Hope this makes sense, because we only get 45 mins. for email. Firstly, the Spirit is soooooooo strong here. It is amazing what happens when you concentrate the Spirit in one place. The first day we had a teaching demonstration as a group, and companionships got to takes turns teaching on the fly, in English, and even then, I was struck by how strong the Spirit was. So anyway, I LOVE MY DISTRICT SOOOOOO MUCH. By day 3, I loved soooooo much. It's kind of like Trek, I think challenges+the Spirit+ strangers= love. My companion is Hermana Hardy, and she is super sweet, and kind of spazzy, but not in an obnoxious way. All of us (with exception to Hermana Seenaraine, who is from Guyana) are total nerds. We bond over a.) The Spirit, and b.) nerdy things like Les Mis, Zelda, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Pokemon, etc. Our elders are amazing. They are so awesome. They are young, but so strong in their faith. Hermana Seenaraine is having the most difficulty learning Spanish, so they very sincerely, invited us to ask them for blessings any time we want. Yersterday, was kind of a hard day for a lot of us, I kind of started crying (not a lot) because I couldn't communicate as effectively to Hermano Ramirez as I had wanted to, and I didn't make all of my study goals. Hermana Hardy has been having trouble sleeping, and she decided to ask for a blessing. We all gathered as a district for her blessing, and the Spirit was so strong. We decided we all needed blessings, and what happened was amazing. These young men were speaking to us, as a different elder each gave us a blessing, but the words were not coming from them. There is not a doubt in my mind, that each of those beautiful blessings came from Heavenly Father, and were meant for us as individuals. In mine, I was blessed to learn the language, and be able to communicate with the Spirit, to be a leader, and to bless others lives in ways they will never forget. I am so thankful, our elders are worthy priesthood holders, and that we could feel the Lord's love and support because of it. So yes, learning Spanish is hard, but not impossible. I am improving a bit every day. We have wonderful, wonderful maestros. They are super funny, and very caring and patient. The other night, our maestro en la noche Hermano Fernandez, said that all the other maestros talk about the districts together, and they said ours was the best :) Hermano Fernandez calls us "mis hijos" and told us we make him very happy. We will be able to meet his wife and son right before we leave the CCM. The mission president and his wife are great. In my welcome interview with Presidente Freestone, we talked about why I was serving a mission, and he quoted direct lines from my patriarchal blessing. The Spirit was (AGAIN) so strong, I know he carries the mantle as my mission president. Hermana Freestone is super helpful and thoughtful. In Relief Society, she gave us all bags of seashells from the beach, since we won't be able to go ourselves!
Sunday is one of the best days, we get to watch devotionals, and have in-depth gospel discussions in English. Our district got a lot closer that day, because we could communicate about the gospel and our experiences at a deeper level. Almost every day we teach a lesson to our investigator 'Victor,' who is actually Hermano Fernandez. It is challenging, because you know exactly what you would discuss in English, but we have to struggle through in Spanish. I am learning so much, and feeling the Spirit constantly, it really is wonderful here. I am going to bawl when we leave. Half of my district is going to Santiago, and the other half is going to Pueto Rico.
There is so much love here, in our district and with all the other missionaries. Our suite-mates are Spanish speaking. Two of them are Dominican-Americans that we met at the airport, and the other two are Mexican. We can't really discuss things, but we can communicate a little. Hermana Perez is hilarious. She convinced Hermana Hardy to eat pizza with ketchup and hot sauce like they do Mexico. She was really triumphant about it. There are so many interesting people. Of the people who are learning Spanish, 3 are not Americans. Hermana Seenaraine is one, and there is a sister from South Africa, and one from the Philipines. Of the Spanish speakers, there are people from Mexico, some really nice twin elders from Peru, some from Costa Rico (con los osos perezosos!) and some are Dominican.
Love you all, hope you are well! There feels like so much more I could tell you, but I think I hit all the important things!
Hermana Jennings
Sunday is one of the best days, we get to watch devotionals, and have in-depth gospel discussions in English. Our district got a lot closer that day, because we could communicate about the gospel and our experiences at a deeper level. Almost every day we teach a lesson to our investigator 'Victor,' who is actually Hermano Fernandez. It is challenging, because you know exactly what you would discuss in English, but we have to struggle through in Spanish. I am learning so much, and feeling the Spirit constantly, it really is wonderful here. I am going to bawl when we leave. Half of my district is going to Santiago, and the other half is going to Pueto Rico.
There is so much love here, in our district and with all the other missionaries. Our suite-mates are Spanish speaking. Two of them are Dominican-Americans that we met at the airport, and the other two are Mexican. We can't really discuss things, but we can communicate a little. Hermana Perez is hilarious. She convinced Hermana Hardy to eat pizza with ketchup and hot sauce like they do Mexico. She was really triumphant about it. There are so many interesting people. Of the people who are learning Spanish, 3 are not Americans. Hermana Seenaraine is one, and there is a sister from South Africa, and one from the Philipines. Of the Spanish speakers, there are people from Mexico, some really nice twin elders from Peru, some from Costa Rico (con los osos perezosos!) and some are Dominican.
Love you all, hope you are well! There feels like so much more I could tell you, but I think I hit all the important things!
Hermana Jennings