One Month....

March 30, 2010

Tomorrow I will have been in the MTC for 4 weeks. That's so great and so crazy at the same time. I still walk around surrounded by incredible missionaries, and then find myself so humble to be wearing that same nametag. I love this work.

This week my companion and I taught our first progressing investigator. This is a teacher who acts like an investigator and we teach them for many weeks. They never give feedback and they never break character when we see them. It's pretty neat because it gives us a taste of preparing lessons based on the needs of our investigators. His name is Jax, and we love him already...even after only a visit. It is amazing to me to see how much love a missionary can have...it always sounded a bit cliché to me, but it is so real. The mission is a great place to really learn about love and Christ-like charity.

Also this week, our teacher Hno. Rosales (de Mexico) brought us Mexican paletas (suckers). These were called Zumba Picas, and they were gross, yet strangely addicting. Every time I licked it, I made a face, but I could not bring myself to stop eating it! It was way funny! We love our teachers so much. They are so great, and have pushed us hard, but it is easy to see that it is very worth it, as we are able to learn much faster than if we had taken it easy.

This week my comp. and are finally starting to get the hang of effective planning. Things that were once easy for me are a lot harder to do when it involves two people instead of just me. For example, studying, planning, running errands, etc. But we are really starting to get the hang of it, and it has been a good week. I love my companion so much. We are so different, but the Lord knew what he was doing when He assigned us to serve together... we have such a good time and we learn a lot from each other.

Sunday was fast and testimony meeting, and I bore my testimony in Spanish. I can testify that the Lord helps us share His message in whatever language we are assigned to share it in. It was really cool to be able to stand in front of my zone and share my feelings in a language that is still so new to me. I was able to say most of what I wanted to say. It felt so great. It certainly didn't gracefully rolled off my tongue, but I think I was able to get my feelings across, and that was such a blessing.

Yesterday I was thinking a lot about how grateful I am to have this opportunity. How grateful I am that the Lord knows me better than I know myself. He wanted me to have this blessing in my life--the ability to think about nothing but this work all day long. I am so excited to have the opportunity to serve the people of Chile. I am growing to love them already. I spend all day thinking, learning, and studying for them. I am so grateful that my thoughts can just be consumed with this work. It is tiring sometimes, but it is so beautiful.

At night I get to go back to my apartment and look at my pictures of friends and family and think of you all. I hope everything is going well. I think of you all often. I hope and pray for the very

A Letter from the Knock-out Champ

March 23, 2010

That's right. I won knock out during our gym time on the 19th. It was a goal that was met, and that included Elders, mind you ;). I thought to myself when I won...I'm writing home about this one--Eric will be proud. But I'm not going to get too prideful about it. I have decided my competitive nature needs to be swept under the rug for now.... I think the Lord is trying to keep me in check. The next day I woke up with a cold, so I haven't really felt up to playing b-ball since. I feel a lot better today though, so don't worry momma.

Good week in the MTC. I am setting some personal goals for learning Spanish. One thing is to still review, so in order not to get too comfortable with my Spanish I am going to try and master the tenses and conjugations this week. It is a lofty goal, but I think I will be able to do it with the Lord's help. I am learning a lot of new Spanish, though, so there is much to study. I also want to try and get through the Book of Mormon once more before I head out of the MTC. Pray for me.

Thank you for the updates on March Madness!!!!! One of my teachers told me that BYU was playing Kansas...he didn't clarify that by Kansas he meant K-State...and I thought I was missing the game that I have waited years to see! I confessed that though I go to BYU I would be cheering for KU. That got me A LOT of flack from the district. In fact when we played games that night, it was team Jayhawks vs. Cougars. Intense. I was glad to find out that it wasn't in fact KU that they played. I didn't feel so torn that way. It's still lame that all our teams have lost though. Ni modo. That's all for my Babylon thoughts. I just thought I would share.

I have decided that my favorite hymn so far in Spanish is “Senor, Te Necesito” (I Need Thee Every Hour). It is so pretty in Spanish...most songs are I have decided. I LOVE singing in Spanish, and praying in Spanish is so great too. I love the language!

We taught the second lesson in the TRC yesterday, and our teacher Hno. Rosales (who is certainly not known for withholding criticism) told my comp and me that he had a hard time finding things to improve! My comp and I talked later, and we both found things we could improve though. It went really well, and I could feel the Spirit as we talked with our investigator. We invited her to be baptized and she accepted! YAY! Haha. I know it's only fake, but it was exciting none the less. Next week we teach 30 minutes in Spanish! Pray for us.

Well, here's my very simple testimony in Espanol:

Yo se que Dios vive, y El contesta nuestros oraciones. Yo se que Jose Smith restauro la Iglesia verdadera y es un Profeta de Dios. Yo se que Jesucristo es nuestro Salvador y nos ama muchisimo. Soy agredecio por el Expiacion de Jesucristo. Yo se que El Libro de Mormon es la palabara de Dios y es verdadera. Yo amo el Evangelio!

I love this Gospel. I love this mission. I am so grateful for the experiences that I have had this week. This was the first week that I really felt the mission begin to set in. I think part of that was I got a tiny bit home sick for the first time, but I am so grateful to be where I am right now. I know this is where I am supposed to be. This is the most important thing that I have ever done, and I must rise to the call. There is a lot of work to be done. I am so grateful for the tender mercies that the Lord gives to me each day. Tell everyone in the ward back home hello/hola for me! And mom, tell all my amigas in Relief Society that I'm so grateful that they let me practice my Spanish with them each Sunday. Hopefully, when I get back we'll be able to talk more.

March 16, 2010

I cannot believe that I will have been here for 2 weeks tomorrow! It is so great here. This week was a pretty normal week....study, class, study, class, eat. We have all come a really long way in just 2 short weeks. We got to teach again at the TRC this week. We taught a couple from Mexico! Their names were Angelito and Maria Ortiz. They were really nice. We taught partially in Spanish (getting to know them) and then we taught the rest of the lesson in English. First lesson. Not to toot my own horn, but I think my companion and I did a pretty good job! Our teacher told us the same. He said that one thing we could work on was companion unity, aka not looking up notes and scriptures while the other one is talking; but as far as teaching goes, he said we rocked it :) It was a good day. And yes, I am still very fluent in Spanglish and only partially fluent in Spanish, but it's coming along nicely. I love learning it. I have decided, however, that I am cursed with the competitive nature of my brothers. In class we play Spanish games, and it is always the Hermanas v. the Elders. I always tend to lose control. Last night was a particularly bad night; it involved sharp words and trash talking towards the opposing team. Don't worry, I behave the rest of the time I am here. Other than that, I'm a very calm sister missionary with quiet dignity...but just not when winning is on the line.

Tell the ward back home that I miss them and to count their blessings. The pews back home are much more comfortable than the stadium seats we sit in for much more than 3 hours here. But then again we also have General Authorities come speak to us, so I shall not complain. Sundays are the best here!

This week we got to do our service time, and guess what my companion and my service assignment was?! Putting up the flags in front of the MTC! I got to hang Chile, Columbia, and the Philippines, and a few others too! Dad, Scott, and Eric... you can thank me later for representing.

Also, I want you all to know how much I love missionary work. I have read many missionary letters, but there is nothing like actually living it. I can't believe how amazing it is. I never really appreciated missionaries until I was one. I know I have only begun to taste the beauty of this work though. I really can't describe how many miracles happen here. The gift of tongues is only one of the hundreds. I LOVE THIS. I couldn't fall asleep last night because I was smiling so much. Great day yesterday!

May I request that you send me a few things you learned about in Institute every week? I want to learn more about church history, but I don't have tons of time to study it much. Thanks for the updates on Chile! Keep it coming. Our teachers don't really have that much info on it. Oh and tell Julie and the Ladies at Heartland hello for me.

Thanks so much to all the letters, too! I think I have been voted the girl with the most mail in the district. I would like to hold on to that title, too ! I love mail, more than you could imagine !!!

First letter home

Hola familia! well, the enter key on the keyboard isn't working so forgive :) also the computers took awhile to set this up so i only have 16 minutes left to write...normally we get half an hour to do it, but today's will have to be short. I can recieve emails from anyone on my lds.mail, but I can only write family. So Momma, if you want to post my email on my blog go ahead, but I would encourage everyone writing me to just use dearelder.com because I get the letters each day at dinner time :) which I love! Well, enough with the boring stuff...I LOVE THE MTC!!!! Can you believe that I have been here a week. I can already contact people in Spanish, pray in Spanish, bear my testimony in Spanish, and by the end of tonight I should be able to teach the 1st lesson in 3-5 minutes in Spanish. Wow. The learning curve here is nuts! I love it. Wednesday-Saturday were packed full of classes and then Saturday night we met our branch pres. They are great! We bore our testimony and told why we decided to go on a mission, and my heart was pounding harder than it ever has...and it wasn't because I was nervous. I just really felt like what I was doing was so right for me. Sunday we had church and all sorts of meetings and interviews. I decided awhile ago that I wanted to strengthen my testimony of Joseph Smith, and I have been working on that for awhile. I kept praying for that on Sunday, and Sunday night we watched the Joseph Smith movie. There was a quote in in that said "The Lord calls us in our weakness, and qualifies us for his work." At that point I felt so close to the Prophet. It was such a great experience, and I feel like it really strengthened my testimony of that great man. Yesterday, we got to teach for the first time. My awesome companion and I did really well. It was so much fun and I felt so excited to share this great message with a man named Napoleon. :) Lets see 5 minutes left....today is our p-day and we got to go to the temple. So good. I really understood so much, and then when we were done, I remember feeling so excited to put my name badge on :) hahah I love being a missionary. Well, in closing. My companion is great. Her name is Hna. Larkin. We also have 2 other hnas in out district and we all share a room. we all have really different personalities, but we get along well. anywho. I love you guys so much!!!! Thanks so much for making this possible for me. This church is true and our Heavenly Father love us so much. He is so mindful of us and our prayers. I'll try and send pictures next week. Sorry for none this week, but the computers were being crazy and it was a very busy p.day. I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU, but I am so so happy. Until next week. :) oh and p.s. my mailbox # is 145. LOVE YOU ALL!!!

At the MTC

Janelle entered the Missionary Training Center on Wed., March 3 and will spend her time in gospel study and intensive Spanish language learning. She will be there for about nine weeks before going on to Osorno, Chile. Her free time, including time to write letters, is limited both at the MTC and in Chile. Her letters and pictures to her family will be posted on this blog for all to read. Updates to her address will be posted here whenever I receive it. The earthquake which struck Chile caused massive damage in Concepcion, which is north of the area where she will be serving. The Osorno mission did feel the shaking and has had some minor damage along with gas and food shortages. We are sure things will have settled back to normal in her area before she arrives in May.