Do you wanna know why I'm crying?

Cuz I'm a girl, and girls cry a LOT! (I hope you all got that reference. if not, go watch my wisdom teeth video.)

 

I've been a spiritually emotional WRECK this week. So many good things have happened, I don't even know where to start.  (fair warning, my missionary mode batteries are FULLY CHARGED and i'm not afraid to talk about the gospel. so get ready)

 

First of all, SISTERS! all 500 of you. haha just kidding. there's only 6. I LOVE YOUR LETTERS! I love your sarcastic witty comments and updates on the fam from your point of view cuz guess what... I am in a spirit paradise and I don't even know what's going on out there. so um... tell me more. Hand written letters are my favorite, but send me Dear Elders too cuz the other people in my district get mad when I get a lot of mail. HAHA. just kidding. that's mean.

 

Okay. SO! I'll start with the fun stuff then move to the spiritual stuff.

 

The pranks have continued on Hermama Routson and our District.  

 

1// The free bin is always overflowing with fun stuff on monday and tuesday when the missionaries leave and their suitcases weigh too much. I found two giant bottles of Calcium pills and Hermana Rasmussen and I have been hiding them in all her things. I put a bunch in her suitcase thinking she wouldn't see it until we left the MTC, but BOO she found them today. I was thoroughly bummed out. but then I hid some more in her shoes and felt better. Also, we found a TON of packing peanuts and filled her entire bed with them.

 

2// We played a game with our district to try to speak more Spanish with each other called Nativo. I dont' want to explain it cuz I'm running out of time, but the winner got some giant caramel filled cadbury chocolate eggs. WELL. In the free bin the other day we found some plastic easter eggs and pink frosting. Naturally Hermana Rasmussen and I came up with the idea to fill the plastic eggs with the frosting and replace the chocolate eggs with the plastic ones. GENIUS I TELL YOU! Well, we all voted for Elder Iman because he loves jokes and we know he'd laugh. and he didn't even laugh. BOOOOO! such a disappointment. Apparently one of the elders tried to sneak one and messed up our rewrapping job. ruined the whole thing.

 

3// we found this hideous stuffed bunny in the free bin and decided to hang it by the ears in one of the showers. We weren't there for this, but one of the hermanas in our zone told us that a girl opened the curtain and got freaked out and screamed "ahhhh  deamon bunny". Then she threw it on the ground and ran away. A bit of an overreaction to a stuffed bunny, but I'm glad our prank worked :)

 

Okay now the serious stuff.

 

This week has been SO amazing spiritually. It's like I'm in Sky High except instead of weird super powers like turning into a hampster, everyone here has the power of God to help people be happy and live with Him forever! Way better, I think.

 

Janice Kapp Perry came to the MTC (the lady that wrote A Child's Prayer and a million other songs) to speak in Relief Society. WHAT!? It was so incredible. We sang a meledy of her songs and wow... the spirit in that room could convert any Athiest in the world. I was a wreck. Cuz, ya know, girls cry a lot. THEN! guess what.. She wrote a song for sister missionaries and wanted us to be the first ones to sing it. How appropriate :) I was bawling once again. Good thing I only packed waterproof mascara. This girl plans ahead. That was the most powerful moment of my life (there was another one after that). I could FEEL the power we have as missionaries and the number of lives we are going to change as a result of that power. If all of us had only one baptism, that would be somewhere around 1,000 new members. 1 BAPTISM EACH just from the MTC RIGHT NOW. Not to mention the other 60,000+ missionaries in the world. What an incredible feeling.

 

Russell M. Nelson Spoke! (I forgot to put this in and I'm almost out of time, so I can't write more) SO GOOD!

 

We have 2 "investigators" right now. Gregorio who has a wife and 3 kids, and Cris who is single and used to party all the time. I LOVE teaching them both. For very different reasons.I really wish you all could feel the love that God feels for his children. As a missionary, I get to feel it every day. I look in their eyes and feel their pain, root them through their trials, and congratulate them on their success. It's such an overwhelming feeling of Love. Everyone should serve a mission if they can. It's such a blessing. SO HUMBLING!

 

READ THIS WHOLE STORY! MIRACLES HAPPENED!

 

1// Gregorio is so sweet. His love for his family is incredible and every time we teach him, he asks such good questions and prays with such a sincere heart. In our first lesson, we got to know him really well and taught about the restoration. I had just barely memorized the first vision in spanish and hadn't gotten a chance to use it in a lesson. I was nervous to say it, but when I did, the words just flowed so perfectly together and I BAWLED my eyes out. God let me know exactly when I should say it and when to hold my tongue and let my companion speak. The first vision is so POWERFUL in Spanish. The language is beautiful, and the story is just... wow. Everyone should memorize Jose Smith's words. we invited him to pray at the end, but he said he wanted to practice.

 

Our next lesson, he agreed to pray. As he was praying, I was imagining all the people in Peru who will be praying for the first time out loud and I, once again, bawled my eyes out. I had so much love for him and I was so happy that he had the desire to speak with God. The feeling was indescribable. (p.s. my english is getting really bad, so um.. forgive me if it's hard to read.)

 

Our third lesson, ANGELS were present. I won't go into detail about what happened, but I felt angels in the room helping us and at the end of our lesson, I was going to show him a scripture about how God loves us and helps us with everything, but I stink with numbers and accidentally gave him the wrong reference. Alma 32:16 (GO READ IT) which is basically saying GET BAPTIZED! I wasn't even going to mention baptism cuz i was scared it would scare him off, but after I realized it was the wrong scripture and that God wanted me to ask him to get baptized, I looked up at his sweet smiling face and asked him if he would follow Jesucristo's example and be baptized by someone holding the priesthood of God. Guess what he said....

 

HE SAID YES! I was so happy that I couldn't even cry. I have never in my life felt the way I felt at that moment. This was the first time in my time here at the MTC that I have seen the power of God in the lesson. HE knew that scripture was what he needed to hear.  I know this investigator is really my teacher, but I just know that the spirit guides us in everything and that without God, my Spanish would be terrible.

 

With God, I can not only speak Spanish, but I can teach an entire 40 minute lesson about the gospel and how much he loves his children. WHAT IS THAT!? that's a miracle, that's what it is. I would not be able to do anything without him. I am learning more every day about how weak I am and how much I need to rely on the Savior to make it through my trials.

 

I feel so blessed to be where I am, and if ANY of you are thinking even a little bit about going on a mission, DO IT! The blessings that you and your family recieve from it are indescribable. I've seen it in my life and I know it's very real.

 

goodness i need more time to write this email but I have a feeling I'd just go on forever about my investigators and you'd get sick of hearing about it. If you wrote me a letter and I haven't responded, it's cuz my desk is super disorganized and i can't ever remember who I've already sent a reply to.. so write me on Dear Elder and say "hey you. yeah you forgot to write me back. hurry up." and I'll definitely write you back.

 

Dad: I have a letter ready for you, I just have to find my stamps. WRITE ME ABOUT YOUR MISSION! I love hearing stories.

 

Mom: I have a letter for you too. THANK YOU for the package. I'm using the nutella for my toast in the mornings. All the other missionaries are trying to snatch it, but some things in life just aren't meant to be shared.

 

Brittany: SEND ME PICTURES!!! :( I'm so so sad every day when I don't have a package from you with pictures of Mr. M and you and the rest of the family. I miss you all and I only have a couple pictures. Also, I'm holding out on a letter because you said you would send me your address and BOO you didn't :( I have no idea where you live. HELP

 

Val: I got your Dear Elder and I have a few things to tell you

1// FORGET about the hangers. there are a million here and it's a pain to bring them.

2// bring my black military boots. they should be on the top of my box of shoes at your house. PLEASE! and thank you :)

3// I WILL STILL BE HERE WHEN YOU GET HERE and there's a tiny chance that you could be in my Zone. PRAY really hard.

4// bring your cute white boots that you and frieda both have and if you don't want to bring them to Argentina, just send them home. I promise you'll wish you brought cute shoes for the MTC. your wardrobe will get boring real fast.

5// bring a small bag (your brown one that you always have) you can't have big ones in the lunch room and it's real annoying.

 

I'm OUT OF TIME! BOOOOO! I have so much to say. The computers here don't work with pictures, so I'll send them later while I'm doing laundry.

 

I LOVE YOU ALL! please be safe and tell everyone I love them.

2// flying in the hallway on a magic carpet ride

// my room! don't anybody come and stalk me...

 4// my BFF. MAIL

 1// our district decided to hang out outside during language study because it's perfect weather and we hate being cooped up inside all day. It was a good day :)