Tengo La Fe

Helloooo!! Two and a half weeks down! Crazy, verdad?? Well, not for me haha. Still feeling completely normal (for the most part), thank heavens. We're still teaching a lot, of course all in Spanish. Annnd we've just received two "new investigators". Our other teachers haha. However, it has been going incredible. It has taken Hermana McBride and I a while to learn how to depend on the Spirit as we teach and having the faith that the Spirit WILL be there! It has been a wonderful learning experience, despite the frustrations of the learning curve haha.

 

SO! I hope whoever watched General Conference absolutely loved it, because I sure did. The moment President Monson got up Saturday morning, my emotions and thoughts turned back to six months ago. I immediately began crying haha. I will be forever grateful for October 2012 Conference. (: I sure as heck wouldn't be here emailing had that not occured. Anyways, I'll just share a thought or two about some of the talks. My absolute favorite was by Elder Henry B. Eyring. He spoke a lot on families near the end of his talk, and it was exactly what my heart needed. I can't help but think of all my family while I'm away--extended beloved aunts, uncles,cousins, granparents, etc AND immediate family-- so Eyring helped me a ton. He spoke about how as we serve Him, the Lord will be closer to our families. Tengo la fe. I have the faith that He's watching over my family when I can't be around as much as I'd like.

 

Tengo La Fe. For some reason, that has been my motto as of late. I've come to discover that when my frustrations come, it's not because I lack the Spirit with me or because I'm not doing something right or because I can't speak the language...But it's because sometimes I simply prefer to rely on myself and LACK the FAITH that I should rely on my Heavenly Father. I tend to lack the faith that I have the Spirit; I lack the faith that I'm being exactly obedient; I lack the faith that I CAN speak the language.

 

OKAY! So, I'm sure you'd all probably prefer to hear about what we've been doing haha. Mi compañera, Hermana McBride, and I are pretttty bomb. I'll take pride and admit that. (; But no, I love her to death. Once I can figure out how to attach pictures (which I'm hoping could be in this post??), you can finally see who she is! :D But as of late, we've been loving every minute of it. Sunday nights we always have devotionals, but since Sunday was also General Conference, I think the MTC presidency figured we were a little exhausted of hearing people speak. So guess who the devotional "speaker" was...Vocal Point. Ohhh my heck. Someone please tell my cousin, Cameron Lybbert, that I met them and was able to hear them live. (; Haha. I loved it SO much. Haven't heard of them? Look them up on YouTube. It's the accapella BYU men's choir who perfomed on The Voice. So incredible. I really needed that "music bath".

 

Oh! Speaking of Elder Lybbert in AZ! Someone also please tell him/Todd & Rene' that I've met an Elder Harrington here! He's just a couple doors down the hall from my classroom haha. Mi compañera and I were talking with a couple elders, and they asked where we were from. So I said WA, and one was all, "Hey, do you know where Ephrata is?? We have an elder in our district from there!" Me: "WHAT?! Yesss. I WILL meet this missionary." Hahaha. So a couple days later, we were all headed back to our rooms at night, and I saw their district was still in there. So I popped my head in and asked, "Hey, anyone here from Ephrata, WA?!"...Bahaha. WINNER. Wicked cool. Elder Harrington was pretty stoked to see my last name and recognize someone from home. I'll admit that sometimes it's a tad frustrating not being able to hug an elder. BUT, at the same time, I thoroughly enjoy not feeling obligated to hug them either! Haha.

 

Okay, back to the glorious day of Sunday. Every Sunday night, we also get to watch a movie of sorts. And so this week, we chose to go to The Legacy. Sooo if any of you have watched this at home, it seems like no big deal. But believe me, it is WAY funnier and slightly awkward in the MTC haha. The awkward love moments and watching everyone else's reactions to things. SO FUNNY. Anywho! Also, this Tuesday we (every missionary heading to Argentina) finally met with the Consul who will be signing for our visas!!! All of our paperwork is done, and now all we do is simply wait. We really have no idea how quickly our visas will be processed, unfortunately. Could be done by today, or it could take 3-4 weeks. Cross your fingers and pray some more. (:

 

Ha! We totally met an elder from Mendoza here! His English was rough, but it was great talking a little with him. He says he's not a huge fan of Mendoza, because it's one of the poorer areas of Argentina. But he also said that the mission was also, in his words, "Baptism and then baptism and then another baptism! All because of the poor people!" Haha he seemed like a funny kid. (: But it was great! Another highlight of my week? I randomly started humming "A Whole New World", and our 4 elders in our district got SO excited. They ALL started busting out the entire song. Whaaat? So great hahaha. I really do love my district. I believe I have been thoroughly blessed in every possible way. We've heard of many other districts having issues, and y'know what?...We have not had one single issue. Apparently there's just something different when there are 6 hermanas and 4 elders in your whole district haha. But we have a ton of fun together. Occasionally it's a little difficult to focus, because we can talk and such all the time. But all is well. (: And my companion! I really can't remember if I explained her much, so I apologize if I already have. She is like a sister to me. (: Very humble and sometimes a little disappointed in learning the language. She has taken 3 years of ASL and zero of Spanish haha. So I'm able to refine my Spanish by teaching her a little, and we both get so excited when something clicks. She's not very confident during lessons when she is speaking, but honestly? The Spirit is strongest whenever she is teaching in broken Spanish. Hermana McBride is absolutely incredible (:

 

So it is obvious that a few of you have figured out that I'm now able to email not just family, but also friends/converts/extended family...Everyone, basically. (: Which is probably why, when I opened my email earlier, I found 11 new emails haha. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. AND, last night, when our letters were passed out, I found that two had written my DearElder letters and I also two hand-written letters! One from Alec, and the other from my studly brother, Christian. (; I was literally skipping around, I was so excited. Thank you SO SO much. I don't have a ton of time to email, so I've printed out all your emails and will respond next week. (: Unless I happen to have some extra time at the end. But again, I told you, I've been suuuper blessed. (: The emails and wonderful, and I apologize for not being able to respond sooner. I've got a few people I need to respond to. I hope all is well back home, and that you all are loving life, even amongst the challenges. Tengo La Fe. Hasta promixo semana (: Nos vemos.

 

~~~

 

Okay! I'm hoping to get some pictures up real quick. I'm not sure what order they'll end up in or even if they'll appear at the beginning or end of this! SO! I'll do my darndest to write a quick caption for each.

 

Okay, one is of Dene' and I before I left haha. We were waiting for sushi to be made and to have my Last Meal at my momma's work. (: Yes, of course, I chose sushi!

 

I had to get some of the typical pictures with the giant map in the MTC, yes haha. One is with my awesome district! We are all headed to either Córdoba, Argentina or Mendoza, Argentina. (: Another picture is of me and the map, and there's another with mi compañera, Hermana McBride!

 

Next, are all the sisters in my district outside our classroom building, just before taking a walk up to the temple one Sunday afternoon. From left to right: HERMANAS Bishoff, Wendell, Enos, Barney, Lybbert, and McBride. LEGIT!

 

And then a picture of my district at the temple haha. Of the elders, from left to right: ELDERS Smith, Allen, Cheney, and Thornley.

 

Another picture con Hna. McBride and I. (:

 

The elders...Yeah...That's just how they work. :P

 

Awkwardly attempting to take a picture con los élderes haha.

 

Another with Hna. McBride! (:

 

Funny story with the vacuum picture haha. Randomly, our elders all got like cleanliness OCD and were all in desperate need of organzing the classroom. So strange. Anywho, they ALL went and got their own vacuum haha. So funny. And then the next picture is what us hermanas did! Laughed, took pictures, and stood on chairs to get out of the elders' ways. (: Seriously my favorite picture ever. I love my companion. (:

 

The next one is on a rainy day, after our first time being able to do a session at the temple together for P-Day last week. (:

 

Annnd then there's the picture with me and the statue haha. Hna. McBride thought it'd be funny if I threw my laundry bag over my shoulder and mimicked the statue. (: Annnd I agreed. Done and DONE haha.

 

The Argentina Consul! I know he looks a little annoyed/mean in this picture haha, but he was a super funny guy. Told us all about Argentina, we got to ask a lot of questions, and we talked with him just a little bit while we were all signing our documents. (:

 

AHA! So the blurry picture of me pointing at the wall? Yeah, that's a bat. In our dorm halls haha. This was taken this morning, and girls were going NUTS. So funny, though. My companion, "Hermana, don't get that close!!" (: And then the next picture is just of the bat, itself haha.

 

Lastly, one more picture con mi Hermana McBride after the temple this morning. (: It is a beautiful sunny day, and I have been LOVING it. Anywho, that's all for now!! Love you all!

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