benvenuto all mtc!

LETTER ONE ~

Hello all!!

My preparation day is Wednesday so that is when these will be coming from me!  We have only an hour for all emailing so please excuse my Joyce-ian stream of consciousness technique and any and all spelling and grammatical errors!

I really don't know where to even begin! 

this week has been amazing!!

I got to the MTC on Wednesday afternoon and we had class as soon as I got there! My teacher is a returned missionary who went to Milan and he speaks to us in Italian 90% percent of the time, right from day 1!! I was grateful for my experience in Spanish and the Italian that I had studied over the summer, because I was already able to understand him!

We've hit the ground running with Italian and taught our first lesson in all Italian about 48 hours after we had gotten in! 

I've seen several missionaries I know from BYU and from home and from random, including I saw Elder Kolowich before he had to go home for his broken foot! I wish him a speedy recovery!

Also with the growth of my Italian abilites I have been losing my Spanish! A sister I met in Madrid ran up to me and started speaking to me in Spanish. while I could understand everything just as before I could NOT respond to her in Spanish! So I'm gonna have to talk to the other Spanish speakers in my zone a LOT so I can get that back. 

My district (group of about 6 missionaries, 3 companionships) are the BEST EVER!! we are all going to the Rome mission.

Anziano Klasby is from Pleasant Grove Utah. He is super hilarious and a lot of fun. We often call him Big Daddy or the Italian translation Padrone, which also means a mafia boss. 

​Anziano Godoy is from Sao Paolo Brazil! He speaks English and Spanish fluently in addition to Portuguese. His dad is a Seventy in Brazil and will actually be speaking at General Conference in a few weeks... in Portuguese!! This will be the first time that a speaker will be speaking not in English!!

...speaking of general conference the MTC men's choir will be singing a RAD medley of Primary missionary songs, wish I could go but I'm a sorella not an anziano!!

Sorella Thorpe is from Florida most recently and super awesome. She really has a great ability to understand spoken Italian, maybe because of her high school French classes. Love her!

Sorella Hamilton is from Sacramento area. We both have the exact same sense of humor and sometimes I'm glad we didn't get matched up as companions or we would never get anything done, we are always making each other bust up laughing!!

and finally my companion Sorella Dew!! 

She is from Alpine, Utah​ and I love her to bits. She is EXTREMELY musically talented, especially vocally. She represented the entire state of Utah and performed as Eponine in Les Mis on the Broadway stage. We also have matching birthmarks on the back of our hands. Basically it was meant to be. She is so energetic and eager to work hard to learn Italian.

Our zone (about 30-40 missionaries, 6 districts) has all the missionaries going to Milan, Rome, and the 5 missionaries going to Romania! We all get along SUPER well and love each other already. We're already so Italian, we all sit together at mealtimes in the cafeteria like one big very loud happy colorful famiglia, and true to Italian fashion we are almost always the last ones to leave.

Speaking of my zone I got called as a Sister Training Leader, which is like a sister version of a zone Leader! There are two of us and I'm so excited to be able to love and serve my amazing zone members. Sorella Dew got called as the music coordinator, no surprise there.;)

We have felt the spirit SO strongly here. We pray dozens of times per day and I know that it's only through God that we've been able to make the progress we've made. I've learned a lot over the past week about what it means to be a missionary, a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Elder M Russel Ballard of the 12 apostles came and spoke to us for devotional last night! Ya know, just casually having an apostle of the Lord come and talk to us.

427 missionaries reported to the MTC the same day as me. I had no idea just how many there were here!! Oh and on the very first day they gathered all the newbies together and asked if anyone had memorized the Missionary Purpose and would come and recite it... Sorella Dew and I both volunteered at the same time, like the only people to volunteer!  We went up and said it together at the same time. Just goes to show you how inspired the companionships are. We are truly an amazing team together.

I know that this church is true. I know that Christ is my Savior. I know we have a God in heaven and that He is our loving Heavenly Father. I know that only through Christ can we return to Him. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know this because I read it and prayed to find out for myself, and that the Spirit of God bore witness to my heart that it was true. I know that anyone can do the same thing, read and then ask God in faith if it is true, and they can know for themselves. 

I love you all so much and hope everything is going great back home. Please write me!   At DearElder.com you can write me and they will print it out and it will get to me for free on the same day!!

​Vi voglio bene!

Sorella Frandsen

Sorella Frandsen's Dear Elder Mailing Information:
Sister     Brianne          Frandsen
31         ITA-ROM         OCT 29
(unit) (Mission Code) (Est Departure Date)

Her MTC Mailing Address for USPS:
Sister Brianne Marie Frandsen
OCT29 ITA-ROM
2007 N 900 E Unit 31
Provo UT 84602

Sorella Frandsen's Email Address:
brianne.frandsen@myldsmail.net