My very first post in the MTC!

I love you all. Oh, and I miss you all a ton!

How are things going at home? I hope well :) I pray for you all every day about how you can find happiness and trust that The Lord will help you through any struggles that you all may face. I know it may be hard with me gone, or maybe not at all! But know that I think of you all often. Especially when we are taught that families can be together forever (this is for my family:). I want nothing more than be that with you all. In this past week I have gained so much knowledge about the love that our Father in Heaven has for all of His children! Yes, even mother's and father's. WE are ALL His sons and daughters. He wants nothing more than to see us happy in this life and in the life to come. He wants to limit each of your stress, unhappiness, sadness, and solely fill you all with the joy of this everlasting gospel!

As a missionary, we are being taught here more in depth about the beautiful gospel of Jesus Christ. Here, at the Missionary Training Center WE as missionaries are converted and choose to change our lives, our thoughts, our choices, our actions, and be merely obedient to what Heavenly Father wants us to be. Which is that we serve Him with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength! Yes, we have a very strict schedule.. But let me say, I have never realized how much time we can waste in just one day alone. We have to be at breakfast BY 6:30am, which wakes us up at about5:30am. Then we have a ton of personal study time, companionship study time, and class. We have about four teachers that help show us how to become amazing missionaries by serving the Lord diligently and serving His people the same. THEN in the middle of that all, we have lunch and dinner.. Then more of the studying and classes! Then at 10:15pm we have what is personal time with our Father in Heaven and writing in our journals. I choose at this time to report to God of the things I have learned this day and ask Him what it is that He thinks I need to fix, need to change. Then I sit and listen, listen for His reply. It usually is by just a feeling of comfort, happiness, or even a thought! Communicating with Him is one of the 2 ways we can be in touch with heaven. He keeps the door slightly cracked and through prayer, being the first one, and through the companionship of the Spirit, we can be in touch with Heaven and feel His love as often as we want. BUT, that is up to us.

I have been called here to serve a mission as a representative of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I am to love those whom I teach these lessons to, and be led by the Spirit to teach them what it is exactly that God wants them to know. I know I don't feel qualified to do this work, but we were not called because we ARE qualified, but because we are His chosen elect and He will qualify us!

Me and my companion, Sister Williams, get along great! It's neat to always have someone with you 24/7...but don't worry, I have my privacy when I am in the shower and using the facilities. haha! She is from Pennsylvania. Her and I act SO MUCH alike, it's ridiculous. She is just as silly and goofy as I am. I love her! We do this thing every day, called companionship inventory, and her and I figure out what we can do better as a companionship and set goals for ourselves. For instance, having a more effective companion study or making sure we remember to pray together before bed and when we arise. Her and I have been blowing minds left and right of the light and love that we bring with us every where we go. Even to the investigator that we teach, who really is our teacher.. shhh haha! But on a serious note, our Branch President and his counselors, similar to a Bishop and his two counselors, assigned the two of us to be the Sister Training Leaders. SO COOL!! We take care of the Zone Sister Missionaries. There are 9 of us, one is a trio! Within a Zone there are Elders and Sisters. We are amazing, THEY are amazing. I love them so much. I have had some of the most spiritual experiences with them. My comp and I are assigned so that we may help these Sister come closer to Christ!

My address is:

Sister Layne V. Garretson

DEC18 UT-SLCS 

2009 N 900 E Unit 170

Provo, UT 84602

I want you to know you DO NOT have to worry at all. I am being well taken care of here. Oh and let me tell you, the food is an ALL YOU CAN EAT buffet. I have to be careful how much I eat or else I will be gaining some weight! Lol

I want to leave you all with something that has really touched my heart this week.

So Jesus Christ is the center of it all. Because of Him we are able to return and live with both Him and God again. Christ is the vine and we are the branches! His work abides in us as missionaries, but only if we abide in Him. His love is what changes the world. He can provide that joy in us but only if we strive to follow and live His commandments. We are called as missionaries to share this love with others! We don't only follow the commandments of "thou shalt not," but also the first and foremost important commandment that we "love one to another" (John 15:1-16). This goes along with how we teach our investigators.. Our trainer told us to look upon them as if they are wearing all white, see the potential Heavenly Father sees in them, and most importantly LOVE them as He loves them. These things that we teach to them are not of a man's wisdom, but of a "demonstration of the Spirit and of Power" (1 Corinthians 2:4).

I am so happy to be here! I am learning so fast, it's overwhelming at times. But I am glad I decided to take part in the Lord's work!

I love you ALL!!

Sister Garretson