Halfway There!! (5/28/14)

Hola mi familia y amigos!! 

Another P Day has come and I cannot believe I have already been here for 3 weeks! I am halfway through!! Next Friday I will get my travel plans and find out if my visa came through!!! I hope so! I just want to get to Argentina but the MTC is wonderful! (minus the food)

My Spanish has improved so much! I am so amazed at what I can understand and say! I made it a goal to memorize 10 new vocab words a day and it is really helping. I just want to speak Spanish!!! I can understand a lot of what my teachers are saying now and my companions and I read from the book of Mormon each night in Spanish so my pronunciation is getting way better. My English is getting terrible! Spanglish is my new prime language and all my English grammar has gone out the window! My spelling is AWFUL because I am getting so used to Spanish writing. 

Grammatical Errors of the Week:

- I was teaching an investigator and told him that through Jesus Christ, his (SINS) could be forgiven. I accidentally said fish can be forgiven. 

- I was attempting to be some elders in our zone and said that Men think of women as the plague. Instead of saying that, I accidentally said He cursed the entire women race. My teacher was on the ground laughing.

-In a lesson with Kendrick our investigator, he said that his family lived in a town called Cary, I thought he said his grandparents last name was Cary so I go off telling about Sheryden and how her last name is Cary and he looked at me like I was insane. And then my companions started laughing because they thought I was talking about my special friend Carry Anne. (Anna and Kallie will appreciate this)

-Two elders accidentally said awful swear words in class when trying to say the word pear when telling a  joke and accidentally called another elders girlfriend a very not nice word. 

- I was telling an investigator how Skye lived in Mexico for a while but I forgot to put the verb in past tense so she thought he lived there now and I didn't know how to tell her she didn't so I just made up a life that Skye lives while he is living in Mexico. haha

Although there were many errors, this week also had so many miracles. We taught 5 investigators. First we had Jonathon. He was such a hard one. He was so closed off and we didn't know what to do. One day we prayed and all felt like we needed to have to write what he was grateful for and help him see the hand of God in his life. So we did it. The investigator was just our teacher pretending to be someone from his mission. During the lesson he got very teary-eyed. The words we said was EXACTLY what he needed to hear. It was such a testimony builder. After our lesson our teacher told us how proud he was and how important it is that we continue listening to the spirit. Another one of our investigators is Isabelle. She had a child just die and she fights depression. This one is a real investigator. When we taught her the first time, we all just felt so much sadness because she was so sad. We have prayed for her everyday and we cant wait to go back and teach her about the Plan of Salvation and how she will be able to live with her daughter again. This week we also taught family home evening lessons. All of these lessons are in Spanish, to FLUENT Spanish speakers. We got a woman and a girl Sayge's age who lived in Venezuela. THEY TALKED SO FAST. I honestly did not understand anything she said. But I laughed when she laughed, looked sad when she was sad, and watched her body language. That is what gets me through!!! We are getting way better at teaching. We are starting to ask better questions and follow the spirit more. I am starting to actually like teaching! We contacted an investigator in the park and we set up an appointment with her. Her name was Mercedes and she was so awesome. She is from Texas but living in Utah. She made the appointment with us and then stood us up. It sucked but we all just laughed it off and said welcome to being a missionary! 

On Sunday, my companions and I got to teach the lesson in Sunday School. It was on following the spirit. I got a letter from Sayge this week that really touched my heart. She made me promise that I would always follow the spirit and each prompting I got. I then extended that invitation to my entire district and we promised to follow the spirit our entire mission. It was so spiritual. We then talked about the road we all had to being on our mission. We found out that all 7 of us had weird things that made it so we all were together. Both of my companions were not supposed to come in on May 7th. 2 of the elders were planning on going on a mission last summer, and the other one didn't know he would till recently. We all came into each others lives at the perfect time and we have helped each other so much. I love my district. We work so well together. 

The devotionals this week were amazing. We heard from Russel M Nelson and Brother Evans. I was sincerely touched by both. I really have been thinking about my desires this week. Desires reflect our actions and If my desires are not above my actions I wont grow. I have prayed so hard to have heavenly father build up my desire to love and learn. I am so thankful for this opportunity and I want to be the best missionary I can. Sometimes I get a little overwhelmed when I realize that God has people prepared that only I can touch. These people need the gospel and it is my duty to find them in a foreign country when I don't speak the language.. yet. But as I have prayed and showed my Heavenly Father how much I want to help, I can see him building me up to what he wants and needs me to be. Elder Nelson talked about how if we convert one person, we will affect eternity. One convert means a family that is sealed, children that will go on missions and convert more, opportunities for temple work and genealogy work. All from me being able follow the spirit. We talked about what it will be like someday when we get to heaven and we get to see all the people that we influenced and brought to Christ by letting the spirit work through us. I cant wait for that day. 

No one told me that going on a mission means that you have to have musical talent. I AM THE ONLY ONE in my zone that cant sing, play the piano, etc. I feel like such an outcast but its awesome. Everyone makes fun of me for it. haha Also, everyone has a girlfriend or a boyfriend. Its really annoying. Haha all I hear about it the letters they get and they all show me pictures, and I am always like WHOO ANOTHER LETTER FROM MY MOM! haha I love my mom more than any man anyway and shes better than a boyfriend. She wont dear john me haha

So this week my friend Elder Cameron from Texas found a duck on the side of the road. It was a baby and it was SOO cute! So he took it, put it in his pocket, and brought it back to their apartment. That night he put it in the bathtub, fed it brownies, and played the harmonica to it. It was hilarious! The next day we put it in this little river that runs through our classroom complex and we named it Gonzo. Which means goose!

My last piece is that this week our teacher told us to never ask what part of the cow we were eating once we got to Argentina. Everyone then went off and said that they wouldn't know anything about cows anyway so it wouldn't phase them but I silently said, I know all the parts of cows and I will know EXACTLY what I am eating. So looks like I get to prep myself for the stomach, eyes, feet, and other surprises!

YAYYYY!

I love being a missionary, I am so thankful for my call to Argentina. I am going to have the COOLEST accent. It sounds like your speaking Italian but its Spanish! 

I love you all! Thanks for the emails :) if I don't reply to all the ones you send me its because this hour I have to email goes soo fast! But I love reading all of your emails and am so thankful for your love and prayers. Elder Bednar promised that if our families prayed morning and night that I will have the gift of tongues and I work as hard as I can, I will get it! So prayers are appreciated!

La evangelio es VERDADERO! Chau Chau!

Hermana Root

The pictures are of my district at the temple, my friend Jackie's friend and I, our teacher David Avulia and some of my district and others! 

Missionary Work is Fabulous!! (5/21/14)

Hola Familia y Amigos!

I have survived week 2 and I am in shock that it has already been that long. Seeing all the new missionaries come in today makes me feel so old! Weeks are YEARS here but I still am so happy and am growing so much.

This week we had our first experience tracting (knocking on doors). We went and knocked on our "investigators" door and went inside to give them a short little message and my companion Hermana Tidwell decided that she was going to let Hermana Paulson and I run the lesson. She is very good at Spanish so she takes the lead a lot. Long story short, it was hands down one of the most awkward experiences of my life. I said words but i am not sure it made any sense. At the end of the lesson, I said read this pamphlet and when we come back we can SING your questions. I meant to say answer but instead I said the word for sing. He started laughing at me so hard! Lucky the investigator is just my teacher. We left that lesson feeling so down. I felt like I knew NOTHING at all. But that night we were to teach our real investigator Isabelle. She is from Peru and so sweet. She had depression though and it is sad to talk with her and see what she has been through. Somehow we were able to convey our message to her and she finally started to smile. It still blows my mind that we are able to sit down and have a 45 minute lesson with someone in a language that is completely foreign to us. God sure takes care of us. Our last teaching experience this week will probably go down as one of the most amazing things that has ever happened to me. Our teacher walked in and said that in 5 minutes we would be teaching the same investigator that we met tracting (the one I said I would sing the answers to his questions). None of us were prepared so we prayed and felt prompted to share the first lesson which is that god loves us, he sends prophets, Christs life and apostasy, and finally the first vision. We have yet to go over ANY of the vocabulary for this entire lesson. We were freaking out because we knew NONE of the words. So we prayed again and we all had the same feeling that we needed to do it. So we got up and went and knocked on his door and went for it. As we sat down each of us started talking. We each had a part that we would speak about and I told about Christ, the atonement, and the apostasy. I talked for about 5 minutes in solid Spanish. I said words I did not even knew that I knew. It all just came to me. My companions all had the same experience. The spirit was so strong and the moment we walked out of the house we knelt and thanked Heavenly Father for giving us the words we needed.  The gift of tongues is real. It was magnificent! 

On Sundays, each member of our branch of about 15 people have to prepare a talk in Spanish. After the sacrament, the branch president just points at you and if he points at you, you have to give the talk. Well Sunday was my lucky day. The topic was Enduring to the End and I got to get up and give my 5 minute talk in straight Spanish. It was so nerve-wracking. I mostly read scriptures and bore testimony because that comes natural and I am confident with that vocabulary but my pronunciation needs some serious work!! but I did it!

I see Parker every time I go to main campus. We always look for each other and talk before each devotional. He is doing awesome! I saw him in the cafeteria today and he taught his first investigator without any books today! That is SOO impressive. The first time I did that I was sweating beyond belief. Your investigator is fluent in your language and it so so intimidating sometimes!! 

On Sunday we went to the usual nightly devotional and we were told that we were going to watch David A Bednar's Character of Christ talk. That was kind of strange because we usually have a real speaker. Well we watched the whole thing and the then the presidency stands up AND DAVID A BEDNAR WALKS IN! YEAH! Parker and I looked at each other and were almost in like tears. He did a Q&A with us and it was amazing! I loved it! While he was talking the strongest feeling came over me that if Christ were on the earth, he would be saying the same things that were coming out of his mouth. Those men are truly called of God. 

On Saturday night we had an awesome experience with my district. We read the end of the Book of Mormon is Spanish and then our teacher Hermano Avila asked us to think about all the ways that God has had mercy on us in our lives. So we all sat there for a little while and then he said Now we are going to all pray and ask if the Book of Mormon is true. So we all knelt together and Elder Saxey said the prayer in Spanish. He asked if the Book of Mormon was true and all of us were overcome with such a peaceful happy feeling. Having that experience together in Spanish was amazing. No matter the language, God loves his children and the gospel is true!

In relief society we listened to a talk and the lady was talking about her mission in Japan. She stood up there and held this HUGE stack of papers. She told us how she wanted to come home 1 month into her mission but she decided to stay. She showed us this stack of papers which were her journal. She said how if she would have came home she would have never had all the experiences she had. It was so wonderful to see. She shared with us how no one was pre-ordained to fail. God put us where we are for a reason and that God knows that only us can help the people that we are meant to help. I have been talking to the elders going to my mission and they have heard some crazy scary stories and when that lady said that, I knew that no matter how scared I may be to go to this foreign place, there are people there that need ME. (Even if I am like one of the few sisters that they let go there!) haha I will be just fine though!

This morning I saw Melissa Davies! She is the security guard here and it was so great to see her! My friend Cheyanne from BYUH is my next door neighbor too! And HANNA COMES IN A WEEK!!

As I get better at my Spanish, my English is getting awful! We keep saying things backwards and spelling everything wrong! It is hilarious! Our teacher went on his mission to Argentina and the accent is AWESOME! It sounds like you are speaking Italian! I AM SO EXCITED!

This week has been a week of learning and I love it. I love my companions and am so grateful for them. We are truly the perfect team! Thank you everyone for the emails and the love! Checking your email on pday to find 20 new emails is WONDERFUL! I am so blessed! 

I love you all! 

Te Amo!

Hermana Root<3 

Offically Hermana Status! (5/14/14)

Well, I have survived my first week and let me tell you, this place is awesome. I love it here so much. Today is my first P Day (Preparation Day) and it has been full of excitement. Here is a little overview of the week! 

I got here on Wednesday and my wonderful friend Alexa picked me up. I was so so nervous. Once I got to the MTC, you get out and they have an elder waiting to pack your bags and you leave. I am so glad my parents didn't come here to drop me off. It would have been so traumatic! haha. After that I got all my books, my keys, and headed to west campus where I am staying. West campus has only Spanish speaking missionaries and it is the best. I got to my apartment and met my wonderful companions. I am in a trio so we have triple the blessings. There names are Hermana Tidwell and Hermana Paulson and they both are from Utah. We have so much fun together. I know that Heavenly Father was really looking out for me when he gave me these two as my companions! I am in a disctrict with 4 other elders. Elder Ward from Arizona, Elder Willard from Nevada, Elder Betzsold from Tri Cities, and Elder Saexy from Kentucky. We are all going to Argentina but different missions. My zone has 5 other elders and one is from Boise! I love my zone and my district. We became sister training leaders and today we get to train the new district coming into our branch. 

The week has been a complete culture shock though. On day one, our teacher Hermana Captain and Hermano Thorsen said hello in English and then said that we would never hear English again in the class room. We are only spoken to in Spanish and I had no idea what was going on at first. I still kind of don't know what anyone is saying but it's okay! I only pray in Spanish now and it is wonderful. It was so hard at first but all the words I don't know I just throw in English words. On day two, we taught an investigator in ONLY Spanish. He did not know English. it was TERRIBLE. We all came out almost in tears. Our teachers read us so many scriptures and we started to feel a little more hope. Since then, we have taught him 4 times and each time our teaching gets a little better. We still make so many errors but it can only go up from here!! He is almost committed to be baptized so that is a plus! 

The spirit is so strong here. I have never felt so happy and been more at peace. Waking up at 6:15 every morning is not as hard as I thought it would be.I honestly do not know if I have ever worked so hard before and been so happy. I am just so happy. My district is kind of like my family here. We all support each other and it really helps. Last night we got to listen to L. Tom Perry! It was AMAZING! Being here is just so special. My companions talked me into singing in the choir. I was so out of place because everyone are like PRO singers and I was just mouthing the words haha. 

Today we got to go to the temple and it is crazy how each temple is so beautiful inside. I loved the provo temple but it sure made me miss Laie. There are two people on West Campus that went to BYUH and every time we see each other we get so excited. I saw my friend Sarah Precourt from school at Devotional and it was so wonderful. She leaves for Salt Lake next week and she is so wonderful. 

Funny story, I walked into Main Campus entrance this morning going to find my companions mom who works here and guess who I see walking out of the cafeteria! ELDER PARAMORE! We both screamed each others names and were so happy to see each other. He happened to be on the plane with Elder Adams, my trek brother from Prineville and he was there too. We made plans to hopefully meet up on Sunday! I also met a guy who trained my best friend from college Hanna, brother in his mission. The world is so small!! 

Now for the BEST PART! Here are all the grammatical errors of the week!

- I tried to tell an investigator that the atonement makes you feel better, and I said, The atonement makes you a woman.

- Hermana Tidwell tried to ask our investigator if he lived with his brother and instead said SHE lived with his brother.

- Elder Saexy tried to tell his investigator that he loved him (not romantically) and said he loved him (VERY romantically)

-We tried to sing I need the every hour (a hymn) but sang it to the tune of where can I turn for peace. The words are in Spanish so we never know what we are singing. 

- An Elder said Good morning in Spanish and I said GOOD! because I thought he asked how I was :( everyone laughs at each others mistakes and it is wonderful. 

It was so great to talk to my family on mothers day. I found out on the day that I got here that I would get to call but I wanted to keep it a secret! I miss them all so much but I know I am exactly where I need to be! 

My testimony has grown so much already. I feel like I am the one who is going to benefit so much from this! There are two elders going to Buenos Aires South with me and we are becoming great friends. I cannot wait to go!!

Elder Betzsold said last night that his favorite thing to do is read Isaiah in Spanish because that way its easier to understand than in English. We are all growing and learning so much. The Spanish is very hard but I am trying to not get frustrated. I know that God trusted me to learn Spanish and help these people so now it is time to trust myself!

I love you all and thank you for all the support, prayers, and letters! 

Chau Chau!! 

Hermana Root 

MTC Bound (5/7/14)

Hermana Root left for the MTC bright and early this morning!! She made it SLC and will enter the MTC this afternoon. We are so proud of her and will keep you updated on her adventures as a Sister Missionary! She will do great things!! 

You can contact her at:

EMAIL: sheyanne.root@myldsmail.net

Until June 17 via MAIL at:

Sister Sheyanne Lyn Root

JUN17  ARG-BAS

2023 N 900 E Unit 845

Provo UT 84602

I'm Off!

Well everyone, tonight I get set apart as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I am so excited for this opportunity. Goodbyes are hard but I know Heavenly Father will take great care of me and all my loved ones. 

From now on, my sister Sabrina will be posting my weekly emails to the blog. Thanks Nena, you're the best! 

You can contact me at:

email: sheyanne.root@myldsmail.net

Until June 17 via mail at:

Sister Sheyanne Lyn Root

JUN17  ARG-BAS

2023 N 900 E Unit 845

Provo UT 84602

I will keep you all updated as to my address after leaving the MTC.

If you go to dearelder.com, you can send me emails that will get printed out and given to me that day seeing that I only get to check my email once a week.

I love you all and I can't wait for this adventure!

Chau Chau! 

Hermana Root