Travel Plans

Dear Missionary Parents and Supporters,

We are so excited that your missionary has been called to join us in serving the many good people who are living in the Wisconsin Milwaukee Mission!  We want to let you know what your missionary will be doing upon their arrival and during the first two days that they are in the mission.  See the schedule overview below:

Tuesday, November 30th

When your missionary arrives at the Milwaukee Airport on Tuesday, they will be welcomed by President and Sister Murphy and the assistants.

At the hotel where your missionary will be staying the first night, President and Sister Murphy will interview each missionary individually.  Later that night, all the new missionaries will participate in an "Introduction" Zoom Meeting with each other, President and Sister Murphy, the Assistants, Senior Couples and the Mission Presidency Counselors. 

Wednesday, December 1st

In the morning your missionary will be picked-up from the hotel and driven to the local Stake Center.  Upon arrival at the church, your missionary will be welcomed and introduced to other missionaries and also to the Mission Office Staff.   Then President and Sister Murphy will conduct a testimony meeting with the new missionaries.  President and Sister Murphy will also provide instruction and introduce your missionary to their companion and assigned area in the mission.  The Assistants will also provide training for your missionary and his/her trainer. After taking photos with President and Sister Murphy and their new companion (those photos will be emailed to you), your missionary will then leave with their new companion to their assigned area.

We are so excited to meet your missionary tomorrow and we want you to know how much your missionary is loved by us and the Lord. 

UPDATE: Text we received today (11/30/21) @8:24pm with photos

"Hello wonderful families! We wanted to let you know your awesome missionaries have arrived safely to Wisconsin. We are thrilled they are here! They will be meeting their trainers and going to their new areas tomorrow. Thank you for sharing your missionaries!!! President and Sister Murphy💕"

Best Day of My Life

Heyo Y'all!

This week was absolutely phenomenal. I adored every minute of it. 

Wednesday was crazy busy. We had our classes as usual, and meals before and after them. Speaking of classes we have had 8 teachers total. Our OG teachers left for Thanksgiving break to spend time with their families (understandable) and several of our substitutes did the same thing a day or two later. We definitely miss Brother Yauney and Brother Leavitt. They were fantastic. :)

After classes and meals Wednesday is when it started getting busy. We had two 45 minute workshops and a 20 minute Helping Others meeting in between them, all within two hours. It was go, go, go. Absolutely insane. XD 

Thursday was even more incredible. This is the day I would label the best day of my life (at least thus far haha XD).

We started the day off with Choir practice right after breakfast, and anyone who knows me knows how much I love singing. This is when we performed "Come Thou Fount". We were sitting in the seats anxiously waiting to find out who the General Authority we were being visited by was, and Elder Gary E. Stevenson came and sat on the stand. Now you may or may not have heard about this experience as it was on the church newspage, which, btw, is the COOLEST THING to ever happen to me. My face is on the church newsroom page!! I was beyond excited to find that out haha XD.

So we sang, and then we got to sit and listen to Sister Stevenson speak, and Elder Stevenson shared with us the Four Missionary Pillars of Gratitude. They are: our Missionary Purpose, Change of Heart, The Restoration, and the Constant Companionship of the Holy Ghost. It was beYOND amazing to be there in person as he shared this talk with us, and I know there is not a place on earth I'd rather be right now.

During lunch, which was our big meal for the day, Elder Stevenson ate in the cafeteria with us!!!!! We got to see him and some people got to take pictures and shake his hand. I did not get to take pictures or shake hands or anything then, but I got to be within 8 feet of an Apostle of the Lord which was EPIC!!!

After lunch we got to do a service project after hearing from Sister Eubank. Yet aNOTHER amazing talk. The service project was putting together like... idk how many like 26,000? bags of oatmeal to go to the Utah foodbank. We did two hours for each group, and there were two groups, so four hours to make them. It was absolutely incredible. Not only that, but I got to sHaKE EldEr SteVeNSoN's hAnD! He commented on my companion and I's matching dresses XD We got to talk with him for a minute before he moved on to talk to missionaries at another table. It was the cOOLEST!!! My thumb has been numb ever since (because I was in charge of pressing and sealing the oatmeal bags, but that part's not important XD).

After the service project we had our sack dinners in our classroom as a district, and that was both hilarious, stupid, and super fun and memorable. I adore my district. :) After I finished eating I also got to FaceTime over messenger my family while they were at one of my best friend's houses for Thanksgiving dinner. That was pretty awesome. I was excited to get to talk to everyone. :)

After that we went to the last devotional performance thing that evening, which was a musical performance by JON SCHMIDT!!!! I was hardcore fangirling. XD I'm certain the Elders in my district think I'm insane, but then again, when has that not been true?? XD XD

He even composed a song on the spOT for us. There was another performance where he started playing the base line of a blues jazz song, and asked if anyone wanted to come up and play with him. There was an Elder who went up and HOLY COW it was inSANE!!! The whole performance was just the best thing ever. He kept asking what time he had to end, and how many songs he could fit in, and the whole crowd of 700~ missionaries kept calling back "one more song! One more song!!" so he kept going. We got a 15 minute extension of our curfew to walk around campus and look at the Christmas lights that were finally on. :) 

So yeah, best day of my life. :D The coolest part was that I learned that Thanksgiving isn't just about the food. The service project and bringing people together was a much better experience than any food. I am proud to be what Elder Stevenson called a "Thanksgiving Missionary". I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. :)

The rest of the weekend was pretty regular, just classes. Our last day of classes was Saturday, and even now typing that makes me want to cry. Today is our last day all together as a district before most of us leave early tomorrow morning. (The others are leaving Wednesday morning.) That is also another thought that is plausible to make me cry. I absolutely adore my district, even more than I adored this week. It wouldn't have been nearly as good of an experience without them. 

We played volleyball as a district Saturday night because we're not allowed to go to the gym our last day. We had lots of fun until we got overrun by other people who were much better at volleyball, and far too competitive for our liking. Instead we ditched the gym and played around the world ping-pong in the rec room. We're playing again today for our last FHE and group thing before we leave. :( It was a lot of fun, and I'm really excited to play again. :D

Yesterday was our last Sunday here, and realizing I'll be in a Wisconsin ward next Sunday..... is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. That's inSANE. I don't want to think about that right now. XD

During Sacrament meeting the Sisters did a musical number. We sang "I Believe In Christ", and Sister Talakai played a self arranged version on the piano for our accompaniment. It was pretty cool. :)

Anyways, I think that's about it, this week was a long one for sure, but it was worth every minute of it. Thanks for tuning in! If you made it all the way through this email... I'm proud of you. XD I have a tendency to drone on haha XD.

Love you guys!!

Sister Lovell

Photo Link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/hH8UuZNVov71FYot7

Blog Link: https://sisterhannahlovellwisconsin.blogspot.com/

 

1) Our District at the temple on our last p-day

2) The Sisters at the temple

3) Meme I found XD

4) District at Thanksgiving Lunch

5) Best photo of the district so far

6) Best selfie of the district so far XD

7) Me on the church news room

[MTC Christmas lights]

[MTC Tree of Life lights]

Fire & Ice

Wassup my dudes!!

One of the Sisters in my district laughs every time I say that. (Which is often 😆)

This week was hectic, and crazy, but I wouldn't have it any other way. :) It started off with getting dropped off at the physical MTC, and saying goodbye to my family. It was super cool tho, because my cousin Elder (Lawson) Vest was with us when we were dropped off. I may have mentioned that in my last email, but my district hears about it everytime I see him. ("That's my cousin!") My only solace is he always seems just as excited to see me around as I him. 😆

Meeting my district in person was honestly the best thing ever. Sure sometimes things could be taken a little more seriously, but all in all, we have a lot of fun. :) 

I'm sure you're wondering what that title means, and it's quite a fun story 😆. So, the first day we got here, someone burnt popcorn and set off the fire alarm in the girls dorm. So we got to chill in one of the main buildings and just talk to some of the other sisters. It was quite the initiation.

As far as the Ice part goes, our dorm room's AC was stuck on cold, so by the time they fixed it, our room was measured to be 63⁰. It doesn't sound very cold, but our room felt like a refrigerator. Sleeping was rather miserable. I slept like a rock as usual, but two of the other girls were straight up not having a good old time.

We had a multitude of classes, devotionals, and workshops, and had lots of time to get to know our district. Maybe a little too well sometimes 😆. The week was crazy busy, and there was a lot of knowledge stuffed into my brain. I knew that would happen, and yet here I am.

Today is our first true p-day, because last week I was traveling. I was able to go to the temple with my district, and it was beautiful. I loved being able to go to an entirely new state, and see how the ordinances and covenants are exactly the same. I know that if I was to go anywhere in the world, it would be the same. 

Today we also got to do a bunch of regular p-day things like laundry, cleaning, etc. Several of us also got flu shots because they're apparently required 😆. 

The first choir practice was Sunday, and there was another at 5:30. We're singing Come Thou Fount, which so happens to be my favorite hymn (that isn't in the hymnbook (yet)), as well as Sweet Hour of Prayer. We performed Sweet Hour of Prayer tonight at a special devotional. We had a special guest at the devotional, it was Brother Michael A. Dunn of the first quorum of the seventy. Both he and his wife spoke, and they were both amazing. The Spirit was definitely there, and it was awesome. :)

That's about all I remember, but all in all, it was a pretty great week. :)

Link to the pictures: https://photos.app.goo.gl/hH8UuZNVov71FYot7

PS: I have stopped sharing photos in the actual email for now, because my phone straight up won't send the email with them in it.

PPS: Sorry this email is late again, life is crazy busy
😅😆

1) Me pointing at the world map

2) The girls in our district meeting for the first time in our dorms

3) Fire Drill selfie, outside our dorm building

4) Statue we saw in the MTC Zoom tour the week before I started Home MTC, which dad told me to find. :)

5) Drawing we found in a French classroom when we were wandering at one point

6) Relatable meme I made 🤣 

7) the girls after our first time working out in the Sisters only gym

The Days Were Long, But the Week Was Short

The full first week has come to a close! I honestly cannot believe it's been a week already. I am currently IN UTAH!! I think it might be partially due to the fact that each day felt like it was just dragging on, but all of the sudden... today is the day! Absolutely insane. 

I apologize that this email is coming a day late, but the primary part of my day yesterday was spent driving from my Home MTC in Nampa Idaho, to Provo Utah so I could be dropped off at the Provo MTC at 12:15 today. 

This past week has been crazy busy and loaded with spiritual knowledge. I had two classes with my district every day, and also had a workshop nearly everyday broadcast for all home mtc missionaries. 

In my classes and workshops we talked about a wide variety of things. From how to teach the principles of the Restoration in less than 4, 2, and 1 minutes, to how to post effectively on Social media, to even teaching a lesson over Zoom to someone at the MTC. I have lots of notes from the last week, and I could ramble on forever because there was just that much going on. I'm sure once I'm actually at the MTC there will be even more knowledge rattling around in my brain, and more and more coming in. 😆 

I mentioned this a little bit, but my companion and I were actually able to teach two lessons over zoom to a volunteer at the MTC. The first one was a little shakey, but during the second one we were much more confident, and Sister Barrus and I were actually able to share a little bit more with her. It was an exhilarating feeling afterwards. Sister Barrus and I would meet up on our own zoom meeting after the lesson ended, and we'd talk about what went well, and what didn't. 

Speaking of companions, I could not have asked for a better companion to start off with at the MTC. We are almost always on the same page, and we are similar enough to get along super well, while also have enough differences that we can share different insights from our own point of view. It's super fun actually, because we end up talking for sometimes over an hour before bedtime about just random things.

I cannot wait to meet her 😁.

In my last email I said that doing the Home MTC instead of heading straight to Provo felt like taking the stairs instead of jumping right into the deep end. This still applies as right now I'm having the same hesitancy one feels after taking the stairs into cold water. That's not to say however, that I'm not absolutely overjoyed and excited. I am more grateful now though, for the opportunities I've had because of the Home MTC. 

On Sunday there was a devotional broadcasted on zoom for the missionaries and their parents. In that meeting the Mission President and his wife were the hosts, and they shared that a lot of anxieties have been removed from missionaries because they come to the MTC and they already know their district. They already have made friends, and they can't wait to meet them. Vs before, missionaries were nervous because they didn't know their companion, their district, their teachers?? They didn't know anyone! 

Now that that has been pointed out to me, I have a greater appreciation for the Home MTC. I'm grateful I was able to get used to the missionary schedule and meet my district and people I would be interacting with while still at home with my family.

I think I am going to close with the scripture I chose for one of the exercises we did this week.

Alma 19:33

"And it came to pass that when Ammon arose he also administered unto them, and also did all the servants of Lamoni; and they did all declare unto the people the selfsame thing—that their hearts had been changed; that they had no more desire to do evil."

This is from one of my all time favorite scripture stories, and wow. :) How amazing is it that if we pray to our Heavenly Father to help us, we can experience that change of heart, and no longer desire to do evil.

I pray, that we can all turn to our Father in Heaven to help us come unto Him.

❤ Sister Lovell

Picture link! - https://photos.app.goo.gl/hH8UuZNVov71FYot7

 

PS: Some of y'all got a surprise subscription to the Exclusive Weekly Sister Lovell Magazine. If you have a problem with that, please, let me know. I won't be offended. (Probably) 😆 

PPS: If you really do want to be taken off my email list, that's okay. You can PM me and I'll take you off. 🙃

PPPS: I had some trouble formatting contacts for this, so that's why it's it's a little later than I even planned. I have also had troubles with the photos, they can be viewed on the link.

Pictures!

1- I drew my companion back before this started, and finished on day 3

2- My district on a Zoom meeting

3- I decided to draw my whole district because I'm insANE

4- photo from right before we left home

5- picking up my cousin from the airport (we were called to start on the same day!)

6- Me showing off one of my brand new handmade skirts.

MTC Week (Day) 1

Hey there everyone!! This is Sister Lovell, hailing from the Home MTC.

 Today is my first P-Day, and it's only day 2 so far, so there isn't a ton to report. In all honesty, I am a jump-in-the-deep-end kind of person, and the Home MTC kinda feels like taking the stairs. XD Even still!! It's been great so far!!

 In the mornings, I've been able to drag my brothers out of their warm beds to come go on a bike ride or a run with me for my exercise commitment, and they've been awesome about it, even though it was below freezing yesterday. XD

 I was also able to contact my companion through email before the first meeting, so we were able to do companionship study starting on day one. I loved being able to get to know her before jumping into the meeting with everyone in the district, because it felt like I already knew someone there! Speaking of, my district is awesome!! There are 14 of us, and I have absolutely enjoyed talking with them, and discussing the lessons. 

 Day one was definitely a bit overwhelming, but it was also a spiritual high. There was so much shared, and I took a whole lot of notes. It was hard to keep up!! One thing that I remember most prominently, is something one of the teachers said; "You can't sing 'I Hope They Call Me On A Mission' anymore, you already have been!". That may seem like a simple comment to most, but to me it meant a lot. It made me realize, "yeah, I am doing this".

Outside of scheduled MTC time, I've been working with a very sweet lady in my ward to make my own missionary skirts!! We're making three of them, and they're replicas of my favorite skirt I've been wearing for years!! I'm excited to have them finished so I can show them off. :D

Lastly, In our final meeting yesterday, we shared our favorite scriptures. Mine is 1 Nephi 3:7

"And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."

 I have always loved this scripture, but I love it even more, especially now, because I am going and doing! I am going on a mission to serve the Lord, and I am doing the work he has prepared for me to do.

 I am beyond excited to finally be a missionary of the Lord, and I cannot wait to head out first, to the Provo MTC, and second, to the mission field.

 (Insert cool calling card here)

Sister Lovell

I will also be uploading all of my mission photos to a google photos album. Here is the link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/hH8UuZNVov71FYot7

Photos:

1- Drawing I did a while back of myself

2-Me and my companion

3- Preview of one of the skirts I'm making

4- Sneaky picture my parents took of me on my first day

5-Just Me :D