A little Something Special

There is something about writing missionaries... About anything.... That is just absolutely amazing! :-) Wrote Elder Penrod, Donaldson, Riches, Standage, and Stewart today :-)

Life Takes a Toll

I have been receiving letters still, I just haven't been able to post on the blog about it.  School as started up again and being a senior in high school makes everything go crazy.  Getting ready for college and making sure that everything is lined up to get into the college that I want to. But life goes on and the missionaries out there are waiting for their reply, (probably not really waiting but they still need a reply)

I got five envelopes about a week ago from my missionaries. So I swore that I only got five missionary replies, but one envelope had two missionary replies in one letter.  It was so funny to read, you could just hear and see the different personalities in the two different hand-writings.

There is definitely a different spirit with each letter I receive.  It is an amazing thing and it will be more amazing as time goes on and I run into the box of letters again.  Rereading these letters in the future is going to be a touching experience.  To remember the work that I am doing right now, to remember the different missionaries that I have been able to talk to and learn about.  I do not plan on throwing away or getting rid of any of these letters.  These letters are special to be even though I don't know many of the missionaries that are writing me.  They have a huge spot in my heart and I love and appreciate them greatly!

I hope these missionaries know the work they are doing is an amazing work and everyone that has written back to me has shown that they do know.  I hope they continue with that knowledge and grow stronger!

Replies

Through this last week, I was able to receive a couple replies from missionaries that I have already written.  It was an exciting thing to come home to.  I got a reply from Jarinn, Alex, and Gubeli.  Those three I had written purposefully.  The fourth one is a guy named Sean, he had gotten my letter from the random letters I sent out to the MTC.

Jarinn is my cousin, so I already knew that he would write me back.  His letter was amazing.  It amazes me with how much missionaries are able to write.  Jarinn even drew me a beautiful picture of himself to keep a smile on my face.  I love this boy and I miss him like crazy! But he won't know that I miss him, because I don't want to be a distraction to the wonderful work he is doing.

Alex was one of the first missionaries I wrote randomly.  His reply was short, but it has helped with preparing myself.  Although it's going to take me a little bit longer to write him back, for he gave me something to read.  It was a talk by Elder Bednar, 'Becoming a Missionary.'  Before I can write him back I need to read it so that there can be a little bit of a conversation about it.

Gubeli was one of the nineteen missionaries that started this whole Missionary Writer thing.  He wrote back, thanking for all the letters that he had received.  I am hoping that the more, him and I write the more interesting and helpful his letters will turn out to be.

Sean, his letter was definitely the longest letter of them all and probably my favorite letter of all time, (so far), his letter was welcoming and very helpful.  He is still in the MTC, but that just means that I will be able to write for his whole mission and be able to learn as he learns.  This is going to be an amazing experience.  He has told me that I am more than welcome to continue to write him, which I'm hoping is going to last for the two full years.


I do not know if I will be able to write the random missionary this week, because I have already written back four missionaries.  I will definitely do a random missionary next week, if I don't have any replies by then.

Writing a Few More

I was writing my cousin and two of my good friends that are out on missions at this very moment.  Seeing as I haven't written them in a while and I had some free time to write them.  After I had finished those three letters, I felt like I wanted to write more missionaries.  I love the calm feeling I get when I am writing someone that I know is living the gospel fully and truthfully.

I remember a site that was for missionaries to stay connected with their family, (missionsite.net) I went on there and I searched a few names.  My favorite names were the first names to pop into my head.  Alex and William were the first two I searched up.  Picking the first picture that stood out to me.  I hoping that they are okay with receiving a letter from a girl that they don't know.

Next I decided to search up my last name, Bastian, to see if there was anyone out in the field that could be related to me in the long run.  That is how I found Chase.

Three down, but there was still one more name that I needed to search up.  I couldn't get the name out of my head, Sarah.  I searched the name and looked at the different pictures that popped up.  It took a few minutes before I decided what picture to choose.

Ending the day with seven missionaries written.
Travis, Jarinn, Kaeden, Alex, William, Chase, and Sarah.
Bringing my total of missionaries wrote to... 26

I am still willing to write any missionary that is out in the field, to help them feel loved and supported while out in this crazy world

Starting Out

The idea of becoming a Missionary Writer started out at Girls Camp of 2011.  There was about two hours of free time for each day that we were up at camp.  They had plenty of crafts to do, a pamper area, and then a missionary stand.  At first the thought of writing a missionary I didn't know, didn't sound like a good idea.  I thought it would be a little weird writing someone that I didn't know at all.

Till I thought about it a little bit more...

Those missionaries, nineteen in my stake, gave up two years of their lives for the Lord and the least I can do is write them a letter to thank them for the work they are doing.  By writing them a letter, you are helping the work of the Lord be spread.  Without those missionaries out in the field, preaching the word of God to the world, the gospel wouldn't be able to spread.

So the next time we had the free time, I sat at the missionary station and I wrote every single missionary that was in my stake. It took a while to write all nineteen missionaries, my wrist was sore by the end of it, but it was well worth it.

Now I do not know if they are going to respond to my letters or not, but it would be an amazing experience to be able to get to know these missionaries and learn about what they are doing on their mission.  I am looking forward to the missionaries I will continue to write in the future and the letters that I get in return.