November 7, 2015
HOLA FAMILIA!!
Can we just take a second...It's NOVEMEBER?! Say
what?! I seriously can't believe it. One month ago today I was
saying a tearful goodbye to all you beautiful people and now I'm emailing you for
my second to last time before I'm bouncing out of the MTC. It's
nuts.
So some good news, I am no longer sick! BUT, my
companion is. We thought she'd get out of here unscathed but that darn
MTC plague gets everybody. So we've been trying to keep her rested and
get her healthy again while still having class for 9+ hours a day...super fun
stuff! Luckily, yesterday we got the
best slip of paper ever in the mail that cheered us all up immediately...TRAVEL
PLANS!!!! In the MTC when you get travel plans that means that everything
went well with your visa and passport and such, so no need to worry anymore…I'm
officially going to ARGENTINA on November 16th!!!!
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| TRAVEL PLANS!!!! |
Yesterday was probably my favorite day in the MTC so
far...1) because we got our travel plans and 2) because it was our teacher, Hermana
Richard's, B-DAY!
So the night before (Thursday), Elder Stockton had the
brilliant idea to make a piñata. Hna.
Richard's favorite animal is an Orca Whale so he somehow made the shape out of
cardboard and we then proceeded to cover it with tissues. Let’s just say
it was pretty incredible. Especially considering the lack of resources we
have here.
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| Creating the Whale |
Last week he also got a package of birthday party stuff from
his family so we had banners and party hats and streamers (we used toilet paper
actually) and we cut out lots of paper balloons.
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| Decorating the room for the big FIESTA |
The best part though was
what we came up with for her gifts. In each classroom building there are bins for people to put
notebooks, textbooks and really anything else they don't want any more (things
you don’t want to carry with you when you leave here to fly to your mission
country). It's kind of like a lost and found, but anything you find in it
you can take if you want. Anyway, we all
grabbed random Spanish textbooks and wrapped them up in pages we ripped from those
same textbooks and then used crayons to draw pictures to look like wrapping
paper. Super classy, I know. Hey,
we did the best with what we had. :)
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| Makeshift B-day gifts |
Now
I bet a few of you are wondering when we had the time for all of this and why
weren't we studying. Well, worry not because
during all of this we practiced telling each other stories in Spanish
practicing the past tense. Very productive and very awesome.
Hna. Richards loved the Orca and the party! We ate
lots of candy and sang Cumpleanos Feliz too. It was a much needed break
and for a great cause! We are by far her favorite District ever. ;)
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| Waiting to surprise Hna. Richards |
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| Hit the pinata Hermana! |
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| FIESTA!!! |
I'll finish this week with a spiritual thought that was
shared by Elder Richard J. Maynes of the Presidency of the Seventy at our
devotional this week. He recounted an experience he had when he was
speaking at the Missionary Training Center in the Philippines. He was
about to stand up to give his remarks and saw a painting of Joseph Smith praying
in the sacred grove on the wall. He said, "As I looked at that
painting, I thought there he is. Joseph Smith. 14 years old, representing
every investigator ever. Why? Because he had a question.
There they are, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, the first missionary
companionship of this dispensation, appearing to him. Why? To
answer his question." Elder Maynes encouraged us as missionaries to
follow the perfect example of that first missionary companionship and find
those that are lost and confused and simply answer their questions.
I had never thought of the First Vision like that, but now I
don't think I'll ever be able to think of it another way. I can't wait to
follow the example of my Father and Brother and serve in Argentina with my
fellow Hermanas, to try to bring our other brothers and sisters to the same
sacred knowledge of the experience of Joseph Smith, and the restoration of
Christ’s church here to the earth. I'm grateful for his simple question
every day of my life. Without it, I wouldn't be here. That's pretty
cool if you ask me. :)
Well, I hope you all have a fantastic week! Thank you
all so much for all the letters, emails, packages and prayers! I've said this before and I'll say it again...I'm
the luckiest Hermana in all the world! I Love you all so much!! THANK
YOU!
1 month down... only 17 more to go... :( However, the
fact that for my second month-a-versary in December, I'll be in another country
turns that frown upside down for sure. ;)
CON MUCHO AMOR,
Hermana Bart
Funny story of the week. So my companion has gotten lots of weird
questions about her titanium prosthetic leg throughout her life. Elder Johnson (the one that calls me Hermana
Granger) decided he wanted to come up with a unique question she had never been
asked before. His question was "If you were flying toward the sun,
which leg would melt first...?" Ha-ha what?! Too funny. But
then, without even trying, a couple nights later I beat his question by asking
"is one leg heavier that the other?" My comp looked at me super confused because
she had no clue. She said "I'm not
sure, but you're welcome to come try to see (kind of jokingly)" But
you all know me.. I thought she was serious so I walked over to her bed and
alternated lifting her ankles and came to the conclusion
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| My good buddy Elder Thorsen |
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