Travel Plans Are Here, and I'm Off Monday

Well family, the time has arrived for me to start my goodbyes at the MTC...or in Spanish the CCM. I can't believe the time is at hand! When we got our travel plans this week I was so nervous to leave and head out, but now I'm getting really excited. I have a big to-do list but I'm getting things done one by one. I can't check my email until my p-day in Chile, so dear elder me anything that I'll need to have before I leave. Gracias! Anyway here are the travel plans:

May 3rd:
6am: MTC travel office and leave MTC.
9:51 am: Leave SLC airport
10:47 am: Arrive in LA, California
1:20 pm: Leave LA

May 4th:
5:25am: Land in Santiago, Chile
10:35 am: Leave Santiago
12:10 pm: Land in Osorno!!!!

There you have it! I"m excited to say the least. The time has absolutely flown by here at the MTC. And I can't believe it's over! I guess that just goes to show that you have to make the time on the mission count, because it goes by so fast.

This week we got a new district. All elders, so that still makes us the only hermanas left. I think our district presidency's wives are really mourning that fact that they will be the only females in Sacrament meeting and RS for awhile. We love them. They're so nice! Anyway, Mom you asked about pranks. I know that the elders have pulled pranks on other elders in their hall, for example oral gel in toothpaste so after they brush their mouth goes numb for 30 min. But mostly they have steered clear of us hermanas...although this week I had the first prank pulled on me. One of the hermanas that left gave me a bunch of Crystal Light packets that you pour into a water bottle. The elders always told me that I was becoming addicted, and that instead of Crystal Light it was becoming light crystal meth for me...anyway, one day I had some in my water bottle, and each time I wasn't in the room they would add another packet into my drink...it wasn't after about 6 packets of Crystal Light poured into 1 bottle of water that I realized what they were doing. It was so strong!!! I would have been mad, except I felt pretty foolish that it took me that long to catch on. We all had a good chuckle I suppose.

Also, this week I got to meet Elder Wirthlin's daughter Ann Farnsworth. She taught our RS class. So special. I told her how much I loved her father, and she and I talked about him a tiny bit, so it was a neat blessing. He's always been one of my favorites, if that's allowed.

One other funny story this week: I had my first Spanish blunder. It was a big one, too. This was our last week in the TRC, and my comp and I always ask to teach the native Spanish speakers. This week it was a really nice lady from Peru. We were teaching about tithing and I was telling the story about when Mom lived in Puerto Rico and was scared to pay tithing because money was in such short supply. So in Spanish I said, "Mi mama tiene mierda de paga diezmo..." She said, "Que?"...I then repeated myself. Her eyes got really big and she laughed and said "No, no no no!!...Miedo! Diga Miedo." and then she proceeded to laugh and speak very quickly in Spanish. I couldn't understand all of what she said, but I knew I said something way wrong. After we were done teaching, I asked my teacher Hno. Rosales (de Mexico) what this word meant...his response: " **gasp** NO, hermana!" .....long story short, what I said was the equivalent to the sh** word in English...sorry, Mom. Hahahah Sorry to ruin your cool story about tithing, but I'm glad that it happened my last week in the MTC rather than my first week in Chile!

LOVE YOU ALL SOOOOO MUCH!!!!!

Another week at the good 'ol MTC

April 20, 2010

Brother and friends who are taking finals...I hope that they went well. I have been praying for you all.

Sometime this week I should be getting my travel plans! It is very exciting but that makes me very nervous. It's kinda the feeling when you're about to take your final and you don't think you have studied enough for it...and I thought I got out of taking finals on the mission...I guess not. :) Anyway, our district had kind of a rough week. One of our elders has torn a meniscus in his knee from volleyball, and his companion came down with pneumonia. We also had another elder from one of the older districts that is still here after 14 weeks. He has pneumonia too, but hopefully he'll be recovering and on his way soon. The sister from another district that had pneumonia too, got to leave this morning. She was with our district for two weeks until she was cleared to go. (We are the oldest district now in our zone.)

The weather has been so nice out here! I am loving studying outside. My comp and I took one of my flannel sheets and we find a quiet patch of grass and we study that way. It has been so beautiful...we have to soak it up before we find ourselves in the middle of winter again once we get to Osorno.

Well, this week was much like the others, so I decided I'd pull the highlights from my journal this week (since I wrote last):

Tuesday (night): Remember when I told you about the Temple experience, when I could feel such a witness of God's love for us? Well, that night we had a devotional on that very subject! It was given by Elder Glenn. L. Pace of the Seventy. It was probably one of the best talks I have every heard. He talked about how beautiful our Heavenly home is, and what love we will feel when we meet with our Heavenly Parents again. Also he talked about different experiences that people of the church have had that have been during the stage of dying where you're kind of in between this life and the next. He said that multiple people talked of the beauty of the flowers there...beyond imagination. I thought of Grandmother...how much she must love the flowers. It was a really beautiful talk.

Wed: We taught our progressing investigator and we've committed him to baptism! He's excited. We'll teach him again tomorrow, so hopefully that continues to go well. We've been teaching in Spanish so it's been really good practice. Also, the MTC field opened today. Meaning we get to go outside for gym! So nice. Also, on wed. we got to go talk to the native Spanish speakers that are in the MTC....humbling, to say the least. But it got me excited to learn more so I can speak with Chileans...who allegedly speak very fast.

Thurs: The girls in my old R.S. wrote me letters and sent me a package. THANK YOU SO MUCH (for any of you that might be reading this) it completely made my day!!! I love you ladies. Also, today, we went to the Referral Center of the MTC. Where we call and follow up with people that have requested things, or had questions. I called a lady named Faye and got to talk with her for awhile. So neat. She kept trying to figure out how to spell my name...I think I spelled Bertagnole for her about 12 times. Ha! But after we talked for awhile, I asked her if it would be ok if I had missionaries come to teach her, and she said she would like that! YAY!

Fri: My teacher Hno. Rosales wore a Mexican suit...one that is embroidered. Mexican cowboy style. SO GREAT. He let our district try it on and take pictures with it...get excited for that!

Sat: Was a Spanish only day, and it went really well.

Sun: I love Sundays. Enough said. The Devo tonight was great. It was a bunch of Mormon commercials and then he applied all the tag lines to missionary work. Great idea.

Mon: We taught at the TRC, and we understood everything that Sis. Johnson was saying. She's elderly but served in Argentina many years ago. We were both really excited, because the last time we taught her a few weeks ago, we couldn't understand everything, but we can tell that the understanding of Spanish is getting better. Also we have started getting up early (5:45) for the mtc early morning sister's workout. Two workouts a day! Nice.

This week’s talk for the fam to read: Crying with the Saints--Glenn L Pace. Really good.

Well, this is all I have time for. I love you all so much. Thank you for your letters. They mean so much to me, and thank you for all that you've shared with me. It always comes at just the right time. You are the best. I love you so much. Miss you, but I'm happy! LOVE.

Week Six!

This week I gave my first talk in Spanish. The drill here in our Branch is you prepare a 5 minute talk once a week over a certain subject and then at the beginning of Sacrament Meeting, during the announcements they let you know which missionaries we hear from that week. Well, this week was my lucky week! I gave a 5-ish minute talk in Spanish on prayer. It was neat because I am starting to be able to feel in Spanish. The words are actually starting to carrying some meaning behind them. I could really feel the Spirit as I bore my testimony in Spanish about prayer. I don't think I said everything right, but the feeling was right. :) So that was a landmark Sunday for me I suppose.



I am really learning to have patience with the work. This has been my goal this week. I just love this so much that I want to be an incredible missionary RIGHT NOW! But clearly that will all come with time and practice and experience, so I'm working on being patient with myself. Patience is a big part of this work, at least for me.



I was going to tell you about everyone in my district, but I have run out of time....just know that they are AWESOME. I love these Sisters and Elders. It's our own little MTC family here. We all look out for each other and it's so great. Also, this week my friend Kami Coppins left for her mission in northern Chile, so she will be missed. We got to see each other during meals and we would run together during gym. But she's going to do so great.



I love you all so much. Take care and pray always.

Another Week....

Well, we're about to be the old timers at the MTC. The only district older than us in our zone leaves in a week. That's so weird to me. I remember when I got here I was wondering if I would ever figure out how to do my laundry or use the email, much less learn a language and how to teach the Gospel. At least I have figured two things out...laundry and email. I'm still working on the rest. Hna. Larkin and I are becoming much better at planning and following through on our plans, and that has been such a blessing this week.

Also, I can tell that my Spanish is improving. My vocab has grown quite a bit, but I am still needing to work on tenses more. But that comes with time and practice. It's hard to not pray in Spanish now--I feel like if I know it in Spanish it should be said in Spanish. However, my English is getting poorer and poorer, does that mean my Spanish is getting better and better? ...I hope so at least. Tomorrow's district goal is to speak all Spanish all day--yeah! Wish me luck.

This week I did taste some discouragement, however. It's difficult to describe. It's just hard sometimes. You might ask, "Well, how is it hard?"....I don't know. The best way that I can describe it is you just feel like the adversary is constantly trying to make you feel weak. Constantly trying to make you want to give in to the natural man and give up--it keeps telling you that this is too hard, you're too tired, you're too weak, this is impossible, you'll never be as good as you want to be, you just don't have what it takes... I finally just kind of realized that this work has to be hard. It's the Lord's work. Nothing was easy for him, why should I expect it to be easy for me? I am on His errand. I have noticed that in moments of discouragement, I read the words to a hymn and then get to work. It's my own personal medication I suppose. I also always try to force a smile even if it comes hard at first; after that it's not so hard. I got a letter this week reminding me that we learn from contrast. We know nothing of light without darkness, sweetness without bitter, humility without pride, unity without contention, peace without chaos, or success without failure. The hard part of life is needed so that we can fully see and experience the sweetness of joy. I am so happy here. There are challenges in all things, but I am so very happy.

I missed hearing Elder Wirthlin this conference, but I encourage all of you to watch the Mormon messages on mormon.org form him. They are "Come what may and love it" and "Sunday will come". They are beautiful and so applicable. I thought much of everyone back home as I watched these. Have faith and be believing in the atonement of Jesus Christ. It hold miracles and the power to heal all.

Conference was amazing. We are so blessed. I don't have too much time to go into my 19 pages of notes, but needless to say I thought of my family often. How grateful I am for my family. I notice last night that in so many ways your examples to me have been irreplaceable. So thank you. As I watched conference I realized that I am not on this mission only for the Lord, or for me, or even those I will serve, but I am very much here for my children. I know that for me, this was needed to help me be a mother. I am serving them right now as I learn lessons that I will be able to teach them someday. I am so grateful for that lesson and reminder of my ultimate purpose.

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 !!!