yolo

¡Hola! ¿Que pasa familia y amigos? Today is the first day of December! How is that possible? Time is going by s o f a s t.

My week has been hectic, fun, spiritual, fast, emotional, funny, slow, hectic...hectic...hectic? I´m going to try to better organize this letter since I feel like last weeks was LOCO. But I don´t have much time because my mom sent me an email equivalent in length to the book of Alma in the Book of Mormon...so yeah. Here goes nothing!!!!

Culture: d i f f e r e n c e s (though I´m positive the shorter list would be similarities)

-they drive skoot skoots or ride bikes everywhere, hardly any cars.

-they like..don´t believe in water haha which is torture for me because that´s all I drank in Utah besides an occasional Horchata from Molca of course..But they drink juice, and mate. 

-They put MAYONAISE on every thing. Kill me!! hahah So quick flash back..this summer we were playing a good ole fashioned game of Sorry and whoever lost had to eat a spoonful of Mayo with salt on it...and guess who lost and will forever hate mayo? YUP. UH-HUH YOUR GIRL. Hellllllp.

-NO cops....so those that do drive, drive crazy. seriously...haha don´t mind the stop signs.

-they have the most messed up sleeping schedules ever. For example...the store hours are as follows.. Open from 6-9:30 AM  Closed for sleep from 9:30-6:00PM and Re-open from 6:00-Midnight ) haha logic?

-I can carry my washing machine and dryer in one hand. haha literally I wash my clothes with a big red bucket, and we have like clothes line with clothes pins. My hands are like raw from ringing out water..so that´s awesome haha and the thing that gets me about that is that we have like a sink from the future...it lights up! hahaha what the heck! No washing machine, no dryer, but a light up sink from 2020. 

-They put ketchup on sandwiches...gross!

-The homes are all cement, and then they have colored doors. It´s the cutest, and the flowers here are so pretty!! But you can´t touch them because they have thorns on them!

-Every time it rains everyone makes Torta Fritas!! It´s like a salty scone. Weird tradition, but everyone does it!! 

Funny:

So many funny things happened this week...

-So once a week I get to teach English to the people in our branch..it is my favorite! I love it! But I was teaching them how to pray and I was saying ¨We are grateful for your love¨and all of them...ALL of them kept saying ¨thank you for yo-lo¨ hahaha I was dying! I kept being like ¨NO!! HAHAA your love!! and they´d be like ¨yo-lo yo-lo¨ Anyway, I decided that English is much harder to learn than Spanish, and I am grateful that I am learning Spanish and not English! :)

-None of the people can pronounce my name. So I´ve been called Hermana Cinnamon by like 14 people this week. Coo? 

-Okay, so we have this lady in our ward that is a little bigger but I love her to death and she is more on the wealthy side of Uruguay and we went to her house for lunch (that´s another story) but while we were there, I was trying to compliment her house and say like ¨you have a big house!¨ and I said ¨usted tiene un grande Cara¨ well...cara means face. NICE SAF. haha she looked like she was going to kill me...and then I noticed what I said and I was like ¨Ah!!! casa! casa!¨ haha tebow for me.

-So that same day...that ladies husband picked us up for lunch because they live like 30 minutes away but we got there in 20 because I swear to you...this guy was going 110 MPH. hahaha I was so scared for my life, and the seatbelt didn´t work! I was gripping the door handle so tight..I´m sure he saw the terror in my face and thought it was hilarious. Then when we got there the grandma was there and she is c r a z y. She was screaming Spanish swear words across the dinner table and then she started wiping her mouth with BREAD. hahahaha I think she thought it was a napkin, but it was the funniest thing ever. It was a disaster of a lunch, but I laughed a lot. 

spiritual: the best part.

-We have two investigators with baptism dates set for December 13th!! I am so excited, Niko who is 11 (reminds me of Jake) and Eduardo who is married to a member named Cynthia...and Cynthia is so excited!! I am so excited for them!!!! :) That is going to be such a good day, and make all of the blood, sweat, and tears worth it!

-One day we were walking to find a house of a refferal and we ended up lost. :( But while walking down this unknown street we ran into a man named Pedro. We ended up talking to him, his mom Margerita, and his brother Mario Jose..I LOVE THIS FAMILY. They are so ready..they are the poorest family I have ran into, literally have nothing. I had to fight tears in their house the first time because if nothing else, they still had pictures of Jesus Christ hanging all over their cement walls. Oh and one giant picture of Ricky Martin. When we gave them a picture of Jesus Christ...Margetita held it up t her mouth and kissed it. IT. WAS. SO. SWEET. We have them commited to come to church on Sunday so I am excited about that!!! Margerita has so much love for her Heavenly Father. I am learning so much from this family. I truly believe that we weren´t lost at all, and Heavenly Father sent us down that road for a reason.

-Yesterday. What a day. I have never atteneded a better fast and testimony meeting in my life. It was beautiful!! These people are amazing and have such strong testimonies!!! I was promted to bear my testimony, so I did. It was broken spanish...but I know that my message was understood, because almost everyone was in tears. Including me of course! Since when have I been emotional? I don´t know what it was, but the spirit was so strong. I bore testimony of Jesus Christ. I know he lives, and my relationship with him was strengthened more this week then ever has in my life!!! I am the only one here that speaks English. It is hard...but this week I had an ¨ah-ha´¨ moment....JESUS CHRIST SPEAKS MY LANGUAGE! I have a friend, and he understands me! How amazing is that!? I have been talking to him about everything, and he has yet to leave my side.. It´s been incredible and I am so much more aware of His love for me now, then ever before!!! With His help, I can do this. I can do hard things!!!! :) 

This is hard work, but I love it. I am learning so much about the gospel, and so much Spanish every day. I L O V E T H E S E P E O P L E. They are so sweet, and I can feel their love for me through every other way besides their words hahaa...but I am beginning to understand those too. Thank you all for you love, support, and prayers. I can feel them stronger now than ever!!! I love you all and appreciate all of you. I can´t believe how fast time is flying by, I´ll be home in no time..but first I´ve got some very important work to do!! :) Pray for the people here please! Oh and I hope you all had an AMAZING Thanksgiving. I am so grateful for all of you, genuinely! I love this time of year, and I hope you´re all downing enough pie for me too! 

PS: Thank you all for you emails, I love them so much! I am so sorry I can´t personally respond to them, but keep sending them!!! Also...no more Dear Elder! There is a cool new thing called URUGOEST...so all you do is send an email from your accound to urugoest@gmail.com and in the subject box just write my full name and uruguay  montevideo west!!!! I will get those every week :)

I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU!!

Con amor,

Hermana Cinnamon 

This picture is Floriana and I in her house!!! I love her so much!!!

¡HOY ES EL DIA!

Hola familia y amigos!!!

I AM IN URUGUAY. How did that happen? Time is flying, I can´t believe I have been serving for almost two whole months now. Like always, I feel like I have so much to tell you all and so little time. So...here goes nothing.

Uruguay. Is. Beautiful.

I love it here, the people, the culture, the everything!! My area is called Carmelo! It´s this quaint little town on the west side of the country. IT´S THE CUTEST. My house is pink with a charcoal gray door so you all know tha I´m lovin´ it. hahaha My companions name is Hermana Chen and she is from Guatemala. She has been serving for three months and doesn´t speak a lick of English..so as you can imagine, I´m learning quick!!! My dictionary from the MTC has become my very best friend the past week, and I don´t think I picked it up once at the MTC. Whoops. I would´ve hashtagged that ´whoops´ but I am not sure how to do it on this keyboard..haha the keyboards here are JACKED so I´m just going to apologize in advance for any spelling errors I make. Anyway, my companion. I love her!! She is so helpful and gives me hugs all the time since I can´t talk..it´s kind of funny because I think she thinks I like need a hug or something..but really I am fine, just confused. I bet you´re all imaging my deer in headlights face..it´s permanatly like that here. So..that´s awesome haha. She is very patient and laughs at me a lot, so that makes things better. We laugh a lot...but most of the time I´m not really sure what we´re laughing at haha.

The people here are the best. (sorry) But seriously, I love them. They are so happy with so little. They live in the tiniest houses  e v e r and most of them have dirt floors. They sleep where they eat, and they eat where they do laundry and they do laundry where they watch tv. It´s so sad. We are so blessed to live in America and have all of the things that we have!!! I have given like half my wardrobe the girls in the branch because they only have jeans for church! I feel so bad!! But it´s okay, I way over packed anyway. hashtag, imagine that. 

Okay so when my companion picked me up she was like talking about our area and she was like ¨there are more dogs than people¨ and I thought she was likely exaggerating but NOPE....there are dogs every where. Don´t mind the pit bulls!!! But the other day we were helping Floriana (a recent convert, she´s twelve) write her testimony down because Sunday was the primary program and she had to share her testimony..and all of a sudden I hear a mix between barking and chiken bawking (does anyone really know how to spell bawking? haha doubt it) and I look over and this freaking dog is mauling a poor chiken!!!! He killed it!!! Then the family just left it there! I just started crying..seriously embarassing. Because my companion and Floriana were like engulfed in this lesson and then there is me all emotional over a c.h.i.c.k.e.n. ahahah seriously?  All I can do is laugh at all of this. It´s so awesome being here!! It´s so different than what I am used to and I am loving seeing another part of the world. What a great opportunity.

Everyone kisses eachothers cheeks to greet..it´s different, but I don´t mind it! But it was hilarious, this guy went to do it to me and as sisters we´re not allowed to with men (obvi) but anyway and I like had to matrix to get out of it haha..it was so funny haha Yo trying to be obedient here!!! haha I wish someone had it on video because I am pretty sure I was like horizontal with the ground. It. was. awesome.

I was so excited for church on Sunday because it was Primary program which means I could probably understand what was being said haha wooo!!! It was such a good meeting....I had to listen very carefully, but I understood. Most of the kids in the Primary are the only ones that are members in their homes...they have such strong, powerful, yet simple testimonies. They were just so grateful for the missionaries, and for the happiness that they have found in the Gospel. A lot talked about wanting to serve missions in the future....the cutest. 

The gift of tongues is real!! Heavenly Father is helping me tremendously. During Young Womens, I was kind of frustrated because all I wanted was to understand our teacher (who speaks at like 343794 words per minute mind you) and I couldn´´t...BUT the spirit was so strong! Bring on the water works!!!!! I don´t think I have ever felt the spirit so strong in my life...It was incredible. I think it´s because I wasn´t familiar with the language..so I just focused on listening to the Holy Ghost...Guys...breaking news!! THAT WORKS. I could feel my Saviors love for me and I know that I am not alone in this!!!

We are so busy all of the time, so sending home letters is going to be nearly impossible..But if you guys want to send me letters still then my address is: 

Sister Safari Natalia Sorenson

Uruguay Montevideo West Mission

Enrique Martinez 1167

C.P. 11. 800 Montevideo

Uruguay

USE IT!!! 

Oh and since I know you´re all dying to send me packages...it takes three weeks to get here and it´s best to send through US POST MAIL..All of the other services take like 8 weeks apparently..Also print off some like hail mary stickers or pictures of Jesus and put them on the box so that people wont steal!! Christmas is right around the corner, and I don´t really need anything!! Hearing from you all is all I need. I love you all so much, and I am loving the work in Uruguay. 

PS: I don´t have time to attach pictures this week, next week. So sorry! 

PSS: Due to the humidity, all I have to work with is my natural curls. haha so yeah...look forward to pics of that. 

¡HOY ES EL DIA! TODAY IS THE DAY!

Con amor,

Hermana Sorenson

semana de consegracion

¿QUE PASA FAMILIA Y AMIGOS?

I had such a blast this week. w e l a u g h s o m u c h. I love it here but six weeks is just enough time for me to be over it. I can't wait to get to Uruguay, only 3 more days!!! How did that happen? It's weird I feel like the Lords time is different for missionaries...the days are way long so that we can learn everything, yet the weeks are short so that we don't go loco. (too late.) I really don't even know where to start this email, I have so much to tell you! So many hilarious and spiritual experience that happened, I'm going to have to leave some out. Just know that there wasn't a time this week that I wasn't either laughing hysterically or feeling the spirit. So I would say it's been the best week at the empty sea ladies and gentlemen. 

Okay so first and foremost..I GOT MY FLIGHT PLANS! I fly out Monday morning at 8:30 to Chile, then we have a five hour layover (I plan to convert at least 16 travelers during that time) and then we fly from Chile to Uruguay, I don't arrive in Uruguay until like 5:30 the next day. DON'T MIND MY JET LAG. hahaha

Do you guys want to hear a way funny joke?? K. So Joseph Smith was running away from an angry mob when he came across a river that was about a mile wide..Standing beside the river was Mark Twain and a river raft. Joseph Smith then said "Quick! I need you to help me get across the river on your raft to get away from the angry mob" Mark Twain then pointed to Joseph Smiths Book of Mormon and said "I will if that book of yours tells me too.." So Joseph Smith knelt down and said a quick prayer, stood up, and opened his scriptures to 3 Nephi 12:41....YOU ALL DIED! That's hilarious huh? Is that funny to the outside world or just those of us with the black name tags? I need to know.

GUESS WHO WE GOT TO HEAR FROM AT OUR TUESDAY NIGHT DEVOTIONAL!? Elder Tom. L. Perry!!! It was so great. He has such a quite dignity about him that I love and admire so much. The spirit was just in his voice..he spoke so soft, yet had such powerful words! You could hear a pin drop in there, as you can imagine, the spirit was so strong. He spoke on missionary work and he said that "Tommy" told him to tell us hi and that he loves us! How cute is that!? I was dying. I'm sad you all couldn't be there to experience that with me! I am so grateful I came to the Provo MTC so I could hear from two of the Apostles..not to mention, I got to be in Utah for fall! How great is that!? It's so beautiful here. I am turning into my grandma haha "oh look at the mountains, they're so pretty" blah blah blah. I'm getting old. Speaking of grandma, everyone always calls me "Abuela" in my zone haha because I'm 21 and all of them are like..ya know 18, 19...haha SIIIIICK GUYS!

I don't have much time, but I want you all to know that I love you so much and I am so grateful for your love and support. I am not sure when I will get another P-day..so just hold tight if you don't get an email next week from your girl!!! I love this work, and I love being a missionary, I am so grateful that I get to serve, I already love the people of Uruguay so much! If you're having a bad day, go watch "The Phone Call" on lds.org. You will die of laughter, we watched it in Spanish this week and it was even more funny. Oh one last thing!! Please keep Elder Mckean in your prayers..he is an Elder from my district who is having a really hard time! Also, don't forget to pray for those affected in the Philippines. Don't worry about me, I am doing great and loving every minute of this! Oh and semana de consegracion was alright...let's just say my Spanish improved..but my English deteriorated..So it was a solid balance...I don't even want to think about my English for my homecoming talk.... buenos suerte con eso Hermana Sorenson! haha. 

Next time you hear from me it'll be from Uruguay. HOLLA!!! 

Con Amor,

Hermana Sorenson

HERMANA SORENSON SANDWICH AT THE TEMPLE THIS MORNING! :) 

holar

Lovers!!!! I have been here an entire month, can you believe that!? Only seventeen more to go. t i m e f l i e s h e r e a t t h e m t c. 

Okay so a week ago today we had to teach each other something out of Lesson 1 in Preach My Gospel that would pertain to the certain individual..lucky me, I got put with Elder Cuevas!! He is such a spiritual giant and I just love him. Anyway, he started talking about how the adversary in our lives is similar to the adversary in Josephs Smith life. STAY WITH ME HERE PEOPLE. I was thinking "K Cuevas, where are you going with this..." He then said. "What if Joseph Smith would have gave up. What if when he knelt in prayer, and the dark spirit (the adversary) that came over him would have won?" "What if Hermana Sorenson? We would have nothing. No church. No Book of Mormon. No nothing." He then compared it to our lives today. He told me that the adversary is working SO HARD on us every single day. To get us to give up, to give in. He said, if we gave up..those people in Uruguay would have nothing. No church. No Gospel. No Book of Mormon. No hope. No happiness. NO NOTHING." Lucky for us Joseph Smith withstood the darkness and pulled through. Those people in Uruguay deserve our persistence, and our strength. This work is not always rainbows and butterflies (even though most of the time it is) but when it's hard...we cannot and will not let the adversary win!! We're better than that, and we're stronger than that!!! Anyway, I loved the analogy and inspired me to fight a little harder, and be a little better! Through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we can accomplish all things, and do so with a happiness that most people don't get to experience in this life! Hasten the work peeeps, everyone deserves this in their lives.   e v e r y o n e.

Okay, forgive me for my ramble about that. But I'm a missionary, it's in my nature, to share, invite, challenge..yada yada yada. Speaking of challenges, who's been going to the throne during their prayers!? It's the best right!? I love it. You will gain an even greater love and appreciation for your Savior as you do this. I SWEAR. 

Who's ready for a funny story or two!? Let me just start by saying that there is  N E V E R a dull moment with our district. We've had teachers and leaders tell us that we're the funnest district they've ever had. #holla Anyway, remember the girl I told you about last week who thought John was in the Book of Mormon..? Ya with me? K so this same sweet soul is convinced that "HOLAR"  is the Spanish verb for "to greet." Hahahaha bless her heart. So this might be confusing for some but in Spanish we have conjugation charts and so we have her convinced that it's "yo-holo" "tu-holas" "usted-hola" "nosotros-holamos" "vosotros-holais" and "ustedes-holan." IT IS SO FUNNY. We got 21 new missionaries in our zone yesterday and they walk in and she goes "HOLAN!!!!" They all gave her the deer in headlights look while the rest of us we're "tebow-ing" behind her. If you speak Spanish, then you're probably dying over this right now, if not well then...just know that "holar" is not a verb. hahaha 

UNO MAS! Okay, the other day we somehow got on the topic of me being half Egyptian and one of the elders goes "Are you from Menassa?" and I was like "No?" and he goes "Oh, well are you from Ephraim?" and I was like.."I'm from Layton." hahahaha pray for me.

So at my farewell I had a book out for people to write little letters in for me to take with me on my mission and read. For some reason I didn't read that until last night and it was a w e s o m e. But one letter in particular stood out to me. Someone very close to me in my life who is not active in the church wrote as follows " I don't know how I feel about this step you are about to take. Mostly because you are leaving so much behind, dance, school, life, and opportunity. I worry this will be lost time." I NEED EVERYBODY TO KNOW, MEMBERS, NON-MEMBERS, IN-ACTIVES, E V E R Y B O D Y...that this is just the opposite of lost time. I am so appreciative of your love, support, and concerns. But I want to assure you all that you don't have to worry. This is the Lords time and it is the best thing for me. My mission has been the greatest opportunity I have ever experienced. I love this work, I am happy, and I would do it over and over again (says the girl who's only been out a month, but still.) I just don't want anybody to worry about me, I am in THE BEST hands. :) I am happy as a lark, and my heart is constantly full and I have never experienced a joy so great. I know I  sound like such a missionary, but just know that I am still me, and still funny as ever (says me)....I just want everybody to be as happy as I am. 

At 5:00 PM tonight we start " semana de consegracion" consecration week. That means we have to speak 100% Spanish, 100% of the time. hahaha pray for me. or should I say "Ore por mi." Although I think it'll be a huge slap in the face, I am so excited to start. I'll let you know how it goes next Thursday. Spanish is great, the Gospel is even better.Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, and letters. I could not ask for a better support system. YOU GUYS ARE MY ROCKS. I love you all so so so so much and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about you and pray for you. I love this work and I love my Savior. 

w r i t e m e. 

Sister Safari Sorenson

URU-MONW Unit #934

2025 N 900 E

Provo, UT 84604

Only eleven more days left in the empty sea. Weirdest right!? "accant believe it" (Fat Amy voice) 

XO-Hermana Sorenson 

Hermana Paris and I at the oh so beautiful Provo temple this morning! :) 

First day snow day of the year!!! Don't ask what my hand is doing, and don't mind the giant Y in the background...It hurts me too. 

happy halloween

FELIZ HALLOWEEN!

Another AWESOME week at the empty sea!!! I am so happy here and my testimony is growing tremenously every single day. I have never in my life been closer with my Father in Heaven, nor have I ever had a greater love and appreciation for all of you back home. I miss you all todos los dias. 

Okay so lets start with some funny stories, yeah? Hermana Reed is SUCH A RIOT. She is like the girliest person I have ever met and just way oblivious to just about every thing...So one day our teacher was like "Did anyone read a scripture out of the Book of Mormon that inspired them this week?!" and She goes "Well I was reading in John...." hahah our whole district just looked at each other like "what the heck? John is in The Bible..." Smart? hahha We were all laughing hysterically. If you're not laughing, it's likely because you don't know her, and you probably had to be there. Anyway, it was comedy. Second funny thing, our entire district just so happens to be obsessed with Nacho Libre and we always quote the part that's like "People always say I don't know a butt load about The Gospel...but I dooooo" and the part that's like "why you always judging  me....just because I believe in scienceeeee." It's so funny. 

So now for the serious stuff (since I'm so serious all the time.) But we had THE most amazing devotional on Tuesday. Tear jerker. Why even wear mascara? Anyway, it was Elder Carlos Godoy of the seventy. He shared his conversion story and talked about how excited he was as a 16 year old boy, when he learned that "Chirst church is back!!!" He was so excited and I think that's something we should all be so excited about!! All the time! He talked about never giving up on people, and how important it is...Not to mention that he was converted by SISTER MISSIONARIES. #represent. 

Yesterday I had the wonderful opportunity to be a "host" for the new missionaries coming in..You would think it would be so much fun right!? NO. I was an emotional wreck. My heart was so heavy for those poor, poor moms. I am not looking forward to that future drop off one day when my children go!! The good news is, their children are in such good hands, and doing the most important work on earth. So that's comforting. We got a new district yesterday and one of the Elders is a Northridge Knight like me!!! I am so bad...I can't remember his name, but he says hi to all of you Northridge people reading this hahaha.

 Everyone. I have to tell you about a lesson I had exactly a week ago today. Hermano Bulloch (a future general authority, calling it now) was teaching us about receiving revelation through prayer. He challenged us to "go to the throne" when praying. This means that every time you kneel down to pray, literally picture yourself at the throne kneeling at your Makers feet! It made such a huge difference in how I pray and I'm sure this will change my life forever. My prayers are more genuine, and I feel like I am literally having a conversation with my Heavenly Father. Coolest. Thing. Ever. I challenge you all to try it!! 

I can't believe that yesterday was my half way mark here at the MTC. It's weird. On one hand I feel like the time flew by, and the other I feel like I was born and raised here at the MTC. haha I am starting to freak out about going to Uruguay but I am so excited to finally meet the people that I already love SO  much. How is that possible? If you've been on a mission, or are currently serving..you know what I mean. 

I had the pleasure of going to the temple this morning..BEST. HALLOWEEN. EVER!! It was the most spiritual experience I have had there and I am so grateful that we get to attend every single week. Guess what else!? They showed the old video today...weird right!? I was so excited to see it. Reminded me of the old Willy Wonka haha but was still so great! I love this work and even though I have to wake up at 5:30 every single day, I am so anxious to get to class and soak up whatever I can from my brilliant teachers. I love you all and THANK YOU so much for the letters, Dear Elders, and packages. They make my day, every day.

You have scriptures and knees, you can do hard things! 

Don't forget it! (or me haha)

PS: Any of my single friends want to write my friend Elder Finlay in my district..? Top five funniest kids I know and he never gets emails. :( Boo. Anyway, I feel bad so you guys should shoot him an email its hunter.finlay@myldsmail.net Oh and he's 18...so if you're like ya know 21...don't do it. haaha that means you Whit ;) 

PSS: On the bus ride back to West campus from the temple the bus driver was dressed up like a fox and driving like one too. We literally hit a tree. haha but don't worry, I'm fine, just thought I'd give you all a good laugh. Hope you think it's as funny as I did!! 

I love you all!!!

XO-Hermana SorensonFELIZ HALLOWEEN!

This picture is from when Hermana Baca and I had to literally climb out the window to go change our laundry because the branch presidency was having a meeting in the front room and we weren't aloud to be near them...They had no idea we even left. haha winning!

the empty sea

Familia y Amigos!!!! How the heck is everyone!? I hope you're all doing as good as I am! I love it here. My time here at the empty sea is precious and is going SOOOO fast. I miss everyone back home SO much. Thank you all for your letters and emails, they make my day, every day! This week at the MTC has been amazing. I love it here, So remember my fake investigator I told you all about? PLOT TWIST...he's my teacher now. Our district loves him, he laughs at e v e r y t h i n g. Makes people feel good even when their jokes aren't funny. (that's obviously not a problem for some of us ;) ) He makes us do wall sits while reciting the first vision in Spanish while he sits and watches us. MESSED UP. When we confronted him for not doing the wall sits with us he replied with "I don't need to be fit, I'm already married." Haha his poor wife. Anyway, this week went by really fast and I am pretty positive my brain is about to explode. The good news is I am starting to think in Spanish so that must mean I am retaining something from our sixteen hour days of class, class, and more class! So in Uruguay we speak a dialect of Spanish called Castillano pronounced (castishano) and it is SO pretty. I love the way it sounds, it's very European sounding. I can't speak it very well, but every time I hear my teachers speak it I get so pumped! I've had a couple of really neat experiences this week. First of all I have been REALLY sick. I had bronchitis and a high fever for five days straight. :( Lucky for me, I am surrounded by literally hundreds of worthy priesthood holders! I got a blessing and was completely fine by morning, not even a little cough. What a miracle. That experience strengthened my testimony about the priesthood tenfold. Another cool thing happened regarding the Gift of Tongues. So another district in our zone had cinnamon rolls and I of course asked for one and they were like only if you bear your testimony in p e r f e c t Spanish. Can't deny a challenge...So I just started bearing my testimony and it was like I didn't even have to think about it. It just poured out of my mouth. Afterwards, you could hear a pin drop in there. It was silent!! It was so powerful, and the spirit was so strong in that room. I really not even sure what I said, but I know that what I said was true. My district here at the empty sea is like family, I feel like I've known these people my whole life!! I don't ever want to leave them. I now have less than one month left here. How is that possible!? The days are long, but the weeks are short! Gym time is the best time of the day. We play four square with our entire zone and the elders get so competitive. IT IS COMEDY. Us sisters are always cracking up at how serious the boys get...like...it's just four square. Even though I am way agile, some how I get out all the freaking time! hahaa kidding about being agile since none of you can hear the way I'm saying that right now. Anyway..one of our teachers, Hermano Bullock is so funny. We were talking about like Christlike attributes in class and all of a sudden he goes " I'm not sure what God looks like....probably six foot two, sandy blonde hair, blue eyes...piercing blue eyes..I'm just describing myself." hahaa lets not forget humble! haha our whole class was dying. Oh the things you find funny at the MTC. ATTENTION: I love you all...but please no more M&M's my roomies and I go HAM on them...always after gym time because we think after how strenuous four square was, we deserve them. haha LOGIC. And Grandma if you're reading this, don't worry I haven't gained any weight yet haha. Ok so at the beginning of the week we are all given a topic for sacrament talks and then on Sunday our branch president gets up and just randomly calls on someone to give their talk in ALL spanish,,in front of everybody. n o. t h a n k s. So I was saying like fifteen hundred prayers in my head that I wouldn't get called on. haaha I was saying them in Spanish, so I'm pretty sure the big guy upstairs helped a girl out. Speaking of Sunday, the district that just left to Mexico last week had to sing a musical number,,and it was a huge group of tone deaf elders. So you all know that when I laugh I can't stop. I was crying, it was so funny. The whole room was laughing though so I didn't feel too bad...including the people singing. I really have never heard anything like it. OH MY GOSH. Embarrassing moment. So I was teaching an investigator and one of the prophets names translated in Spanish is Santiago..well, I said Sebastian. Is this real life? He's all Sebastian? and I just went blank. seriously all I could think about was the Lobster off of Little Mermaid the whole rest of the lesson. It was so funny, and now everyone in my district makes fun of me. perfect. Anyway, I know I keep saying this, but I love the MTC. The spirit here is indescribable, but you can tell that this place is holy ground. My heart is always so full, and I love getting letters from all of you at home. I am anxious to get to Uruguay, but I am trying to enjoy every moment that I have here. I want you all to know that I love you and that I pray for you always! Oh and if you send me Dear Elders throughout the week, I can send you a hand written letter back soon. Emailing everyone individually back is hard because I only have an hour..So in this case, writing hand written throughout the week seems to be more convenient! I love you all! Always find something to smile about! :) Oh and I am so sorry my emails are so scattered! So much to say in so little time!

PS: Has Miley come out with any new music videos lately? Someone give me the low down. 

The girls in my district. WE LOVE EACH OTHER. 

spanglish

Hola mi familia y amigos!!!!!

So I did it, week one at the empty sea. I feel like I have so much to say and so little time. But I will do my best to give you a run down on my time here so far!! First of all, my companions name is Hermana Paris and I absolutely LOVE her. She is way different than me personality wise but we both have a dry sense of humor and we get along great..and she thinks I'm hilarious. SO that's a plus. My district consists of two sets of sister missionaries and one trio companionship of the elders. IT IS A PARTY. We all get along really, really well. I live with my companion and the two other sisters. Hermana Baca (my twin) and Hermana Reed. My second day here I was called to be the Sister Missionary Training Leader for our zone! (I was just as surprised as you are) I feel so honored that our Heavenly Father would trust me to train and lead the eight sisters in our zone! It is such a blessing and I am willing to step up to the plate. It just motivates to work a little harder, and be the best missionary I can be. 

No one ever warns you about your first week at the MTC...It. Is. Rough. I had a hard time adjusting and Satan was working really hard on me..making me doubt my decision to serve and making me feel inadequate. I prayed to my Heavenly Father for some assurance and about thirty seconds after my prayer I opened up to a random page in my scriptures and it was D&C 75. READ IT. I felt so much comfort and Heavenly Father told me yet again, that this is exactly what I am supposed to be doing right now!! I am feeling 1000000 times better this week, and I am giving my mission 100%, 100% of the time. In turn, I am being blessed. SO BLESSED. The language is coming faster than I imagined, and I get to be filled with the love of God every single day..multiple times of day. The spirit is so strong here and everyone is always so happy. (Including me!) I am growing tremendously spiritually and I am so eager to learn more about The Gospel. Mi companera, Hermana Paris and I have taught five lessons in 100% Spanish. HOLLA. I have a testimony of the gift of tongues. IT IS REAL. During our last lesson our "investigator" (they think we don't know that our investigator is actually an employee at the mtc...they think we think he's real. r i g h t) Anyway, during our last lesson with our investigator he had a problem with one of the commandments, he said that he liked doing it too much to stop..I was able to share a personal experience I had with him regarding the same topic...after sharing, his whole demeanor changed and committed to bautismo! (baptism.)  I shocked myself because I shared my story with him in complete Spanish and it literally just poured out of my mouth! It was so cool. After I was done talking, my companion and I just looked at each other like "what the heck just happened?!" We were both just beaming about it the whole rest of the day, even if he was just a fake investigator! I am trying to speak as much Spanish as possible and sometimes it doesn't come out right. Like...at all. #comedy

I love it here. I know that this is where the Lord needs me right now. Every single day gets better and I take comfort in that! Everyone! Go to www.dearelder.com and just type in my name, and my mission (uruguay montevideo west) and type me a letter and they will print it of that day and give it to me! It's really simple, and letters can turn any bad day around. I love it here and the church is true!!! I am sorry that this email isn't so long, we have a time limit and my typing skills are muy mal...(no bueno, not good) Anyway, write often because I love hearing from you!!! Oh one last thing, I got to go to the temple this morning and do initiatories and sealings, it made me so pumped to be sealed for my family for eternity!! Also, on Tuesday night we got to hear from Dallin H. Oaks in the flesh..When he walked in the whole building gasped haha embarassing. 

PS: I'm joining the choir...we'll see how long it is before they kindly ask me to step down.

Don't worry about me, I'm out saving the world!