Dear Family,
It's been another terriffic week! Last Sunday during Relief Society, they mentioned that there were 1300 sisters gathering together each Sunday here at the MTC. Cool huh?! Each time we meet we always sing As Sisters in Zion, and its always so incredible to sing with that many sister missionaries...it brings such a powerful and lasting Spirit.
Crazy thing happened earlier this week, I ran into an Elder Withers......and it wasn't Chad. Apparently Dad's Uncle Russell has a grandkid named James Withers headed for Australia on his mission. Ha, it was so weird. I was eating dinner with my zone, and this Elder just kept staring at my tag....and I was like,m "uh do I konw you?" And then a whole conversation ensued as we tried to figure out if we were related. He knows Grandma Withers very well, and says that she is his great Aunt, so that makes him my second cousin. Small world. Also last Sunday, the cafeteria got so full that they had to block the doors shut to hungry missonaries becuase there literally wasn't a single spot to sit. It was the first time I had seen them do it, and I haven't seen it since...which is good because those missionaries had to wait about 15 minutes until it cleared out a bit. Good thing I was already in!
It really feels like I have been in the MTC for ages...and its only been a month (to the day actually!). A person's sense of time is sort of warped here, but somehow the weeks are flying by. Also, I didn't mean to make it sound like I didn't appreciate Pioneer Day in my last email....it really was a great day (:
Glad to hear the temple trip was fun.....Sam may go down in history as the most spoiled child ever....9 mnew cars??? That's crazy!
How is "operation save the mill" going? Sorry Dad has to work so much....
On Monday we had a TRC lesson, and our investigator was an immigrant from Chile Concepcion! And......her Spanish was also lightning fast. I did my best to understand but all I could pick up was the basic point of her comments each time she spoke. She dropped all of her "s" but was also the kindest lady ever. Chad is going to be able to speak some pretty sweet Spanish when he gets back.
Every Tuesday morning we play volleyball as a district and it is so fun. We go out to the field and play in the volleyball pits and it feels like we are all at a beach digging our feet into the sand. It's so fun! Tuesday night, we all walk to the Marriott center for the devotional, and it is hilarious. People come out of their office buildings, from Campus, and the parking lot...and all stare at the thousands of missionaries marching like Helaman's army. A lot of them wave, in one particular window is a group of people who wheel over a white board and write messages and put against the window. As missionaries we all just laugh, wave back, and under our breath say how it makes us feel like societal aliens. If we were anyone else, no one would care; but becuase we are missionaries (!) people get excited, and its fun to feel like we are the star of some parade each week. In the devotional this week, the speaker said that as of July 25th, there ar 73522 missionaries. AWESOME.
On Wednesday I got to host! And it was SO MUCH FUN. I hosted one sister from Minneapolis going to Brazil, a sister from Provo going to Chile Concepcion (Chad's mission), and another sister from California going to Mississippi. It was fun to welcome each of them and be one of thier first friends here. You would meet them at the curb, wait for them to quickly say goodbye, ask if they had any keys or a cell phone they needed to get rid of, make sure they had their immunizations record, take their luggage, and take them all over campus...to drop off their stuff, get their books, and take them to their class. It was fun, and also made me grateful that a missionary only has to say goodbye once. One of the best things about hosting though, was waiting on the curb for anohter sister to need a host...you just get to watch as SO MANY MISSIONARIES COME. (Sidenote: Every 15 minutes about 100 missionaries would check in!) At one point while on the curb, my companion and I were just talking and saying "hi" to new missionaries, when a big, yellow bus pulls in. It was packed to the brim with people (and it wasn't a short bus, we are talking a real live school bus). The letters "sc" were scratched out and replaced with the letter "k" to say "kool bus." It was definitely classy, trashy, and so awesome all at the same time. I don't know how many missionaries were getting dropped off, but there were a lot of supportive people on that bus (:
Thanks for the package, I got it on Wednesday. Another sister in my district got a costco sized box of cheezits from her mom (36 individual packages) with nothing else. It is so awesome and I love having a little snack before bedtime (I'm still not used to the 4:00 dinner thing).
Sort of interesting, apparently the number of Spanish speaking missions has decreased, and English speaking has almost tripled. There are SO MANY SPANISH TEACHERS. They just don't have a district to teach, and also the Mexico MTC has absorbed a lot of the spanish speaking missionaries. This means that most districts have 2 teachers, and we have 9. NINE I TELL YOU. It's really helpful because there is almost always a teacher available to help a compaionship one on one, but it also feels like there are way too many chiefs and not enough indians.
Earlier this week I heard someone say, that dilligence means still working hard even when you are tired. I love that! It's so true. By 7:30 or8:00 my body and mind really start to become tired, but there is still so much to learn, and I couldn't live with myself if I slept mty mission away. 5-10 minutes each day could add up to a substantial chunk of time wasted, that should have been spent serving or learning. Some days I am more tired than others, but somehow I also have enough energy to get things done. It's like the time going fast but I feel like I have been here forever thing....sometimes I feel tired but I always have enough energy to keep going. Don't know how it works, but it's a miracle and I am so grateful.
So.............travel updates. Drumroll....................my visa didn't come. My name will be submitted on Monday for a reassignment, and I should have my stateside call by Thursday or Friday, and then I will leave the next Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. I saw it coming, so I am not disappointed. The only people getting visas to Argentina right away are the Australians because they have a relationship similar to the U.S. and Canada. I am excited for my next assignment and will be sure to record with my voice recorder thingy me opening and reading it. All 6 of us Argentina Rosario missionaries are getting reassigned, so some of us might go to the same place! We will see, and I can't wait to give you the update next week!
So about the blog...your letter management sounds perfect! Thanks so much for doing that. How do you know who is following the blog? Do you know them? Any blog abuse from wierdies?
I'm glad you could bask in Target's glory the other day (: why did you have to drive all the way out there for USBank? Isn't there online banking.....?
And the more I hear about the house, the more and more it is starting to sound like a dump. Ha, good luck.
To Valerie and Lauren: I now understand completely, that orchestra sounds awful and you are completely justified. Make sure to write in your journals about all of these hilarious experiences (:
About Wells Fargo, I will just send the card back. You can use the account as you please, I'm not sure the requirements for the account upkeep but as a token of my undyin affliction for you....it's yours. I never liked them anyway. I don't have access to a phone, don't know when I will be leaving the country, etc. Sorry.
I didn't see the Hobson's on Wednesday, but I ran into Elder Hobson this morning. He looked good, and its so awesome that Elder Dial got to be his host!
I am so glad Chad is doing well! He is back to his oldself of mixing weird foods, and I am so glad he got to see Dallin. What a blessing!
Also to Valerie and Lauren, have fun at camp! The more I hear about it, the more I realize how intense those people are about camping. Good luck!
Thanks for all of your love and support. It means so much, and I know I have the best family in the whole world. I know the church is true and that the Book of Mormon is true and also one of the greatest blessings Heavenly Father has ever given to the world. I know every prayer is heard, that families are together forever when sealed in a temple, and that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world.
I love you all more than the number of people waiting to hear the truth,
Hermana Withers
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