anything for us. Yesterday at church a elderly sister came up to us and gave us each a big piece of chocolate cake. She said she just happened to have it, but you could tell she prepared it just for us by the way it was cut and perfectly wrapped up. That made my whole day and it was super sweet of her. There is also another member in the ward (Anni) who is an American studying German but served a mission in Russia so speaks Russian. We have an investigator that spoke German well, but wanted to fully express herself so we brought Anni along to translate for us. We didn’t end up saying very much but during the conversation we were worried how it was going because it seemed like a really heated discussion. After we left, Anni said she was one of the nicest Russian people she has ever talked to and agreed to read to Book of Mormon! I never realized how important the members can be! We visited two older widows this week and they both talked about the experience they had of going to the temple. Because of health and money and distance, it will probably be the ONLY time they will ever be able to visit the temple. I love hearing their testimonies about the temple and they talk about it like it was the highlight of their life. I cant imagine. It has been very easy to love the people here. Yesterday we had dinner with the Ortlieb family and their son also served in my ward in Vienna and he will be coming home  in August. I didn’t know him as well but they were pretty excited to find that out. They are such a great family and are really enthusiastic about missionary work and offered their home for Family Home Evening when we want to bring investigators.

We had Zonenrat this week where we met with Präsident Pimentel and the rest of our zone. It was a great experience and Präsident gave a great lesson about the Holy Ghost being the seal of legitimacy for a baptism. Not only does a baptism need to be done with proper authority but receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost is the second part and without it, it is not legitimate. He compared it to getting a stamp of approval or seal from a king on a letter to make it legitimate back in the day. Without the seal, it was just a piece of paper. Also the biggest news of our mission is… Here it is in the words of the First Presidency:

“The First Presidency has determined that the Germany Hamburg Mission will be dissolved, and the boundaries of the Germany Berlin and Germany Frankfurt Missions will be realigned to include the area of the discontinued mission. This will take effect 1 July 2010. … It is a positive move as the Church continues to expand throughout the earth and as ward and stake leaders and members take a more active role in missionary work. This consolidation will be announced in the Church News on 13 February 2010. … Thank you again for your excellent service, which has to a large degree, made this consolidation possible.”

This week we will being going on exchanges with the sisters in Jena! I will be the one going to Jena so Im pretty excited about that since Ive heard so much about it. I love you all so much and I hope you are all doing well. Something that I have been thinking about and been taught a lot this week is that regardless of who you are, we are human and and children of God so it one way or the other we can also use the Atonement to lift us up. Isnt it an amazing? The more I learn about the Atonement and how it works, the more excited I am to share the gospel because everyone needs it.

Also they changed the system for our emails so my new email address is tsinger@myldsmail.net. I have still been able to receive all the emails from my other email but that will only be for about another week.

Love, Sister Singer

Hello familie and friends!

I am here in Leipzig now and i love it! Sorrz for the puncuation, the german kezboard has me all messed up. so i arrived on wednesdaz and the president and his wife were at the airport to greet us. thez were super excited and sister pimentel said it was the highlight of her daz. thez took us back to the mission office and we filled out paperwork. then president took us to Mauer Platz where the Berlin wall was and we walked in this field over to the east german side. there we said a dedicatory prayer for ourselves to dedicate ourselves to the work. It was a verz special experience. Then we went back to the office where I had a present and letter from Sister Geurts waiting for me! She got me my own German bible that I needed! Then we went to the mission home and Sister Pimentel made us dinner and I met my trainer! Her name is Sister Bangerter from American Fork, UT. She is super sweet and gives the best hugs. She is also Esther´s cousin! When Esther came to visit Provo last September I went to Sister Bangerter´s grandparents house for a birthdaz partz for Esther! Small world huh? We were excited to make that discovery. She is also Julie B. Beck´s neice! After lunch I had an interview with President. He is already so great and verz passionate about missionarz work. Then I got a surprise visit from…Sister Geurts and her companion!!!! I was soo happz to see her and she came in for dessert and we were able to chat for a bit. I was surprised and it was a gift from President. Luckily she is serving in downtown Berlin and was convienently in the area Probablz the highlight of my day besides arriving. Ill be able to see her again on Februarz 20th when President Uchtdorf comes and speaks to our mission! It is a rare and special occasion and im super excited! he happened to be coming for a stake conference or something and agreed to meet with the Berlin missionaries too! Later on we had a ‘golden conference’ where we learned basic training about the mission. There is no such word as greenie here, we are goldens, which i prefer anyways. That night we took a train to Leipzig and i was exhausted. Sister Bangerter was helping me stay awake until we arrived. She had me tell her all about my family and wrote down every family member´s name in her journal from Gertrude Hedwig Thonig Heide to Logan Robbins and from Anna Marie Schneider to Ella White and everyone in between. She loves geneology and drew my whole family tree right there on the train. In Leipzig we live with two other sisters that are serving here, Sister Nelson and Sister Liboschik. They are super sweet and are finishing out their last months as missionaries. We have had fun chats and one that made me laugh particularly hard. Sister Nelson had a blanket that she was using and Sister Bangerter said, theres arm holes in that blanket if you want to use them. and i said, yeah its a snuggie. and they had no idea what a snuggie was. sister nelson got it for christmas and thought it was weird that her family would sent a blanket with arms and not just a robe! shes been wearing it around like a robe. i showed them how to wear it and how to use it. i laughed so hard! i guess you dont hear about that kind of stuff when youre not in america for over a year.

i am finally mostly adjusted to the schedule and no more jet lag. i love being a missionary already! this is so much fun and i love it. it is such a thrill to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with people that have been prepared and that have a desire to learn. my german is much better than it was in vienna and i am still learning a lot.

yesterday before church we were sitting in a meeting with the ward mission leader and guess who walked in? elder tilgner! he served in vienna when i was there in my ward! he is a ward missionary here in lepzig so its funny that we have now switched places. i was super happz to see him and talk with him and he’ll be teaching with us with a new investigator this week. but now ill call him florian. eine kleine Welt, oder? church was great too! i love the members already and i love how much they love the missionaries! i met so many members and so many of them are related its crazy. we had a dinner appointment with the schmidts and they were super nice. bruder schmidt was set apart as a sealer in the freiberg temple by president monson! we have a Faith Rewarded book in our apartment and I got chills looking through it again and connecting names in the book with real people and attending church in the building that president monson dedicated while it was behind the iron curtain under communist rule. president pimentel said i must have done something great before i was born to have been called to serve in this mission. it is such a privledge to serve here and it has become more and more evident that my call was inspired. at the end of everyday we make a list of the miracles that occured. i just started reading over in the book of mormon because we will be reading at the same time as a newly baptised member. we made him a reading kalender and will have it done at the end of april. any one that wants to join is more than welcome! i love the book of mormon and i know it is the word of god. when reading it, there is no doubt of its truthfulness.

grandma singer and aunt jennifer were right about the cold wind. it is cold but dont worry mom i am warm and adequately dressed. here is my new address where i will be for at least the next 5 weeks:

Sister Tasha Singer

Oeserstrasse 40

04229 Leipzig

Germany

Thank you all so much for your love and support. I am so happy here and there really is so much joy in doing what you know is right. This is definitely the best decision i have made in my life so far. i beam walking up and down the streets and love to see the reactions i get from grump bugs.  i love to hear about all the things that everyone is doing!i can only email family but you can email me at this email and ill write you a letter.

love you all!

love, sister singer

tasha.singer@myldsmail.net

Elder and Sister Singer at the MTC world map. (January 26, 2010)

Sister Tasha Singer and Sister Lillian Geurts

Sister Bangerter and Sister Singer

Hallo!!

I have safely arrived in Berlin! President and Sister Pimentel greeted us without any problems. My first assignment is in Leipzig and my trainer is Sister Bangerter! (who is Esther Duffle’s adopted cousin) Sister Geurts came to the mission home to greet me and it was sooooooooooooooo great to see her. Love you all!

Love,

Sister Singer

Hallo meine Familie und Freunden!

Today is my last P-day at the MTC! I leave fly out this Tuesday morning. I have a four hour layover in the JFK airport. I think I get a phone call home but I’m not sure how that works. But I’ll find out. It will be between 3:00 and 7:00 East coast time. I am the flight leader of 2 people, so it’s me and another elder that is serving in Berlin that are flying together.

I am still doing great and loving life here at the MTC. Last Saturday I got my haircut for free. Unfortunately it is a little bit too reminiscent of my “Ramona the Pest” days. It’s not my favorite and it’s definitely shorter, but I’m making it look cute. I don’t know how to upload pictures on these computers so you’ll all just have to wait with anticipation.

Yesterday I got 4 shots to get ready to leave. Two in each arm and today my arms are super sore. I was so dizzy afterwards, but they gave me orange juice and ate my first cookie from the MTC. My companions and I also went to the “Enhancement Class” where they give you a basic makeover and $200 of free Nuskin products. I don’t believe it was really $200 worth, but I am grateful for any free stuff, especially makeup.

Aunt Carol asked me if I noticed the haze outside, but to be honest, I only look at the sky on Sundays and Fridays when I go to the temple, otherwise I would never know what the weather was like.

Everytime I’ve gone to the temple, I have seen someone I know, but not on purpose. Last week I saw Lisa Jensen who I had a German class with who is also going to serve in Berlin but doesn’t report until February. Then on Sunday I ran into some of my parents’ friends they knew back when they were recently married I think. They were the Petersons. She recognized me first and said, “You look like a Singer!”

Plus my nametag gave it away. I knew she looked familiar from Christmas card pictures!

I have found my voice here at the MTC! Singing and Music and the Spoken Word are our outlets for music, so I sing louder and prouder than I ever have before and I love it. Last week we had to laugh because the first two songs in Music and the Spoken Word were “Ain’t Gonna Study No More” and “Going Home”. And last week the closing song was “Somewhere Out There”. Ironic for missionaries at the MTC huh? But not to worry, those thoughts are far from my mind and I haven’t been homesick at all yet. Sister Smith has a beautiful voice and sings all the time and when we do service together we sing songs from the movie Prince of Egypt. I love it.

I am so happy! I am also grateful to be completely over my cold/sickness, whatever it was that I had last week.

On Sunday Susan Easton Black came and spoke to us and basically gave us a history lesson about Joseph Smith’s life. Elder Singer managed to sit right behind me and commentate whenever he had something funny to say. When Elder Singer says the Joseph Smith movie was “touching”, that he means he was crying afterwards. On Tuesday we had a great devotional from Elder David F. Evans about the importance of the Book of Mormon. It really made me love the Book of Mormon even more. Elder Oaks once said, “We read the Book of Mormon over and over again, not because the it changes, but because we change.” I absolutely believe this because there have been so many more scriptures that stand out to me from a missionary perspective.

Another thing that I love to do here is make outbound calls from the Referral Center. This is great opportunity to talk to real people versus practice investigators. We call them up to confirm an order they made of a Book of Mormon or some kind of church media. Then we talk to them about the church. I got a lot of answering machines, but I did get two people to accept a visit from the missionaries which made it all worth it.

I have also rediscovered Romans chapter 8! This is a great chapter in the Bible, especially from a missionary perspective. I can’t remember if I wrote about this last time, so sorry if I did but we have 3 elders in my branch here from mainland China. They are in my district (one is actually serving in Houston Mandarin speaking) even with their broken English, you can feel the Spirit so strong and know that they have testimonies of this gospel. That has given me great comfort about my own German speaking abilities. Even though I have imperfect German, the Spirit testifies of truth! I have also learned a lot more about faith. Miracles are wrought by faith (Moroni 7:35-37) and the Lord will bless me according to my faith. I want to be a missionary that does not limit what the Lord can do for me based on my lack of faith, trust on confidence in Him!

I love you all! Thanks so much for your letters, DearElders, love and support!

Love, Sister Singer

Dear Friends and Family!

I am still doing great and as happy as ever. One of the older gentlemen volunteers stopped me in the hall and said, “You have a killer smile. Keep smiling because it will get you into doors.”

Sorry if this email is a bunch of random things but my time is short. So the other American elder in my district is going to Canada Toronto Portugese speaking and he learned Portugese in Brazil when his dad was mission president. I ask everyone that has connection to Brazil if they know the Ellis’ and it turns out their family was best friends with his family in Brazil! His name is Elder Woodruff.

I have an appointment to get my haircut tomorrow. The barbershop has been looking more and more appealing everyday. Don’t worry it won’t be anything too drastic I just don’t have time to do it.

I see Elder Singer often and it always makes me super happy to run into him. Yesterday he brought NyQuil to my class because I have a cold and have been a bit sick. Every Sunday we take a walk around the temple and and I ran into him there. He bore his testimony for me in Spanish! I was impressed.

I have been attending the German class when I can. The teachers are Kylen Zibetti, who I knew in Vienna and Joseph Anderson, who I’ve met before and we have a few mutual friends. They are super excited for me and are very welcoming to me in the class.

I told Sister Christiansen to not make any judgements about America quite yet. Right now we live in a surreal lala land. The elders stand when we sit down in the cafeteria,they always hold the door open. It’s great! Not only that, but it’s weird to think that I lived just down the street 2 weeks ago.

On Wednesday Sister Christiansen put on a performance for some of the other sisters on our hallway, which was a special “River Dance”.

I am being fast tracked, but I forgot to tell you my departure date. I will be leaving on January 26th! Woot! I love it here, but I know that it really begins out in the field. I am super excited. It is very comforting to know that there is someone there that already knows me and is looking forward to my arrival (Sister Geurts!). As I mentioned before I have been kind of sick this week, but I am trying everything to get better. The other sisters around me have been very helpful and giving, so I have tried everything including cough drops, Sudafed, Afrin, some other nasal spray, rinsing salt water, DayQuil, NyQuil, and VapoRub. I went to the clinic too and the nurse made me take a nap. I am still eating very healthy and eat lots of salads.

I love my teachers and I am still learning so much. Sister Burton is my favorite. We have had lots of great lessons and I am learning more and more espeically about the power of the Atonement.

Besides going to the temple, the highlights of the week have been visits from Elaine S. Dalton (General YW President) and Elder L. Tom Perry. It is an incredible experience to be in the same room with these leaders and hear their testimonies. Sister Dalton’s talk was especially touching and she talked about how much she loved the Savior and that it was her New Year’s resolution to be like the hymn, “More Holiness Give Me”. I echo her testimony in that I will wear any kind of nylons, any length of skirt, any type of shoe or blouse, wake up at any hour, and eat whatever type of cafeteria food for Him. Because I love Him and I know that He is my Savior! This is not a Utah religion, or an American religion, but the true gospel of Jesus Christ! What a privilege it is to be preaching His gospel.

Thank you so much for your love and support. Especially thanks for the package and letters from friends and family!

I was surprised to see how fast mail becomes a big deal here.

I love you all!

Love, Sister Singer

P.S. Here is my updated address:

Sister Tasha Singer

MTC Box #304

GER-BER 0126

2005 N. 900 E.

Provo, UT 84604

Well I made it to the MTC! I said goodbye, cried, wiped my tears and got to work. I didn’t have a companion until late Wednesday night so before then I just wandered around and joined random other companionships. Luckily for dinner I found Elder Singer (mein Bruder) and his companion and ate with them. I love my name tag! The first night I even slept with it on, but as it turns out, it’s not very comfortable to wear to bed.

I am learning to sit still for long periods of time and am also adjusting to eating 3 square meals a day. The first night, the Cordon Bleu and rice made my stomach upset so now I’m just sticking to mostly fruits, veggies, water, and oatmeal for breakfast. I am also learning where everything is. I only go between about 4 different buildings so it shouldn’t be hard, but I still get lost because they all look the same.

I am in the International Branch and I am the only American sister, and 1 of 2 American missionaries in my Zone. Since I am being fast tracked, I am in the ESL class, which is actually intended for foreign missionaries learning English. My two teachers are Brother BY and Sister Burton. Brother BY is from Ghana and I have to pay close attention to be able to understand what he is saying. They are both great teachers and I am already learning a lot.

My companion is Sister Christiansen and she is from Denmark, serving in the Salt Lake City South Mission. I already love her! Her English is already great and we have had a great time so far. Yesterday during gym I taught her how to play basketball knock out and four square. This is her first time in America and she said the biggest thing she has noticed about the MTC is that everyone is “always super natural happy”. The coordinating sisters are great too. One is from Ukraine and the other from Taihiti and they are both serving on Temple Square. They don’t speak very much English but I love them and I love to help them. Last night we had a tour of the MTC and the instruction they gave us for time management on P-day went something like this: “Machine, breakfast, machine, computer.” We understood perfectly, as to say… wash your clothes first, get a sack breakfast, come back to put your things in the dryer and while it’s drying, write your emails in the computer lab. My P-days will be on Fridays so today we get to go to the temple! Sister Christiansen is super excited too because this will be her first session in English. Elder Singer’s P-day is on Monday.

My lessons everyday are in English. Now I understand what Sister Geurts meant about wanting to be in the German Branch rather than the International Branch, but I have talked to my teachers and they are willing to help me out to make sure I get the help I need. Today I will make arrangements with some of the German teachers to see when I can participate in activities with the German speakers. So basically that just means that I have more of the responsibility myself to learn the lessons in German. I know that the Lord will consecrate my performance because I am consecrating this part of my life to the Lord.

A main theme of what I have learned so far is to love the investigators. To show love is so important and I can do that. It is unlike teaching a class of any kind. Instead of pushing your message, we are learning to really be aware of the investigators needs, feelings, thoughts, passions, etc. It is so personalized towards them and I love that.

I have no doubt that I am supposed to be here! I love that my full time responsibililty is to bring people to Christ. I am proud that I am doing the best possible thing I could be doing with my life right now. When they say, “there is no greater call”, it is so true.

I love y’all!!

Love, Sister Singer