Exactly 1 month as missionary done. It’s pretty crazy to think that in 2-ish weeks, I’ll be out of the CTM and in the field. Before the mission, I never even thought about being in the Training Center and now it is difficult for me to imagine not being here. Missionaries here are always coming and going. This week we hit the record for the total number of missionaries here this year with 411. Our group is the veterans now and it’s cool to see the new sisters walk in when it feels like I was just doing that too.
This week had some ups and downs but mostly ups. One of the greatest blessings of this week was spending time with my companion. When Sister Fuller and I first met in person, I was a little confused. I felt like every other companionship I saw was basically just two people with the exact same personality put together. If somebody was loud and confident, so was their companion, if they were reserved and shy, their companion was too. Sister Fuller and I were not opposites, but we weren’t very similar either. Where she excelled I struggled and where I grew she shrunk. It felt like we were the left-over sisters on the roster so they just put us together.
An experience we had this week helped me to truly appreciate our differences and see the blessing behind them. On Saturday, we were eating lunch next to some elders from another district (our elders are always late, I’ll attach a photo for proof). While we were talking, President Beck, one of the members of the CTM Presidency, came and asked the elder across from me if he knew how to play “Love is Spoken Here” out of the Primary Children’s Songbook. The Elder said he could look at it but that he had never played it before.
For some reason which I still don’t understand, I opened my mouth and said “I can play it!” Which is true, I have played that song before, it’s not very difficult and I’m pretty good at it. President Beck gave me instructions to find him right after lunch to start practicing because I was going to perform this on Sunday (the next day) in the devotional for all 411 missionaries in the CTM. Sister Fuller and I ate really quickly because I was excited, a little nervous, and really wanted to get started.
When we got to the auditorium to meet President Beck, I quickly realized that I had made a mistake. There were three violinists waiting for a pianist to accompany them, the music was Tabernacle Choir level of “Love is Spoken Here” and I needed to learn it within the next 24 hours. They gave me the music to practice after a single run through with the violins (for which I only did one hand) and everybody else left feeling prepared for the next day.
Sister Fuller sat by my side while I struggled my way through the piece for about half an hour. After a couple of reps, I knew I would never be able to pull this off with this little time. However, I was the only piano player in the whole CTM who had agreed to play and didn’t want to have to tell President Beck or the violins that I had given up. I looked at my companion, who has played hymns with me before during our breaks, and asked her if she would accompany the accompanist.
For the next 2 hours, we sat side by side on the piano bench, each learning one hand. During this time I learned a lot. I learned that my companion is a self-taught pianist who can read notes and not rhythms so she got the Sister Grace very dummied down version of counting and timing. I also learned that we stay together very well, we rarely were off from each other while we played and we didn’t need to say words in order to make that happen. I am right-handed and she is left-handed so while she held and played powerfully deep chords, I was moving in fast melodies which blended together beautifully.
The rest of Saturday night and all of Sunday morning, we hardly spoke a word to each other but we practiced, practiced, and practiced. By the time the devotional rolled around, we felt prepared. We got up, put our two chairs in front of the keyboard, and began playing for all the missionaries. We were doing incredible, we played our solo intro, the violins came in, and 20 seconds later the choir director cuts us off. He realized that this piece would be too complicated to try and get all the missionaries to sing to so he shut us down and we didn’t get to perform. It was heartbreaking. Sister Fuller, the violinists, and I all sat pretty angrily through the devotional. We had all put so much effort into learning this just so one guy could say it was too hard and we didn’t get to do it.
After the devotional, he came up to us and said that we might be able to do it at the Wednesday devotional which is tonight. I don’t know if that will happen or not but since Sunday I’ve had some time to reflect and realized that I do not need to perform this piece in order to see the blessings from it. From just practicing with my companion, I have come to understand how to trust and rely on her. We work more efficiently, more effectively, and more like our Savior now than we did before. I recognize her talents and try to lift her up where she falls short. She’s given me advice on things I struggle with and has been there by my side to speak when I can’t remember what to say.
I know God puts missionaries in companionships for a reason, and I know why Sister Fuller and I are together. Look for the people God has placed you with whether it be spouses, siblings, friends, or coworkers. Try to understand your differences and how you can use them to help lift each other. Different isn’t good or bad unless you choose to make it so. So choose to make it good.
That’s all for now, pictures to follow.
Tchau Tchau
Love,
Sister Alyssa Grace
São Paulo, Brasil
Thanks for you letters,,they keep us hopping to keep up with you…love you…