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!
No comments:
Post a Comment