Surprise!!!!

surprise!!!! happy tuesday.....it's my new P-Day! it was news to me......as of saturday. don't ask me how i feel about it. don't ask me how i feel about it. don't ask me how i feel about it. hahaha. we have a new schedule because it's summer now for BYU......so our teachers want to like....sleep in and have lives....or something like that. GROW UP.

hahahahahahahahahahahahaha bless their hearts. anyways. you'll be hearing from me on tuesdays for the remainder of my MTC stay....which BY THE WAY is on the downward slope now. can you believe it? i can't. nope, not one bit.

this past week i was DEATHLY SICK. like, okay fine.....not DEATHLY. but like kind of deathly. it was to the point that everywhere i went, people would go, "oh my goodness are you okay?!" -

my nose was stuffed. like super stuffed. every time i tried to breathe, my nostrils wouldn't move. so i spent most of my nights laying awake in my bed, because i was scared if i went to sleep that i would die. and my eye like wouldn't open all the way hahahahahahaha soooooooooooo you don't get a lot of pictures this week.........because i wasn't looking camera ready. but it was seriously the sweetest thing...........one day that i came into class, the elders just took one look at me, and walked out. so i was like, oh sad....they think i'm going to like spread a disease to them. and they came back like fifteen minutes later with ICE CREAM! oh, it was the cutest darn thing ever. i was sooooooooooooooooo happy, my goodness. like you have no idea. so-----that was sweet. annnnnnnnnnd on that note.......today my favorite (i feel bad saying that) elder went home today. like home-home. saint george home. ummmmmmmmmmm like i'm so sad. our district just got so much smaller! like now there are only six of us......and now i'm like the only one carrying the humor on hahahaha. but really, i'm just sad about it. he is going home for medical reasons.....and i don't really know what's going on. i just feel bad when people go home. and i will just miss him a lot. he made me think of home, and family, because he was just a really cool kid....really humorous.....and really in tune with his emotions. he would always talk about how sweet his grandparents are, how great his family is, and he'd cry. ALL THINGS WALLACE/SMITH. hahahahah. anyways. i told him when i get married he's going to have no choice but to be my wedding videographer...because he is AMAZING with film. and he does wedding films! soooooooooooooooooooooooooo hopefully i get married so that i can give him some business ;)

next up on some housekeeping business....................where the heck are you guys? why does no one write me?! likeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee okay fine i need to hear some updates!!!!! it's like no bueno when you are at the MTC and mail is delivered TWICE a day....and you get no letters. for like a week hahahaha. sooooo like send me some mail hahaha. AND THAT GOES FOR MY FRIENDS, TOO. WHERE ARE YOU?! WHO'S ENGAGED?! WHO'S DATING?! WHO'S DOING SUMMER CLASSES?! WHERE ARE YOU?! yes.....this is supposed to be a guilt trip. i hope it works.

moving right along to the good and happy stuff.............................my life is amazing. like let's just talk about this weather for a second, shall we?! where did it come from? it's perfect! every second that i can be outside.....which isn't like THAT much....i enjoy it. the flowers are so pretty here. they are everywhere! and there are so many pretty trees and stuff. i took a picture next to my favorite blossom tree...i don't know if you still have the last one i sent home, but if you do, look at how much it's blossomed!!!!! that's how i feel, too. i feel like i've like literally blossomed since i've been here. i've been growing in talents i didn't even know i had! and it rocks.

we have "speak your language days," and i LOVE them. we add another day every week, so this week is 4 days of only ukrainian, next is 5, then 6, and then................................7! and then i'll be in ukraine. holy cow. so crazy. so great. so exciting.

oh, and my sweet mission president sent me a little email that said:  "i read a quote once: 'act enthusiastic, and you'll be enthusiastic!' that should have been written under your picture! you are truly a wonderful example of a positive and happy person. your love of the Gospel, and life, is contagious and the people of ukraine will catch that. you are an incredible example in our branch. thank you."  is that not the cutest thing you ever did read?! i just about melted in my chair. i thought you might like to hear that, too.

okay, so my spirtual thought for this email. first of all, as of sunday, there were 1258 sister missionaries in the MTC. we got to listen to the new President of the General Young Women's Board talk to us. she said something like, "the Prophet said that all women beginning at age 19 could serve a mission if they so DESIRED.......and look at all those that had that desire." isn't that perfect?! like what a great way to think about that. everyone here HAD THAT DESIRE TO SERVE. and it's amazing. 1258! wow. no wonder there is never enough food (did i mention my meal time is now 2 hours later than it used to be.....we never get any food anymore). but i just think this whole missionary thing is seriously the most amazing thing. i need the Gospel so desperately in my life....and so does everyone else. i can't wait to tell the people of ukraine what i know. i can't wait to tell them that there is hope. there is light. and the answer is jesus christ. he is the only way we can ever fully solve our problems. the only way. he is the only way we can be truly happy. any two people can accomplish ANYTHING, as long as one of them is the Lord. I know that I can do anything with the Lord. i know that he'll be laboring WITH ME as i serve my mission, because this is HIS WORK, and HIS glory. it is just so amazing to me.

another thought. in church, the mission presiden't wife spoke about "beginnings." she talked about how all beginnings are hard. any time you're "beginning" something, whether it be a paper you're writing, a new stage in life, marriage, babies, new places, ect.....it's hard. because it's new. i thought so much on my own life.....and all the beginnings i've started. i thought about all the things that i've done that have been hard.........and then all of my favorite things i've ever done. it all traces back to that beginning, when i pushed myself enought to let myself grow. i've realized i'm happiest when i'm growing. if i'm not growing....then what am i doing? nothing worthwhile, i guess. you know?! like if i'm not learning something about myself.....then i need to change something in my life. there is always room to grow, which means there is always room to begin something new. You can't swallow the world all at once, but you can definitely get some big gulps. why sip, when you can gulp?! hahaha i think that missions are all about creating new beginnings for people. for the actual missionary (hi, i'm referring to myself here), but also for all people. i want everyone i teach to have a new beginning. i want them to begin to follow jesus christ....because He will show them happiness.

yesterday i studied in Alma 26.....can i just tell you that i LOVE this chapter as a missionary? it talks all about the sons of mosiah, and what THEY felt like as missionaries. alma 26:12 has been one of my favorite scriptures for a while....and the chapter is one of my favorite chapters right now. it talks about how they left their homes, they left things behind ("privations"). they struggled....to the point that they said, ".......when we were about to turn back....." HOWEVER.....they said they couldn't even begin to describe how much they were blessed. they had no idea how much the lord would bless them! and they brought THOUSANDS into the Gospel. thousands. but they knew it was all because of God, and Christ. And i love how they say, "who can talk too much of Christ." (or something along those lines). I FEEL LIKE THE SONS OF MOSIAH. i feel like this. i can not talk enough about how much i have been blessed. i can not even begin to tell you how much i have felt the Lord's hand. i've been blessed up to the sky and beyond. and i feel so happy. i love being a missionary. my prayers are like literally at least a half an hour every night..........because i just sit and talk about how blessed i am. i wish you could even begin to know how much i have been blessed here. i can't wait to tell you stories. i am grateful every, single day to be alive. i am grateful to be a missionary. i'm grateful to be me. i'm grateful to have a living prophet on the earth. i'm so grateful for everything that i have. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh life is wonderful.

this week in "is that really necessary."

#1 i ran into brooklin at a devotional. i gave her a hug and we were talking....and this usher (please just die with me over the fact that they call them ushers here) comes like running up to us and holds a sign in our faces that says "reverent please." and doesn't even say a word to us. ummmmmmmmmmm like IS THAT REALLY NECESSARY.

#2 oh, this morning i did laundry. we leave and come back and get our stuff as soon as it's done. so i come back to switch my laundry to the dryer. i got there like 2 or 3 minutes after my machine stopped......and this girl was like throwing my clothes out onto the floor. i just started laughing. like is that really necessary? she had so much rage, i just let her keep going.

if you send me a package soon (please send me one :) pleeeeeeeeeeeease) then i would love some cinnamon bears! or something like that. and cheez itz. like the parmesan ones. or Four cheese ones. now that our meals are so spread out.....we have dinner, and then gym....and then don't eat until really late the next day for breakfast. and that's what i've been craving. and i'd love any conference talks you want to send. i love reading those. and i'd love like a deep or leave-in conditioner. and i love the mints that dad sends. you are just the very, very, very best. i mean that with all the genuine-ness i  can muster out of myself. i love you all and am just so grateful for you in my life. i can't wait to hear about Vegas, mom!

also....my favorite teacher was talking about funny wisdom teeth conversations......and i told him about my video. he was like I NEED TO SEE THIS. so he watched it on our break, and thinks it's the most hilarious thing. so now he keeps referencing the bachelor, or sean lowe, or me keeping secrets from the taboloids. it's really great.

  

well. i love you all. i expect to be getting letters from every one of you. aldkfj;dlfkjdf;klajdsf;l kdj;kalfjadl;kfj;sdlja;kdlfja;sdlkfj i just love you soooooooooooooooo much. things are wonderful.

life is wonderful.

xoxoxoxoxo sister jasmine Wallace

 i lovvvvvvvvvvvvve writing in my journal. thanks baby bean

there is this tree that literally smells like cream soda. this is me smelling it, like i do on a daily basis.

my tree

temple day

 yesterday i got to study outside. yayyyyyyyyy

just because

temple day

my nametag fell in the toilet......oops.

1 Month

wait a second.....how on earth did this happen.....how in the WORLD is it already wednesday again!?!?!?!?!?!? i'm dying about it. this week FLEW.

i love you guys. oh, thank you for being the best family in the entire world. i'm so blessed to have you all. i'm so blessed that we are so close...and i hope you know how much i love and appreciate you all. i just really do. i just wish i could sit and talk to you every night and tell you how great my day was. i was talking to a girl the other night and we just both looked at each other and said, "I JUST MISS MY FAMILY!!!!!!!" so thanks for being the best ever.

another great week. oh, and did i mention this is my ONE MONTH MARK?! can i get a whooo whoooo?! i don't know how this happened, but i guess it did? so i have been celebrating all day. because it's P-DAY, and a one month anniversary of being on a mission :)

sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo i don't really even know where to start! i guess i'll just tell you what the theme of this week has been in my head. i have been thinking so much about being WILLING. let me elaborate. how often do we have things in life that we have to do. like callings, homework, jobs, etc. We do it because we want to...and because we have to. I've been thinking a lot about WILLINGLY succumbing to the Lord's will, and doing things with a willing heart. In Mosiah 3:19 it talks about "yielding to the enticings of the Holy Spirit....[and being] willing to submit [to all] things." That's not just saying we need to do what the Spirit tells us to...but that we need to do it willingly. I have thought about that a lot. it's kind of like the true test of faith. the true test OF LIFE. how willing are we, how willing am I, to yield willingly to the enticings of the Spirit?  I have thought a lot about the life of Christ....and how we must follow Him. We follow Him because we love Him. I follow Him, because I love Him. Not only did He die for me....but he did so WILLINGLY. he at any time could have decided he was done.....or he could have done it grudgingly...but he did it all out of his own free will.....and he did it willingly. (do you get the point here hahahah..let me just say WILLINGLY like twelve more times for you). but doesn't that just send shivers down your spine.....that He was so willing to die for you? that he was willing to literally suffer to His death for YOU. ohhhhhhhhhhhh the joy. so putting that into perspective for my mission....i want to freely give myself to God. I want to grow in my willingness to serve, my willingness to be the best that i can be, and my willingness to yield to the Spirit. I know that in God's strength, I can do all things. It's actually amazing to think about that- ALL THINGS. the world is at my fingertips........and through the strength of God and the Atonement of Jesus Christ....I can literally do all things.   Spiritual thought of the day. Hope you feel uplifted :)

 moving along.......this week in IS THAT REALLY NECESSARY:

-i went to the usual sunday night devotional. i waited in a swarm of people for like a really long time.....to get into the room where ushers were pretty much shoving people out because apparantely there weren't any more seats and i was just like....oh nuuuuuuuuuuuhhh uhhhhhhh if i had to wait for an hour to be here...i will stay here. i KNOW that there are two seats in here that you can put my companion and me in. and because of my stubbornness....we got seats :) but we were separated and i was put into a sea of Asians (that is in no way supposed to be racist.....it's just the truth and it gives an added effect to the story). so they all are from Asia (naturally) and none of them speak english that well....because they are all wearing headsets (for translating). so just picture me in this setting. just like literally in the dead center of this group in the middle of the auditorium. And i'm just enjoying the devotional....until i smell literally the WORST SMELL of my life. and i'm just like....what is happening, what is happening, what is happening. and i look around and THEY HAVE ALL TAKEN THEIR SHOES OFF. like..........................no. oh, it was truly awful. like...welcome to America......we don't do that here. so i was really uncomfortable for the rest of that meeting.

-okay another issue that i've run into is that people think that they are literally like freaking opera singers. NO YOU ARE NOT.....you're just not. if you think you are a great singer...chances are....you're probably not which is totally fine, because like i'm not going to act like i am....but you don't need to act like it either! my biggest pet peeve is that everyone sings FULL ON OPERA SONGS EVERY, SINGLE TIME THEY SHOWER. all the showers are like connected, you know? like it's just a big, common bathroom with like five or six showers on both sides. and every time i walk in, or shower, girls are just going to town singing. which may not seem annoying...but it is IN EVERY WAY annoying. just picture yourself wanting to enjoy a nice, hot shower in peace....and all you hear around you is off-key singing. not only that, but it's LOUD. and coming from everyone around you. ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh it's just bad.

Another funny incident was that this week we have had SYL days (speak your language). it's just where pretty much no english is allowed. so that's super fun most of the time. anyways. i was talking in ukrainian to some elders in our zone.....and they walked away at the end. and these other elders that had been vacuuming like come up to me and they're like kind of awkwardly smiling and like just being super awkward, in general. and one of them like you could tell wanted to say something to me...and he just goes, "um.....DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.....yoooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...speaaaaaaaaaaaaaakkkkk...ennnnnnnnggggggggliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhh??????" like super slowly, and awkwardly. i was literally about to pee my pants. like, first of all it's hilarious because my ukrainian is like not even good......and he seriously thought i was like a foreign missionary. so i just kind of shook my head and quietly said, "eh no." it was pretty great. i just pictured the people of ukraine going, "doooooooooooo.....youuuuuuu....speak......ukkkkkkkkrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnniiiiiiiiiiaaaaaaaaaaaannn???" as i'm like trying to talk to them in ukrainian. i can already see it :)

  

well. to sum things up.....i'm really loving life. I think it's amazing that over the course of the last four weeks....i've learned more than i've probably ever learned. i see things in a completely different way. i see the Gospel in a completely different way. i see myself in a completely different way. i've realized that i'm here to pursue a different part of ME. i've spent my life pursuing the part of myself that i'm not focusing on here. i'm focusing and bettering this part of myself that i don't think i could have discovered in any other way. in fact, i know that i couldn't have discovered it in any other way. i'm so happy that i get to be here. i'm happy that i get to learn so much every, single day. I want to put the same enthusiasm that i have for life, and for my mission, into being a true disciple of Jesus Christ. I want to do everything i can, every day, to be better. to do better. and i can. because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, i can. when i think of the atonement, i think of a bird in a cage......and the bird just being released into the world........being free. that is what the Atonement allows me to do every day. it allows me to be free. free from worries. free from sin. free from heartache. free from loneliness. free from all things holding me back from reaching my full potential. just remember that none of our problems can be TRULY solved without Jesus Christ. they will never be TRULY solved....without Christ.

  

I love you all. i pray for you all. i think about you all....all the time! i can't wait to send home my letters this week. i have a special something for baby bean :) so that will be fun. keep sending me stuff! but lay off the junk.......unless you want me to look like a fat-so. but seriously, thanks for the packages. my district LOVES you. so much. i love you so much.

  

oh and also i was walking out of the temple today and a sweet woman was like oh my goodness can i take your picture and send it to your mom?!?!?!?! ummmmmmmmmmmmm YES YOU CAN! so i hope you got that, mom. she was the sweetest. i truly love you all. be expecting things in the mail.

  

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

jazzy/sister wallace

this is me doing some light reading. nothing like some ukrainian on a sunday afternoon.

i went back to the outside world and my teeth are HEALED!!!!! yahoooooooo

hahahahahhahhahaha... sorry boys lots of new sister missionaries.    

the girls on our temple walk. we take them every sunday....

another ukrainian pic

my view

thanks for the goodies

heyyylooooo

family!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! good heavens, how great are you?!?!?!?! thank you soooooooooooooo much for my packages! especially the one yesterday!!! you are just unreal and i love you all so much.

this has been another wonderful week! i really don't even know what to tell you......other than everything is wonderful!!!!! oh, while it is on my mind...mom thank you so much for telling me about the happenings in boston....i had heard NOTHING...and i kind of had a freak out...because the mission laurel got reassigned to is boston. so i was like ajdfkldjfkl;sdfjad;klfjsd;klfajdkl;fajsf;lksdjfa;ksdlfjsd;klfjsd;fkl...and then i realized that the bombings happened the day BEFORE she got there...so thank you for dating the letter. how sad to hear about....but i just know that laurel is there for a very important reason. god needs her there just for a few weeks after this tragedy. i know she will touch someone's heart who needs the Gospel.

so i have some funny stories on my mind. first of all........i have been teaching new investigators (teachers acting as investigators), and there are volunteers from the community that come for us to teach them. kind of like having Sasha come, or someone that is a returned missionary from ukraine, etc. well.........i gave a lesson that went REALLY well and i said in the most direct way, "artem....will you be baptized?!" and he just started laughing so hard. come to find out....i said, "artem.....will you shower?!" so bad. i was laughing so hard, so i was like.....seriously artem, you just smell really bad, and it's starting to become really distracting. hahahahaha i crack myself up. artem is actually one of my favorite teachers, Brother Adams....so it was no big deal, but still hilarious. i can foresee some really awkward REAL language mistakes once i get to ukraine. DY-ING laughing right now.

laurel left tuesday morning. i got to say goodbye ROUND TWO. but i am so excited for her. it has been so fun having her here, and we even got some pictures! brooklin came in on wednesday and she probably thinks i stalk her, because i am always like heavy breathing over her shoulder......we are ALWAYS in the same places. and i just love her.

church was in russian this week. they have us all prepare talks, and then they randomly call people out of the congregation to speak. i was like "please don't call on me, please don't call on me, please don't call on me...." and.............they didn't. i'm a lucky duck. the good news is that when they do call on me.....only six other people in the room would really understand what i'm saying...because there are only seven of us who speak ukrainian. annnnnnnnnnyways.

last night we had the apostle Richard G. Scott come and talk to us. can i tell you how perfect it was?! oh. my goodness. i was sobbing. well, not sobbing. but doing the cindy cry. like crying, but trying to act like i'm not. he was unreal. i felt like i was floating. he said over, and over, and over, and over again that he just felt so prompted to let everyone that was learning another language know that we would master it. he gave us an apostolic blessing that we would not only learn the language, but MASTER it. he even finished his talk, sat down, we sang a closing hymn, and he got back up and said it again. and then he went on to tell us how we were not sent here to fail. we were not called on missions to fail. we were called by inspiration to the very places that we're going, speaking the languages that we are because God needs us. and He has promised us that we will succeed. i wish you could have just been in the room. not a single, dry eye. it was the most powerful thing EVER. he spoke for a while to the sister missionaries, saying, "YOU WILL NEVER, EVER, EVER REGRET THIS DECISON TO SERVE A MISSION. your husband, your children, your families will be blessed FOREVER because of this decision. you will raise your families in righteousness. you will have strong marriages. you will never, regret this." i was just sobbing, because the Spirit was so strong...i can't even describe it. i can feel blessings. i can already feel them. i know that everything good that ever happens to me, will be a consequence of this mission. it's just the best thing in the world. i wish everyone could experience this. i wish everyone could know what this is like.

i've been thinking about this little analogy that our choir teacher was telling us yesterday. PS he is hilarious, and the song we sang in the devotional last night was "Nearer My God to Thee." he directed it in conference two years ago....and it was the most powerful rendition of the song. look it up on youtube, i'm sure it's there. maybe you can get an idea of what it was like last night. anyways, he was talking about "fiery trials," and comparing it to metal being like shaped and molded in a fire. how in order to produce silver, the metal must be left in the fire, and you know it's done when you can see your reflection in the silver. (i'm rambling, hope this makes sense to you). i have thought so much about that. that when we're going through something hard, we're sitting in a flame. But beautiful things happen when you allow metal to sit in the flames. you pull it out when you know it's done.....and you are left with something beautiful. God lets us sit in flames in order to shape us, mold us, and teach us how to have faith. we must have faith that HE KNOWS BEST. he only allows us to sit in the flame until it's been enough time to teach us what we needed to learn. and then he pulls us right out. he pulls us out when He can see His reflection in us. He pulls us out when we have become more like Him, and been shaped, molded, and are left much more beautiful than we were before. isn't that perfect?!

it's amazing how much these last three weeks have taught me. i have learned more than i  could have ever learned any other way. i can't imagine how much more i'll learn over the next year and a half. we had this awesome lady come speak to us on sunday in relief society....and she was telling us the story of her mission. she pulled out her mission journal pages (from her binder) and held them up. she was like, "i'm holding all 756 pages of my journal from my mission. these 756 pages changed my life. there was a time that i wanted to come home from my mission......and if i did.....i would not have had the other 536 pages. what a tragedy that would have been." i think about if i hadn't come at all. i wouldn't have had all these journal pages that i already have. i can't even put into words how grateful i am that i am here. how grateful i am that i have the opportunity, and blessing, to be here. it is the best thing i have ever done.

so i find myself saying, "is that really necessary......" in my head a lot. so i thought i would share some of those thoughts with you, because i think it's funny.

#1........there are SO MANY ELDERS that for whhaaaateeeevvveeerr reason think it's cool to wear their CTR rings on their left hand, ring finger. Like, i'm sorry, but is that really necessary? like they think that they are going to get hit on or something. i'm sorry......but i think it is the most annoying thing. like......no. don't do that.

which brings me to #2.....kind of contradicting #1:

i'm sitting in the TALL lab like two days ago (TALL lab is where we put on headphones and listen to native speakers to learn the language better). and this elder is sitting next to me, going to Figi. He just randomly keeps breaking into conversation with me, and he's like, "so.......where are you going on your mission. sooooooo.....where are you from....soooooo......what school were you at before your mission....sooooo....what are your plans after your mission....soooooooooo....HOW HIGH ON YOUR PRIORITY LIST IS MARRIAGE.......(dying. dying. dying.) soooooooo.....you have facebook?"

like. there are no words to even explain this encounter. just IS THAT REALLY NECESSARY.

thanks again for your letters and packages. keep em' comin ;) i love you so much. i'll go write a letter after this addressing all the questions you have asked, and my favorite scripture and stuff. along with a list of things that would be nice to have ;) hahahahaahahahahahahahahahaah ohhhhhh i love you. i went to the temple today and since it's wednesday, there are new missionaries coming in......so there was this family taking pictures outside the temple when we came out, and i went and asked if they wanted me to take one of their whole family. of course they said YES, and the mom was like........i'm going to give you a big ole' hug from your mom, because i know she would want to hug you right now. i literally was just trying not to cry as she hugged me, because i just wish i could hug you, mommy. i wish i could hug all of you. but there is nowhere else i would rather be. i thought it was cute that she did that.

anyways. know that i pray like crazy for all of you. i talk about you all the time, and my district thinks you are wonderful. thanks for the cupcakes. 

love you to the moon and back.

xoxoxoxoxoxo sister (jazzy) wallace



thanks for the package yesterday!!!! everyone i passed was so jealous that i had such a huge box. my district was like, "what did your family send you your whole closet or something?" "ummm....nooooooooo.....not the whole closet...hahahaha"




we had a diet coke/cupcake party. MY KIND OF PARTY. (this was at the end of the night. lookin' rough. mind you...i had just sobbed for an hour while listening to Elder Scott)




we decorated for sister shaughnessy's birthday.





ran into shayla before she left for tennessee. 





we were trying to take a dramatic "candid" pic. NAILED IT




Laurel and I






this is my view all day

 



our missions- Laurel 2 missions




this is the tree right outside of my class building. i walk by every day and look at how much it blossoms...so i thought it would be fun to take a picture randomly in front of it until i leave. showing how much will change in both the seasons, and me, by the time i leave




companion and i




last week at the end of a long day.  TUESDAY nights are the best, because it's P-DAY eve.  So this picture was our happy p-day eve pic




me with an ukrainian fried brain




here's my nametag you asked for. it's cectpa...but those are different letters than our alphabet. so it's pronounced "sestra" (with a tongue roll)




how my name is in ukrainian. this is my nametag at my desk

  


the FIRST NIGHT I WAS HERE.

 


first night

 



LOTS OF LIGHT

family!!!!!!! hello!!!!!!!!! privit yachee spravey?!

crazy that i'm here emailing you again already!! so fast and so slow at the same time. good grief, i have so much i could tell you....i just don't even know where to start! first of all...the bookstore is out of these dumb card reader things..so i hope i can send the pictures that i have for you. i'm asking everyone if i can borrow one. anyways.

to start things off...super excited for david (divver) and his mission call!!!!!!! my guess is italy or north carolina. can't wait to hear! tell everyone hi for me :)

conference was so great. i loved every minute. it went by so fast.....here at the mtc conference and any sort of devotional, or speaker, is amazing. i joke that it's like we're at a taylor swift concert, because everyone pretty much camps out to get in line for the main room. and people are intense when it comes to being at the front of the line. people will literally push you. so bizarre. anyways...i think my favorite talk was Uchtdorf's on saturday morning. it's kind of like the theme of my letter this week. i just loved how he talked about LIGHT. and radiating LIGHT, so that the darkness can't exist. That's how i feel. There is darkness, there always will be. There will always be hard times, hard things in life.....always. BUT that doesn't mean you have to choose to dwell there. That's how i feel about my mission. There are hard things.....like the LANGUAGE. there is darkness, but i just don't choose to dwell there. and it's been great. i've felt like i've been basking in sunlight for the past two weeks. and when i find myself in the shade...i just leave. there's this girl that i've become friends with from my floor...and last night she was like....can you just be unhappy for a second?! just be unhappy for like ten minutes with me. and i was like....sister stevens....why on earth would i choose to be unhappy...even for ten minutes?!?! i loved your quotes of the day, dad, they just fit in perfectly with how i've felt.

in other news....i went to the OUTSIDE WORLD yesterday. as you heard hahahahahahahahaha (sorry that they had to call you) my jaw has been killing me. mainly when i eat...which is unfortunate because eating is the best part of the day! ewwwwwwwww. anyways. it has been hurting to chew. so i went to a REAL,LIVE dentist in provo. i actually passed dad's work.....and waved. anyways, it was the weirdest thing of my life, because i'm just ME. I'm just jasmine. but for the first time i was not Jasmine to everyone in the world, i was a missionary. people would like smile at me for no reason. or be like, oh look, the missionaries! it was so strange. like, so strange. but i got to hear the radio in the dentist's office...and i LOVED it. normally bruno mars is not on my top tunes...but for yesterday...he made the cut. i was singing "it all just sounds like oooooooooo oooooooooo oooo ooooo oooooooooooooo" for hours. good news, my teeth will be healed. YAYYYYYYY. i'm just on some drugs. 4 times a day. but i'll be healed and right back on the fast track.

speaking of eating.....there is ice cream on wednesdays and sundays! the highlight of the mtc experience has been seeing an ice cream buffet today. i couldn't contain myself and i get to see laurel at almost every meal. we just sit and talk. or walk and talk. or like sprint across the room to talk. it's so great. she's getting re-assigned to a new mission today..because she's waiting for her visa. i love being with her here, because it just feels normal seeing her. just like we're at school or something.

i wish i could be like....oh yeahhhhhhhhhhhh ukrainian is so easy! like, i'm fluent. ummmmm ask me to pray, or tell you good luck, i'm hungry, good morning/night/afternoon....or bear my testimony. other than that, i'm better at spanish. and i don't speak spanish. i just know more spanish words than ukrainian...only because of mexican cuisine terms. buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut it's okay! i'm just doing the best i can.......and that feels great. my biggest frustration has just been not being able to communicate what i want to with investigators. like...i know what i want to tell them in english. i know what i want to ask them. but i just can't. i can't, because i don't know how. for the first time in my life......I HAVE A HARD TIME COMMUNICATING!!!!!!! which is the point. i knew i would feel this way. so i'm like.....well good thing i already planned on feeling this way! so if you have any tips on how to conjugate ukrainian verbs and adjectives...send em' on over.

we get to listen to all these great devotionals, and one of the thoughts expressed at the last one was: imagine standing on the top of a cliff. God keeps asking you to come to the edge. but you're on a HUGE cliff. like you will die if you fall.
"come to the edge."
"i'll fall."
"come to the edge!"
"there's no way. i will fall."
"come to the edge."
so instead, he pushes you. he pushes you off the cliff..........and you fly.

oh, that just was the greatest story for me. God pushes me, because he knows i can fly. he knows i'm capable, and he's showing me that i am!!! i will keep going to the edge, because i know i cannot fall. and if i do, he won't let me hit the bottom. i know it.

oh, i just love you all. if you could maybe send me my pink comforter....that would make my life complete! i just have my sheets and the blanket mom made me for christmas, but my room is freezing at night. so that would be great. i'm sending you a letter in the mail. know that i love you. i think and talk about you all the time. thanks for the letters. thanks for the packages. thanks for the love. thanks for the prayers. i'm so happy. i'm so blessed. this is a wonderful life, and i'm so happy it's mine. sending lots of love your way.....happy p-day! (i tell that to everyone!!! and they just stare at me and go,"it's not even my p-day"). grumps.

welllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll please send me dear elders. they make my day like the best. hopefully i can find a camera card reader in the next few minutes.

xoxoxoxoxoxox jazzy/sister wallace

oh, feel free to send laundry detergent, too. like...no pressure. sorry that it seems like all i'm ever doing is asking for things......maybe because i am hahaahahahahahhahaha love you.



(Additional email that came through -sorry no pictures today)


welp. no card readers. the book store is FRESH OUT. no one wants to share theirs. because we only have so long to be on the computers....and everyone is being selfish. Christ-like, people! be Christ-like!!! grrrrrrrrrrr. i have pictures for you and i wish i could show you! it's so annoying that you need a card reader here. they don't trust us. who wouldn't trust ME?! wait, don't answer that. you can't just plug in your camera, or put in your memory chip. you have to have an actual CARD READER. so, if you know where to get one of those.....you should get one. and send it ASAP. then i can show you pictures next week. i just want you to see, you know?! the mtc is annoying sometimes. like LET ME SHOW PICTURES FROM MY CAMERAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

i'm trying to think of anything else i  can tell you while i watch the hourglass run out of time....................hmmmmm...................

 be expecting a letter. sending it in like thirty minutes?we're teaching volunteers ukrainian investigators tonight. like returned missionaries or native speakers.

MTC-1st email. THE VERY BEST

dobreyyyyyyyyyyyyy dennnnnn!!!!!!! hello!!!!!!!

ahhh how great and crazy is it that i have been here a week?! i love every, single thing about this place! like i can't even put into words how wonderful this is. it's wonderful to just BE a missionary. i have never learned so much in my life. every single day i think, "my life has literally just been changed." i'm still very much me. in fact, i think i am the "me-est" that i've ever been. i'm the very best ME i've ever been. this place is incredible. IN.CREDIBLE. it's like i'm constantly feeling Christ's love. I can constantly feel the Spirit. the only times i have cried since being here have been: when i met with my MTC mission president and he asked me how the MTC was going....and i started BAWLING and just being like, "i....just.....lovvvvvvvve....this...sniffle, gasp, sniffle.....place....soooooooo.....sniffle...much." it's true. i can honestly, genuinely tell you that i have never felt so whole, so complete, so wonderful. i've never felt so tested. so humbled. so challenged. so blessed. ever. everrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. like every day i'm so excited to wake up and go through the day. i'm so excited all day. that is not to say that there aren't hard things about being here. there are challenges. but the BEST part is that literally every time there is a "down"....i'm always lifted. for instance.....remember how i told you that i heard horror stories of the food and the orange juice? well OBVIOUSLY i was skeptical about all the food and beverages here. i didn't drink any of the juice...but one day i decided i would get a bottled orange juice...because it seems safe, right? well, let me tell it to you straight. i was so nauseaus for like an hour after. i felt SO sick. i was just praying that i could feel better so i could focus! and i puked my brains out for the next hour. and i was literally so happy as i was laying on the tile floor in the bathroom...throwing up. because i felt better! i felt better! and that was what i had wanted. it seems silly, but all my prayers have been answered (but i now don't trust any of the food here...or the people serving it). my MTC president said something along the lines of, "i like to think that God especially listens to the prayers of three groups of people: children, mothers, and missionaries." i believe it. i feel it. it's like everything i've asked for, i've gotten. i ask to be humbled, i'm humbled. i ask to understand the language- and i struggle for a while and then all the sudden this barrier is completely lifted.....and i completely grasp a concept!!!! i'm so grateful to be here!

the language is so amazing! i love learning it! it is so tricky, and hard to pronounce things because they pair letters and sounds together that i've never actually heard in my life. but the language will come! i have already learned so much...and i keep learning more like every hour hahah. but the coolest thing for me to realize, is that i don't need to know the language to communicate. the day i got here and my teachers were only speaking ukrainian...i obviously didn't understand a word they were saying. and i kept thinking to myself, "this is like one giant game of charrades......and i'm GOOD at charrades." because they would point to things and use big motions, movements, and animation to get their points across to us. so it was like this "ah-ha" moment when i was teaching our investigator, tamara, and i realized that i could play charrades with her. so i literally got up and moved around and pointed to things, and used big motions, and movements, and the words that i DID know...to have a conversation with her. my companion was DYING because i really was making a fool out of myself. but Tamara.....ukrainian speaking tamara....understood me. and i was able to understand her. it's amazing. i feel so grateful that i have enthusiasm and that i'm LOUD because it's helping me so much. i'm realizing my talents more and more every day, and realizing my areas of weakness. but i know that through my savior, my weaknesses can become my strengths.

i remember reading something by c.s. lewis once. it says something along the lines of "i don't want so much of your time, and so much of your effort, and so much of your talents. i want YOU. your whole self. give me yourself, and i'll give you something better. i'll give you myself." (meaning the Savior).

i hope can't wait to continue to be humbled. i picture the woman i want to be when i walk off the plane and return home from my mission. she doesn't just magically poof and appear. i have to become that person. i am becoming the woman that i want to be more and more every day. and you know.......i'm really loving it. i'm really loving this whole process. it's the best thing i've ever, ever, ever done. i know that my mission will be the best thing of my life. it already is.

p.s. my companion and i went to choir practice yesterday...thinking...oh yeah we'll sing and it will be fun. it was a FULL ON production. like altos, sopranos, four part melodies....and i'm just like "i don't even SING!" then they had us PERFORM in the devotional....and i was like singing "peas and carrots, peas and carrots" and the jumbo screen like zoomed in on me just like....being a fool. so bad.

i love you all. thank you for ALL you do. send me dear elders so i can hear what's going on with you!  i love you to the moon and back. much love from the MTC.


love always,
sister (jasmine) wallace

1-happy easter!!!! thanks for the eastaaaa basket!!!!

2-me and my friend sestra kelly. another girl in our district.

3-our district today at the temple. so amazing being a missionary at the temple. loved. it

4-thanks for the d.c. lifesaveeeeeeeeeeer

5-our district on sunday during our temple walk

6-me and my companion

7-me and laurel!!!! we see each other at almost every meal...and make laps around the cafeteria...because we're allowed to leave companions in the cafeteria for a moment.

8-all of us girls in our district. love them. so cute.