Week 2!

Hey Mom!  This week has been intense!  They work us hard here, which is good, I'm glad I have people to push me!  We have been really focusing on teaching lately.  When I got to the MTC I thought it would mostly be language classes, but that isn't the case.  We focus on teaching skills and studying the gospel a lot more than spanish.  I'm starting to feel kind of stressed, because I don't feel like I'm improving very fast...  I still have a ton to learn!  But I'm definitely getting better, bit by bit.  I just need to have faith that God is watching out for me, and no matter what happens, he will be there.

We had a devotional on Sunday where we watched a video of one of Elder Bednar's talks.  It was such an amazing talk!!  He talked about the characteristic of Christ, and how we should all try to emulate it.  The characteristic of Christ is turning outwards when the natural man would turn inwards.  Turning outwards is focusing on others and on their needs; focusing inwards means focusing on yourself.  Whenever something bad happened to Jesus, he focused on others.  When something bad happens to us, we tend to want attention, or we fuss, or we shut down, or we have terribly negative thoughts.  I want to try my best to turn outwards as much as I can, because that's what being a missionary is really all about.  I highly suggest watching this talk!  It applies to everyone, not just missionaries.  I don't know what the name of the talk is, but it was given by elder bednar in the provo MTC on Christmas, 2011.

Our district is really fun!  Elder Orrock is really funny, he can always make everyone laugh.  Elder Donkin is super weird, he always says the most bizarre things, it makes me laugh.  Elder Gonzales is really cool, he is pretty quiet and spiritual, and he rocks at basketball and soccer.  Elder Gunnell is great, he is our district leader!  He is funny, and really spiritual as well.  Hermana Reynosa is great, she is very headstrong and sassy.  Hermana Hollingshead is really nice and spiritual.  She's also kind of random sometimes.  Elder Henrie is my companion, and he's great.  He rants about random things in the funniest way, so our district loves to tease him about his pet peeves.  Its fun to work with him, because we both bring totally different talents, so we make up for each others weaknesses.  We make a good team. 

I love my district, and we're really close.  Sometimes I think we're a little too close, however, cause we get distracted talking to each other sometimes when we should be studying.  I'm really trying my best to be diligent and I'm trying my best to study even when everyone else is talking, but its really hard.  We study a ton every day, so a half an hour break to talk can seem harmless.  However, I know how important it is for me to be exactly obedient, so I am striving to improve my focus.

I didn't really get to talk about this last week, because I ran out of time.  Last week when me and Elder Henrie walked into our dorm we discovered that our roommates were both Mexican, and they didn't speak english.  It was really really difficult to live with people that we couldn't really communicate with.  However, as time has gone by, it has become a blessing to live with Hispanic people.  A couple days ago we tried to talk to them for the first time.  It was a struggle, and we didn't understand most of what they said, but it was a good experience.  They weren't mad.  They understood that spanish wasn't our first language.  They were really kind to us.  A couple days ago they left the MTC and we got entirely new Hispanic people that didn't speak any english!  We are trying to get to know these new Elders, and we are trying to push ourselves to speak more spanish.

The other day we had an activity called TRC.  I have no idea what it stands for, but basically what we do is we teach someone who isn't pretending to be an investigator.  They are being their real self.  It was really hard, but it was really cool.  It was the first time I gave an actually lesson, not a practice one.  We were teaching a lady who is already a member, but she had some troubles with her family, because her dad doesn't come to church.  We couldn't say exactly what we wanted to say, since it was in spanish, but we did teach with the spirit, so I think it worked out pretty well.  She gave us great feedback as well, so it was overall a success!

Today we got to go to the Mexico city temple!!!  It is so cool!  So beautiful!  It was an amazing experience!  I missed the temple, even though it has only been about 2 weeks, haha...  I felt the spirit very powerfully.  The celestial room is gorgeous, I wish you could see it!  The workers all speak spanish though, so it is a challenge, but a good challenge!  I can't wait until we get to go again.

Thats about it for this week!  Thank you for your prayers, I love you all so much!

The Temple!!!

One of my old roommates

This is our classroom

​The tienda (store)   We hang out here quite a bit when we have some free time.  There are a ton of fun Mexican snacks.  There are chips where there is one chip in the bag that is really spicy, and the rest are just mild.  The spicy chip turns your toungue blue so you can prove that you got the spicy one, haha.  Our district likes to buy a bag and pass it around to see who gets the spicy one.  It's way fun!