Hola mi familia! How is everything
going? I hope everyone is doing well. Mucho gracias for the card! It couldn't
have come at a better time!
It's interesting here
at the MTC, the first day after you dropped me off I got my badge, my books,
and found out where I would be sleeping. The elders we met by the temple
weren't kidding. I really am on West Campus and it is totally the best. They're
pretty laid back and trusting here. Up at the Main Campus where the dorms are
is almost like the military compared to here. Not to mention my apartment is
super nice. The only downside is the two fire alarms in the house that beep
all. day. long. The one in the hall beeps every 23 seconds and the one in my
bedroom beeps exactly 8 seconds after that. Oh my goodness, I'm about ready to
break them. However the second night I was here we figured out how to make them
be silent for at least 8 hours, which was a total bonus! It wasn't until after
one of our teachers, Hermano Dolbin, said something about batteries that we
realized new batteries would fix the beeping problem...go figure!
I live with 5 other
girls who are in my district. Hermana Bulllock, who's a super sweet woman from
Canada, Hermana Powell, who's from Indiana, Hermana Ramirez and Hermana
Wells, who are both from Utah, and then Hermana Ibarra from Portland, Oregon.
She's my companion. I am so blessed to have her as mi companera. She’s sweet,
kind, likes to laugh, and super excited about serving the Lord, which is great
because I had a really hard time being excited once I got here but I'll tell
you about that in a minute. We get along splendidly! I don't think our district
could have been paired up better. We've gotten into the habit of thanking each
other for being our companion right before we say goodnight.
So, first there's a
district, which is the class that you first start out in (we have all
hermanas), and then there's a zone which is made up of districts. We only have
two districts in our zone, our zone leader is Elder Clements...the one we met
at the temple, he's fantastic. Those hermanas and elders in the other district
are so wonderful. They have been here a while and have spent the last few days
showing us the ins and outs of the MTC. They actually just got their travel
plans and are leaving next week which makes me very sad. Hermana Spence, from
Montana, was the first one I met when I got dropped off on West Campus. She ran
up to me and yelled, "You're in my zone!" Everyone in our zone was
super excited to see all of us hermanas because they had apparently been the
only district in their zone for a few weeks.
It's amazing that I've
only been here 3 days, I feel like I've been here for weeks. Every day is soooo
full. They don't waste any time here, which is awesome! Keeping busy seems to
be the best way to keep the homesickness from too bad. Speaking of that, I
might as well tell you. I have been a little homesick, don't worry, although I feel
it sometimes, I'm doing much better now. :D
I was actually talking
to Hermana Bullock in the kitchen last night because we were both brushing our
teeth (6 girls + 1 bathroom = Improvise with kitchen sink!) and I found out
that she was going through the exact same thing as I was. She was just as
surprised that she was homesick too. We talked about it and how upbeat our
companions were and agreed that although they were fantastic, it was nice to
know we weren't alone in our trials.
Our first investigator
discussion was pretty good. Her name was Gabriela, she's super friendly and
bubbly although I have no idea what she is saying and she speaks sooo fast.
It's a good thing Hermana Ibarra speaks some spanish otherwise we both would've
been deers in headlights. Luckily, Gabriela spoke un poco English and so with
some charades and Spanglish her and I were able to understand each other. We're
teaching her again this evening when P-day is over.
Ugh! I have so much to
tell you and sooooo little time! Um, a quick overview I suppose. Today we went
to the temple which was pretty cool, the Provo temple is super white and cream.
Oh! Yes, the food is decent. It's pretty good actually. We visited the main
campus cafeteria today for lunch and it's no wonder the missionaries gain so
much weight while they're here, there's food....EVERYWHERE! Oh. my. goodness. I
was in heaven. Especially since they had some classic Utah foods that I didn't
realize any one else ate. Like frog-eye salad or orange salad. Yeah, I had to explain to just about everyone in my
zone what was in it and why I was so beyond excitement that I was getting to
eat it.
Um, a spiritual thought.
One of our teachers Hermano Dolbin is amazing. He taught us last night and the
one thing that really stuck out to me was this...(by the way, you know that he
really wants you to remember something when he gets super serious and saying
something in Spanish and then English) he said, "Never forget. The ONLY
person who can heal someone is Christ. He is the ONLY person who can offer it.
His Atonement is real and it is the only thing that can heal someone."
Also, "The Lord is gathering His sheep and He is going to do it no matter
what. He's just letting us be a part of it. Our job is to figure out how to get
out of the way so that He can do it."
The Spirit is amazing
here! I love you all! The Lord loves you! Let me know how everything is going
at home! Let me know if you have any questions! Hasta luego!
P.S Apparently they gave us the
wrong address here is my updated one.
Carlie Cynthia Parslow
APR28 MEX-PUBN
2023 N 900 E Unit 826
Provo UT 84602
No comments:
Post a Comment