So Much to write...So little time!!!

So, I haven´t had time to read anyone´s emails, but I promise I will....after email time though! :)  I have so many things to tell all of you!

 

First, last Tuesday we had the greatest devotional!!!  It was by F. Melvin Hammond (emeritus seventy) and his wife, Bonnie.  Basically I love them!  Sister Hammond talked to us about going out cheerfully.  She also talked about how when you use music in the lessons that it is magical...that made me smile.  The way she talked about the Boook of Mormon was also inspiring.  she and her husband read from the Book of Mormon in English and Spanish everyday together.  She very passionately talked about the hard work that went into learning Spanish and how she cherishes that language through reading and studying the Book of Mormon in Spanish.  After she spoke she accompanied her husband in singing...oh dang, I can´t remember and I forgot to write it down.  It was incredibly sweet though!  Elder Hammond then gave us 4 promises of devine knowledge we will gain through the Holy Ghost. 1. Jesus Christ is the Savior of the World, 2. Those who pursue and ask will gain a testimony of the truth and divinity that the book is true, 3. Joseph Smith is God´s revelator and prophet, 4. The Church is the Lord´s kingdom again on the Earth in preparation of the second coming.  He also told us that every soul we can get to read the Book of Mormon will be able to recieve those same promises.  I could go on, I just adored them!  They reminged me so much of Grandma and Grandpa Mickelsen...it made me very happy.  I just wanted to go up and hug them at the end of the devotional.

 

Ok, Sunday´s fireside was also fantastic!  We got to hear from Steven B. Allen.  He´s important at the MTC, and he´s awesome, I just can´t remember what he does.  He used to be a producer for the Church and was in charge of all the LDS commercials for a while.  We watche d commercials the whole time!  I just laughed and laughed.  It´s funny that you can avoid commercials your whole life, but after no TV for 6 weeks LDS commercials are more than welcome (and the Testaments is legit entertainment!)  I just want to share some of the taglines...they´re cute!  "When everything says you can't, believe in the part of you that says you can." "It's not who youi aren't, it's who you are. And being yourself is being great."  "Sometimes the most important thing you can give is yourself." "It's often life's small moments that bring the greatest memories.  Don't let the magic passyou by."  "The people in your heart can't see what's in your heart.  You need to let them know what's in your heart everyday"  "How [companions] feel about themselves is often how they see themselves."  "Sharing, it's the icing on the cake"  "If you think childish arguments don't hurt your marriage (or companionship) don't kid yourself."  "Whatever you do in life just do your best."  K, so I know they're cheesey, but hey, I'm a missionary, they're true, and it was entertaining!  :)

 

Two last things and then I'm out of time :(

 

First, one of our teachers went to Lake Mead last weekend and we had subs on thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  Well, he taught us again last night and told us about this dream he had while on his trip.  So in his dream he got another mission call.  He was worried about it because he just didn't have the time to serve another two year mission.  Well, he didn't tell anyone but somehow he ended up back in the MTC all dressed like a missionary with his suitcases and tag and everything.  He thought about all the things he was supposed to be doing (school, finding a wife, etc.) but the thing that made him want to break out of the MTC was the fact that his missionaries (my district) didn't have a teacher.  He spent most of his dream trying to find us and started freaking out because he couldn't, so he decided to break out.  He had a whole plan of taking off his tag and finding a visitors badge but he woke up before he could do it.  So, in short, our teacher missed us :)

 

Last, and I need to type fast, the fire alarm went off in our building at 2:00 AM last night.  It was the LOUDEST thing I've ever heard and it completely emptied the building (no fire...they don't know why it went off).  But here's the story: I got out of bed, realized what was happening (through a serious half-asleep fog) and the first thing I grabbed wasn't my shoes or my glasses...it was my nametag!  hahahahahaha, NO ONE else had theirs, but I, for some reason, just HAD to have mine before anything else.  Yeah, I'm definitely a missionary!!!  hahahahahaha

 

Out of time! Bye :)

 

~Sister McClellan

HALF WAY through the MTC!!!!!

So this computer won't print my emails...and as I am timed that means I've only glanced at the ones people have sent me.

 

Mom: Thank you so much for the package!!!  It means so much to read that I am loved :)

 

So, all of the older districts left yesterday.  I miss them more than I thought I would.  (Especially Sister Myrick...she and I got close.)  Well...yeah.  It's a lot quieter with no natives (they have got to be the loudest people in the MTC) and the older districts were just so cool.  there was a lot of excitement and a lot of crying yesterday...and the occasional "what have I gotten myself into", but it was great.  They're all going to be such good missionaries!

 

So I auditioned this week and didn't get asked to perform.  I instead got asked to come back this week with a different song (I auditioned with Amazing Grace and this week I got asked to sing O Divine Redeemer).  I keep trying to meet with my accompanist, Elder Jepson going to the Japan Kobe (I think) mission, but our schedules clash a little.  He's a really amazing pianist!

 

This week we get to teach our first all Korean lesson in the TRC...it's pretty exciting, my companion and I have been working on the vocabulary we need to be able to teach this lesson.

 

Ok, so I really don't know what to write about...let me think....hmmmm....OH!!!!  Evan!  Congratulations on turning 12, getting the priesthood, and getting to be able to go to the temple...that is all so exciting!!!  You are sooooo awesome!  All my friends here are excited for you too!!!

 

Oh and mom, I thought about what I want for my birthday.  When the natives came they all had these PMGs with Korean on one side of the book and English on the other (so you were looking at the book and the page on the left was in Korean and the page on the right was in English) and you can get all the pdfs somewhere online...If you could make me one of those that would be great (because you can't buy them) and if it could be a little one...that would be cool.  While I've been here I actually did get a little PMG in English.  It's about the same size as my scriptures.  Elder Finlinson in my district's mom made him one through alphagraphics and now everyone who sees his wants one, so he has his mom send them and people buy them...it's really funny!

 

Oh, so I just got put in as branch music director.  I find the whole leading music while singing in Korean (which I'm still not very good at) a little overwhelming, but it's so exciting!

 

Well, I'm sorry, but right now is one of those few times in my life where I just don't know what to say.  So I guess I'm done!

 

I love you all and hope you are all doing well.  I love the letters and packages you send (and if you don't want to take the time to write a letter, dear elder is awesome for that)...please send me your addresses so I can write you all better!

 

Love, Sister McClellan!!!

So, it's been another week in the MTC...

Hello everyone!!!

So, a lot of the novelty of the MTC has worn off. I don't know what people do when they're only here for 3 weeks...I'm starting week 5 and I feel like I just got here (well, in some regards I also feel like I never had a life before the MTC.) So, Nothing tooooo exciting has happened. We still have our older districts...but today is their last P-day...they're all leaving on MONDAY!!! It's crazy! I am seriously going to miss them soooo so much! It feels a little like high school around here right now with all the Koreans passing around notebooks and journals for people to sign...I love it! Oh...speaking of journals...I'm already almost done with the brand new one I brought and I've only been here four weeks! I didn't realise I'd write so much...wow!

So, one really cool thing that I want to share is about this AMAZING fireside we had on Sunday. It was given by the head-honcho MTC guy, Richard Heaton. He started off by telling us that he wanted to speak about a VERY important principle: repentance. He asked the congregation to come up and share their honest opinions and thoughts on repentance. A lot of people talked about how they understand repentance, but his favorite answers were from the people who felt scared and terrible when they had to repent. He talked to us about the history of the word repentance and how it's Hebrew and Greek roots meant to turn (away from sin and towards God) but that the latin root meant to feel regret/contrition and is the same root as for words like penitent, penitentiary, and penance and that because of the corruption of the bible people like Martin Luther believed that the only true way to repent was from inflicting pain on themselves so they could feel a portion of the suffering of Christ. He then talked of William Tyndale (love that man!) and how when he was translating the bible from Latin to English he made the word repent. It still has the "pent" from the Latin, but it also has the "re" as in return...so now we finally have that thought creeping back into the scriptures. We were then taught a little about the true beauty and joy that comes from repentance. He shared with us some stories of people in his life who had repented...the room ended up in tears...like everyone! After one of his stories he showed a clip of the District (think missionary work reality show, but actually real life...it's amazing!) and he had us watch specifically to see the joy and peace that grew as this woman was going through the repentance process. Now this was a clip we had seen many times in class and had used for an example of how to teach, but watching it form the perspective of the investigator was amazing. Seeing the way she was able to change her life and the joy that she was able to have and how happy her family was...it was amazing! He then began to share scriptures form the book of Alma...this is where I just broke down (Alma is my favorite!) He shared part of Alma 36 (my favorite part) where Alma is teaching his son, Helaman, about his own process of repentance. But it was interesting, because now this scripture hits me harder than it ever has, and it always hits me pretty hard. When Alma is visited by the angel he remembers all his sins and feels the most exquisite pain, but here's what I never realized, as SOON as he says, "O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me..." and that whole part (that seriously fills me with the Spirit every time I read it) as soon as he says that and begins to turn away from sin and finally turn to God, THAT is the moment he begins to feel the most exquisite joy! (if you haven't read Alma 36 lately...you should seriously read it again...it's the best!) We also touched on Alma 26:21 (another favorite chapter in Alma...I pretty much can't go even three days without reading it), Alma 27:18, Alma 42:24, oh I wish I could just share everything with you! It was soooo amazing! Best fireside ever! I'll just share one last thing cuz then I'm out of time (curse my slow wpm)...It's small, but in D&C 109:21 there is a promise given to missionaries. A promise that we can speedily repent...and seriously, how great a promise is that. And I know it's true, because I've already felt it!

Well, I love you all and I honestly wish I had more time...I wish I had time to write you all individually (if you send me your home addresses I can...please PLEASE send me your addresses!!!) I hope you are all doing well and thank you so much for the support you give me. I can feel it! Thanks for the packages (Marilyn) and the emails (grandma) and the letters....and pleeeeaaassee, keep 'em coming...they make my day!

~Sister McClellan :)

Week 2? no 3? wait...this is week 4!!!

So time flies by here.  That first week went by so slow and now all the older district is getting their flight plans this Thursday!!!  It's crazy...I'm going to miss them so much.  Let me just tell you a little about them.  First there's Sister Richardson.  she's the coordinating sister of the zone.  she is so sweet and so pretty and gracious.  The Elders in her district call her mom...it's kind of funny.  She's a dancer and she is just wonderful.  She is in my room with the other sisters in my district and her companion sister Myrick (pronounced just like it looks: my-rick).  She is also pretty awesome.  She knows SO much vocabulary...like SO much!!!  She's funny too...always cracking really dry jokes.  She's convinced that one day she'll marry an Asian...it's pretty funny listening to her talk about it.  And then there's sister McComber and Sister Nelson.  They are in the room next door and they have such a special place in my heart.  Sister McComber is the branch chorister and she is just about the friendliest, happiest sister in the whole world.  Oh, I just love her so much!  And her companion, sister Nelson, is just this little ball of sunshine wherever she goes.  She really likes pretending she's angry all the time, but she is just about the HAPPIEST little blond haired blue eyed person!!!!  We also have Sister Brady, who reminds me so much of my friend Ruthie it's crazy, and Sister Mecham, who is always saying something really funny and never accepting of praise for it, who both came the same day as my companion and me and are in our district.  We also got our natives!!!!!!!  They are so so cute.  There's Sister Lee, perfect tiny Korean girl who is just so nice and so sweet, Sister Jeon (I think that's how you spell it in English) who is just the quintessential gorgeous asian...with freckles!  And then Sister Nam, so funny!!!  she is always getting embarrassed for one reason or another but she is so outgoing and so friendly but also so shy...she is ADORABLE!!!  Oh, I wish you could meet these sisters!!!  The Elders in our zone are pretty fantastic as well.  I don't know them as well, and I really don't know any of the natives (there are six...and they are a blast.  We took temple pictures on Sunday...it was sooooo fun!!!) But I do know the ones in my district, elder Finlinson and Elder Gillis...they are so great.  They still don't know how they feel being outnumbered by Sisters...even more so when they older districts have left.  But they're really great!  And one of the other districts has Elder Miller, Elder Messick, and Elder Porter.  Elder Miller has spent most of his life living in Tokyo and he was actually a model for Gap out there...mainly due to the fact that he's white!  hahaha, it's great!  We've had fun talking about Japan!!!  And then Elder Messick, he is from California and is pretty cool.  I honestly don't know him that well though.  Elder Porter has lived in Utah all his life, first up near Logan and now in St. George.  He has been EVERYWHERE!  It kind of makes me a little jealous.  His sister is also an artist and just got featured in some sort of European fashion/art magazine.  Pretty cool.  The other district has Elder Ward, Elder Jones, Elder Choi, and Elder Olson...and I don't know them well at all.  We all sit at the same table for every meal, and they always sit at one end and I and my companion are usually at the other with Sister McComber, Sister Nelson, Elder Miller, Elder Messick, and Elder Porter...I love my zone!  Pictures will be coming!!!  Oh...and we're all going to be featured in the Korean Liahona soon...they took a picture for it on Sunday!

It was awesome...and not totally random, the MTC let us see the Stadium of Fire fireworks show on Saturday!!!  We had this big fireside that was amazing.  It was all about freedom and not taking it for granted.  They told some stories that are never going to leave our minds.  We all left really loving the United states!!!  and then they gave us chocolate covered ice cream bars, and let us stay up till almost midnight watching the fireworks from the MTC campus....it was packed!  It was so awesome though.  sister Myrick got this great video of the show and the audio is hilarious...its a bunch of the elders from our zone just making some very funny commentary of the whole thing!

Wow, I really type slow...hmmm....yeah, I miss my laptop...I typed much faster and better on it.  Thank you so much for the packages and the letters and my skirt getting fixed...if I had more time I'd have more detail.  Love you all!  Stay Awesome!

~Sister McClellan

P.s. Sorry for typos!

I LOVE THE MTC!!!

So I will try to answer everyone's questions here (so mom, please feel free to forward this to anyone and everyone...y'all will be getting another letter.)

I only have 20 minutes left...yikes...I'll type fast!

So, I love the MTC!!!!  I kind of have to as I'm going to be here for 12 weeks.  My companion and I are getting along great.  She is fantastic.  She understands the language so much better than I do.  I honestly am not getting it as well as I had hoped.  But I know that through the Lord's help I will be able to communicate with the people if I continue working hard.

As far as the food goes, I love the salad bar...I eat it everyday!  It's pretty much the only thing besides cold cereal that doesn't make me feel sick after I'm done eating.  I've only got to go to one choir practice so far and I sadly wasn't able to sing in the seminar.  I love getting to go to the temple (got to go again today...last time before it's closed nearly the whole month of July.  But I heard that my zone might get assigned to help clean it next week!!!)  I really do love the MTC.  The first few days were difficult, but the Spirit is so strong here and you get so see people everywhere with the same purpose and a strong testimony of the gospel...and it's literally EVERYWHERE!!!!  It was funny, today while we were in line at the temple cafeteria I was able to talk to Myrick Chamenim and Richardson Chamenim (wow that looks different in English!), about how cool it is to see missionaries all the time everywhere!  It still feels bizarre that I'm actually here right now!!!!!!

So, I unfortunately don't get to sing for a few more weeks.  Things were overbooked in our branch.  But I will be auditioning for a solo in front of everyone either this Thursday or next.

Um....Oh, I wish I could remember everything, but unfortunately I can't right now.  Let's see...oh, I just wanted to share with you some of the things I've been learning in the scriptures.  I'm doing a few things, first of all, mom, I'm getting a list of lesson scriptures and their summaries together for you to make into flashcards (if you wouldn't mind)...it's funny...I'm not that good with the language, but I'm known in my district as the class scriptorian....hahahahaha, I think it's great.  Secondly I'm re-reading the Book of Mormon (oh MAN how my testimony has grown in the power of that book!!!!) and I'm looking for references to the atonement, the promise that if you keep the commandments you will prosper in the land, and on the side references to artifacts like the sword of Laban and stuff like that.  It's been great, I'm not too far along yet...I get so distracted with cross referencing and all those exciting things.  Can I just tell you, the gospel is sooooo much fun!!!!!!

We had a great fireside on Sunday...and on Friday.  Elder Bednar spoke on Friday about how to be a PMG missionary.  And on Sunday...oh, I can't remember his name, but he spoke a little about the sacrifices we make to be on missions and the hardships we will go through as missionaries.  I'll go in more depth in my letter.

It's been so great being able to focus so heavily on the gospel.  And it's been wonderful to be able to share those feelings everyday with people who share my beliefs.  I wish I could type faster (I've gotten too used to my netbook keyboard) because I just can't tell you enough how amazing this experience is.  I love you all and I REALLY love hearing form you...it keeps me from getting discouraged and reminds me that I can do this!

Love you all!

~Sister Amanda McClellan :)

Week 1

Hello everyone!  The MTC has been amazing so far and I love it here! I'm going to be here till August 29th...that's 12 weeks!!!  Such a long time, but I know I'm going to need it!  Korean is soooo incredibly hard!  I really love it though.  I'm already praying, bearing testimony, doing contacts, singing, and even occasionally thinking in Korean.  It is really a beautiful language and I can't wait till I can know it better and can better express my thoughts and feelings in the language!  I have gotten a little discouraged at times already.  I feel inadequate at times, but the feeling is usually fleeting...so that's good.  My companion's name is Sister Paul.  She's moved around a lot and her family is currently in Indonesia....cool, huh?  She and I are a near perfect match.  We compliment each other so well.  Last night we gave our first lesson and it was so much fun! Our contacts are fun to do to.  I love being here in the MTC because everyone you contact and teach wants to hear more and wants to get baptized!  hahahahaha, it might be giving us a false sense of security, but we don't mind!  Sorry there aren't any paragraphs, the "enter" key on my keyboard doesn't work :( oh well.  I enjoy the schedule here, I usually feel very well rested, and it's so cool, at 6:00 am the Sisters get to have the gym for exercise classes.  I usually use the time to work on vocab and scriptures while on the elliptical.  And this week the gym is closed due to training for new mission presidents, so we go out to the field...Sister Paul like volleyball...yeah, I play volleyball...yikes!!!  But she's going to teach me how to be better...yeah...yikes again!  I got to go to the temple this morning.  It was so great.  My whole district and a couple other Sisters from our zone was in the same endowment session and we all went to the cafeteria for real breakfast (meaning not MTC cafeteria food) afterwards.  I absolutely LOVE my district and zone. I'll be sending pictures soon.  We got to go take pictures at the temple on Sunday.  I'm singing in Sacrament meeting this Sunday.  The topic is knowledge...I'm not quite sure what I'll sing yet, but I'll think of something.  I'm going to join the MTC choir.  The practices are Tuesdays and Sundays.  I'm so excited.  Oh, we got to sing Called to Serve on Sunday at the Sunday night devotional...life long dream of singing that song at the MTC: accomplished!!!  It really has been a blast here!  I can't really believe I'm actually here!  The Spirit is
so strong everywhere and everyone is so happy and so full of such great energy all the time.  it's absolutely fantastic to be able to see that everyone around you is here for the same reasons and wants the same thing: to bring all souls to Christ!  I wish I could share more, but I really didn't realize how short 30 minutes is (the
computer has a countdown clock in the corner and it kicks you off right at 30 minutes...Davis, sorry for giving you such a hard time.) There's just one more thing I want to say before I get kicked off. PLEASE PLEASE "dear elder" (go to dearelder.com it's self explanatory. I'm at the Provo MTC and going to the Seoul Korea mission...it's
easy!) me and/or send me letters.  My address is on facebook and on my blog (thegreatlifeofmissamanda.blogspot.com) and letters are really great in boosting confidence and getting over frustrations.  Tell me anything!  I would love to be able to leave the MTC with at least a small handful of letters from friends and family...plus I can spend more time reading those and I'll see them more than just during my 30 minutes on P-Days.  I love you all and hope you are all doing well. Love, Sister McClellan  P.S. Mom, Dad, Evan, and Danny, I'm writing you another letter today...one with more detail and that's more personal.  I love you all so much!!!!  Stay awesome!!!!!!!  P.P.S. Sorry about any typos...no spell/grammar check >.<

So...I'm leaving on a mission!

Tonight I get set apart as a missionary!!!!  It's actually happening!  (finally)

I had a big ole concert last night...all sacred music.  It was fun.  I did alright, not my best, but not too bad.  And it's over!  That's a pretty cool thing!  Afterwards we had a bunch of people over for ice cream sundaes which were delicious.  We then pulled out my mom's birthday cake and had her blow out the candles.  (it was yellow butterscotch chip cake with homemade chocolate frosting...I burnt the butterscotch a little, so it sounds better than it tastes...unfortunately).

Today I'm going to be finishing up my packing, tying up loose ends, getting the last few things I need for the mish, and getting set apart.  Then tomorrow at 1:20 I board a plane for Utah, and I then MTC it up starting Wednesday!  I'm so incredibly excited!

I'm going to have my parents keep up my blog and my facebook for me while I'm gone...so hopefully it gets done!  I'll put all my mission info on here today so it'll be here and on facebook.

I honestly can't wait to go!  It's going to be fantastic, I just know it!

~Manda

If my family were all played by actors in the movie of my life.

I got sent home from work today for being sick. It hasn't been fun.  I'm not sure what I have but I'm congested, have a cough and a sore throat, have chills and am rather nauseous.  Overall, I feel rotten.  So I decided to start the casting for when they finally decide to make my life into a movie...and I started with my family.

This was hard, but I think I ended up with a good cast.  Now, they're not really chosen based on looks (my brothers are all blond and all the actors I have are brunette, I know), it's more cuz I felt like they'd be awesome playing that person in my family.  So, with that said, here you are, the McClellans celebrityified:

Davis Cleveland as Daniel McClellan

Zachary Gordon as Evan McClellan

Anton Yelchin as Davis McClellan

 

Ellen Page as Amanda McClellan

Robert Downey Junior as David McClellan

And Sandra Bullock as Lynda McClellan

So yeah, that's the cast I have so far for the movie of my life.  It's pretty exciting.  That's all, back to my sick bed.

~Manda

Mission Papers: Officially sent off and everything!

So tonight I got a voice mail from my mom that informed me that my mission papers are all officially in and everything!  I'm so excited!  It was kind of funny because I was at work eating my peanut butter and jelly sandwich dinner when I checked my voice mail and I literally jumped up and down (which hurt because I sprained my ankle slipping on the ice last night).  And the next customer who came in was the first person I told....I'm just soooooo totally excited!  So far I've had lots of ideas from people as to where I'll get sent:

• My Bishop: Costa Rica or Argentina
• Grandma: somewhere Spanish speaking
• Aunt Jean: Portugal (or SLC...that's what I've heard A LOT: Temple Square!!)
• Mark the Shark: Pennsylvania or Scottland
• Jimmy: Russia
• Shuey: Nebraska or Germany
• Customer: NYC
• Josiah: Japan or Temple Square
• and me (today's feelings anyway): Kansas or Temple Square for state side and Germany or somewhere in Africa for foreign (I change my mind on kind of a daily basis...so many great places, cannot choose which!)

For now I think I might put up a world map up somewhere and put flagged pins where people guess...I want lots of guesses (it's fun...maybe a little cheesy, but still fun).  I honestly don't know where I'd want to go and I really don't care where I get sent, I'm just so excited!  And in addition to all this, I just got a new calling as of yesterday--I'm now a ward missionary.  I'm super stoked!  I'm kind of sad I'm not in charge of all the music (cuz I love music AND being in charge) but I am very excited for my new calling!

So yeah, if you are reading this and can think of a place where I'd get sent, just let me know!

Love ya!
~Manda the future full-time missionary

Cleaning Check Procrastination!

Has it really been that long?!  I used to be so good about blogging and journaling, and now... Well, that's the past now, oh well.

Life has been exciting!  I'm just about done with school, I have an awesome job, a few fun voice students, amazing roommates, a ton of really great friends, and so naturally I will tell you about those things rather than finish up for cleaning check right now.  (I am unfortunately a procrastination addict.)

School's been good.  I miss taking a lot of classes.  Just taking voice is a little boring, but I'm doing some really fun stuff, so I guess it's ok.  I can't wait till my masters so I can take more classes...*sigh* oh well.

My job is good too.  I'm one of the top sales people in the store, my new boss really likes me (getting a new boss only a couple months after I'd started was an ordeal, but it's all fun now!)  It was awesome working there on Halloween because I (naturally) got put on candy duty.  I got to talk to all the little kids and gush over their fabulously fantastic costumes.  We ran out of candy so fast tho...it was CRAZY!!!!!!  I loved it tho..especially the part where multiple moms told me how great I was with kids and that with my enthusiasm I should work for Disney!  Now wouldn't that be fun (and so totally me?!)  I'm unfortunately too tall (and out of shape) to be a princess at one of the parks, but I would seriously love to work for Disney...that'd be awesome!

Our favorite quickly photoshopped pic...the only pic of all five of us...and none of us were together when we took it!  hahahaha

My roommates...where do I start?!  Well, I seriously LOVE LOVE LOVE them!!!!!!!  We all have so much fun all the time and we all get along so well.  We've made so many plans, some of which might not ever happen, but a lot of our plans already have!  Two of our things that I'm really excited for is our early Thanksgiving and our early Christmas.  We decorated like CRAZY for Halloween, and now we're going to have a little apartment Thanksgiving dinner on the Sunday before Thanksgiving and then an apartment Christmas on December 12.  We have a "family" prayer and scripture study at least once a week where we go through apartment goals and read scriptures, talk about things that have happened throughout the week and all kneel in prayer together.  Just so you can know who and what I'm talking about for future reference here's a little about them all:

Briana (pronounced: BrAI-ana not BrEE-ana...she doesn't like it said wrong...and who could blame her, it's her name) is a freshman at BYU and just about the cutest thing you'd ever see!  She is our FHE mom and is always making sure we're doing ok.  She's super sweet and super social...kind of impossible to not love!

Kassie is Bri's sister.  They share a room and are so so cute in the way they act together.  Kassie's on the BYU color guard, is a junior, and dresses super cute!  She's always so happy and excited about things...it makes living with her absolutely FANTASTIC!!!  Kassie and Bri are also from Spanish Fork..just thought you'd like to know that!

Claire is also a freshman at BYU.  She's from Montana, super smart, was Valedictorian of her high school, applied late to BYU and got in with an almost full ride scholarship (she'd have had a full ride if she were a member.)  She's super cool...like SUPER cool!!!!  I love talking to her about religion because she grew up mostly Lutheran and has a lot of Catholic background too.  She comes with us to church occasionally (which is always fun because then the five of us get to be together at church..yay!!!)  But yeah, she's awesome!!!

And then there's Brooke.  She and I hit it off starting day one!  She is so bright and happy all the time, which is good for me (cuz I tend to occasionally not be those things a lot...sometimes).  I absolutely LOVE my Brooke!  She makes life absolutely fantastic!  She puts up with my crazy, is so loving and nice to everyone, helps push me to make friends (I'd be a hermit without her)...oh wow, I just love my Brookery!!!!

So those are my roommates!  Aren't they awesome?!  Well, like I said, I've got a LOT of friends now...it's kind of crazy, but I'm only going to share a little (a very little) about a select few of them.  There are these two apartments down the hall that are right across the hall from each other and my apartment calls them the "touchdown apartments" (long story, but they are the "touchdown apartment" boys.)  They are pretty exciting.  The Glenwood is doing this big film contest, and their's is probably going to win...once it's online I'll post it here and then you'll be able to see how awesome they are!  hahahahaha...it's fantastic!!!  (We basically love "Hot" Allen, Chirss, the Heeb, "touchdown" Justin, Rad Dad Chad, Josie, and pretty much all the boys in touchdown!)

This is Chirss (he's really Chris, but what's the fun in that).  He dressed as a Zombie slayer for Halloween...he's going to protect us during the Zombie apocalypse!

Starting with the guy holding the spear: Rad Dad Chad, Justin, Josiah (Josie), Shawn, Cody, and then the Heeb is the one being eaten by the gator

Two "hot cops", a hippe, and a zombie slayer...no wonder they're our favorites!

Brooke and I with "hot cop" Allen at the "Unleash the Freak" Halloween dance

So that's life more or less...now I unfortunately really DO need to be cleaning...dang :(

Bye, love ya!

~Manda

Bri, Brooke, and Claire right before True Blue

Bri, Brooke, and Claire after True Blue

The night we stole doughnuts from the Krispie Kreme dumpster and then hung out at Walmart...it was awkward cuz I ran into someone I work with that night...yeah, but fun times!

We had two fish, Waffles/Finn and King Louie...but we ended up accidentally killing them in less than a week...we didn't get new fish, but we did hold two funerals for them.

Bri, Kassie, Brooke, and Claire hiking the Y...I was at work :(

Bri (cave woman), Brooke (Robin Hood), Claire (little Bo Peep),  and Kassie (something awesome) at the ward Halloween party with Brother and Sister Morris (bishopric...Where's Waldo and Carmen San Diego...they found BOTH of them...yeah my roommates are cool like that)...I was at work this night too

Brooke, Claire and I all dressed in black and creeped around BYU on the real Halloween...this was when we turned wild! 

a dinosaur Brooke and I found on our way home from church

Minnie Mouse, Robin Hood, and the infamous pineapple!

Before the creeping and wild woman part of our Halloween creepin'

The day we decided to dress like each other for our ward introductions at ward prayer...we were sad cuz Claire was in Montana this Sunday