Ah! We got our flight plans today!! I fly out Monday June 29!  It is all of a sudden getting pretty real. We fly from SLC-LAX, then LAX- Fiji! crazy!

So, this week. We had a Zone Conference on Saturday. It was good. We mixed up companionship and taught a lesson in English. It was nice teaching in English because I didn't have to worry about not knowing how to say what I wanted. The Spirit was so strong and it was a great reminder of why I am here and just how much I love missionary work! 

Sunday was a CRAZY day. My companion and I became the New Sister Training leaders for our Zone and so we had meetings and orientations along with our other usual Sunday activities from 7:30 Am until we went back to residence at 9:30. I was tried. I discovered that day, that when I have to sit and listen and restrain myself for long periods of time it just makes me go a little crazy at night and I become super silly. haha Sunday was an amazing day though! 

Monday and tuesday, we sent off 3 sisters from our Zone to their missions in the Marshal Islands, and Kiribati. That night we had a devotional from a member of the seventy, Elder Evans. It was great as usual. :)

Wednesday, we got new missionaries into our zone! 4 sisters and 7 elders! It was so exciting and as sister training leaders, my companion and I got to do orientation with them. 

Thursday, we skyped a member in Fiji and taught a lesson in Fijian! It was crazy. Good. but I have so much to learn. haha It was fun because it made going to Fiji and teaching them, a little more real. 

Time is flying and its okay because I know God is with me every step of the way. 

 

Love, Sister Singleton

Bula Vinaka!

Bula Vinaka!

Oh my goodness. This week went by SO FAST! Some things that happened included:

1. teaching a  lesson in Fijian to people we didn't really know. I was super nervous about not being able to understand what they were saying and it was a rough day, but we went in and shared a message and although I didn't recognize any of the vocab they used, through the Spirit, I was able to feel what they were saying. If that makes sense. haha it was awesome! and gave me hope.

2. Sister Linda K. Burton came and spoke at our devotional! Super awesome! We have had quite the streak of awesome devotionals! I heard it is just going to keep getting better because the mission president conference is in the beginning of July. I am going to miss it by a week or so which is sad. 

3. My companion and I set the goal of sharing our testimony in Fijian at least once everyday. So, one time we went around looking for people to share it with and I concluded that I wanted to share it with one of the many senior couples here at the MTC. So we found one, they eagerly accepted to listen, and I start sharing. By the time I was done, the sister was in tears. It was really sweet and also gave me hope that even if the people of Fiji can't understand me, they can still feel the Spirit that I bring. It was awesome.

4. I got to host some of the 600+ missionaries that came in this last wednesday! It was fun but also sad. It was fun to be apart of all the excitement but super hard to see quite a few people crying super hard. I watched a sister get dropped off by an older lady, they both teared up a little but then she walked off and as the older lady proceeded to pull out we heard her break down into sobs through her rolled down window. It made us almost start crying. haha 

5. I also got sick. My temperature reached 102.3. It turns out I had some sort of bacterial infection in my throat.. I went to the doctor and got an antibiotic and now I am all better! YAy! haha

6. My low light of this week would have to be when I let my super sensitive self get discouraged. Circumstances provided the means and I soon found myself being pounded by the Advisory saying that I would never become good at the language and that people would make fun of how I spoke. It was awful. I was able to come out of it though! With a little love from one of my teachers, an Almond Joy, and a pep talk from my Heavenly Father. I came to the conclusion that, even if it may take me a while to learn all the grammar rules, and even if my Fijian comes out imperfectly, I am not going to give up. God called me to learn Fijian and that is what I am trying so very hard to learn. I believe in God. I believe that I can do all things through Christ. With this knowledge, I am going to not give up on myself and I WILL learn this language even if it takes until the last day of my mission. What would you do with this knowledge?

Overall, it has been an amazing week! Full of the Spirit and progress! I can do this! 

Au lomani Kemudou!

Love, Sister Singleton

Life at the MTC

Sister Singleton with her dot :-)

At Provo Temple

:D) Wow, last week went SUPER slow and this week went super fast! WHich is good but also freaky. My companion is counting down the days until we leave. which is supposed to be on June 26. We get our flight plans in about two weeks. AH! I don't like to think about it because I get too excited! I also get very nervous about how I don't know a ton of the language still. We have fun with our teachers. Class is very relaxed because it is just the two of us. haha Did I mention Elder Holland spoke at our devotion last week? And then Elder Christofferson spoke this last tuesday? It was awesome! The mtc is quite the journey and I am taking it in. It is easy to want to move forward and just expect the language to come but I have to keep reminding myself to enjoy today and study. Fijian is actually pretty easy. They talk in a VERY simple way. For example: to say: I am happy. you would say, Au marau. which is directly translated to: I happy. And it totally makes sense to them. haha The only thing with fijian is sentence structure and how they have a lot of LONG words. Like: vakavinavinaktaka = to make blessed. haha I love it though. it is super fun. It is a process though.  I am learning a lot of patience with myself. My itokani and I gave the lesson in relief society on sunday! It was pretty great! We sent off our Tongan district and got a whole new set this wednesday! It was exciting! I love seeing all the new missionaries come in! Oh! I almost forgot, Janice Kapp Perry gave our devotional sunday night and it was hysterical! Also, she shared with us her family song and it was just awesome! Family!: we NEED to make a family song! Anyway, my time is up. 

Au lomani kemuni!

Sister Singleton

My Mission President and my Companion

How to say a prayer in Fijian :-) 

May 28th 2015

We have taught 4 lessons in Fijian already and we teach everyday next week! Nervous and excited! I have to remind myself everyday to be patient with learning the language. It is not going to come in one day or even a week. haha I can officially pray in Fijian though without using my notes! Success! This week, my teachers who all have recently returned from their missions in Fiji, shared with us some pictures and stories. It made me realize that this is a bigger adventure than I thought... haha The ones I talked to served in the bush (farther out islands) and confrimed that you do indeed take boats to most of the islands. Sometimes in very small boats that go up and down the sometimes intense 6 foot waves, or large boats that take 3 days to get to the farther islands. They freely showed us the picture of rats the size of large squirrels and dead snake they ate. haha They also showed pictures of the beautiful scenery and great people which is what I am excited for! I have concluded that I am not very prepared but I am excited to take it in baby steps and jump into this grand adventure! YAY! Elder Holland spoke at our last devotional! It was awesome!

I love you all!

Love, Sister Singleton!

p.s. feel free to write me a letter. :) 

JUN26 FIJ-SUV

2007 N 900 E Unit 6

Provo, Ut 84602

MTC! Bula Vinaka!

 

Bula Vinaka friends and family! The MTC is CRAZY! I walked in, put my stuff down, went to my first class, and they talked to me only in Fijian. Oh my goodness. Overwhelming. The last 3 days have been full of crazy intense language study as well as feeling of the spirit! It is amazing! Me and my companion Sister Hawkins are the only two going to Fiji. There was supposed to be four others coming with us from New Guinea but they couldn't get their visas fast enough and they will be coming in next transfer 6 weeks from now. Sister Hawkins and I are the only ones in our District because we are the only ones going to Fiji. haha Therefore, I was made sister training district leader and she is the senior companion. hahaha! Our branch is made up of the few missionaries going to the Marshall Islands, Samoa, and Tonga. It is awesome! We are the coolest branch. The language is crazy, and study is very intense. Yesterday we learned how to bear our testimony in Fijian so we went around out side stopping people and asking if we could share our testimony with them. It was great! We did it ten times. I have also learned to pray and so we do that. Most of the time I am reading it off my notes. I can speak it but I don't know what it is saying. haha But one step at a time. We are singing Hymns in Fijian and I LOVE THAT! We also taught our first 'investigator' (our teacher) in Fijian tonight! That was super intense but it went great! He said we speak the language really well. It was nice! My companion is awesome! She is a super hard worker and I am obedient so we get along really well! Anyway, I only had a few minutes! 

Loloma Levu!!

Sister Singleton!

Called to Serve

The Sunday before Christmas 2014, I turned in my mission papers to serve a full time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I recieved my call New Years Eve. I came out of my apartment in Salt Lake that day to head to work and saw it sitting on the top of the stairs. I screamed. My roommate came running to the door just in time to catch it as I threw the call at her and yelled "HIDE IT!" as I then proceeded to run to work because I was late and all of a sudden had a lot of energy. I came home from work and went to a new years party and couldn't stop thinking about it. My roommate continued to hide it from me under my request until Sunday, in which I carried it around with me at Church (still not opened) and had my temple interviews with my Bishop and Stake President. They all thought I was crazy for having not opened it yet. I went home to Kaysville after Church and carried it though my parent's ward. Then, finally, a little after 5 pm that night, in front of a house full of family and dearest friends and several Skypes, I read the long waited call:

Dear Sister Singleton, (SO MANY EMOTIONS)

You are hereby called to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. You are hereby assigned to labor in the Fiji, Suva mission. (WHAT?!? My mind went numb and the cheering went silent in my mind. This was it. My life long wait for the call that would have MY name on it was finally here. Now where is FIJI?!)

I will be serving a period of 18 months and speaking the Fijian language! I report to the Provo MTC Wednesday, May 20th! The room was full of commotion as we all realized that Fiji is part of the Polynesian triangle. In between New Zealand and Tonga! Just where I wanted to go! It was perfect! It has been quite the waiting period! I finished another semester of school, moved back to Kaysville, and continued working. All the while slowly preparing and watching people's expressions as I told them my call. It has been great and completely agree with everyone when they say that I have won the mission lottery! It is a dream come true! I am so excited and humbled to have the opportunity to give every moment of my time and study to learning and teaching of Christ! Inviting All to come unto Him to repent and come closer to Him through the Ordinances and Covenants of the Restored Gospel.

Now, just to clarify my decision to serve. Before the age of 10, I found myself huddled in the corner of my bed unable to breathe and see because of the sob that clogged my throat and tears the blinded my vision, I felt myself completely surrounded by darkness and pain, alone and lost, not knowing what to do with the pain and darkness around me, I remembered my favorite primary song and it became MY song. I began to sing a sincere prayer "Heavenly Father, Are you really there? And do you hear and answer every child's prayer. Some say that Heaven is far away, but I feel it close around me every time I pray. Heavenly Father, I remember now, something that Jesus told Disciples long ago, suffer the children to come to me. Father in prayer I'm coming now to thee!" In that moment, when normally a parent is traditionally supposed to sing the second verse in response to the child's prayer, I heard the Spirit sing a the second half with slightly changed words on behalf of the Savior. I heard: "Pray, I am here. Speak. I am Listening. You are My Child. My arms now surround you." I felt those arms. I was overwhelmed by the comfort, peace, and love and watched my room fill with light and warmth pushing back the darkness to complete nonexistence. To this day, I do not remember the lighting in my room because in my mind it was bright. I knew with out a doubt in that moment that I would never be left alone. That Jesus Christ would always be there to walk by my side. Which is why, when I was around 10 years old. I found myself going an hour early to Church just so that I could go to Primary twice. It was better than being at home. I realized that The Church of Jesus Christ was the only place that I could find peace and healing. It had all the tools I needed to overcome what I was going through. I cling to it. I committed to God, that because He was going to always be there for me, that I would commit my whole life as a mission for Him. That in all I did, my actions and words would point toward Him. Now, I am not a perfect person. No where even close. But it is my hope that those around me can testify of the light and drive that they have witnessed in my eyes because of this commitment. This is who I strive to be, this is how I strive to live, which is why, when the time finally came, the choice was already made. I would serve a mission, because a mission was my life and always will be.

Silver Sequined Shoes

In my first post I said this statement: "So, even though I was bigger than most my age, never had new clothes, and had no physical talents, I wore sequined silver flats like I was Cinderella, I smiled like I was priceless, and I did not care about what other people thought of me because I KNEW that His view of me was all that mattered. "

I still have those Silver Sequined Shoes. They are full of holes, falling apart, and very dirty, but they are my treasures. I was given to them in pretty much brand new condition by my teenage neighbor when I was in the 5th grade. I loved these shoes. Just imagine the picture of me in your head. A 5th grade girl, bigger in size than most in her class, a plain t-shirt that is worn often, and a very worn/falling apart pair of jeans, simple face, and hair in a pony tail. Then, you see her feet. How can you not? On her feet are the shiniest pair of silver sequined flats that turn into disco balls in the sun. Got the picture in your head? Yep. That was me. I wore those shoes no matter my outfit from 5th grade up to the 8th grade. When I got to the 7th grade I had to start putting card board into the bottoms and duck taped the inside so that my feet wouldn't touch the ground. I did everything to keep wearing them. They were my favorite pair of shoes. After I couldn't wear them anymore, I searched every where for another pair but they weren't made in that style anymore. I think the reason why I loved them so much was because my inner self was yearning to come out and by wearing those shoes, I was allowing a piece of me to show. A fun, hopeful, happy, bright side. There was something about them that brought me so much joy. I have a very vivid memory of standing by the window in my 6th grade classroom. The room was empty because it was recess and the sun was pouring in through the window. I just stood there, for several long minutes, staring at the beautiful rainbows exploding from my shoes. They were beautiful, and I was the vessel of its beauty. It felt good to be such. During that time, I discovered the ability to not care what other people thought. I danced proudly in those shoes. I smiled at everyone's questioning faces like I had no idea what they could possibly have to say me and I lived like no one was watching. Thank you silver sequined shoes!

-Fun Fact: I wore them to my first prom. Yep. I remade one of my sisters old homemade prom dresses and on it was a diamond broach. So, I decided that I wanted to wear silver shoes. Once again I tried to find a new pair of the shoes that I loved so much. After not being able to find the perfect pair, I resulted to my old ones. I pulled them out of my treasure chest, applied a new layer of cardboard and fresh duct tape. They still looked silver/gray and not all of the sequins had fallen off, plus no one would see them under my dress. So I wore them to prom, and felt like a Princess the whole time! I was Me! It was amazing.