Holy cow! The first four days here honestly have felt like a lifetime to me! Not because they've been that long of days, but because I've already learned and grown so much since being here! Honestly I if I've grown this much the past 4 days I can't wait to see what it's like in 6 weeks at la CCM (the MTC) or in 18 months!
I honestly love it so much here! I think my companion, Hermana Lee, explained it best. After we'd only been here for a couple of hours she turned to me and said 'It's so strange, I know we've only been here for like 3 hours, but it already feels like home.' So True! Muy verdadad! I am so happy here and I know that I'm doing what God wants me to do! We learn so fast here! Hermana Lee and I taught our first lesson yesterday.... IN ESPANOL!!! What? Yeah I know! It was so nerve racking. It was definitely rough, and we definitely learned a lot from it! But I felt the Spirit there, and that is what is most important. As we were leaving I turned to our 'investigator' (this one is an employee of la CCM, but others we teach here could be real investigators - that's a scary thought!) anyway, I turned to our investigator, Angela, and said in the best espanol I could come up with "Lo sieto para epanol" (Sorry for the spanish). And she said to me, "No! No! Es bueno" - I felt like she sincerely meant it too. I really appreciated that! Afterwards one of the Elders in my district said something that helped me realize how real the gift of tongues is. He said that two days ago, we wouldn't have even been able to have a conversation remotely close to the ones we had (even though they were muy rough) but it is so true! I can feel the gift of tongues! It's helping me learn and retain - like my language teachers always say "poco a poco" - little by little. So true! I have learned so much! It is incredible to me that Hermana Lee and I were able to pray, attempt to teach a lesson, answer Angela's questions, and bear testimony all en espanol after only 2 1/2 dias en la classe! Incrediblé! I know God is with me! I can feel Him assisting me and blessing me with so much happiness! I love it! However, I am nervous, because we have another "appointment" with Angela tonight and she was super sort of stand off-ish the first time, but I'm grateful for that because it gives us a somewhat "real" experience - oh yeah and she talks muy rapido!
I love my "roommates" and my companera! The other set of hermanas that live in our same room are so cute and funny! Their names are Hermana Brown ý Hermana Christensen (Raeli - Hermana Christensen looks just like Genesie!) Haha they make me laugh so much! Ha Hermana Lee is great too! Her mom was a convert so it's really kind of cool! However, I do have some getting used to to do. I can tell already that her numero uno love language is touch - That's like my least!!! I have told her that I am not as comfortable with touch as she is, but I am also trying to be understanding because I don't want to take away from her the way that she gives love - but I have told her not to be offended if I don't seem to receive it well or don't give it like hardly at all just cause well I don't like it very much, but I'm trying to be patient with it:) I love her though! Ha in the mornings there is a early morning workout class for the sisters that starts at 6:00, since we're all super ambitious - and by that I mean Hermana Christensen and I drag our companions out of bed to go - We go! Ha it's great! So far we have done yoga, kickboxing, and pilates! My favorite was probably kickboxing because it is the closest thing that I get to dancing - Oh! I miss dancing so much! But I know that dancing will still be there when I come home:)
I love my district! Hermana brown and I are the only Hermanas in the district and lets face it - those Elders really know how to get off task. So sometimes it's stressful because they distract us from learning the things we are here to learn, but our teachers have discovered this as well and are doing a pretty good job at keeping them in line. The Elders in our district are so funny! So I guess it's good that they keep us laughing - just as long as they don't distract us from learning the things that we came to the CCM to learn.
Well I think that's all for now!! I love you all so much! I miss you, but don't worry because I'm happy! Since the moment I stepped onto the drop-off curb, I felt peace and joy! So although I miss you, here is where my heart is right now:) I love and like you all! I love this work! I love this Gospel! I know it is true!
con mucho amor,
Hermana Anderson
p.s.
I'm sorry there are no pictures today, we did take a couple, but we've been so busy! And I guess the computers here require a card reader to read the SD card and I haven't had time to make it to the store to buy one - but i'll try for next week!
Dad - you can post the pictures that Marylin sent (it was so great to see her and Micheal!! Made me even happier than I already was!) and put them on the blog for this week if you so desire:)
Suuuure love ya!
Editors Note --
Ruth's sister and her husband (Raquel's Aunt and Uncle -- Marilyn and Michael) serve in Church callings at the MTC. As such, they tracked her down on Thursday night and sent us some pictures of her and her companion and her roommates. Here are those pictures:
I am assuming this is Raquel and her roommates.
Raquel and Sister Lee
Raquel and Sister Lee
Sister Lee, Raquel and Aunt Marilyn
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