My Dear Dear Dear Dear
Family!!
Hello! I'm writing to
you from my last P-Day in the MTC!!!! Here's the thing . . . we don't actually
know where we're being reassigned yet. We know for sure we will be reassigned
and sent to a stateside mission sometime this week, but we don't know yet when
or where. I will be finding out later today, which means I get to call home
tonight or tomorrow, for about 5 minutes, to tell you where I'm going and give
you a brief I love you (and tell you something in Spanish, so you can hear that
I have been learning!). I'm not sure what time I'll be permitted to call, but
just a heads up. I'll try calling Mom's cell if I don't get the home phone (i'm
sorry Dad, I don't have yours memorized. I know it starts with a 801-9 . . .).
But even if I get the answering machine, at least I get to talk to you on
mother's day next month, right? :) I'm not bummed at all about the
reassignment. I know I'll get to Argentina eventually, and until then I have
the privilege of serving a mini mission in another area. I cannot wait to start
sharing the gospel and exercise all that I've learned.
Another item of
Business: I had my last HEP shot this week with Twinrix. I had to pay 100$ of
my cash for it to be fully immunized, and the receipt with the insurance info
is on it's way to you in the mail (tomorrow) to get reimbursed by the insurance
company. I will probably take 100$ out of the ATM with my debit to make up for
my emergency cash fund, so don't be alarmed if you see that change on my bank
account.
This week has been an
awesome mail week. Mom, seriously, you are the best ever. I cannot thank you
enough! Thank you for the lotion, the smell goods, and the Banana Bread. I must
say, I was a little more to myself with that one . . . I ate a whole loaf by
myself, and then shared the other with the Hermanas. I never knew how much I
truly truly loved your nana bread til this week! Good golly miss Molly, it is
delicious. And the letters, oh the letters! Thank you, my dear brothers and
Casey and Josh and Kylie for your creative notes and recounts of the Color
festival. Sounds like a blast! I'm glad you could go to the temple and do work
for the dead. I'm proud of you, keep Temple attendance up! Also, many thanks to
Ted & Kelli fam for their lovely package with Missionary survival stuff
(stickers, tide pen, cookies, an incredible banner with my name on it,
stickers, & more) and Sweet Aunt Katie for the Grandma B. Scarves and
letters. Thank you to everyone else for your letters, love, prayers, and
support!
Wasn't Conference
AMAZING this past weekend? I felt like a giddy schoolgirl. It was like
Christmas for we missionaries! Some tender mercies--seeing my sweet roommate
Sarah singing beautifully in the BYU Choir, Afternoon Saturday Session. So
wonderful! Also, we watched a rebroadcast of the YW general broadcast, and I
was so excited to see so many beautiful lovely young faces from my home ward
and stake!
I was uplifted
and astounded by the many inspired talks and beautiful messages offered. Some
great one liners I took from conference:
"Nothing is going
to surprise us more than returning to our Father in Heaven and how well we
already know him." -Cristoffel Golden
I loved this because
our endeavor to do good and right and fight for what is true is not forgotten.
We are striving to be more like God everyday, and through that process, we know
him better than we think we do.
"A child who sings
is a happy child." -Elder Enrique Falabella (also by him was the line, 'in
order to contend, you need two people, and I will never be one of them. It
reminded me of when mom says you need to to tangle. It's true!)
Music is so important
in the home! Especially the hymns, but Boston, Eagles, Disney music . . . good
wholesome music has uplifted me throughout my life. Thank you, loving parents,
for encouraging me in every musical aspect--my endeavors in guitar and voice
and piano, especially.
"It is your soul I
am buying for you." -Elder D. Todd Cristofferson (quoting Les Miserables.
Shout out to Kylie and Casey!)
Remember that Christ
has bought our souls. Don't take that ransom for granted.
My favorite talks from
the whole conference were probably Elder Holland, Elder Bednar, and Rosemary M.
Wixom. Sister Wixom offered such a neat and particular talk about children and
fueled my joy and passion for teaching children. I will certainly consult her
talk in future days in my classroom and in my home as a mother.
Some other
events--Tuesday we took a trip to SLC to visit the Argentine Consulate. At 7:30
am, we found ourselves crammed on a bus (like a schoolbus) and bustling out of
Provo. It was strange to leave the MTC premises and travel a highway I know
like the back of my hand. Passing UVU i thought of you, AJ, studying at UCAS.
Keep up the good work, bud! I also looked fondly off of the American Fork exit.
I love you all :) Once arriving in the Salt lake, we were dropped off by the
Church office building and walked to the Joseph Smith Memorial building to meet
with the Argentine Consulate. We met in a grand assembly room with broad
windows and fancy wood fixtures. There were about 120 or so Argentine-going
visa waiting missionaries there, from all over Utah, Boise Idaho, and of course
the MTC. The Consulate spoke to us for about an hour, answered a few cultural
questions, and then briefly met with each of us individually. We had our
fingerprint sheets there and signed our names. Beleive it our not, this process
took about 4.5 hours. We entertained ourselves with quizzing each other on
Spanish sentences, particularly difficult verb tenses like conditional and
subjunctive. I wrote in my journal some. Hermana Telfer and i ventured to the
large windows and sat in the broad-silled window frame while we read and talked
some (see pictures). Once we were finally done, we went downstairs and enjoyed
our favorite part of the trip--the Nauvoo Cafe! We were ecstatic to eat
something different than MTC Cafeteria food. Sandwiches never tasted so good, I
tell ya. Hermana Alicea and Elder Martin had never seen the Salt Lake Temple in
person before, so of course we stopped to take pictures in front of it. It was
a diverting, different kind of day for us in the mission field.
As far as the visas go,
we really don't know how long it will take. Visiting with the consulate was a crucial
step in the process. We will receive our visas anywhere between 2 weeks and 3
months. We'll see :) But I'm not worried. All things in their time (D&C
64:32, one of my favorites).
It's been a pleasure to
learn in one small class of people all day, the first time since elementary
school. Our district has become very close and we really enjoy learning
together--each missionary helps buoy up the next missionary. I'm going to miss
them dearly! All day every day with the same 9 people is a neat thing to
experience. Fast, lasting friendships. Especially because we are all united in
the missionary effort! One of our favorite activities of late has invovled our
imaginations! WAHOO! We have taken our desks and chairs in the classroom and
transformed them to be an airport, a park, or a bus. Then, half our class
pretends to be investigators, and the other half practices being missionaries
approaching these investigators. These simulations are to practice contacting
in public areas, and remind me a little of my college drama class I took last
winter. It's not only a lot of fun, but quite a spiritual experience. I've
acted as a single mom with 3 kids just striving to get by, a 9 year old little
girl playing hopscotch, a college student traveling to Costa Rica, an atheist
grandma librarian, and a 13 year old girl struggling to find friends. In each
case, (completely in spanish), the missionaries in my district were able to
tailor their message to the needs of the investigator. Always it was centered
on Jesus Christ, and always their approach was gentle and understanding. They
didn't try to force-feed the book of mormon or coerce my investigator into
coming to church. Theirs was a labor of love, peace, goodwill, just as the
Savior would have done.
I realize I've never
truly told you what a day in the MTC is like. Before I sign off, let me tell
you the best way that I can :)
6:30 am: Arise and
Prepare. I share the same bedroom with the other 4 sisters in my district. I
have the top bunk of a bunkbed, which is a fulfillment of a life-long dream of
mine. Seriously, it's awesome! We have wardrobe-style closets connected to
shared desks for each companionship. Our bathrooms are in the hallway, they are
public restrooms with public showers (and curtains for modesty, of course).
Singing in the showers is my favorite thing, everyone harmonizes. Sometimes if
I stop singing, other sisters ask me from across the bathroom to please keep
going, and sometimes request hymns. I couldn't ask for a kinder compliment :)
7:20 am: Breakfast! We
eat at the cafeteria. It is practically identical to the Cannon Center--same
food and everything. Memories of Freshman year at BYU as a salad girl. It's
good and healthful, but nothing near as good as mom's food, let me tell ya. The
bagels, salad wraps, and BYU ice cream is the best part of eating here. I've
discovered a new culinary love--granola with peanut butter and honey, spread on
bananas and apples. Pure joy!
7:50 am: Classtime! Hermano
Magallanes in the Morning. We always begin with a prayer, hymn in spanish, and
reciting our purpose and the first vision--all in Spanish. We practice grammar,
learn spanish terms, have gospel discussions in Spanish, teach our teacher as
an acting investigator (Alberto) in Spanish, read from the Book of Mormon in
Spanish, and sometimes watch video clips of how to teach . . . in English.
Hermano Magallanes told us we have the best classroom in the whole MTC, and
he's right. It is about 3 times the size of the normal classrooms, has two
large beautiful windows where I can gaze out at Timpanogos, a red painted wall
(the best color, right?), desks we can write on with dry erase marker . . .
it's pretty neat. And it's right across the hall from the bathrooms. We have it
made.
10:50 am: Personal
Study. This is my favorite time, my time to feast from the scriptures and spend
time with God.
12:00 pm: LUNCH! We get
mail after we finish eating, and sometimes go to a practice room and play the
piano and sing! Hermana Alicea is a fantastic pianist.
12:45 pm: Companionship
Study. Also my favorite time, because I have the privilege of having Hermanas
Alicea and Telfer all to myself to glean their wisdom!
2:00 pm: Classtime!
This time with Hermano Ballard. The same concepts as with Hermano Magallanes,
except oftimes we get to study outside, HALLELUJAH!
5:00 pm. Cena. oops, I
mean dinner!
5:45 pm: TALL lab. We
go to a computer lab and work on a computer program called TALL (tech assisted
language learning) to improve our Spanish.
7:05 pm: GYM TIME! I
get to run the track and play volleyball with my district. It's awesome! I have
never loved volleyball so much.
8:25 pm: Daily planning
and additional Study
9:30 pm: Return to
apartment, get ready for bed.
10:30 pm: BEDTIME!
Alright, sorry for this
super long email. I'd best be on my way, just know that i love you and I'll
talk to you soon. You're in my thoughts and prayers all the time, and I love to
hear from you. Corey, hang in there bud with your pulled teeth! Goodness, that
looks like it hurt. And boys, your eggs pictures and coffin pictures made me
laugh and laugh. Love you love you love you.
"Si mi amais,
guardad mis mandamientos."
con amor,
Hermana Boren!
No comments:
Post a Comment