WEEK 2

Sorry this one is out of order... but this is her second week in the MTC :)

Hola mi familia!!!

This week has FLOWN by! I thought the first few days felt like a few weeks, but this week has gone by so fast, and I bet the rest of the mission will seem like that... at least for the most part.

Thank you so much for all the letters and packages!! My roommates and companions now understand how much we like junk food in our family:) We have been enjoying treats and loving snacks to help us stay awake in classes! The letters are great too, so keep them coming! I know it seems ridiculous to write every day right now, BUT I leave the MTC in eight days and I will only really be able to hear from you once a week in emails, so I am going to enjoy daily letters while I can:) (hint hint) Also, PLEASE put dates on your letters! Dearelder doesn't print the dates on them and it is nice to know when you are writing them. Also, don't worry about sending them to my email as well. I get the letters here the same day or the day after, but don't check my email until Mondays so sometimes I check my email and it is all copies of letters I've already gotten.

Thank you to Grandma Della Mae for your note! Dad, will you make sure Grandma gets my email every week? I wanted so bad to make email lists before I left but time ran out!

Thank you SO much to Toni! She sent me chips and salsa from Chili's that I LOVED! My roommates and companions had a party that night because Hna Broadbent's (one of my companions... Hna Morgan is the other one) birthday is tomorrow and her roommates from school had sent her gormet cupcakes! We took some fun pictures and if I can get one of those SD adapter things that plug into a usb outlet, I will email them. I printed off some pictures and will put them in the mail to all of you today! We have a really great group of sisters going to Guatemala and a very fun district! (Zach or Dad, do you mind finding me one of those SD things and sending it before I leave? I think I remember Zach saying he had one...)

So I already have my travel plans!! We had the welcoming sister meeting yesterday since my first sunday was a fast sunday and next week we will have the leaving sisters meeting! I am already heading to Guatemala!! Who would have thought three weeks could go by so fast! I don't even know how to get around the MTC yet and rely completely on my companions! and we will leave before I even need to, so I am not too worried:) There are about 20 of us heading to the Guatemala MTC (they call it the CCM for future reference)all going to I think four of the five missions in Guatemala. We will all travel together on the 19th! We leave the MTC at about 4:30 pm and fly to Los Angeles. We have a three hour layover there and have a red eye flight to Guatemala. We should get in at 6:30am and I am fully expecting it to be a full day of missionary things:) We will probably go get our visas that day, but they don't waste time in missionary training centers! We will probably go straight to class!!!

Right now the gym AND temple are closed!! They are redoing the gym floor and the temple is closed for cleaning. So anything that we'd have in the gym is spread out (no gym time inside, all out side and YES I keep getting burnt! I need to put on my sunscreen but feel like I need to save it for Guatemala!.. all our devotionals are in classrooms and we can't even go use the exercise equipment like the eliptical since it is closed. Thank heavens we will be by the Guatemala City temple so we can hopefully go there!) Everybody acts like we should have all this extra time without going to the temple, but I still feel like we are running around all day trying to get everything done in time! I think it is because we are really striving to have exact obedience and doing everything like scheduling when we are supposed to. Also, since the gym is closed I don't get to experience the choir... so sad!!

Ok, my district! There are 11 of us! (There used to be 12, but my companion spoke portugues and moved to an advanced class) 6 of us are going to Quetzaltenango and 6 are going to New York South. The elders are so funny (sometimes immature) but have me laughing every day!

Kenzie Boshard is going to Portugal and is speaking portugues... we will leave the MTC the same day, I am not sure what time she flies out but we will probably not be at the airport together since she has much further to travel.

Pday last week was crazy!! Zach and Karli can appreciate the setting for laundry! You are sweating from the lack of air conditioning and heat of the dryers... you are surrounded by tons of people and there is a timer on the side of your computer counting down the seconds you have to finish! It is so intense!! You all know how much I hate combining my laundry and I was forced to combine whites and some colors... I was nervous the whole time that my garments would be blue!

(I just lost half my email.... gotta love those time limits!!)

Zach and Karli! Thank you so much for figuring out my kindle!! That was a huge relief! I would have cried if it was broken for good and not under warranty. THANK YOU! Also, Zach if you haven't already sent my ipod, will you put Dad's Marshall Mcdonald stuff on it? If you have, Dad could you send me copies of the cds if you still have them? Zach sent me a cd player so I'd be able to listen to them. If i didn't tell you, I do have a cord to charge them. Also, my roommates and companions loved the story of Harley going to the bathroom in your bed while you were asleep. It was our entertainment while enjoying chips and salsa and cupcakes! Don't let harley forget his favorite aunt:) Thank you for the pictures too! I told my companions I wanted to show them a picture of my nephew and then showed them harley... they loved it and told me my nephew is very hairy:) I haven't seen Karli's friend... maybe I will run in to her though. There are TONS of spanish teachers!!! Also, Karli mentioned in a letter how much she loved chocolate milk. One of the elders in our group (nickname el grade rojo... the big red, you will see who he is in the pictures and know why he has that nickname) anyway, he will down 4-6 8oz glasses of chocolate milk in the time it takes me to say my prayer over the food. He told me that at home he drinks a gallon EVERY DAY!! His poor mom! That is SO much milk!

Spanish is getting more difficult. We haven't quite passed my level from school but with all the new religious verbs and the old ones to review, I have a lot of practicing to do! I am having to study more diligently for sure!

Last night we had an amazing devotional! It was on finding joy in repentance and I LOVED it! We sang the hymn that has the same tune as go tell aunt rhody. It made me think of Helaman:) Anyway in the talk, the speaker said that William Tisdale who translated the bible invented the word repent. In the original hebrew version, the word was schub which means to turn to god and away from sin. Then in greek, the word is matanoi and it means a change of mind, fresh view of god, oneself and the world. the latin word (don't have that written down) means to feel regret... so with time, he told us that apostate christianity has turned repentance into a negative thing. I really enjoyed the talk and needed to hear it!!

This week we taught the first discussion in SPANISH! My companions are quite as advanced as I am in spanish so I really have to hold back when we are teaching. The first time I didn't do a good job and talked way to much so I am trying to let them do the talking. It is SO nice though because I am already getting to the point that I don't need to translate in my head, I just think in spanish if that makes sense.

Anyway, I have to run. Thank you all for your love and support! I LOVE YOU ALL! SO MUCH!!!

Talk to you soon:)

Love, Hermana NelsonHola mi familia!!!

This week has FLOWN by! I thought the first few days felt like a few weeks, but this week has gone by so fast, and I bet the rest of the mission will seem like that... at least for the most part.

Thank you so much for all the letters and packages!! My roommates and companions now understand how much we like junk food in our family:) We have been enjoying treats and loving snacks to help us stay awake in classes! The letters are great too, so keep them coming! I know it seems ridiculous to write every day right now, BUT I leave the MTC in eight days and I will only really be able to hear from you once a week in emails, so I am going to enjoy daily letters while I can:) (hint hint) Also, PLEASE put dates on your letters! Dearelder doesn't print the dates on them and it is nice to know when you are writing them. Also, don't worry about sending them to my email as well. I get the letters here the same day or the day after, but don't check my email until Mondays so sometimes I check my email and it is all copies of letters I've already gotten.

Thank you to Grandma Della Mae for your note! Dad, will you make sure Grandma gets my email every week? I wanted so bad to make email lists before I left but time ran out!

Thank you SO much to Toni! She sent me chips and salsa from Chili's that I LOVED! My roommates and companions had a party that night because Hna Broadbent's (one of my companions... Hna Morgan is the other one) birthday is tomorrow and her roommates from school had sent her gormet cupcakes! We took some fun pictures and if I can get one of those SD adapter things that plug into a usb outlet, I will email them. I printed off some pictures and will put them in the mail to all of you today! We have a really great group of sisters going to Guatemala and a very fun district! (Zach or Dad, do you mind finding me one of those SD things and sending it before I leave? I think I remember Zach saying he had one...)

So I already have my travel plans!! We had the welcoming sister meeting yesterday since my first sunday was a fast sunday and next week we will have the leaving sisters meeting! I am already heading to Guatemala!! Who would have thought three weeks could go by so fast! I don't even know how to get around the MTC yet and rely completely on my companions! and we will leave before I even need to, so I am not too worried:) There are about 20 of us heading to the Guatemala MTC (they call it the CCM for future reference)all going to I think four of the five missions in Guatemala. We will all travel together on the 19th! We leave the MTC at about 4:30 pm and fly to Los Angeles. We have a three hour layover there and have a red eye flight to Guatemala. We should get in at 6:30am and I am fully expecting it to be a full day of missionary things:) We will probably go get our visas that day, but they don't waste time in missionary training centers! We will probably go straight to class!!!

Right now the gym AND temple are closed!! They are redoing the gym floor and the temple is closed for cleaning. So anything that we'd have in the gym is spread out (no gym time inside, all out side and YES I keep getting burnt! I need to put on my sunscreen but feel like I need to save it for Guatemala!.. all our devotionals are in classrooms and we can't even go use the exercise equipment like the eliptical since it is closed. Thank heavens we will be by the Guatemala City temple so we can hopefully go there!) Everybody acts like we should have all this extra time without going to the temple, but I still feel like we are running around all day trying to get everything done in time! I think it is because we are really striving to have exact obedience and doing everything like scheduling when we are supposed to. Also, since the gym is closed I don't get to experience the choir... so sad!!

Ok, my district! There are 11 of us! (There used to be 12, but my companion spoke portugues and moved to an advanced class) 6 of us are going to Quetzaltenango and 6 are going to New York South. The elders are so funny (sometimes immature) but have me laughing every day!

Kenzie Boshard is going to Portugal and is speaking portugues... we will leave the MTC the same day, I am not sure what time she flies out but we will probably not be at the airport together since she has much further to travel.

Pday last week was crazy!! Zach and Karli can appreciate the setting for laundry! You are sweating from the lack of air conditioning and heat of the dryers... you are surrounded by tons of people and there is a timer on the side of your computer counting down the seconds you have to finish! It is so intense!! You all know how much I hate combining my laundry and I was forced to combine whites and some colors... I was nervous the whole time that my garments would be blue!

(I just lost half my email.... gotta love those time limits!!)

Zach and Karli! Thank you so much for figuring out my kindle!! That was a huge relief! I would have cried if it was broken for good and not under warranty. THANK YOU! Also, Zach if you haven't already sent my ipod, will you put Dad's Marshall Mcdonald stuff on it? If you have, Dad could you send me copies of the cds if you still have them? Zach sent me a cd player so I'd be able to listen to them. If i didn't tell you, I do have a cord to charge them. Also, my roommates and companions loved the story of Harley going to the bathroom in your bed while you were asleep. It was our entertainment while enjoying chips and salsa and cupcakes! Don't let harley forget his favorite aunt:) Thank you for the pictures too! I told my companions I wanted to show them a picture of my nephew and then showed them harley... they loved it and told me my nephew is very hairy:) I haven't seen Karli's friend... maybe I will run in to her though. There are TONS of spanish teachers!!! Also, Karli mentioned in a letter how much she loved chocolate milk. One of the elders in our group (nickname el grade rojo... the big red, you will see who he is in the pictures and know why he has that nickname) anyway, he will down 4-6 8oz glasses of chocolate milk in the time it takes me to say my prayer over the food. He told me that at home he drinks a gallon EVERY DAY!! His poor mom! That is SO much milk!

Spanish is getting more difficult. We haven't quite passed my level from school but with all the new religious verbs and the old ones to review, I have a lot of practicing to do! I am having to study more diligently for sure!

Last night we had an amazing devotional! It was on finding joy in repentance and I LOVED it! We sang the hymn that has the same tune as go tell aunt rhody. It made me think of Helaman:) Anyway in the talk, the speaker said that William Tisdale who translated the bible invented the word repent. In the original hebrew version, the word was schub which means to turn to god and away from sin. Then in greek, the word is matanoi and it means a change of mind, fresh view of god, oneself and the world. the latin word (don't have that written down) means to feel regret... so with time, he told us that apostate christianity has turned repentance into a negative thing. I really enjoyed the talk and needed to hear it!!

This week we taught the first discussion in SPANISH! My companions are quite as advanced as I am in spanish so I really have to hold back when we are teaching. The first time I didn't do a good job and talked way to much so I am trying to let them do the talking. It is SO nice though because I am already getting to the point that I don't need to translate in my head, I just think in spanish if that makes sense.

Anyway, I have to run. Thank you all for your love and support! I LOVE YOU ALL! SO MUCH!!!

Talk to you soon:)

Love, Hermana Nelson