August 11, 2012

Hi everyone!

 how is everyone doing? Thanks for the emails this week they were fun to read and to hear what has been going on. also, im pretty sure you can still use dear elder, and letters will get printed off and sent to me. they just wont arrive that exact day. I had another great week here. A lot of people seem to be getting sick, but luckily i havent caught what is going around. I wanted to tell you more about what the CCM is like here. There are two buildings here. One has the main office, the comedor where we eat and have firesides,the big room for meetings, and a few classes. The second floor in this building has the Elders´ living quarters. The third floor has thesisters living space. there are 5 rooms with 3 sets of bunk beds in each. we have 4 showers, three toilets, and 4 sinks. there are also 2 washers and dryers that we all share. the buildings are pretty nice. we dont use the sink water to brush our teeth. there is purified water right next to the sinks that we use. we only get 5 minutes to shower everyday, so you know im definitely only washing my hair every 3 to 5 days, haha!! MERMAID HAIR HERE I COME!! the other building is where my district meets for class. there are 10 of us in my district, all from the north. we have 3 latino teachers. In the 2nd building there are a bunch of little living quarters where the church will house people who have traveled here to go to the temple. right now there is a large group (4 school buses full) of people who rode all the way from Honduras to go to the temple. We also have a little exercise gym with some weights, and treadmills. Outside there is a caged in cement basketball court, and volleyball net. we all joke about how we ar playing prison ball outside. I love when we get to teach or be taught by the latinos here. they are always so willing to help is with our spanish and the same is the true for them. here is a tongue twister that I learned in spanish: R con R guitarra, R con R barril. rapido ruedan los carros cargados de azucar al ferrocarril. you have to roll all of the r´s, and its really fun to say. this week we were able to go to the temple. it was a great experience to go as a missionary, and received the blessings that are only available through attending the temple. I continue to learn and grow more and more in the gospel and in the language everyday. I enjoy the opportunities we have to teach people everyday. I have a testimony that the gospel of Jesus Christ can bless you in all aspects of your life. Everyone has different problems and challenges that they are trying to overcome, and there is always a portion of the gospel that can assist them in their challenges. Today I have a nursing meeting with the area medical advisor, dr. drake, who is from reno, and knows grandma and grandpa there is also a couple here, I think their name is the Perkins, who are from Kanosh. I was saying that i was from fallon, and sister perkins was like, ¨oh you must know the whitakers than¨ and i told her I was a whitaker. she knows all of the whitakers in kanosh, and a lot of grandpa´s siblings. Dad, when we went to Kanosh and stopped at someones house and had homemade bread and jam, who´s house was that? I have to go now, but thanks for all of your love and support. Mom, keep up the good work on being healthy. I know you can do it!! I love you all, and will be sending some more letters today in the mail.

 I love you soo much !!