pictures

Me and the Hermanas in my district with our spanish Preach my Gospel! Yay!

This is what my desk looks like the majority of the time. English/spanish scriptures, notebook, English/spanish preach my gospel, and dictionary.

My name tag!

Me and Hermana Spiller, My Companion.

Picture at the map! Pointing to our mission Ventura and Seattle, Washington.

This is a group of Hermanas and Elders from my zone (not all of them thought). We were on our Sunday Temple Walk.

This Elder's last name is Tippetts and he is on the same floor as my class. Also I met a kid in the book store with the last name Tippetts from Vegas and he lives in the Southwest. Weird!

I wish Elder Smith would obey quiet time...

Ok family here is the dealio. Last week I totally outlined my letter on a piece of paper so it was nice and organized. This week however I have been SOOO busy that I haven't been able to. So please...haha bare with me.

So pretty much there isn't anything new to report. The MTC is the MTC haha. Um oh, so i started getting these big splotchy patches on my hands that itched way bad. So I was worried. Well the other Hermanas said they thought it was just dry skin so I started putting lotion on it all the time. Nothing got better, so we decided to go to the doctor (on the MTC campus), well the nurse said I would for sure have to see the doctor so I did. Ha the doctor ended up just telling me it WAS dry skin from the really hard water and the cold/dryness. So he wanted me to put some kind of steroid cream on my hands...no thanks. So he just ordered me some strong lotion stuff. Super greasy and I am feeling better. I'm glad I got that taken care of, I was afraid I was going to get all chappy like the people in True Grit. Nast.
Sister Amanda Pinto got here last week and we have all the same meal times. It is so fun to see her and give her a huge hug. She is such a good example. Speaking of meal times, the food is still no bueno. Ha, but our Elders (the ones in our zone) have been taking our tray every day. Its way nice. Most of them are leaving tomorrow so we will have to train new Elders to do this. Haha. Speaking of taking the tray, for a while it was a little joke and so my companion decided to learn to say "take my tray" in spanish. Well we finished our meal and she said loudly "Tocame" haha....alll the elder's faces got way red way fast. She pretty much said "touch me". It was hilarious. I was probably laughing for at least 2 minutes straight. Really. It was great.

Lets see...I don't have my study journal handy so i cant tell you all the cool thoughts I have had. I'm glad you guys are reading the Book of Mormon again, I love reading it and I can never find enough time in the day to read it. I also love Jesus the Christ. I really want to finish it before I leave but it is sooo long. So good, a must read.

So about Elder Smith. He pretty much keeps me awake at night, he eats us out of house and home, and is just really annoying. Hes about 3 inches long..and has a long tail...ha. Its a mouse. We have a mouse in our room. Sick right? we have never seen it but it keeps us awake at night. We call him Elder Smith because of the awkward looks we get when we talk about him. haha. I hate mice so much...

I love my teachers they are so great. I really have gained a testimony that they are our teachers for a reason (and yes one of my teachers is friends with Lauren Noorda, small world right?). Ive also come to know that my district is my district for a reason. I love them all like brothers and sisters. So I guess I will tell you a little about all of them since I don't have anything exciting tell about. Well you know about my companion, Hermana Spiller, shes funny and enjoys to eat everything on her plate...together (that's not a fat joke she has a great work out attitude)...she will put chicken, melon, pie, whatever on the same fork. Ha she also mixed Coke and Milk together and LIKED it. Vomito...yes that's barf in spanish. Ha. Shes great. Then there is Hermana Olsen she is from Manti and has the most sunny disposition. She is always smiling and is always nice to everyone. She has such a sincere love for the gospel and her attitude is contagious. Hna. Maxwell is from Salt Lake and yes her grandpa is Neal A. Maxwell. Ain't no thang. She is seriously so cool and we are like twins sorta. She gets all my harry potter and lord of the rings jokes but also understands the need to break it down. She is way good at spanish because she is already fluent in French. Cool right? Then there is Elder Almquist from St. George. He is your typical st.george boy. Way into tennis and knows the scriptures very well. Most of the quotes in our quote book are from him. He says the most random things. Elder Manu...From vegas REPRESENT! Ha...hes chill and way good with words. He says things like "The plan of salvation is a pretty cool thing right?" or "Elder we must be swift as a coursing river". Then there is Elder Moser, hes from California and he gets bloody noses a lot. poor kid. had hes really good at spanish as well and pretty funny. Elder Dickinson is from Idaho and has one of the most powerful testimonies I have ever heard. He is really shy and nice. Elder Adams is from Kaysville utah and use to break dance. He is such a "kid" always smiling and laughing and kind. Elder Garland is....so interesting. he always says things that make me laugh like "The deaf community drives me crazy, they ostracize themselves and then when one of them gets a coclear implant they shun them"...seriously the strongest and most random opinions. He is such a hard workers as well.

Ok well that's my district. They are awesome. This time is going way to fast.

Thank you so much for the packages, Dad your sticky notes made me laugh and i love my glasses. Even the big ones haha. Thanks for the hershey "kisses"...i wont lie i gave most of them to the Elders though. The mangos are also delicious thank you. Tell Dave and Lisa thanks so much for the stuff in the package. i love that they think about me. Also tell them I LOVED my letters this week from them and I will write them back next PDAy this day has really gotten away from me. So much to do. Mom thanks for getting all that stuff for me I really appreciate it, you guys take such good care of me.

I am also very excited for that skirt I wont lie.

OH and tell mariah I was so happy to get her letter and the nieces and nephews, I'm going to write them all back too....hopefully today but we'll see if I have time.

hahaha my companion just read what i wrote about her and she was like SAY WHAT? you calling me fat? hahaha I love her.

Oh man, I don't know what else to tell you guys. Do you have questions? Um.
Ok well I know Jesus Christ is our Savior. I love the relationship I am building with him through personal study and prayer. Its so tender and Its something I hope I can always have. Its essential. I cant wait to share the gospel with others and I really hope Ill be able to to do it in spanish. Its so frustrating sometimes because I want to express everything I feel but I'm so limited with spanish right now, but I know it will come. We have taught a couple of lessons solomente in espanol. Super Bien! Its awesome. I love spanish and I cant wait to be fluent in it one day.

I love you guys so much, all of you, I'm so grateful to have you as my family (and friends). I cant wait to see you in 18 months but its going to be the best 18 months of my life (thus far). This gospel is so true, don't be afraid to share it with all your friends! The Holy Ghost will back you up when you testify!
Hug Grandpa for me and tell him I love him.

Alright my time is almost out sorry this is so short and not full of a lot of info or "got get'ums", just know I love you!

EN EL MUNDO

HOLA FAMILY!!! Happy Tuesday! I love getting Dear Elders from y'all all week. Its so nice. I know it must be weird to keep writing without reply but I love it. So a we haven't got mail saturday night or yesterday because it was Martin Luther King day so I haven't gotten the package yet, so, thank you in advance, you guys really shouldn't have to send me anything but I really appreciate it. You guys are the best family ever.
I'm trying to remember everything you wrote in my letters so I can respond but I can't remember right now. Dad I'm glad you get to drive my car...sorry I didn't clean it out all the way..or at all. Ha ha. Mom,with your lessons, honestly I'm sure you prepare a great lesson, just let the girls see how much you love and care about them and they will listen to whatever you say.

So I don't really remember what I wrote last week, but apparently it wasn't super chipper because Lisa felt sad for me, aunt Mary sent me cookies (which were delicious but didn't top her own cookies), and my friend Amanda Pinto wrote me and said it freaked her out (she gets here Wednesday...TOMORROW!!! yay!). So ha ha sorry about that.
So let me tell you about my life here a little bit. In my district we have 5 companionships. 2 that are sisters and 3 that are Elders. They are all so awesome. Us "Hermanas" seriously get along. Hermana Spiller (You gotta Tip it before you Spill it) is from Texas and is my companion, Hermana Maxwell is from SLC and her mom is in Motab so we see her every Sunday morning in music and the spoken word. Hermana Olsen is from Manti and is seriously the sweetest thing alive. We all have so many inside jokes, its so much fun. I would tell you some of them but we decided nothing we think is funny here is funny in the outside world, so I will spare you. haha.

So I decided that the MTC is a little like Disneyland. 1. because its happy here almost all the time 2. there are ridiculous lines for dinner and other things 3. there are hand sanitizers there EVERY WHERE!!! I mean every where. I guess they want us to stay healthy 4. Also they like page missionaries over the intercom and one of the people that does it totally sounds like the voice that tells you not to bring the bar down on the Haunted Mansion ride. I really like Disneyland....so I guess I really like the MTC too! haha.

Spanish is getting much better. No I'm not very good at it..probably the worst in my district, but its coming and it will come. I promise I'm working hard at it. One thing that has not gotten better...maybe worse is the food. For real....there was this talapia (which obviously I didn't eat), that was like coated in fruity pebbles and Im pretty sure it ended up in the soup the next day. They are so...frugal. Hahaha. But its not that bed...we eat it. Ha.

So my district/zone is awesome. I feel like I have known them my whole life. I have some good pictures but I don't think I can email them, or at least we haven't figured out how yet. So i will just have to print out some pics and send them to you.

SO guess who was our Tuesday night devotional speaker last Tuesday?? ELDER HOLLAND. No big deal. It was so amazing. The talk was great but I wont tell ya what he talked about...what I will tell you about is that before he talked i prayed to know that he was a true of apostle of Jesus Christ. The Spirit was so strong the whole meeting but after the closing hymn he got up to leave and we all got to stand, during that time the Spirit truly testified to me that he is an Apostle of Jesus Christ. Man, I really want to go to general conference when I get back, I cant imagine how amazing it would be to be in the same room as all of the Apostles and Prophet.

Really random note but can you find out if Vanessa got my letter? she sent me a dear elder and I wrote her back last Tuesday but her address was lacking an apartment number so I don't know if it got to her. Let me know.

Its so crazy, I only get a little bit a day to read my scriptures and it kills me, I wish I could sit and read them all day. I get so much strength by reading them. I just flipped to a page in my notebook and and am going to share a random scripture that I liked this week. 1Nephi 6:4-6 This is pretty much our purpose as missionaries. To bring others unto Christ and really should be our purpose as members of the church. We should desire to talk to all we know about Jesus Christ because of the help and comfort we have received in our own life. I cant wait to get out to California and just love those people and bring them the Gospel. Also 1Nephi 7:5 because what Nephi was asking Ishmael to do was kind crazy and the only way he would have done it was if the Lord softened his heart...right? Well its the same thing with people we teach.

Oh another cool thing that happened this week was we had a teacher who pretended to be an investigator and we kinda "tag teamed" him. A companionship started off and had five minutes then the next set jumped in and continued from there. We went first and got some stuff out of him. Then by the 3rd set I had something truly amazing happen to me. I was listening to this fictional character having true love and charity for them, and the spirit whispered to me exactly what they needed, or rather what their problem was. IT WAS SO COOL. THE CHURCH IS TRUE.

I love it here, it still is really hard sometimes and really challenging but that's the way its suppose to be. We get to go to the temple today and we are fasting as a district. We are fasting to know the swords we need to bury (such as the Anti-Nephi-Lehis) so that we can become better missionaries, so today is going to be a good day.

I do see Landon farely often but never really get a chance to talk. We'll get a picture together though and send it to you guys.

My district is hilarious, my roommates are even more hilarious. I love those girls so much. I cant wait to hang out with all of them outside the mission. OH there is an elder in my district that is from Vegas, cool huh? He went to Palo but I didn't know him but we have mutual friends.

OK I have four minutes left so I'm going to go just in case I need to write you later.

I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH, keep writing me!

This is my P-Day!!!

Today is my p-day, which is Tuesday and it is the only day that i can write letters and email. I get letters every day except for Sunday though. So you can totally send them. Also dear elder is the bomb and tell everyone to use it because it gets to me the day of or the next day and that way I can read them before I email so I don't take my 30 min. up reading emails. Because I only get 30 min on the computer and its a timer and goes by really fast.

So the first 4 days were sooo crazy and different and we were all really really stressed. But it has gotten better since Sunday. Domingo...(sunday) is the best...really. SO spiritually uplifting. I really don't know what to write but I only have 30 min. so I am just going to keep plowing.

My companions name is Hermana Spiller and she is from a tiny town in Texas. She is going to Seattle Washington. I really like her. We get along really well. We have 6 girls in our room, 2 who are going to Bolivia (they are sooo awesome and are in my district), then the other two are going to Virginia, they are in a different district so we dont see them that much. We wake up at 5:45 and do a sister work out class which is different every day. Today we did Yoga. We have breakfast at 7 and have class and study sessions all day...dinner at 4:20..class til 9..planning til 9:30 then we can kind of get ready for bed until 1015, then we have quiet time until 1030 which is lights out. Busy busy busy all the time. We are constantly praying, I can't imagine doing anything wrong. Its so crazy. If we were always this busy and obedient we would have no problem obeying and keeping the commandments.

Spanish is....spanish. hahaha. It is really hard for me to be honest. But I am trying really hard and I know heavenly father will bless me if I keep doing my part. The Hermanas are getting it really well, except for me, but if I put it into perspective I've only been here like 6 days and I know how to pray and sort of bare testimony, so I guess I am getting there. I would write more spanish to you but I am feeling this time constraint and I have to think about it. Our spanish teachers are really cool and helpful.

I see landon...I mean Elder Steele a lot, his class room is in the floor above mine. The first time I saw him I almost freaked out, and almost hugged him. haha it was really exciting.

The food is no bueno, but I will live haha. It is really nice of them to keep us fed...i guess hahaha.

Sorry this is so scrambled, I should probably pre-outline my letters next time.

I miss you guys so much. Every night I come home and want to snuggle with mom and tell her about my day. I am so grateful for everything you guys have taught me. I am so humbled to have such great parents that I probably have taken way too much advantage of. I love you guys so much. SO MUCH.

Hug all the grandkids for me. I love them so much.

We are going to the temple today and I am so excited to break up the routine.

Oh also we arent suppose to really dance...that is really hard for me...I get ready to break it down in my room and realize I can't do that. Im adjusting better than I thought I would. Crazy.

This is hard. But I know that things will get better and I will be so grateful for this experience. I cant explain how it feels but the MTC campus is like being in the temple 24/7. such a spiritual over load. It is so awesome. But we are all on an emotional roller coaster everyday. There are some moments where I am like I can't imagine being any where else and moments where I want to cry and escape. Its insane how much satan is trying to get us to not realize how potential, we all feel way discouraged sometimes and feel like we cant do it but as soon as we realize the source of that we say "get the hence" pretty much and carry on. I hope we can all recognize that feeling more in our lives.

I really am so sorry this is so unorganized and all over the play, its 830 but ive been up since 545. so yeah, you get the point.

I love my district, they are all so fun and spiritual, we work hard but we still laugh enough.

I know I havent wrote about scriptures and other spiritual things but I just dont have time right now. Except I will say that the Lord loves us all, I have felt that when i am pretend teaching, i can feel the saviors love for that "investigator". Tell your young women that. The Savior wants to all come to him and have eternal life.

Tell me about everything at home, I forget there is an outside world. I am glad the week went fast for you, it was the slowest week of my life, haha but I hear it speeds up.

I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU!!! HUG YOURSELVES FOR ME!!!

I LOVE YOU MOM, DAD, MARIAH, GRANDPA,EVERY ONE ELSE...tell everyone to write me. Post it on facebook about dear elder and on my facebook wall ahaha.

ok.. I guess I will go now.. I LOVE YOU GUYS!

Californiaaaaaa here I cooooomeeeeee.....

Good Song, but actually the reality is Provo here I come.

Tonight I will be set apart as a missionary for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Last night I had some people over to hang out and say bye, and it was awesome. I have so many amazing people in my life.

This blog will be updated by my mom and Lori Truman and will hopefully always have my current address off to the side...so write me :).

I am so excited to serve the Lord (maybe a little nervous too), but I know this church is true and I have been so blessed by that knowledge and by all the church organizations that I would feel unfulfilled if I wasn't able to bring other unto Christ. I know the Book of Mormon is true, please take time to read it and pray about it.

I am so blessed to have been born into the family that I was. I have the best, most supportive parents in the whole world. Along with siblings, nieces and nephews, cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents.

I also have so many friends and leaders in my life who have meant so much to me.

I love you guys, take care of yourselves and see ya in 18 months!

...Also I'm pretty sure my parents will let you borrow the card board cut out of me for special occasions.