You're Gonna Wanna Read This One.

I like to compare the MTC to the City of Enoch: we are not a part of the real world. We, the missionaries of the Provo Missionary Training Center, live in what I like to call a time warp of spirituality and awesomeness. Days feel like weeks and weeks feel like moments but moments sometimes feel like hours and sometimes they feel like actual moments. I guess what I'm trying to say here is this: I don't understand the concept of "time." Not that I really did before... but not I really really don't understand it. 

Ready for the accident of the week? On our temple walk this past Sunday it had been snowing all day so all of the sidewalks were completely iced over. Sister Glauser, Sister Anderson, and I were all walking arm-in-arm up to the temple when one of us (and I think it was probably me) totally slipped on the ice and successfully knocked over the other two in the process. We hit the ground so hard that Sister Glauser ripped her tights and I accidentally peed a little. We can't make it through a week without some sort of injury, that has become very obvious. On the bright side, we built an eight-foot snowman with our zone and then we killed it all before returning to the MTC. Yay for the Korean-speaking branch!!

We're a couple of messes. And by "we," I am referring to Sister Glauser and myself. Sister Glauser got sick at the beginning of the week so we were given the opportunity to burst free from the protective walls of the MTC for approximately twenty minutes in order to walk a block down the street and pick up some meds. We were so excited. Snow was pelting our faces and it was freezing cold but we didn't let that put a damper on our spirits! We saw real life people with real life problems driving real life cars down a real life street!!! Sometimes we forget that there are real things happening outside of the MTC. My whole life revolves around three buildings that are all right next to each other. Everything I need is right here. So leaving the MTC with my super cool companion was and extremely exhilarating experience.

Oh, and for the record, now I've fallen ill too. So we're basically a couple of zombies. It's fine. (Surprised? Me neither. I swear, I'm always sick.)

We teach our "progressing investigators" nearly every day and it has been so neat to see how much we improve with every lesson. Korean is starting to come!! Just last night, we were practice teaching our companions in class and I was able to teach 95% of the lesson in Korean. It was a discussion too; there was no lesson plan, I just spoke. I'm so incredibly grateful to know that I have a Father in Heaven who loves me and who has promised to make up for all that I lack. That doesn't mean I can just stop working hard, in fact, it just gives me more of a reason to start working harder. God has a lot to make up for when it comes to me-- but hey, He called me forth so here I am. 

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! Mine was legendary. I may or may not have withheld some vital information about my Christmas plans when I emailed home on Christmas morning... but I wanted to keep everything a secret so that I could make this email super duper extra exciting and special with a surprise. Are you ready?

I celebrated Christmas by eating lunch with Elder Bednar. A total of 24 missionaries were invited and by some chance of fate, I was one of them. What an experience! And then I got to sit second row in a historical devotional! They passed out 200 cellphones into the auditorium full of missionaries and then displayed a number to which we could text in questions we had. Elder Bednar had a "magic iPad" that would display all the questions that were texted in and he'd would simultaneously answer the questions as they were being sent in. The phones were passed around as the meeting took place and the entire devotional was in "question and answer" format. I loved it. I had so many questions that were answered-- some of which I didn't even realize I had. I can't even explain what it's like to be in the presence of an apostle of the Lord. SO. COOL. He spoke so simply and so bluntly and every word that came out of his mouth was meant just for me. (p.s. fun fact: I gave his two adorable granddaughters some of the cards with Mary and baby Jesus on them that Mom sent me... I miss babies. Give Jake, Sophie, Kason, Quincee, and Riley big hugs for me!) 

So yeah, this Christmas was significantly different from every other Christmas I've experienced in my life. But I was so grateful for that. I was also so grateful for all the love I received via Christmas packages. Seriously, you're all wonderful. (Props to Ginay for smuggling a grande caramel apple spice into the MTC. I thought I had died and gone to heaven.) I literally walked out of the mailroom carrying a stack of packages one day and all I heard from the missionaries I was passing was, "Ohhh. SOMEBODY's loved." Yep. I am so loved and so supported by all of you lovely people back and home and I count that among my blessing every day. I love all of you so much. The pajamas and food were the best. I'm extremely wealthy on MTC terms...  (aka FOOD). 

We got to spend our entire morning cleaning the temple today! I was so happy to be there. We've been temple-deprived for a whole month now and it's been so awful. I was beaming from ear to ear the entire time we were there. We got a tour of it at the end of our service shift and I was in complete awe. It's such a pretty temple! I've never been to the Provo temple before today but I definitely loved it. I think it opens back up in about a week or so and I'll finally get to go for reals a couple times before I head out to Korea. I'm pretty excited about that. 

Fun facts of the week: I do my hair in messy buns that are held up by a solitary pen on a regular basis because I somehow manage to ALWAYS forget to grab hair bands from my residence hall in the mornings when I leave. (Dang it.) We've befriended the Cambodian-speaking Elders. Their classroom is right next to the sister's bathroom and since we're in a trio companionship (during class time) we spend a great deal of time on the little bench outside their classroom. Oh, and last of all, I have a permanent pink scar on my forehead that is in the shape of a metal leaf pan.... (mom). 

I've always been a woman of many (and elaborate) words. Yet, as I've been here, I've watched my vocabulary begin to diminish. God's gospel is simple and easy to understand. And I truly believe that God is sending me to Korea in order to help me figure out how to simplify the way in which I teach of Him. My prayers are simple and short-- my testimony is well. But that doesn't make them any less powerful. In fact, merely bearing my testimony in Korean is a testimony in and of itself: We are children of an almighty being who loves us and gives us the ability to do things that are beyond our own capabilities. The atonement of Jesus Christ "magnifies our natural capacities" and helps us to become far greater than we could ever be on our own. Everyday, we should practice choosing happiness and success through the gift that Jesus Christ has given us. 

He has given us the opportunity to choose our fate. We don't choose our journey, but we can choose our destination. I choose to follow Him because He is my strength when my own strength crumbles and He is my light in a world that is so dark and so lost. 

"Come, follow me." He beckons. 

And with His name on my chest, I am doing my best.

I love you lots.

To the moon and back, actually.

xoxo,

Sister Bagley

I'm Still Alive.

Hello, loved ones. There was a minor accident this week...

As Sister Glauser, Sister Anderson and I were hanging upside down from my bunk bed a few nights ago, (it's a nightly therapy ritual-- don't question us. We spend way too much time in our classrooms each day to even consider ourselves sane anymore) we somehow managed to all fall off of my bed. Don't worry, my head broke my fall. Glauser got a rug burn on her elbow and Anderson escaped unscathed. No missionaries were seriously injured-- but we did spend a solid half hour smashed between two beds with our arms and legs all tangled up and tears oozing from our eyeballs because it was just so dang funny. 

So, our little trio companionship got split up this week! I mean, that was kind of a sad moment. A new korean-speaking sister came into the MTC this week and Sister Hoffman was assigned to be her new companion. It's just Glauser and I now! (We think Hoffman was secretly relieved to be rid of us). BUT, all four of us share a room and Sister Hoffman is still in our district so we're with her all day anyways. Um. It's kind of a weird confusing thing to explain-- but whatever. 

Speaking of new missionaries, as a sisters training leader, I was expected to share my testimony in Korean with the new dongi (group) of Korean-speaking missionaries that came in this week. After we shared our testimonies, we had them try and guess how long we've been at the MTC. They thought I'd been here for six weeks already... Maybe my Korean is coming along better than I thought? Granted, I bore my testimony to a collection of individuals who don't speak Korean yet. I mean, for all they know, I was just muttering a bunch of random words in Korean, mashing them all together, and calling it my testimony. (For the record... that's not what happened.) 

Our teacher, Brother McArthur, is no longer our teacher. That was a devastating "fun fact of the day." He informed us that he was going on a nine day vacation back home for Christmas and the next thing we know he's no longer teacher our class. Glauser and I were pretty upset about that-- it's still a sensitive topic for us. 

Glauser and I decided that we are basically a married couple. We came to this conclusion one night when the two of us found ourselves in adjacent bathroom stalls in the middle of the night because we had both consumed too much water during the course of the day. We get anxiety if we are ever separated during gym time and we answer personal questions for each other whenever others inquire such things of us. Our sense of humor is identical. And we're both ridiculously weird. We're practically married.

So, I finally whipped out Kallin's shirt today. I kept it in the bag forever because it smelled so good and I didn't want to defile the man perfume with my girl-stench. But alas, I gave in. And I ran down the halls of the residence exclaiming, "Attention, Sisters! I'm willing to hug you and be your temporary pretend boyfriend today because I smell amazing." Kallin, you're blessing the lives of sister missionaries with this shirt. Just saying.

The language has been eating my soul this week. That's probably the best way I could phrase that... the days are a roller coaster of "I totally understand!" moments and "Can I bash my head against this brick wall now? K thanks." moments. But no matter what, after hanging upside down from the bunk beds each night, I feel like life is going to be okay. Like I've said a hundred times, life as a missionary is so good. It ain't no walk in the park though... (it's more like a run in a hailstorm; it's exhilarating and exciting but sometimes it's kind of painful. But it's totally worth it. Everyone should try it out sometime, ya know what I mean?) Just kidding. But really, missions are the greatest.

GOOD NEWS! I get an hour of emailing on Christmas day. So keep those cellular devices of yours close so we can have a lil' chat. 

Anyways, I love you all a whole bunch. I'm happy and I sing Disney songs and hymns wherever I go. Missionaries are really good at joining in and throwing down some sweet harmonies. I've been giving out so many pictures of baby Jesus and it's making me so happy. (Thanks Ma.) Elder Demille (one of the super awesome Elders in my district) is a professional robot-drawer-drawing man.

I made him sketch one just for me so I could put it in the front cover of the little binder that I'm super attached to. (I literally take it with me everywhere. It's basically got my whole heart in there. It's an MTC survival guide that I created just myself. Everyone should make one. Especially little missionaries who will be here for as long as we're going to be here.... seven weeks to go.) 

My district is the greatest. There's such a spirit about us. And there is so much love and support for each and every member of it. We are literally a little family away from our real families. I've been so grateful for that-- it's good to love the humans that you spend every waking moment of every waking day with. I love 'em. Yep.

This week we had Elder Rasband from the seventy come speak to us for our Tuesday nightdevotional! He talked about spiritual gifts to get us all in gear for Christmas here at the MTC. Anyways, I've been really thinking about spiritual gifts and I've come to the conclusion that God has given me the gift of peace. Yes, peace. And that peace comes from my knowledge of a Savior who loves me enough to have died for me. That atonement is central to God's plan of happiness. And that plan of happiness helps me to put my trials and short-comings into perspective.

In Ether 12:27 it talks about how God gives us weaknesses and that through His grace and His love, they can become strengths. This week (and really the whole time I've been at the MTC) I've become very, very, very aware of my personal weaknesses. But one thing that really hit me this week was this: as we begin to see our weaknesses very prominently in our lives (and on our missions), it is an evidence of us coming unto Christ. He shows us our weaknesses; He brings all of those weaknesses to the surface so that we recognize them and so that He can help us overcome them. Through Jesus Christ's atonement, we can overcome anything. His grace is sufficient enough for me, for you, for ALL of us. Besides, this isn't MY mission. It's the Lord's mission. I'm merely a tool in His hands. I know that as I work on coming unto Him that my struggles and my short-comings will be swallowed up in His love. Again, back to my mission scripture, Alma 26:12. I can't do much of anything. But in my GOD, I can do ALL things.

My love and prayers are with all of you this week.

xoxo,

Sister Bagley

p.s. Dear Elders and letters here at the MTC are like manna from heaven. Hint hint. Seriously though. I can't keep up with Glauser! She gets like... twelve letters per mail delivery. (Mail deliveries happen twice a day...FYI.)

Holla At You From Da MTC.

What's up friends and family? I'm just having the time of my life over here at the MTC. It's great, you know. I remember hearing all kinds of "terrible" things about this place before I arrived and it really did make me so nervous. But I've come to realize that nothing phases me. The food? I heard it was terrible. But I consider it an "all you can eat" buffet and I'm just rolling with it. I mean, who cares if I gain 400 pounds in my nine-week stay here at the good old MTC? I'm going to Korea. Better eat up now, right? Homesickness? My companion, Sister Glauser, and I are the only two sisters who haven't had a mental break down yet. It's completely normal to see sisters losing control of their emotions in the cafeteria. But we kind of just sit there eating our brownies and ice cream and wonder if we're just heartless human beings because we haven't cried about it yet. (Maybe we are heartless?)

So. My companion, Sister Glauser, is absolutely amazing. We're basically the exact same person and we are such dorks together. I love it. We hang upside down from our bunk beds and sing primary songs in opera voices at the top of our lungs as we walk to classes and dinner and what not. She actually accidentally bashed her head against the metal bed frame of the bunk bed one night as I was saying my prayers one night and I ended up having to finish my prayer after a half-hour long laugh attack that made my stomach hurt so bad. The next night she electrocuted herself with her blow dryer. Seriously, such a hoot. I love her. Our other companion has basically become our "weary mother" and has to tell us to shut up at night when we've been giggling for over half an hour. (It's become a nightly thing. It's practically a nightly ab work out... so maybe I won't get fat after all?) 
We're convinced there's this dead body hiding in the vent of our room. We can't ever see it during the day but at night, the vent is all lit up and it straight up looks like there's a old dead guy's head just staring at us. So creepy. But we named him Eugene Herbert (EH for short) and we make sure we blow him kisses every night before bed so he doesn't kill us or haunt us or something. It really legitimately kind of freaks us out but we just make a joke out of it.

On Sunday I was called into an interview with a member of our branch presidency and the words that came out of his mouth were definitely not the words I was expecting to hear in that given set of circumstances. "Sister Bagley, we've never done this in our branch before, but we have fasted and prayed about it and we feel very strongly about asking you to become the new sisters training leader for the Korean branch. We know you've only been here for three days but we have fasted and prayed about it and feel very strongly about extending this invitation to you." Gulp. So I simply replied, "If it's what the Lord wants me to do, then I will do it." I think God has a super great sense of humor... I mean, why else would he put a newbie over the sisters in our branch? 

Speaking of our branch, we've got one of the biggest branches here at the MTC! It consists of 81 missionaries of whom are all going to Korea. How cool is that? I love each and every one of them, too. We've got the greatest group of kids, Korea doesn't know what's coming. 

My Korean is coming along really well! I can now officially pray and bear my testimony in Korean. Like, what? That's crazy business. I've learned the Korean alphabet and I have the time of my life in our language study time just having my companions spit out Korean words for me to spell on the chalkboard. I like Korean. Even though it makes my head hurt sometimes. 

I get front row seats at ALL the firesides and devotionals! Thanks to Mamma Bagley. She has all these super awesome connections at the MTC and I'm the one getting the perks. Well, my companions are too. (Thanks, Ma.) 

I've taught discussions in Korean for nearly every day that I've been here. I still get nervous every single time we have to teach progressive investigators. I mean, I think everyone would be nervous to teach in a language they barely know. Am I right? (Yes, I'm right.) But it has been good and I've learned a lot. 

My companions are super great. Sister Glauser and I are like the naughty twins and Sister Hoffman has become our weary mother. We keep getting attacked by these fits of laughter right around our bedtime every single night and we can't even control ourselves. Our pillows get soaked with tears and we laugh until our tummies hurt. (Maybe I won't get fat... if these giggle fits keep occurring then I'll have a nightly ab work out that I actually enjoy doing.) Fun facts of the week: Sister Glauser accidentally head-butted the metal bed frame of her bunk bed in the middle of the night and I was convinced she'd given herself a concussion. And then the following night she electrocuted herself with her blow dryer. SO FUNNY. I've been laughing about it all week. We're losing our minds but it's completely fine. 

Anyways, time is running out. But I do love it here! And it's so neat being here during the Christmas season! There are Christmas lights up and Christmas trees in every room. And you hear missionaries singing Christmas songs everywhere you go. I think I'll like my Christmas here. I'll miss my family lots, of course, but it will be neat to really get to focus on our Savior and the true meaning of Christmas as I'm here at the MTC in the infant stages of my mission.

My prayers are with you and my love goes out to all of you!

xoxo,

Sister Bagley

It Starts.

Well, hey everyone.

I'm alive! It's so funny because everyone seems to treat the whole mission thing as a form of "death." I know I did. It's hard to picture life on the mission when you're still in the real world. But I have learned that once you're on a mission, it's hard to picture the pre-mission life. It feels like a dream.

The MTC is the greatest place on the face of the planet. The spirit is SO strong and it is always present. It has been so neat to be a part of the atmosphere here for the last couple of days. There is nothing like the MTC. And there is nothing like life at the MTC.

It is hard. So hard. The first day we got here, our instructor did not speak one word of English. Needless to say, it's been a guessing game since day one. But it's been so awesome to see just how quickly our minds can progress with the help of the spirit. Within two hours of being here, we had the entire Korean alphabet memorized. I can now read in Korean, pretty cool, eh? I may have no idea what I'm saying, but I can read it, and that's a start. 

Dakota (one of the good friends I worked with before entering the MTC) and Daniel (otherwise known as "Meeks"-- he was in my homeward) are both in my district! It's been so nice having a couple of familiar faces sitting with me in a tiny little classroom for the past few days. (I totally made it sound worse than it is-- it's not bad at all. Time actually flies.)

I have two companions, both of whom, I love. We're in a cute little threesome companionship and we love it. I can't even imagine having just one companion. I don't know what I'm going to do when that actually happens... thankfully I'll have both of my lovely comps with me the whole time I'm here. (Which is until February 3rd...)

The first day I was here I got a shoutout from President Nally over the pulpit in front of a room of about 300+ missionaries. I guess that's what happens when you have a mother named Gina Bagley who knows EVERYONE. He asked, "Is there a Sister CaLea Bagley present?" And when I raised my hand, he asked me to stand before he said, "We offer you a sincere and warm welcome. We promised your mother we'd take care of you." Needless to say, it hasn't been hard to make new friends...

I see so many familiar faces in the halls here at the good ol' MTC. My companions (or dong-bahn-ja [that's how you pronounce "companions" in Korean]) joke that I know everyone. Which is funny because I obviously don't know everyone... but it does feel like it. I know more people than I thought I would know here. It's like a big, fun reunion. 

Anyways, I love it here. I've never been more tired or more challenged, and I have definitely never felt more incapable of doing anything-- but I have also never been happier. There's something about this place that makes it so wonderful. I think it's the constant presence of the spirit. And I suppose it's also the knowledge that we have a Heavenly Father who wants to help us and who is willing to help us. We have to learn to not rely upon our own strength, but upon HIS strength. 

I don't have much time and I haven't exactly figured out how to send pictures through the MTC computers (I swear, these aren't computers, they're calculators) but I do want you all to know that I love you and that I'm so grateful for your love and support. 

Hey, write me. Dear Elder me.
Anything-- I need something to do next p-day.

All my love,

Sister CaLea Bagley

p.s. expect a letter, family. I put one in the big blue mailbox today!  

Called To Serve Him.

Well, the time has finally come. The wait has been long (and at times, it felt almost too long) but the Lord has always been better at timing than me. I am ready to serve; I am ready to stand as a representative of our beloved Savior. I feel so blessed to have been given such a sacred opportunity. 

I know without a doubt that this is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I know without a doubt that Christ lives and that He will come again. I know without a doubt that His plan leads to true and lasting happiness and I know without a doubt that I want nothing more than to experience such joy. I have a testimony of our loving Savior, brother, and friend, Jesus Christ. I know of His love because I have felt it time and time again. It's everywhere-- we just have to be willing to recognize it.

I could not possibly live my life having enjoyed the blessings of this sweet gospel without feeling a sincere desire to share it. I want everyone to know what it is like to have the Holy Spirit as their constant companion; I want everyone to know what it is like to have a knowledge of a Savior, a heavenly being, who loves each and everyone of us personally and unconditionally.

I have been called forth at this time to serve in the Seoul Korea South mission. I'm both terrified, excited, anxious, and elated all at once-- fear, however, is a silly thing. For I believe in a God who believes in me. He has offered to help me every step of the way as long as I remember to look to Him for help in and with all things. I am grateful for a Lord who cares enough to allow me to grow. And I am grateful that He loves me enough to pick me up each and every time I fall.

This is my time to dedicate my life completely to Him.
This is my time to learn of His love and to learn more of Him.

What an incredible time to be a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!
I love you, each of you, and I'll see you in eighteen months!

xoxo,

Sister Bagley

What I'll Be Wearing in Korea.

(I also have several sweaters but I got extremely lazy and decided that I didn't want to take pictures of them.)

When I first started looking for mission-appropriate clothing, let me tell you, it felt like diving into a lake of ice cold water-- I was hyperventilating and freaking out because it was so overwhelming. (Okay, okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the idea.) Let's be honest for a moment here: it's hard to find modest clothes when the fashion fads of the world are SO not modest. And this is coming from a girl who is living in Utah where there are as many modest clothing boutiques as there are churches-- I feel for you sisters who are living outside of Utah who are trying to find modest clothes!

Anyways. As I kept looking, I discovered that a modest wardrobe comes with time and consistency. Just keep looking. Eventually you'll start finding some things that will work for you. One of my biggest rules when I was shopping was this: if you have to question whether or not it's mission appropriate, just drop it. It's better to stay on the safe side, you'll find something better later on. Don't feel like you have to purchase an entire suitcase full of mission clothes in one shopping trip. Just go on mini shopping adventures all the time! (Who could complain about that?) When you walk away having found two or three really great things with each trip you take, pretty soon you'll discover that you've found everything you need to dress yourself adorably and modestly for eighteen months. 

The fabulous providers of my mission wardrobe were:

• Deseret Industries (Otherwise known as DI-- can a get a "woot, woot?")
• Mika Rose
• Downeast
• Fashion Corner

Just a hint: decide on either plain shirts and fun-patterned skirts or vice versa. That way you can kind of keep to a uniform thing so that all your clothes will be easier to mix and match. I chose on rolling with bright-colored/fun skirts and more neutral colored shirts for my mission.

In the mission packet it says to bring about eight outfits...yes, I am aware that I have more than just eight outfits pictured here. BUT-- collectively, they weigh about 23 pounds (half of ONE of my suitcases) so I justified it.

Um. Yeah, that's basically what I have to say for this little post.
I wish everyone the best in their mission-shopping! Make it fun.

xoxo,

Sister Bagley

13 days.

I got the awesome opportunity of meeting a bunch of sister missionaries up at temple square this past Saturday. I even met three other sisters who are headed to the Korea Seoul South mission. I couldn't have been more excited. It's so neat to see that the work of the Lord is progressing so quickly and that it's progressing through the hands of lovely sisters such as the ones I was fortunate enough to meet on Saturday. 

I report to the MTC in thirteen days and I could not be more excited.

xo

36 days and counting.

The whole concept of Korea will occasionally hit me at random intervals during my everyday life and I can't help but to acknowledge those moments with various forms of celebration such as mini "I'M GOING TO KOREA!!!!!" dance parties, really high pitch squeals, and sometimes even the consumption of a brownie. I'm not even going to be able to fathom this until I'm stepping off of the plane in Korea and everyone is cute and Asian and Korean-speaking and I'm just all, "안녕하세요, 저는 예수님을 사랑 해요." ("Hi, I love Jesus.") I'll try not to freak them out too much.

Thirty-six days, suckas. And then I'm out of here. I'm getting obnoxiously anxious about all of this because working full-time while all your friends are in various countries around the world or going to school and to cool college parties and stuff is the pits. I don't like living in the pits. So I'd like to go to Korea now. Really really bad. I want to share what I know with the wonderful Korean people who are looking for exactly what the gospel of Jesus Christ has to offer them. Thirty-six days!!! Can I get a hallelujah? 

I'm going to Korea in 36 days.

I've got so much to do.