Okay last Thursday I took so long writing the mass
email that I barely had any time to reply to personal emails, so hopefully this
won't be as long but I have lots to talk about haha. Oh and I figured out how
to upload pictures but I have TONS to make up for last week so you might get
lots of emails of just pictures.
Also, I just made a list of things I wanted to talk
about in the email so it's kinda going to be all over the place.
SO…
More friends I've seen since I've been here: Elder
(Kenny) Roberts and Elder (Chris) Glenn! I saw Chris on his 2nd day at the MTC
and gave him a handshake (since we aren't allowed to hug Elders) and he said I
was his first Sister/Hermana handshake haha. It was fun to see them.
Last Thursday we went to main campus to eat lunch and
it is SO much better than the food here at West Campus. They have so many more
options and better food in general. The food here at West is no bueno. Only
sometimes is there a good meal being served. That probably explains why I've
lost almost 10 pounds...
We also went to the temple on Thursday which was
AWESOME. I love the temple so much and it was so awesome to be in there with a
bunch of missionaries. You could feel the spirit so strongly it was so cool.
Afterwards we went and got burgers from Burger Supreme in Brigham's Landing and
we got Jamba Juice! They were playing music in Jamba and we all didn't even
know what to do because we hadn't heart that kind of music in so long and we
were all trying not to dance along haha.
Okay so during personal study the other day, I was
feeling a little down so I was studying and looking up scriptures for comfort.
I came across John 14 and John 16:33 in the Bible. You should read them, they
are really good and made me feel a lot better. Also, Philippians 4:13: "I
can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me"
On August 2nd I broke down and cried for the first
time since being here. I was just sitting there in the classroom while we were
all just chillin and one of the Elders asked me what was wrong and I just lost
it and felt so pathetic. But then they were all trying to comfort me and Elder
Olsen got the whole district together so we could sing I Know That My Redeemer
Lives to make me feel better since it's my favorite hymn. My district is
awesome.
Some of our favorite Elders in our zone left on Monday
though so that was really sad :( But Me, Hermana Sellers, Elder Gray and Elder
Best are all going to hangout when we get back from our missions at BYU so that
will be awesome.
Also, me and Hermana Sellers decided we should room
together back at BYU and we have a list of all the stuff we need to do that she
never did freshman year! It's gonna be awesome, I love her so much. We have
"pillow talk" every night and we call it "Conversación de
Almohada" sometimes we get so carried away talking that we're up over an
hour past lights out, oops! But we are seriously like the same person so we
relate on everything and always have great stuff to talk about.
So Sunday was fast Sunday, and we couldn't eat until 4:30
which is hard when you have to wake up at 6! So on Saturday night a bunch of
the Elders in our Zone came over to the outside of our apartment and brought us
TONS of snacks and candy and stuff for our "last supper" before fast
Sunday haha it was awesome.
Me and Hermana Sellers have gotten so close with the
next "oldest" district in our zone, all the Elders are so fun. Since
District A left on Monday, we got a new district in our zone yesterday! We
haven't gotten to meet them yet but it is a district of all Elders so me and
Hermanas Sellers, Peterson, and Duran are still the only girls in our district
(: The Elders said they were happy about us because they wanted to be selfish
with us haha.
In Sacrament on Sunday, since it was fast and
testimony meeting I got up and bore my testimony (in SPANISH, since our
sacrament meetings are held in all Spanish). I was the only Hermana to get up
and one of the only people from my district to get up as well. Then I had to
say the closing prayer also in Spanish. It felt so nice to bear my testimony
though. Ahhh I love the gospel.
On Sunday night after devotional they always show a
variety of church movies or recorded general conference talks we can choose
from, so a bunch of us from my Zone went and watched the Joseph Smith movie.
I've seen it before but this time it really touched me. It is SO good. It
really makes you appreciate the early members of the church because they were
soo persecuted and abused by everyone but they paved the way for the happiness
that we have now in the church. I am so grateful for Joseph Smith and all those
Saints and their sacrifices and faith in following Christ.
Now we have 2 investigators that we're teaching at the
same time (once again, in Spanish) so that's more difficult but it's great!
Hermana Sellers and me are really improving with our Spanish and our teaching
abilities. Also, we started doing TRC which is where we go and talk to members
of the church and teach them little lessons, like visiting or home teaching.
That is in Spanish too (pretty much everything is here) but it was SO fun.
Hermana Sellers and me got to teach these 2 super cute old men (Allie you would
have loved them) and they were the sweetest things ever. One of them gave us
little cards with the Articles of Faith in Spanish and a printed out page of
all his favorite scriptures! We had super good conversations with both of them.
Our whole district was pumped when we came back and talked about TRC because
everyone had such good experiences!
On Tuesday me, Hermana Sellers, Elder Olsen and Elder
Estes had to go to the Mexican Consulate in Salt Lake with 12 other Elders and
2 other Hermanas from the West campus that are also going to places in Mexico.
We had to leave at 10 am to take the bus to the Frontrunner. We had to wait for
like half an hour for the Frontrunner then we were on that for an hour. We made
a new friend, Elder Hayes (who is super awesome and cute and a country boy that
was raised on a farm; Kaylee I told him he should meet you hahaha) and we all
just chatted about life for the whole time we were on the Frontrunner. Then we
had to get off that and get on the Trax for 15ish minutes to take us to Salt
Lake. Then we had to walk 3 blocks to get to the Consulate (through the ghetto
of Salt Lake) and we got to experience what it feels like to be out in the real
world as missionaries. When we got there all they did was take our pictures and
fingerprints to finish up our Visas. Then we had to wait there forever for
everything to be approved before we could go. We met this senior couple who is
getting ready to serve their mission in Mexico City!
So anyways then we had to get on the Trax, get on the
Frontrunner, then wait for the bus back to the MTC. On the Frontrunner on the
way back me, Hermana Sellers and Elders Olsen, Estes, and Hayes were all
talking about embarrassing stories and weirdest kiss stories and the best/worst
way we got asked to school dances. It was hilarious haha it was nice to just be
able to goof around.
Oh and shout out to my Mom, Grandma, and Deanne Larson
for being the only people to send me Dear Elder letters :( Except Izzy said
that she couldn't send one because she didn't know my unit number so maybe that
could have been someone else's problem to. My unit # is 860 and my mission is
MEX-PUBN. My Estimated departure date is SEP01. If it works please please
please send me messages on DearElder.com
because I love getting them! And when we check the mail every day it's like an
unspoken competition within our district who can get the most letters/packages
haha.
Anyways I hope all of you are doing fantastic! I miss
and love you all so so much but don't worry about me, I'm doing awesome here!
Loving (almost) every minute of it (:
Once again, I LOVE YOU ALL. Time is going by so fast
here and I'll be home before I know it.
Ciao, amigos (:
My district in our classroom which is in an
apartment at Raintree Apartments
Hermana Petersen and me
My Zone at the MCT
Some Elders that are also from Washington State
Since we can't put our arms around the Elders
this is me, Hermana Sellers, Elder Gray and Elder Best's classic
"pretend" arms around pose (you put your arm around yourself behind
your back haha)
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