May 2, 2011 - Big News!!!

May 2 Big News!!!

Hello friends,

I don't know how big this is for you, but it is too me and here are the things:

1) Since the new mission president is coming in a week before I leave, well my group, President Hill realized that it is just too much for a new mission president. So, he has been in touch with Salt Lake and they are sending us home a week early. So my release date is now June 28 and not July 5. Mom got my flight plans for when I come home July 5, but those are no longer the flight plans. I am sad, but mostly excited to see all of you again really soon and to spend the fourth of July in AMERICA! I will be more patriotic than you have and will ever been in your life! Just to let you know! So I will be having my first and only 8 week transfer instead of nine and I still get two more weeks than most sisters.

2) Transfers have already happened, but not for me and Sister Laws since we are waiting for Sister Creager (Sister Laws' companion) and Sister Milius (my companion). If you don't recognize the names it is because they are coming straight from AMERICA, FRESH FROM THE MTC!!!!! AHHHHHH! That is right, I am going to be a trainer, aka have the new missionary show me up in everything I do and me be very humbled. I am really excited though since this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, especially since I didn't think I was going to be able to. She is coming in on Wednesday from Ljubljana and I am really excited to meet her. Fortunately I thought this might happen so Sister Laws and I made case charts and other things for the language and we put it up by our study area and also we labeled everything in the apartment in Croatian. So that means I see tuš every time I got to take a shower or fridžider every time I open the fridge ha ha. I hope she is a visual learner!

Also for some other news, we had Zone Conference yesterday with all the other missionaries in Croatia. It was nice, except for the part where our district had to do a musical number! Just to help you understand the gravity of the situation I was put in, I will proceed to explain that sentence. First off, our district means FOUR people. Of those four people, two are musical geniuses, 1 (Sister Laws) is not to that level but has a great voice and plays the piano, and then that leaves one slot left and that would be the musically inept, Sister Dillender. The Zone leaders called Elder Wood, the evening before and asked if we could do a musical number. The Elders wouldn't let us out of it, and so they proceeded in their patience to teach me alto, so I would not have to screech my way through Redeemer of Israel. I must say I was quite impressed with their patience with me. They were so enthusiastic and every time I did something right they treated me like the most talented person in the world. So needless to say it was a very comfortable learning environment for me :). So instead of just learning to sing my one part, being the only alto mind you, and singing the song a full note down, they wanted to sing it acapella....what? Are you insane!?! So, somehow I get to that point and then they want to do a key change for the last verse.....What!?! Are you even human anymore? But somehow we did it and it was very fun and fulfilling and stretched me a lot. I say fun and fulfilling because it is all over now. We had someone film it and you can't really hear me because I was too nervous and I didn't look up once from my paper ha ha. Oh well, it was a great experience and I am so glad that they didn't let my inability to sing deter them from making a beautiful piece.

I often feel that way with Heavenly Father. He has so little to work with in me, and somehow He makes everything go just right. He really does make weak things strong and make our weakness strengths just like it says in the Book of Mormon in the famous verse, Ether 12:27, "I give unto men weakness....and if they sufficiently humble themselves and come unto me I will make their weaknesses become strengths unto them." Okay that is not word for word, since I am trying to do it off the top of my head. Now don't see this and say Sister Dillender is now a great singer, oh no no!, If you sign me up for a musical number, I will "defriend" you on Facebook come June 28. Take that for a real insult.

I hope you are all well and I am sorry for doing yet another mass email. But as you know, I have no time, but I am sending this to you personally because I think about you personally all the time and miss you. I hope you are doing wonderfully and I will write you a more personal email next week!

love,

Sister Dillender