Hola!

Hola!

How is everyone!? Well, I'm not a newbie in the MTC anymore. On
Wednesday I got to welcome the new missionaries with their dork dots
all afternoon! We just got back from the temple, and oh man, it was
needed. Pdays are the best... temple, emails, and laundry. Ok, I don't
know where to start, and this countdown in the corner always stresses
me out. So, I'm going to do a bullet style sort of email if you don't
mind! Here we go!

-So Sunday was fast Sunday, and they do make you participate in a 24
hour fast. Oh man. I almost passed out at the end, but I did it! We
had a great fireside and the whole day was just spiritually uplifting.
- Tuesday we had another great devotional by a bishop... who I don't
remember his name... but he talked about the importance of having the
spirit with us ALWAYS. Without the spirit, we cannot teach. That is so
true! I am working hard on being worthy to have the spirit with me at
all times.
-Favian, aka our investigator. We had 4 lessons with him, yes all in
Spanish, and I think they went well! We taught most of the first
lesson with him, and were going to finish up and commit him to baptism
on our next lesson but it got cancelled because we had a visa meeting
with all the missionaries going to Argentina. More on that in a bit.
So anyway, we were pretty bummed that we couldn't finish up our
lessons with Favian, but then we found out he's going to be our other
teacher. Tricky tricky! His real name is Hermano Acana, and he'll be
team teaching with Hermano Larsen. It will be helpful because he can
tell us our strengths and weaknesses as teachers!
- We learned that in the MTC, the first week is to teach us to rely on
the Lord. We teach investigators the 2nd day, without knowing any
spanish or teaching skills. THEN, they teach us how to teach and a
little bit more Spanish. It was definitely a humbling experience.
- On Thurs, we missed our appt with Favian because of the visa
meeting. We got finger printed and next Thurs we get to meet with a
consulate. It's WAY lucky because some Elders in our zone just barely
met with a consulate and they were supposed to leave on Tuesday! Que
triste! Hopefully they get out of her next week. It's nice to know
that our visas are well on their way. I'd hate to be delayed.
- I love my district and my zone. We have such a close relationship
with each other and it's just the greatest. We all sit together at
lunch, and I think that creates a lot of unity. All the Elders are
just great and super nice to the Hermanas, except I think a few are
afraid of us... We have a little Australian Elder whose parents are
from Chile. He's like 5'4 and the most adorable thing. My comps and I
agree that he is the cutest thing and we just want to take him and put
him in our pockets. REALLY SO ADORABLE! Ah, I wish you all could meet
him. The Elders in our district are great. They never let us take our
trays back, and always hold open doors. One of the mothers of an Elder
in our zone sent him a huge bag of bouncy balls. It is the best thing
EVER! When we need a mental break, we just play with the bouncy balls.
Simple minds, simple pleasures right?
- So I did see Jamie Swindler! My comp got shingles, so we had to go
to the health clinic. She is the sweetest! I've also seen Elder Chris
Nelson. He is doing very well! I see people I know all the time and I
just love it. It's nice to see them and be reminded of home. It's very
comforting!
- I found out that my comp Hna Hinze loves Fleet Foxes. So pretty
much, we were meant to be friends. It's funny because I don't really
miss too much about the social world, like facebook, pinterest or
blogging, but I really do miss music.
- The great thing about being in a trio is that we can 'chain'. Let me
explain. When one of us needs a drink from the fountain around the
corner, she would walk out there and one sister would stand by the
door of our class and the other at the corner. That way we are always
in sight of each other. Ridiculous, but effective, right?
- I feel like I need to explain the Spanish situation. Only the
Advanced class would allow me to leave in 3 weeks. BUT the advanced
class is for the fluent ones, you learn teaching skills in Spanish,
and I need to be taught how to be a better teacher in English. In the
intermediate class, I would still be here 9 weeks. So I'm not leaving
for Argentina for a while! Don't worry! My Spanish has been improving,
I can now pray and testify in Spanish! All our prayers and hymns are
in Spanish and I LOVE IT. You better believe I pray for all of you in
ESPANOL!
Thank you ALL so much for the dearelders. I seriously love them!
We get them every night and it really is such a boost. Serna family,
thank you for the email and congrats to Leah on 2nd place in the
spelling bee! So great! Taylor- thanks for the email and good luck in
Philly! I'll send a letter your way soon. Haddy- love you so much.
Look for a letter. Kelsey: PLEASE SEND ME MORE BACHELOR UPDATES! I
nearly died reading it, it was the best thing ever. My comp loves
Bachelor too, so keep it up! Love you! Tio Hector y Tia Alice, thanks
so much for the kind words! I love each and every one of you, and
guess what? So does Heavenly Father. I know He is aware of each of you
and loves you so so much! Take care everyone!

Much Love,
Hermana Squire