When the cameras arrived, training ended. Now it was time for us to use our own judgement in our finding and teaching efforts. The cameras followed us almost everywhere. Not all of our appointments were filmed. If we were teaching someone who didn't want to be filmed, the cameras stayed away. We quickly got used [...]
Category: The District
Understanding The Purpose
I've always been a perfectionist. Before I was aware of what that cost me, I embraced it. As a 20 year old, I had a transformational experience that helped me understand the Atonement on a deeply personal level. For the first time in my life, I realized the beauty of weakness and a Heavenly Father [...]
The Egg
One of the most frequent comments I get is about an egg. Yes, an egg. It's from a scene where we're getting ready and Janet hands me an egg she made me for breakfast. We get so many comments about it- how sweet that she made me an egg, what a good companion. First off, [...]
7 Steps to Inviting Someone You’re Teaching to Be Filmed
Feel super awkward. You're about to ask someone who just agreed to meet with you if they're willing to invite a whole camera crew into their home. So fun.Practice what you're going to say over and over again with your companion.Call the person you are teaching. (This is just NOT a conversation for a text. [...]
First Day of Filming
We pulled up to our first filmed appointment. The mic was heavy on my skirt and the tape for it was kind of itchy. I was very nervous and not sure where to put my hands. Sister Zaldivar and I said a prayer, I took a deep breath, tried to paste a normal smile on [...]
Training Begins
Once we knew that we would be filmed, trainers came from the Missionary Department in Salt Lake City. Every morning we met, reviewed Preach My Gospel, role-played, got feedback, and tried again. While the experience was exhausting, it was also really special. The Spirit was strong and you could tell our teachers knew their stuff [...]
How My District Became The District
As the final prayer of that zone conference in my first area ended, Sister Zaldivar began introducing me to other missionaries. I had only been in the mission a few weeks and was still getting to know everyone. I smiled and greeted people and tried hard to remember names and faces. Everyone was so kind [...]
Landing in My First Area, Chula Vista
After getting our companion assignments and having some meetings with the Mission President, my trainer, Sister Zaldivar, and I headed to our area, Chula Vista, California. It was literally on the US-Mexican border at the last USA exit. The next few weeks were a blur of meeting new people, trying to speak Spanish, and falling [...]
¡Hola, San Diego!
The flight from Salt Lake to San Diego was short but seemed like an eternity. I chatted with the people next to me and tried to picture what the mission field would be like. I was very anxious about the expectations being placed on me as a new missionary. As the seventh missionary in my [...]
My MTC Experience
May 21, 2009. 7 A.M. I woke suddenly, blinking for a minute and trying to figure out why I was so nervous. Then I remembered. By the end of the day, I would have a black name tag and would be in the Missionary Training Center (MTC). I looked around the room, my mental checklist [...]
sistervoyles.com 