Hola familia!

 

As you know, I am still here! We were sure that we would get at least a temporary assignment last Thursday but we went in and they said there were too many people that needed reassignments and that we would be here another week. We were sad for about five minutes and then we committed ourselves to having the most productive week in the MTC thus far. We set some awesome goals for this week and we have been working really hard. One of our Elders in our district made friends with a lady that works in the travel office by singing a song in Portuguese to her and she looked at the list and told us we were at the top of the reassignment list even though they usually keep us pretty much in the dark. I should have a temporary assignment on Thursday. I will get to call again for five minutes sometime this week and let you know where I am going if I get it. Keep your phone handy. It was so fun to talk to each of you for a few seconds. It was probably the shortest five minutes ever but I was really happy when I got off the phone. My companion was crying and I was grinning ear to ear. My companion was embarrassed and the lady at the front desk tried to comfort her and said most sisters cry, then she looked at me and said, "Well except for you." But I was really just so happy.

Sisters in our Branch

Goodbye Elder Kent

 

Silly Elders

Elder Kent left this week so now our district is down to 8. Last p-day we were able to go to do a session together as a district. It was really special, I love to be in the temple. Also yesterday all of our Elders got called down to the main office. They came over the intercom and called each of them by name in our classroom leaving out only the sisters. Since we are here a week past our leave date they got asked to do a special service assignment every day this week all day long moving desks. We wanted to help so bad but they only want Elders so it sounds like we are going to be hanging out with the other districts a lot this week since our district will be gone. It sounds like we will have a lot of study time. One of our teachers said that she could come in one day and help us so that we aren't all alone in teaching ourselves. We also got a new district so I have been working with the sisters in that district to help get them oriented and figure out everything. One of the girls was really homesick the first day. I walked into the room and she was practically in tears. I pulled her out and told her that she didn't have to cry in front of everyone. She opened up to me a lot. I have been grateful that during a few case studies during my internship, the doctors spoke about homesickness and how to handle it at BYU-Idaho because it was something that they dealt with a lot. The things that I learned in my internship have helped me help lots of people in my zone.

Elder Nite and Stuart

 

On a side note, I realized this week that I have become a master of ties. I have been surrounded by Elders for so long. I know how to tie ties, which ties are good and bad, what all of the different knots are and how to recognize them, as well as brands, fabrics and how to take care of each different kind of fabric. I pledge to only give good ties as gifts for the rest of my life. The Elders in my district would be so proud.

 

Our branch. The couple standing next to us is our branch president and his wife.

Chad Lewis!

This week for Devotionals we heard from Elder Packer of the seventy and then on Sunday we heard from Chad Lewis! On Sunday my district was sitting right in the front and I recognized his name on the screen so I went up to shake his hand. He asked me where I was going and I told him and he smiled and said "Go get um". At the end of the devotional a bunch of my district wanted to go shake his hand so I followed them even though I already had and we got a picture with him! My companion and I were the very last people to get a picture before security said they couldn't any more. Nothing like getting pumped up for missionary work by a football player. He was awesome and told lots of funny stories. He served his mission in Taiwan  and speaks Mandarin Chinese. His family sat in front of us and he had some of the tallest daughters I have ever seen. His wife spoke for a few minutes at first talking about using our talents. She told a story of her brother in the mission field who had a companion who couldn't speak the language at all but he had the greatest smile in the whole world. They decided to use his talent and he would just smile really big while the other companion did all the talking. She said they got into more houses that way than ever before. In the beginning of her talk she mentioned Elder Emery's talent for basketball. When I was waiting in line with my district I found Elder Emery standing next to me and my district, waiting to go back and talk with Chad. It was awesome. (Marissa would be jealous.) I apologize to everyone who doesn't follow BYU sports but it was pretty awesome.

 

This week I got to be a host to some of the new incoming missionaries. My responsibility was to help them from the curb to getting everything they need, finding their way to their room, and taking them to their classroom. It was really fun and something different from our normal schedule. One of the best things about being in the MTC is being able to say welcome to everyone in Spanish. The next day we had infield orientation which was wonderful but also super long. It was like sitting in a class from 8 am to 6pm. I also found a new weakness I have this week in the form of street contacting. At first our teacher took us outside and asked us to stand on a bench and preach the gospel. It was pretty scary and way out of my comfort zone. Then we went around and attempted to share the gospel with people around the MTC. Although some people stopped lots of people said they were busy. I was thinking if missionaries won't even stop to listen to us we are in real trouble. But it definitely got better as we went along. My teacher said by the end we were getting good at it.

 

Laundry Day. My clothes didnt dry all the way today. I feel like i am back in college...

 

 

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I am becoming a better missionary every day. There are many times where I feel like I was born to be a missionary. There are lots of people who had a really hard time adjusting to missionary work but I feel that it comes so naturally to me and I am really blessed. I try to recite the Living Christ once ever day and I read it in Spanish each night to practice pronunciation. I love Jesus Christ and that I have such a wonderful opportunity to wear his name on my badge. I hope I am able to do the best I can in this work and spread the gospel like Samuel the Lamanite when arrows are being thrown at me, because I know what I am saying is TRUE and that the Lord will help me.

 

Have a great week everyone!

 

Con amor,

 

Hermana Rhoten