Somos los Mujeres!

Hello Familia! Tuesday, August 3, 2010 7:53 AM

Lightning struck? That's crazy, I wish I could have seen it. We have had 2 thunderstorms since I got here. No I don't want my flip-flops i already have some. Thank you for depositing my paycheck. No I do not have FHE, basically everyday except Sunday and P-day we are in class from 7 in the morning until 9:30 at night with breaks for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and soccer. We play soccer everyday and it is soo much fun. I usually play striker/midfield...sometimes defense. I just play wing on one side and run up and down the field all day. I have 1 or 2 assists and like 7 shots on goal but I haven't gotten my first goal yet. When I do it will be the best day ever. Yes everything works just fine as far as clothes go, I could use two more athletic shirts and 3 more pairs of athletic socks because I usually smell pretty bad by the end of the week in gym. Casey gets here tomorrow, that's awesome, he will be a noob. All new guys are noobs until saturday or sunday. We call them chapuseros. My spanish is coming along pretty well, we are teaching the first lesson in spanish in the TRC (to fake investigators) this week and our teacher doesn't speak English anymore so all I hear is Spanish. I usually feel pretty confident about my spanish until I speak to a nativo (native speaker) and then I am really humbled. I can write it way better than I can speak it.

So there is this Elder in our district named Elder Denna. He basically is really funny The other day we did something well as a district and so he yelled "Somos los mujeres! Somos los Mujeres!" (mom says: rough translation: "We are the women!")....what he meant was somos los mejores (mom says: or "we are the best!") , but it was way funny. One other thing Elder Draco Malfoy is in the MTC. That's not his real name, but he looks exactly like him. I will try to get a picture covertly to send because he looks exactly like Draco Malfoy.

Elder Warr and I have been bearing our testimonies in spanish to 2 companionships a day every day except p-day and we're not allowed to pray in English anymore. Reading the scriptures is way hard because they are written in vosotros form, which no one uses anymore becuase it is familiar and everyone uses ustedes which is formal.

Yes we have been able to go to the temple. We go on tuesdays at 9:45, and it is way crowded all the time, but I love the Provo Temple and it is one of the few times where we are not supposed to do anyhting except sit there and listen. I have been trying to memorize 40 spanish words a day, and I have been learning 1 tense a day which is hard but I know that when we set hard goals and give everything we have the Lord will take care of the rest. We have been given 2 years to set aside everything else and work our guts out for the Lord so that he can bless us and so that we can bring souls unto him. My favorite quote by Steve Prefontaine says "To give anything less than the best is to sacrifice the Gift." What more can I say? We are talking about a gift even more speacial than running, the gift of salvation to the wandering soul, the gift of eternal life.

Everything is good. I am learning soo much and everyday I wake up ready to learn more and more and more. Sometimes it is frustrating because I can't teach what I want to teach or say what I want to say because I am limited by my language skills, but I know the Lord will provide. That is one thing i have really come to appreciate here is the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. If anyhting in the world was ever impossible, the Atonement would have been it. It was a miracle. But Jesucristo accomplished it so that we can be together as a family forever. He did it so that everyday when I mess up and do things wrong I can fix it. For God so loved the world....that means to me that God is truly interested in the the minute details of our lives. That brings so much comfort to me. One last thing before time runs out. I can't spell very well anymore. I always spell things half spanish half english. Sometimes I will be writing in my journal and i will put in a spanish phrase or two without realizing it. It is way cool but kind of annoying at the same time. I love you guys so much, Kolby whne I come home I'm going to school you at soccer, and practice your piano both you and Melissa. Cameron I hope you had fun at the temple and realize how important that work is. Mom=, Dad I love you, and Dad everyday I admire you more and more for serving a mission. It is not always fun and Glory. I love you guys

Braden