¡HOLA!
How is everyone!? Okay so I am already freaking out about time because my countdown has begun and I have soo much to say but here goes.... so first off, I miss you all dearly but I am absolutely LOVING it here!!! I honestly am in heaven and I could not be happier. I truly am so so happy and feel sooo blessed every single day. I can't imagine being anywhere else right now doing anything else. I know without a doubt in my mind that I am here for a reason and am supposed to be a missionary for nuestros Salvador JesuCristo. Sorry.. I may be throwing some Español in here every once in awhile. So beginning with that, my Español is coming along soo nicely!! Oh my goodness you guys, I feel soo blessed.
I pray for the gift of tongues, el don de languas, constantly in my prayers and I am not kidding..... I feel so lucky. I never in a million years thought I would be speaking how I am this quickly. I know to others I probably sound super bad haha but I am learning sooo much and feel like I have gained much success. Our first day here we learned soo much already. We memorized the missionary purpose in Español and learned how to pray. That night I had it memorized. And that next morning I was able to fluently say a prayer all in Español.... I don't know why I have been so lucky but I am super happy with my progress.
Now in class, I can totally understand what my teachers are saying and can talk a ton to them, ask questions, make comments, etc. Oh yeah, and so in my District it's 12 of us... Me, Hermana Howe (we call her Hermana Como because "how" is "como" in Español hahaha we think it's funny....) anyways, then two other Hermana's, Hermana Wandell and Hermana Latu who are also our roomies, and then 8 other Elders whom I'll name at a later time... so anyways, we have the best district ever!!! We've all already become super close and I just feel like we're all progressing so much. My District Leader Elder Fridal is so awesome too and we all just get along great. And then our teachers are Hermano Muñez (a Latino who is awesome and speaks pretty good English...) and the Hermano Hopoate who is Tongan and from Utah but is totally fluent in Español and is the best guy ever!!! I love my teachers sooo much. They are so helpful, loving, and teach us soo much each day. Honestly, we learn SO much each day. I can't even tell you. Every day my Español improves a bunch and I just can't believe I have only been here a week!! Most productive and best week of my life!
But okay so as for our schedule we pretty much wake up, eat breakfast, study, learn, plan, eat lunch, study, learn, plan, teach our investigator, have dinner, work out (we play Volleyball with our District outside and it´s soo much fun... our work out time is at night too so it's always at sunset, there's colorful Mexican houses all on the mountain behind us, palm trees everywhere and mexican music playing from the streets... it's amazing...) and then okay so your probably wondering more about us teaching investigators... well so... the third day we were here we had to teach an "investigator" an entire 30 minute lesson in Español. Pretty crazy huh?? And we have to treat our investigator like they're real and treat everything like it were real. It's crazy! However, I have learned soo much from this. We've taught our investigator, Ruby, 3 times now and we've experienced a lot. Oh yeah, and we teach in companionships.
But okay so here's what has been happening... so Hermana Como is the cutest thing in the world and I honestly adore her in every way, we're seriously already the best of friends and other Hermanas will always say, "How did you two get put together!? You're already best friends!!" And we're probably two of the blondest ones here. But anyways, she is so great yet she is really struggling with the language. In all 3 lessons we've taught I've had to teach 99% of it. Luckily I am able to do so, but the last lesson we had it was a little frustrating because I would turn to her to say something and she would have no idea what we had been talking about and have no idea what to say so she would just get this look of complete fright on her face and just freeze.... I feel bad though sometimes for talking so much and having conversations with Ruby and not hearing anything out of Hermana Howe but I give her chances to speak and even sometimes point to our notes and she freaks out and will tell me to just keep going.... we're not supposed to speak any English either so I can't help her out much. And sometimes she'll want to help out and will just read something from her notes that is totally off topic and random haha oh it's classic.
Last lesson though I turned to her to see if she wanted to say anything and she just whipped out the pamphlet, The Plan of Salvation (El Plan De Salvacion) .. and I knew I would have to be teaching it so I was like ohh man here goes... haha but luckily I had some notes on it so I was able to work something out. I hate looking down at my notes while teaching though because it doesn't feel real or personal so I avoid it at all costs. But we ended up getting Ruby to take home the pamphlet and promise us to read it... and then I asked Hermana Howe to say the closing prayer and she started it with, "Estamos....." and froze so I whispered to her, "Nuestro Padre Celestial....." and then she started again and then just started crying. I felt so bad. She just felt bad she didn't know how to help with the lesson and was super frustrated she wasn't picking up the language as fast as others... but I made sure to give her a big hug and help her laugh it off. It's going to get better, I know it. We've only been here a week. Oh, and earlier that day Hermano Hopoate made us get with our companion and get to know each other in complete Español.... and that was when Hermana Howe had her first breakdown. She had noo clue what I was asking or saying and tried asking me in English but Hermano Hopoate told her no ingles so she just broke down. And then he was super cute about it. But anyways, although it's hard sometimes because I feel like I have to get through the lesson on my own... I know it's helping me progress a ton and is really pushing me. Also, I hope I don't sound cocky because I promise my Spanish is still awful haha. I just feel lucky and overwhelmed with gratitude with how much I know already.
But okay... I have to hurry. So singing hymns in Español is probabaly one of my favorite things ever. Especially Called to Serve or I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go...... I always have our district sing more than we even need to just because I love it so much. Elder Fridal has us sing every morning after we all say the missionary purpose too though so it's great. The spirit is always soo strong and we have a ton of singers in our district so they're always harmonizing. It's great. But okay and then as for the food.... it's a carb overload. We always have a meat, refried beans, corn tortillas, rice, and then tons of different types of bread, pastry things... oh and there is always cereal of cocoa crispies, fruit loops, and frosted flakes... with warm whole milk... mmmm. I'm definitely not eating healthy and I'm already getting kinda sick of the food, it's not great at all but when I'm starving I'll eat anything and be happy about it. Oh and at breakfast they always have some mystery meat thing, sweet pancakes which are pretty good.. and then yummy mango yogurt. That's my favorite thing by far... besides some of the sugary bread pastries. Haha oh and we all got filtered water bottles and there are filters all over so I'm good with the water. Oh and they have salad for dinner usually but since I just got my Typhoid shot last Monday I can't eat their salad yet. Supposedly one week everyone got super sick from it too so oh well... bring on the bread!! That's what gets us full. So gross, I know. Oh and they usually have canteloupe and honeydew too which is usually alright.
Okay and as for the weather, it's perfect during the day and we have the craziest rainstorms every night during language study. Seriously never seen storms like these before and sometimes it even hails. It's crazy. It's so fun running around in it to and from class or too and from devotionals though and just seeing all these Elders and Hermanas getting soaked from puddles, etc, even with umbrellas.... but okay and my sleeping schedule is awesome. I was a little tired at times the first couple of days but now I am totally used to it and it's great! We are in bed at 10:30 sharp and I usually wake up at about 5:45-6 and am perfect!! I know you all are shocked haha. But okay I need to hurry.... So yeah I haven't met one person going to my mission and to be honest am pretty sure there isn't one. There are only about 130 Sister missionaries here as of now, we get a new load today, and I know everyone. So there isn't ONE hermana going to my mission and I know a ton of the Elders too and don't know of an Elder either... and nobody else has heard of anyone going to my mission either. I've met some going to Santa Rosa and Sacramento to which are my neighboring missions but NO ROSEVILLE!! So sad. Oh well, maybe there will be some coming today! Most people here are going to El Salvador, Chile, Panama or some other random state. Then there are some Ecaudor too... anyways... I have to hurry.
Oh yeah, Abby and dad I met Logan Keller. He came up and asked if I were Abby Barth's little sister and introduced himself... that was nice. And then Hermana Muir and Hermana Jensen from Skyline are here. Again, nice to see familiar faces. I love all the Hermana's here soo much though and we're all such good friends. It's the best!! But okay well I wish I could respond to all your emails personally but I am almost out of time. And today we get to go the the TEMPLE!!!! Ahhh I cannot wait!! My district is soo excited and we've been looking forward to this all week long. Oh yeah, and Sundays here are the BEST!!! I'll have to tell you more later but I conducted the music in Sacrament... woot woot. And the day is just full of wonderful things. But okay well I really have to go... I'll fill you in more next week. But as for now I am soo happy to hear everyone is doing so well!! I miss you all like crazy but am never home sick because I know why I am here and I am ready to serve the Lord with all my heart. It's crazy though because you really have no time to even think of home or anything of that sort until you're back to your room getting ready for bed. All day you are just so busy and your mind is constantly thinking about studying, planning, etc. Well I love you all with all my heart and am praying for you tons each day. Seriously, we pray soo much here. But okay.. ADIOS MI FAMILIA!!!!!!!!
Amor, Hermana Barth
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