1st Week in the MTC

Hey everyone!

This week has been.....life changing. I can't explain what an amazing experience it is to be here, at the Missionary Training Center, with about 700 other elders and sisters my age all with the same purpose. It is such a cool experience. The hard thing about being here is that I am having so many experiences that I want to share, but would be impossible to explain in words. You just have to be here, and experience them for yourself. The MTC is....it's my favorite place in the world. Everyone is always saying how hard it is, and how much work it is, but to be honest, I'm way less stressed here than I was at BYU during finals, and that wasn't even that bad. I love it here. The gospel isn't work. Even though we get up at 6:30 sharp every morning and study the entire day until 9:30 at night, with breaks that added together only equal 2 and a half hours, I love it. It doesn't feel like work. These people here have become my best friends, and being in one room with them ALL day, be constantly with them, and studying with them and practicing with them and sharing these experiences that I'm having here with them is so much fun!!! Who ever said that you can't have fun at the MTC? We laugh so much and have already had so many great times, and felt the spirit so strong. Last night after dinner, we still had 3 and a half hours of studying to do. So we all went back to the class room and got started. At first, one of my companions named Sister Jentzsch and I were practicing teaching 3 investigators, but it was so hard and we didn't know what we were doing so I ended up pretty much teaching the lesson by myself. At first I was so frustrated, but I just kept trying and by the end the spirit was so strong. After the lesson we all talked about what we could have done better, and we just ended up sharing our conversion stories for the next 2 hours. By the time it was time to go home for the night, we were all in tears and had grown so much closer. It sounds corny maybe, but I've truly come to love the 3 elders and 3 sisters that make up my district. They know me in a way that no one else ever will, and have taught me in a way that no one else ever can, and have given me so much strength. Saying goodbye to them will be so incredibly difficult when I fly out on Monday to go to Canada. I can't wait though! The MTC has gotten me so excited. I have learned so many things here that I will use for the rest of my life.

So, I'm sure everyone is wondering who my companions are. I have two. :) We are in a trio, because one of the other sisters in my district never showed up, so I got her companion. Their names are Sister Jentzsch (pronounced like bench but with a J) and Sister Anthony. Sister Anthony is a tall black girl from England, so she talks just like one of my best friends from back home, but with a bunch of black girl sass. She is very....not shy, but she only speaks when she feels something needs to be said. I love her, and I have already learned so much from her. Sister Jentzsch is from Idaho and Texas, and is soooo shorrttt!!! Hahahah I LOVE HER. She is 20, and I seriously don't know what I would do without her. Us three work very well together. Then there are 3 elders in my district who are also companions in a trio. Their names are Elder Skinner, Elder Burch, and Elder Hewlett. I adore these guys. Hahah they are my favorite. Elder Skinner is 26, so he barely made the age cut. He is so funny and has a very unique sense of humor that I've come to love. He's a weirdo. :) Elder Burch is just the biggest teddy bear. Seriously, I've never met a guy who is less afraid of long and awkward silences, and who can listen to the spirit better. And then there is Elder Hewlett. He's probably my favorite person in the world. Jk, but you get what I'm saying. He is SO SO FUNNYYYYY and we laugh so hard. He knows all about good music, and plays the drums. He reminds me of all of my close friends back home or out on missions, who I miss very much. You would all love these elders. Us 6 spend about 12 hours every day in the same room together. You can imagine, I know them very well by now. We are seriously best friends. I hope I'll see them again some day after we all part ways to leave on our missions. Elder Hewlett is from Orem and Elder Burch is from West Valley City, so I should see them again at least. :) 

Wow, this week has been nutttssss. So many great experiences! We had one investigator named Ruth, that we got to teach and committed her to baptism. All of our other investigators are awesome, but still a work in progress. My teach is named Brother Kezele (kezlee) and is probably the most intelligent and knowledgeable man I've ever met. He teaches with such authority. Man, I wish you all could hear this guy. He is only 23, but he knows the gospel backwards and forwards and has taught me so much about my Heavenly Father. 

Anyway, I'm almost out of time. But, you guys, I can't even explain how much I love Jesus Christ and have come to know him in this amount of time. I don't care what anybody says, I know that He lives. And I know that the message I plan on sharing with everyone is not only true, but very important. Read your scriptures. They will bring you closer to him than any other book. I promise you that. I promise that if you really want to know that He's there, and you pray about it, you'll know. You'll know. :)

Everyone listen to Promise by Ben Howard for me this week, and a whole bunch of Coldplay. Gosh, I miss the music people. But the happiness that music gives me is nothing compared to the happiness I feel here. I say that with all of the sincerity of my heart. I would give up music for the rest of my life to feel like this every day. I'm so lucky to be here for the next 18 months. Couldn't be happier where I'm at. 

Also, my new favorite scripture is 2 Nephi 4: 16-35. Read it. 

Love,

Sister Mikkia Osman

The sisterhood of the crazy trio :) Sister Jentzsch, Sister Osman, Sister Anthony

Selfies don't cease on a mission! 

Sister Osman: My purpose as a missionary

Brother Kezele, the master teacher

Playing the shooting game to make things more fun :) Elder Hewlett is shooting me.

Sister Osman & Sister Anthony, a match made in heaven

Elder Skinner

Elder Burch

Elder Hewlett

Elder Hewlett, Elder Burch, Elder Skinner

My Building

The trio of Elders, Elder Burch, Elder Hewlett, Elder Skinner

The first sign of life...

We got the first note from the MTC on Friday, 4/24/15. Just want to share one line:

"I love it here and I am having an amazing time."

That's our girl :)

Good-bye!

I love my daughter. With all my heart, with everything that I got. Before she left, I would cry for days and was afraid I might have a nervous break down. However, a friend told me to cry when she is gone and enjoy the time that we do have. I really tried hard to do that, because I did not want our time clouded by tears. Still I was scared for her to leave and for the way, I thought I would be feeling afterward.

However, when she was set apart in our home, the Spirit was so, so strong and I so, so knew that she was doing what she was meant to do, that all of a sudden all the grief left. I am still sad of course, but really it has been ok. We dropped her off, cried a little, but mostly we were just overwhelmed by the Spirit and by knowing that this girl was doing what she was meant to do!

Of course, she held one of her guitars all the way to the MTC.

insert video and pictures here!


We ate lunch at LaJolla Groves in the Riverwoods for one last meal together.

And then it was time... To say GOOD-BYE!

Setting Apart

Missionary Pictures

Before Mikkia left, her sweet friend Jackson took some missionary pictures. He is so gifted!!!!  You should check him out on Instagram! Jackson is her sweet friend with whom she went to Mexico to build houses, Thanksgiving 2013. She mentioned him in her farewell talk.  Anyhow....

Packing

Farewell

Mikkia had planned her farewell speech even before she got her call. Every time when she went to a farewell for one of her friends, she wondered what she would say. After writing for weeks, she only had 6 minutes the night before her talk. She was simply not happy with it; and she was right, it just wasn't her. At 3am, she scrapped the talk, started over, and it was perfect. Neat, when the Spirit takes over.

Here is a link to her talk:

Mikkia's Farewell Talk, Sunday, April 12, 2015

Afterwards, we went back to the house. Unfortunately, we lost most of the pictures :( But here are a few blurry ones :)

Totally done for :)

A Sweet Revelation...

One of the prep steps is getting your wisdom teeth out. In itself not such a remarkable deal. However, Mikkia gave me a job: "Ask me a whole bunch of questions while I am coming out of anesthesia and my filter is lowered and film me."

Among many, many other questions and answers, this one was my favorite:

Me: Mikkia, are you excited to go on your mission?
Mikkia: Yeah! I am excited to go to Canada and I know I am supposed to go there.
Me: How do you know that?
Mikkia, starts crying: Because I already love the people so much!

People of Canada, you are getting a gem!

FRIEND & FAMILY TIME...

Anyone, who knows Mikkia knows that the she LOVES people, We told her to spend her time as she pleased, she tried to make every second count with those whom she loves.

Since time was so limited, we tried to pack in as much punch as we could before she had to leave. Of course, it was not enough, but we did have fun :)

All the little details...

Missionary shopping is tough and packing is a feat in itself.

Mikkia: Mom, do not make me look like a pioneer or a polygamist :)

We tried our best, way over packed, thought of everything (except all the stuff we forgot) and finally concluded, her suitcases were not full of stuff but full of love, love, love!

I had envisioned all these shopping trips with my cute girl, but we only got to do TWO. Then she ran out of time. Between applying to the music program, going to school, driving back and forth, preparing for a mission, having fun and dating, she had no time.

So finally, she entrusted me with everything: "Mom, can you please do all the shopping?" I matched outfits and shopped for weeks, many nights of lost sleep - you try packing 18 months into very little space planning for polar freeze and hot humid summers, modest but stylish - but the outcome was a success!

She loved all her stuff: all is mission appropriate, classy, stylish and not-pioneer-ish :) We never had time to take pictures of the outfits (which makes me so sad) but she promised me she would take some in the field and I will post them as they come :)

Most things I found,
I took to her dorm room for her to try on :)

GOING TO THE TEMPLE...

Mission prep is no easy task, by far the best part is going to the temple. To prepare, Mikkia's sweet dad, Andy, took her every week - Thursday Lunch Dates at noon - to do baptisms at the Provo temple from the time she got her call until she was ready to get her endowments.

Mikkia and her sweet dad

It was time, March 24, 2015. Tashina, her sister, got temple names ready for her and Caelan to do baptisms while Andy, Mikkia and I went upstairs to get Mik's endowments at the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. All 5 of us in the temple at the same time was pretty sweet. Such a great experience!

Mikkia & Mom

Luckily, she got a few return trips before she entered the MTC, even one with her friend Rich. Andy's and Mikkia's last temple lunch date at the Provo Temple  (4/16/15): I got to come & we did sealings for family names. Beautiful does not describe it!

And here are a couple pictures from September 2013, when she was still thinking about it... Love this girl!