April 21

Despite the title of the email, I have not actually gotten to use my Spanish (yes, a bit misleading), but I'm still praying in Spanish and doing language study. Maybe one of these days I'll actually teach someone, though I won't say I'm in a rush. Some of it I will admit is starting to slip.

Anyways, this weekend was awesome! Our investigator Nickie was baptized, and it was quite the event :) Her family and her in-laws even showed up! She was so nervous about the baptism, and she said she felt like she was supposed to be in jail because of the attractive jumpsuit she was wearing. I told her she looked much prettier in white than she would in orange :)

Bless Brother Litster's heart, he tried so hard to make sure the water was warm...no esta. When she came out of the water the first time, you could tell she was a little shocked from the temperature. Her knee came up during the baptism, so she had to do it again! On the second dunk when she sent down, she hit her head on the railing! Elder Flinders felt so bad (he was the one who baptized her). After she changed and came back out, Brother Litster got up and said, "Not only do you become cleansed from your sins, but we do our best to make sure you can't remember them."

After the baptism, I gave a talk on the Holy Ghost, and it went really well :) I talked about how the Spirit is like a flashlight, a GPS, a Tide-to-Go pen, and a blanket, of course using those objects in my lesson. I also related my baby-sitting story when I was 12 where the Spirit prompted me to make that 911 call. I had a lot of people give me compliments on it. My teaching is getting better and better all the time! :)

Easter was really great! Nickie was confirmed that day, and her family came to see it! :) Nickie's daughter, Susie, is also pretty great. She said she would be interested in learning more about what we have to teach, so that's awesome! In the spirit of giving, I decided to give her a skirt and a dress that I can't wear out here on my mission. She seemed pretty excited about them. It made me feel really good :)

To continue on the spirit of giving, Sister Raymer (my last companion) gave me a CD of the MoTab singing Hollywood and Broadway music because to her she felt like she was being disobedient. After awhile of having it, I decided the same, so I gave it to a less active family for Easter. They also seemed really excited about that. Giving just brings me so much joy!

We also made banana peanut-butter Reese's Cups bread with them. It was really nice to do some baking even though I couldn't eat any. I've learned that I really like cooking and baking and that I miss it since I don't get a lot of time for it.

I'm glad you had a good Easter! Have a good week! Love you!

Some pictures:

These are of my comps & giant dog that we live with :D

These are pictures of things my investigator Nickie made for us herself!  She knows how to weld metal! She gave these to Sister Vance and me as an Easter and thank you present.So cool!!!

Here's a few pictures of my hair with a more flattering view. Hurrah for selfies! (And here's also a picture with my headband on too. Thanks Mommy!)

Hermana Candland

April 14

Nothing too eventful to report this week since I was out for a few days with the stomach flu, but not too bad. Our investigator Nickie is just so awesome! She makes me so happy to be a missionary! She's the one that's getting baptized this Saturday!  She really genuinely wants to know the truth and tries her best to do what's right. She came for all 3 hours with us and I guess she started to cry according to the teachers, but I didn't notice. She said it went by faster than she thought it would and that she really enjoyed it! Everyone in the ward is so awesome. They announced her baptism and everyone came up to her and told her they were excited for her and that they would try their best to come! New Mark is a pretty great ward :)

Oh yeah, and crazy thing that got announced in church yesterday: the ward is getting split! Sister Vance and I are freaking out! We don't know how many investigators we'll lose and how many of our ward missionaries will be taken away! We love them all and can't bare the thought of not being able to work with them! But it should still be a good thing, it should really help the work move forward. We're curious to see who the missionaries will be for the new ward :)

I'm beginning to think that the theme for my mission is tornados. There were lots of talks in conference about tornados, and then this Sunday all of the speakers talked about the tornado talks and THEN I'm in a place where tornados aren't that uncommon! Not to mention my own spiritual tornados that come up being a missionary. Maybe I'll get to experince a real tornado out here? Let's hope not!

So there's also this new phrase that the missionaries have been using a lot out here: YOMO. You Only Mission Once. It's kinda funny since it's not entirely true, but still a good concept, like "Hey, do you think we should talk to that guy?" "HECK YEAH! They need the gospel too!!! YOMO!!!!" 

Oh yeah, and I was able to go back to my last ward for a baptism for the 9-year-old Zack. It was so great! Zack was so adorable! He was really excited! He actually didn't recognize me at first with my haircut, he asked me who I was :P A lot of people were like "Whoa, your hair!" Bishop had a pretty funny face when he saw me! It was so good to see them all :)

That about sums it up for this week. Here are some pictures:

Before

After the big cut

The final: With my new companion Sister Vance!

April fools dinner

 Here's Zack's baptism!

Hermana Candland

April 7

So here's a picture of a dinner I had at this family called the Litsters. They call it their "April Fools Dinner." They basically just take a buch of random things and we have to eat using them. I don't know if you can tell what I'm eating out of, but I'm eating out of a plastic thing in the shape of a shell, I'm using a serving utencil as my silverware, and I'm drinking from a mini watering pot. My companion got a cat food dish and a baby bottle to drink out of. You also might be able to notice how short my hair is. It's not a very good picture, but this is the only one I will probably be able to send since this was a picture sent to me by a member. Hopefully I can get my camera figured out and send some more pictures.

So yesterday I was sick with the pukies and I wasn't well enough to email, but I am doing a lot better today. Not fully recovered, a little queezy, but able to hold food down and not miserable! Yay! I'm taking it easy today regardless, I don't want to get other people sick.

This week was a really good one! Last Sunday I invited my second investigator to be baptized! It was so exciting! It was definitely guided by the Spirit, and she can hardly wait to be baptized! She should be getting baptized next Saturday!

This same investigator also was going to the Liberty Jail, and she asked US if we wanted to come! We're like, "Heck yeah we do!" It was so cool! I didn't realize how amazing the jail is; that alone is worth a trip to Independence!

Last Monday, I got to go back to the Visitor Center and see some old friends! It was so good to see Sister Raymer :) Sister Vance and I took one of our investigators through the whole building, and he seemed to get a lot from it. He was actually an investigator brought to us by a member, and so far he's been pretty solid. It just goes to show how important member missionaries are!

Speaking of member missinaries, our ward missionary Sister Decker is the best! She makes sure we have rides to appointments when we don't have a car, she meets with us regularly to stay updated on our schedule, she puts together goody bags for us whenever we have conferences, and she's so funny! She is seriously the best missionary ever! She takes really good care of us and magnifies her calling. I hope to be just like her when I get home :)

Sister Decker also helped us a lot with one of the ladies we visit. One night as she was driving us home, Sister Vance had this impression that we should go visit this woman named Stephanie. She really struggles with depression and alcoholism. When we visited her, she had admitted to us that she drank a little that night, and we talked to her about the Word of Wisdom. With my whole thing with giving up sweets, I was able to relate to her a little bit. There have been some days where I was having a bad or stressful day, and thought about eating some chocolate to help me feel better, but I never did because I knew that I had to be the example, even if it was just in a small way. Stephanie told me that she really appreciated my example. That night, we committed her to dumping out all of her alcohol down the sink, and we could see how hard it was for her, but we told her over and over how proud we were of her. This all came about because of Sister Decker. She was the one that came up with the idea of flushing out the alcohol herself. Also because of her, Stephanie will be attending alcoholics anonymous meetings. That night was a miracle.

Of course, General Conference was amazing. The members that we watched it with fed us SO MUCH. I thought my stomach was going to explode. That probably contributed to my sickness.  Elder Holland's and Elder Uchtdorf's were two of my favorites (I know, huge shocker). I also really liked Elder Bednar's talk a lot too. He's growing on me more and more as I've been out here.

BTW Adam, those Nutella brownies are apparently super delicious. My companion and I made them for our investigators and they really enjoyed them :)

Life is good out here! The mission keeps on becoming the best time of my life every day! Love you guys, and talk to you next week :)

Hermana Candland

March 31

This week has been one full of amazing things! This area has been a little slow, but it's really starting to pick up! The Lord is hastening His work! Hurrah for Israel!

We found a wopping 6 new investigators this week! Woohoo! We're so exited! That doesn't include the people we're already teaching! Sister Vance and I have been so blessed that we were able to find people that were prepared to hear the gospel. It makes being out here so much more fun when you have people to teach! One of the new investigators was definitely found with the help of the Lord; we were tracting through these appartments when Sister Vance got this feeling about a certain door. She felt like we really needed to knock on it. We knocked twice, and no one answered, and we almost walked away, but I had this feeling to knock just one more time and she opened the door! She let us talk to her a little about the church and she listened to everything we had to say and she told us we could come back! It was amazing!

One of our investigators, Nickie, is really awesome. She always asks really good questions and is really open minded to what the answers are. She really wants her family to get involved with the church as well, but they don't seem as interested as she is. Her daughter, Susie, sat in and listened to us talk about the restoration of the gospel, and she asked a few good questions :) Questions are our favorite! Nickie and Susie are both reading the Book of Mormon really faithfully! Nickie is especially excited that Susie has been reading :) She read 5 chapters in one sitting! They both came to church this Sunday and they seemed to really like it :) Everyone has been so welcoming and kind to them. The ward has been really awesome member missionaries :)

Speaking of which, one of the people in our congregation has been talking to a co-worker named Derek about religion and invited him to listen to us! It was a really good lesson, and he really liked what we had to say :) We actually have a meeting with him tonight back at the Visitors Center! Sister Vance and I are really excited to go back! :)

I still havent't had a chance to use my Spanish; I almost got to teach a lesson, but they never showed :/ I still pray in Spanish and do language study, so it's still there. My companion isn't Spanish speaking, but she knows quite a bit of Spanish :) She could help me teach a lesson if we had to. It's kinda funny, people ask me all the time if I'm waiting for my Visa, and I always tell them "Nope, I was called to serve here in the states." :D

I think you'll like this, mom. We met this family called the Andersons, who is a very interesing family, but I love them a lot; they remind me a little of home :) Anyways, the mom is really into photography and she's really good at it too! She is currently serving a mission for the church, but a different kind that's really cool! What the church has decided to do instead of hiring people to do the photography for the church is having members serve as photographers and donate their pictures to the church! This is pretty small since their just trying it out, but it's a great idea! What an awesome calling! I can see you doing that, mom :)

There's this article that a member told me about called "5 Things This Mormon Wish You Knew" on Facebook and it sounded really cool. People have been posting it all over and it's struck up some pretty cool conversations. You guys should check it out!

Sister Vance and I have also come up with this new phrase (which by the way Kortney, you can feel free to use on my Instagram) that we like to use. It's #mishprobs. For example: "That awkward moment when you realize you scheduled two dinner appointments in one night. #mishprobs" Tell the Elders they can use that whenever they want. It's gonna be a thing.

Sister Vance and I went shopping today at Target and I got a new bag! The one I got for Christmas is pretty good, but it was just wasn't quite big enough to fit everything. It's pretty cute :) And I also bought a dress from the maternity section. I figure if I gain weight on my mission I'll have plenty of room for growth in this dress :D It's comfy. 

Like I told you last week, I got a hair cut. I also donated it. I just got my certificate from Locks of Love. I'll have to forward the pic :) 

 

I also want to thank the family for praying on my behalf. I have felt the influence of your prayers. I have been doing so well this last week and I know it was because of the faith of my family members. Thank you so much.

Hope you guys are having a good week! Have a Happy Birthday mom!

I can't seem to get my camera to load up pictures to send to you :/ My camera doesn't want to cooperate. I might have to get something that will read my card that I can plug in. That's what I borrowed from my companion and that seems to work really well. Pictures might have to wait awhile. #picsprobs

 

Hermana Candland

 

 

 

 

March 24

This week was transfers and we thought that Sister Raymer was going to be leaving and that I would be staying, but no! She is staying in Independence and I was moved to a new area! I'm now in Platte City and the area is brand new to sisters; I'm officially the third sister to be part of this area.

My new companion is Sister Vance! She's super sweet and she's got a really relaxed personality, so that's nice :) The area that I'm serving in with her is pretty new, so it can be a little slow. Being a full-proselyting sister is WAY different than serving part-time at the Visitor Center. It's a lot more laid back since you have so much more time to go see people and you don't have to cram for time to see people. It's nice to be somewhere that I have a little more room to breathe :) sometimes I think I have a little bit too much wiggle room, but that just makes me more motivated to find people to teach so I have something to do!

We don't have too many investigators, and I've only met one of them. The one that we taught this last week is this older man named Roy. He's been Baptist almost his whole life, and so his biggest obstacle is leaving the people that look up to him in that church and just the fact that it's a change, which we understand.We asked him that if he prayed and found out that this church was the place that God wanted him to be and if he would be baptized, and he said he would! Yay for progress! Baby steps! :) We're going to invite him to teach the Boy Scouts one night and we're going to bring some people from our ward to help him feel a little more comfortable with the church :)

The new ward is really nice and they feed us well. One night this family made us homemade pizza with chicken, bacon, and Alfredo. It was WAY good! The family that made it for us is pretty creative with her food; for a chili contest she made a dish with BBQ sauce and bacon, and guess who one that contest???? SHE DID!! :) This ward is also nick-named "The Sugar Ward" because they always feed the missionaries desserts, which means it's going to be a little tough for me and my goal. The bishop was teasing me when I mentioned it, saying, "Well, good luck with that Sister Candyland!" I'm determined now more than ever to prove him wrong!! :D

I think that you might like this, Dad. Before transfers, on my last pday with Sister Raymer, she had this prompting that we should to go to Famous Dave's for lunch (which, by the way, in my opinion is not as good as your cooking) :) While we were in there, we tried to figure out why she felt prompted to come. We decided to try to talk to our waitress, "Famous Bobbie," but we had a hard time figuring out what to say to her. Then, all of a sudden, she walks by us and says, "If you don't mind me askin', what are y'all doin' here?" (Yes, she has a slight accent). We were so excited! We started talking to her about our purpose, and we eventually asked her if she would like a Book of Mormon, and she accepted it very excitedly! She was so sweet and we gave her our number on a mormon.org card with our tip :) When we left we gave her a hug and she told us that we should come back and see her again! I'll have to ask Sister Raymer how things are with her now :)

So, now that I'm in a new area, my pday will be on Mondays. As long as I'm full-pros it should be Mondays. VC sisters usually have different pday's because they need girls on shift.

Hope all is continuing to go well back home! Thank you for your prayers!

BTW I got a haircut. I'll send pics next week! :)

 

 

Hermana Candland

 

March 18

This last week has been a little rough because of all the stress. Today we're going to use my pday and stay in the apartment to just relax and allow myself to recuperate.

Sister Raymer has been such a great companion and is the exact person that I have needed at this time in my life. Today she got "Dear Jane-d" and it seemed to hit her pretty hard. I want to be there for her just like she has been there for me. This companionship has been truly inspired of the Lord. It just makes me realize how mindful God is of each and everyone of us.

On a lighter note, we've been talking to an investigator named Austin over the phone at the Visitors Center and he is absolutely amazing. He called the VC one day asking about the scripture that says "you'll know if these things are true if you pray about it." We told him it was in Moroni 10:3-5 and told him we wanted to talk to him after he'd read it. We've been discussing with him about the church a lot and he reads a prays...well...religiously. He wants to know what the truth is so badly, and he wants and to do what the Lord asks of him. He said a prayer over the phone and those are the things that he said. He said he's been receiving answers from studying and praying, getting feelings that he's never felt before in his life. He said he had strong feelings of peace and clarity. We told him that those feelings were from the Holy Ghost, and these feelings have been coming from Heavenly Father, telling him that he's going down the right path. He told us that he went to church for the first time this last Sunday and that everyone was so welcoming. He said he felt like he was home. One of the members took him on a tour through the building, and when they got into the room with the baptismal fount he said he was overcome with emotion. After that experience, he just wants to know when he can get baptized. For awhile, Sister Raymer and I questioned whether or not this was real! We couldn't believe this was happening!!! We told him to meet with the missionaries in his area (since he lives in Oregon) and talk with them about taking the rest of the lessons and setting a date for baptism. He also said his family has been very unsupportive of his decision, but he knows that he's doing the right thing. He has been such a blessing to me and I feel priviledged to have the opportunity to teach him. He has strengthened my testimony and is an amazing example to me. He is so amazing, and I hope that one day I'll be able to meet him!

That about sums it up for this week, or at least that's all I can muster up to type. This week has been exhausting. I'm going to take a very laid back pday today.

 

I did a new hair.

 My district.

 My district goofing off.

Some food.

 

Hermana Candland

March 11

Holy guacamole where has the time gone??? I'm almost done with my first transfer! Sister Raymer and I are hoping she gets to stay, but we'll just have to see :P

I've noticed that the sunrises and sunsets are absolutely GORGEOUS here! Sister Raymer and I chased the sunrise this morning and snapped a few pics :)

 

 

The weather here has been improving! 60 degrees! It's so balmy! I'm shedding of the layers of jackets and sweaters! Spoken like a true Washintonian.

 

A lot of people ask me where I'm from and I always say Seattle because who's gonna know about cow-town Carnation? I've met very few people who know where that is. When I say Seattle they're always like "Ooohh, Super Bowl champs...." and I'm like "Yep, that's right!!!! Seattle pride!!!!!" >:D

I've been doing really well and improving a lot. I had a moment this week where I was really down on myself and just didn't want to do anything because I was feeling so upset. I had this nagging voice in the back of my head saying I should be doing this and doing that, but I ignored it because I was so frustrated. Then I said a prayer. I felt really bad for feeling sorry for myself when people need my help and for being so prideful, so I asked Heavenly Father for forgiveness. I told Him I was sorry that I lacked the mental strength to give of myself and prayed that the Atonement would make up for that. After my prayer, a gentle voice came into my mind saying, "It's alright Sister Candland.... Shaini, I love you." I felt a strong sense of peace overcome me and I began to cry tears of relief. After a moment, I had another thought come into my head. "Okay Sister Candland, you're alright now. It's time to get to work." These words did not bring me stress like the nagging one before. They reasurred me that I CAN do this, that everything's going to work out, and that the Lord would help me every step of the way. I know that He wants to bless us, but we need to change and come unto Him with a broken heart and contrite spirit in order for His blessings to flow.

Other than that, this week has been pretty mellow. I'm starting to really get into the flow of things and I feel like I know a little more of what I'm doing, although there are still awkward moments. I've been told by the more experienced missionaries that the awkwardness never really goes away. One of our zone leaders actually told us that you should approach people ESPECIALLY when it's awkward! Better learn to embrace it.

We haven't really had a lot of progress with our investigators. We can't even seem to get them to read 1 verse. We've challenged this to some adults to do this and their getting smoked by a little 9-year-old boy named Zack! He rocks my socks!!!! We asked him why he wanted to learn from us and he said, "I just want to learn more about Jesus and to do the right thing." It was the most adorable thing I've ever heard! He's been faithfully reading out of his children's Book of Mormon and he finished it! He prays every night and he wants to get baptized! His baptismal date is set for the end of this month :) 

This last week Sister Raymer and I went to a wedding and met this woman named Amy, who was the photographer. We got to talk to her for awhile and she ended up telling us her whole life's story. We told her about the church and how we believe that families can be together forever and that the Gospel of Jesus Christ can bring us peace. She was so touched by what we said and she said she "felt like she was home." She really wants to find a church where she can belong and she already believes that it's the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She actually showed up one day at the Visitors Center and asked one of the sisters "I've got 10 minutes. Can you tell me more about your church?" She's been chatting with us over email at the VC and some other sisters in Salt Lake. We've got an appointment with her on Sunday at a members home and we're so excited! She is such a wonderful lady!

Anyways, sorry for the last few weeks again. Being a missionary is crazy! Crazy AWESOME! I got the chance to write Kortney and Rylee letters so expect to see something from me in the mail :) Until next week!

Hermana Candland

March 4

This week was transfers and I got to work with Hermana Jorgensen (she's Spanish speaking too!). She is so wonderful and so in tune with the Spirit! We saw these people trying to lift a couch to the 3rd story over the balcony and she had the prompting to help them. Oh boy. We helped them out and luckily no one got hurt, which was a miracle, though I was worried a few times. The lady the balcony below was helping out too, and she let us in her house so we could help lift. While we were at it we decided to share a small message with her and we got a return appointment! The people who we were helping move the couch we also got to talk to and they said they really appreciated that we listened to them and weren't preachy and we got a return appointment too! 3 new investigators within an hour and a half! And 2 of them are now on date for baptism! Huzzah for miracles!

Me and my companion are getting to be really good friends too, which is really helpful. We really enjoy each others company :)

Also this week I got to sing again at an event at this thing called "Friday Night Out" that we have each week at the Visitors Center. It went really well!

The weather down here has gotten down to -7. It's super freezing. I'm really appreciating my big jacket and snow boots.

 I seriously don't know how this happens, but have so little time to write! I'm sorry! I'll be more detailed next week and I'll send pictures!

Hermana Candland

February 25

Music! So we can listen to anything by the MoTab, and I guess they have Broadway and Disney albums! Also, tell Sharla that she needs to make her "Miracles for Me" an EFY song so that I'm allowed to sing it and listen to it. Sister Raymer catches me singing it every once in awhile and she'll say "Sister Candland! That's not approved! Strict obedience!" It's such a great and uplifting song, but since it's not approved I'm not allowed to sing it :( Also, the Nashville Tribute Band came into the Visitors' Center! Sister Raymer and I had the opportunity to take them through a presentation! They played a few songs for us and it was amazing! They also gave us their CD "The Work", but it hasn't been approved by our president, but we're working on talking him into approving them. Let's hope! :) And also, the EFY '12 Cd is really good too :)

I wish I had time to write to you about the miracles that happened this week, but there's so many and I only have 3 minutes left! Sorry! Until next week!

Hermana Candland

PS, I got the cord for my camera. Pictures next week!

February 11

I guess I forgot to mention what my area is. I'm serving in the Independence 3rd ward. I'm slowly becoming more and more familiar with the area and the people. My companions always like "Let's go visist so-and-so!" and I'm like "Yeah, alright! Whoever that person is!" My companion is so funny! She's totally like a Disney Princess! She actually wants to work as a princess in Disneyland like me! I think it would be so much fun to do that with her if the opportunity came!

Also a cool little tidbit, I'm working at the Independence Visitors Center! I had my first presentation the other day, and luckily it was people that were already members. Sister Raymer and I took them through "God's Plan", which is super cool. It's a new thing they're putting in the Visitors Centers, and I actually first saw it in the Mexico VC. It's this really cool series of videos about family and you go to different room for each one. That's usually the presentation that makes everyone get teary-eyed. I don't know if they have it in the Salt Lake VC yet, but I imagine they'll put it in there eventually. I also did a history presentation with my companion, though I'd never been through it before so I didn't have a lot of things to say. I tried to cover the spiritual part of the presentation while Sister Raymer relayed the history.

My first investigators are pretty cool too. They're Spanish speakers, but they speak a lot of English, so that's helpful. Basically, they took the discussions before and they didn't understand any of it since it was taught in English, but their dad told them they had to be baptized, so they did. They didn't continue to go to church since they didn't understand why, so now we're teaching them the discussions again, and they understand a lot better since their English has improved since then and I gave as much of the lesson I could in Spanish. It was good to put my Spanish to use. It was nice because if I didn't know a word in Spanish, I could just say it in English and they'd most likely understand. It was fantastic to teach them since they seem so sincere about understanding and learning more.

Also, I got to meet 3 different investigators that we now have set on date for baptism on the 15th of March! It's really exciting! The first two are Mike and Derrell. Sister Raymer has been meeting with them since before I got here and I just got the opportunity to be there to ask if they would be baptized. The third person however, this sweet Native American woman named, we just met yesterday when we were outside shoveling snow. She said "When you guys are done over there you wanna help me out over here???" We're like "Sure! We'd love to!!!" So we went over to her yard and started talking to her and shoveling. She eventually invited us in and we tried to tell her about the Restoration of the Gospel, but it was hard since she talked a lot, but we got her committed to being baptized! Me and Sister Raymer don't think she fully understands the importance of baptism, and that she's just excited to have new friends since she gets lonely. But hey, it was pretty cool for me! My first investigador that me and Sister Raymer met together!

One last thing, the other day we were proselyting and we went and talked to this woman named Geri. We tried giving her a Book of Mormon and she kept on saying that she didn't want it since she's already a member of the Baptist church. She didn't seem too happy with us, though we tried our best to be nice. That seems to happen a lot out here (doors getting slammed in our face I mean). As me and Sister Raymer got in the car, I just had this feeling that I should go back and bear my testimony about the Book of Mormon, soI did. I was nervous, but it turned out really well. She didn't accept the book, but we ended on better terms.

That wraps it up for this week. Talk to you later.

Hermana Candland

February 6

Yesterday was my first day in Missouri and I met my president and his wife. She is the sweetest lady! She spent hours and hours cooking up a good meal for us, and my goodness it was amazing! I about cried it was so much better than rice and beans! I also slept so much better than I usually do since I basically slept on a cloud! It was sooooooooo wonderful!!!!

This morning she also cooked us up a delicious breakfast. I gave her a big hug and thanked her for the effort she put in to our food. I don't remember being so happy for food in my whole life!!!

Today I got my new companion. She is so cute! Her name is Sister Raymer. She just came up to me with a big smile on her face and gave me the biggest hug and we walked around holding hands X) That's one thing I've noticed about a lot of the girls here, they're all very touchy-feely and love playing with each others hair.

Anyways, she's an English speaking sister, but she's already got some Spanish investigators, so she's really glad for me to be here. We teach them tonight!!! It's crazy!! Hope I'm fluent enough!!! :)

On our way to the mission office, there were these two sisters who are good friends with my new sister and they were really excited to meet me! One of them ( Sister Buckhave) started running and totally spilled it and got a nasty cut on her chin, and now she's getting stiches! D: She's so cute! She kept on saying things like "It was so worth it for you Sister Candland!" It was pretty funny! But those two companions and my companion all really like to sing, so we're gonna have a blast together!

Some more about Sister Raymer: She is so in tune with the Spirit, she's unafraid to teach the gospel to strangers on the street and it's amazing. It's something I'm definitely gonna have to get used to. Please pray for me that I'll be able to overcome my anxieties. I'm going to need as much help as I can get.

I also had to say goodbye to Hermana Laycock today. I decided to write her a letter and I gave it to her today. I already miss her, a lot more than I thought I would.

So that's the gist of the past few days. I'll be having my pday on Tuesday from now on.

Wish me luck out in the real world!

Hermana Candland

February 3

I heard about the Superbowl. My district´s always asking our branch president about scores. Everyone was pretty shocked that the Seahawks won by so much. I was definitely expressing my Seattle pride! :)

This week was quite exciting. Me and my hermana´s decided to play a joke on our elders. We left bread at their front door with notes that said, "Hope you enjoy the bread. Don´t make deals with the DEVIL!!!" and "Run, run, as fast as you can. You can´t catch me, I´m the BREAD MAN!" They thought it was hilarious. It was a lot of fun! :)

My companion Hermana Montgomery also really cracks me up. She has this thing for people watching, but she´s so intense about it. It´s hilarious! She´s actually really good at reading body language, so good that people actually pay her to watch them when their out on a date to watch their chemistry and if they´re a good couple. She´s done this several times, and she´s seen 3 of those couples get married. She taught me a little about what she knows and it was actually quite fascinating! It was so eye-opening!

Our district also had a meeting this week and it was so amazing. We talked to each other about our effectiveness as a district, we told each other everything that frustrated us and had been building up inside us for the past 6 weeks, and we shared what our strengths were and what we loved about each other. The Spirit was so strong, and after we were done with the meeting we all felt like there was this huge weight lifted off our shoulders. I feel a profound love for the people in my district and have more respect for them after that.

 

 I´m noticing my Spanish is significantly better. I finally feel like I can speak enough Spanish to teach lessons without looking off of a piece of paper. I´ve learned how to depend on the Lord to tell me what I need to say more during my lessons. I have received the words to say and not only that but in Spanish! I It feels so different and I can feel the Spirit with me during the lesson. I strongly believe that the gift of tongues is real, just not in the way that we all think.

So the reason that I get to email today and tomorrow is because Hermana Montgomery left this morning, another girl in our casa left too, so her companion and mine decided to be companions since they´ve been friends in high school. Right now I´m with Hermana Jones and she leaves tomorrow and she got permission to email today. Tomorrow is their p-day and I´m just going to loop into their companionship since we leave on the same day.

 

The important buildings in Mexico City are the cathedrals...

...and McDonald's.

 

 

Take care!

Hermana Candland

January 29

The time has gone by so fast! I can hardly believe it! I still feel like a newbie here, but I´ve only got a few more days!

 

Anyways, this week was pretty funny. We were going through the Bible and looking at the most random scriptures. We found one in Zacheriah 5:1-2 about a flying roll. I don´t know. We were dying of laughter though.

I also decided to draw pictures of each of the Elders in my district. I though some of the Elders were going to pee their pants when they saw them. They were pretty funny.

Now here´s me and my district. can you tell who´s who?

 

I also met some Elders in the comidor (cafeteria) that are into Star Wars. Maybe I already told you last week, but they asked me how to say Millenium Falcon (Halcon Mileniar), The Force (La Fuerza), and Light Saber (Sabora de Luz). One of them has seen the new Sherlock D:

Also, Presidente Christensen at the clinic told me that there´s a place in Utah called the Candland Mountains near Electric Lake. Just thought that was kinda cool.

This week was pretty good as far as teaching goes. I was teaching an investigador and I really felt like the Spirit was there telling me what to say. I didn´t worry about what I was supposed to say during the lesson and I listened to my companions and to the investigador. The Spanish came really well too. It was such a cool experience. 

 Anyways, that´s it for this week. I´ll try to send more pictures, but I´m having difficulties. Talk to you later.

 

My companions took my camera while I was in the shower.

 

Some treats...

 

 

Hermana Candland

January 22

I just went to temple square in Mexico City today and it was pretty cool. We can´t take temple trips anymore since the temple is under construction. 

Me, my companions, and our teacher Hermana Faces at the Christus :)

 

 

One of the dorkiest Elders in my district (Elder Steed) riding one of the bikes they show in "Nacho Libre"

 

My hilarious district at the Visitors Center!

 

 

So for one of the meals we had this thing called a tamale. It was really good, but everyone was totally shocked that I had never had one before. Basically what it is is corn meal, sauce, and meat, wrapped in leaves and boiled. Dad, you should figure out a way to make this, otherwise our reputation of cultural food making will be tainted.

 So we´ve had a few laughs this week. One night in our casa (house) we hear this *knock* *knock* "...Hermana...? Our room is flooded." Apparently the shower doesn´t drain very well in their room and it flooded all the way our into the bedroom pretty deep. We called reception and they´re like, "Oh, sorry. Anyone that could help you with that isn´t here right now, but we´ll report it." It was pretty crazy.

Another time this week we had to teach a brand new practice investigator and we had no warning. We decided to teach about The Book of Mormon, so I tried sharing an analogy that Bednar had shared in a devotional. Basically what it says is that there´s a "board of all that is true," and how with one nail (the Bible), the board of truth could be twisted and turned, but with another nail (the Book of Mormon) it could´t be moved. Well I tried explaining that in Spanish, not having any time to prepare, and he thought I was talking about driving a nail through the Bible. He´s like, "Oh, ¡¿le gusta Satanas?!" You guys like Satan?! We tried explaining it again and he keeps on doing the rock ´n roll thing with his hand and going "¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡Yeeeaaaahhh Satanaaaaaasssss!!!!!!!" Not our best lesson to say the least.

During lunch yesterday, this kid comes up to me and asks how to say Millennium Falcon in Spanish. I didn´t know, so I asked my teacher and he said it was Halcon Mileniar. The reason he asked was because one of the rolls they have for dinner looked like the Milennium Falcon. 

One day during dinner they served wings, so my district decided to have a wing eating contest. It was gross. I should´ve gotten a picture of the pile of bones. It was pretty disgusting. 

Poor Hermana Laycock got pretty sick this week (not from the wing eating contest however), so we brought her some food during meal time and we built her a "cave of death."

 

For gym time this week we´ve been playing lightening and I did so well! We shot from the 3 point line and I made 5 shots in a row! I was able to beat a lot of the guys :)

Our Spanish teacher is soooooo funny. His name is Hermano Gallegos, but we like to call him Abu because he reminds us of Abu from Aladdin. The other day he was walking through the hallway singing "Come on, vaminos! Everybody let´s go! Come on let´s get to it! I know that we can do it!"

Take care!

Hermana Candland

 

 

 

 

 

January 15

Tell Rylee that I miss her too! I´m glad she´s getting herself situated and comfortable in her new room :)

This week has been a huge improvement from the first few weeks. I feel like I´m starting to get the language a little better. I can pray mostly in Spanish and I can bare my testimony and I can teach lessons. I finally felt like I was doing pretty good yesterday when we were practicing with each other. I felt like the Spirit worked through me, even though I didn´t know all of the words. I feel a lot more adequate.

I´ve also come a lot closer to my companions. It´s been a challenge working with each other since there are three of us and sometimes I´m the third wheel and sometimes we don´t get along the best we should. Hermana Laycock admitted to me that she´s never been able to get along with girls and that she´s not sure how to deal with me, but I´ve prayed to Heavenly Father to feel charity towards them both and to bless me with opportunities to serve them. Yesterday, we had pizza and Hermana Laycock couldn´t eat it since she has a gluten intolerance. I had a feeling that I should offer her my toppings, so I did. Cheese and all. She seemed really grateful and almost humbled that I would offer her the best part of my pizza. It was little, but it actually made a big difference in our relationship. She seems a lot more loving towards me, and I´ve grown to love her so much. Hermana Montgomery has always been so kind towards me and continues to do so.

My district continues to be really weird. The Elders are super funny and so friendly to me. I can´t really explain how their weird, they just are. They´re a bunch of goofballs. 

One of them, Elder Amacher, showed me this thing called gloving. He´s really good at it and showed me one of the moves. I´m pretty sure that It´s what Lars is into. I´ll have to see if I can get a video. 

Another thing, one of ther Hermanas in my casa is a cosmetologist and I let her do my makeup on her pday. It looked really good! She´s so cute and really bubbly and really nice. She just made me think of Monique since she really likes cosmetology too. I miss that girl :)

Last night we had an amazing devotional from Elder Bednar. It was live from Provo. He talked about how belief is only part of faith, and that active faith requires action. I understand now how important it is for us to act upon the promptings of the Spirit, and that God can´t bless us until we make an effort. I don´t know how, but every time we have a devotional it always seems to be exactly what I need to hear. Actually, I do know. It´s Heavenly Father. He inspires those people with the message that us missionaries need to hear.

Sorry I still don´t have pictures. It´s taking too long for them to upload and I need to go. Hope you guys are doing great at home! Love you!

Hermana Candland

January 8

I don´t have my Missouri address on me, but once I it I´ll email it to you. One of my Hermana´s said she would send some pictures to you guys.

The sweatshirts look great! I´m glad they turned out so well! Maybe Kortney can pick up on my old hobby! It makes for great gifts and cheap ones at that!

I´m excited for Rylee to play basketball. I´m sure she´ll love it! I always loved basketball, but especially at that age. I actually shot a couple of hoops today while my laundry was cleaning. :)

That treat that Dad made for New Years sounds REALLY good; my mouth started watering a little! But I´ve discovered this thing that they have at la tienda (the store) called a Bueno Bar. It´s made my the same company that makes Nutella, and it´s so good! Apparently they have it in the US, but I´d never heard of it before. If you ever come accross some in a gas station, do yourself a favor and get it! Es muy delicioso! :)

Also, if we´re going to do Christmas gift exchange I´d like to get a name before my 6 weeks are up, just in case there´s something here in Mexico that I could get for them.

Yay for you Mom for doing ragnar! I hope that when I get back home that I can do something like that. My hamstring will have plenty of healing time out here since I don´t do much running :) Let me know how it goes!

Sometimes its been really rocky, but I´ve been able to get through. I´ve noticed that singing hymns really helps me. Every time I get in the shower I start singing hymns because that´s usually when things get the worst. One hymn that´s been really helpful is "Come Thou Font," the one that we sing in youth choir. There was one night that I was really beating myself up about not being able to teach and started questioning my testimony, but then these lyrics came into my mind, "Let thy goodness as a fetter bind my wondering heart to thee. Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Here´s my heart, oh, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above." I know that the church is true, and I cannot allow Satan to get me down. Being a part of this church has brought me to realize so many things about myself and in the midst of hardship has been able to turn me around.

I´m really grateful for my companions. My companions and the other Hermana´s in our house were really helpful this morning and so sweet. Hermana Laycock let me borrow a pair of her socks since mine were all dirty, and I could tell that even though it was something small, it was big since it came from her. She´s never been a sensitive person, but I can tell she cares about me. Hermana Montgomery just started to talk to me, and it really helped me get my mind off things. The other Hermana´s in our house-- Hermana Brown and Hermana Pentalute--told me that I looked really nice today and that I looked beautiful. They´ve all helped me so much and have been so patient with me and even though sometimes things are rough in our companionship I´m so glad to have met them because they´ve brought out the worst and the best in me, and I´ve never been able to talk to anyone the way I´ve talked to them. I can see that each of us has grown so much.

I´m also really grateful for my branch president, Presidente Jewell. He is the sweetest man and I can tell that he cares about my well being. I always feel so uplifted everytime I talk with him. He has an amazing Spirit about him.

I´ve also become really grateful for prayer. Prayer has become such a big part of my day and I´ve realized how much scripture study and prayer are hand in hand. Every time I pray I ask for help to make it through the day and to feel charity for those around me. I don´t know how I´d make it through the day without getting on my knees every morning.

I´ve grown to absolutely love the people here at the CCM. Everyone´s so friendly and loving. On one of my first days, a Hermana came up to me and hugged me and said, "I don´t know you, but I love you." Her name is Hermana Jones. She´s really good a playing piano and me, my companions, and her companions are going to sing "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" at the next Tuesday devotional. I absolutely love her, even though I hardly know her.

Another person I´ve grown charity for is a young man by the name of Elder Dunlap. I think we´ve talked twice total, but we see each other almost every day since we play voleibol (volleyball) during gym time. He´s a short, smiley, and enthusiastic person and his radiating joy puts me in a better mood. He puts a little ray of sunshine in my day :)

I've learned a lot here. It´s been really, really hard, but I woudn´t trade what I´ve learned for anything.

Oh! And my companion Hermana Laycock´s uncles name is Scott Laycock, who´s in the Garden something Stake. She doesn´t know what ward, but if you could let Adam know and tell me if that´s his bishop that would be great! :)

Hermana Candland

January 2

Sorry I didn´t respond on Wednesday, pday this week was scheduled for Thursday. My pday should be Wednesday for the rest of my time at the MTC.

I actually have two companions. We call it a "tripanionship." My other companion is Hermana Montgomery. Hermana Laycock is from Lehi Utah and Hermana Montgomery is from Twin Falls Idaho. They´ve both been really nice and they´re both really good at Spanish, 2-6 years of it, which makes it kind of frustrating for me since I´m not doing as well as them. I know I should be impressed with myself, considering I knew almost no Spanish before I came. It´s mostly frustrating when we teach a practice investigator and they do all of the talking and I´m sitting there going "Si," or "Lo siento," and it´s been the most difficult thing about being here, but I´ve learned a lot and have come a long way from where I was before.

My experience here at the CCM has been amazing. I´ve learned so many things that have really strengthened my testimony and have made me feel like I can do anything. My favorite thing is when we have devotionals every Sunday and Tuesday night. The two devotionals have been from Elder Holland and Elder Bednar. What I got from Elder Holland´s talk was that we gain the most from our experience when we are in the service of other people and that if we listen to the Spirit and allow Him to teach, then they will receive what Heavenly Father wants them to know and what they need. He talked a lot about Preach My Gospel and how it should be part of who we are, and that we need to be better missionaries that he was. He can be really blunt, but you can tell that he is so enthusiastic about what he´s saying and that he absolutely loves missionary work.  The talk that Elder Bednar gave was probably the best talk I´ve ever heard. It was so powerful and it really struck me in a way that I can´t really explain. He talked about how having a testimony is not enough and that we need to be truely converted. What really hit me hard though was when he talked about the character of Christ and how selfless he was and that he never once pittied Himself and completely devoted Himself to others and to God. The way that he explained it was really eye opening and he encouraged, or rather, scolded us to discontinue to worship ourself and to worship our Heavenly Father. I can still remember the way I felt when he gave that talk.

For New Years the kitchen staff treated us with American food of burgers and fries and soda. Normally we have Mexican, which I think has been pretty good. Some people don´t like the food, some people say it´s awsome. Somedays for me it´s really good; I love the tortillas (surprisingly) and the orange juice. Especially the orange juice. Though the meat is always disappointing, but that´s probably because I´m so spoiled by Dad´s good smoked meats.

I guess the holiday season here is a big deal, they´ve constantly have fireworks going off throughout the day since I´ve arrived and they sound a lot like cannons. Me and my district started playing this game where everytime we hear a "cannon," we go up to some random person and ask them to pick a number between 1 and 12, and whatever number they pick is eliminated in the Hunger Games. District 1 won. We´re now starting Catching Fire where whenever we hear a "cannon"  we look at the time and whatever time it is is the tribute that gets eliminated. I´ve got a pretty commical district.

My favorite thing to do during gym time is to go and play volleyball since they´ve got a sand pit outside. The weather has been perfect for playing and suprisingly not too hot, although me and some of my district members did get a little burn, though it doesn´t hurt. The weird thing is that I´ve been really cold since I got here because they don´t have heaters and it gets pretty cold at night. I do love the sunshine though.

I did get my missing bag back. They checked it for me and told me not to worry about getting it after the flight, at least that´s how it came across. Anyway, the suitcase is fine and I have everything in it.

Sorry there´s not gonna be any pictures for awhile since I don´t have a cord. I´ll be taking pictures until I can get my hands on one.

Hermana Candland

And P.S., me and my Hermana´s are singing in church next week. We´re singing Venid a Cristo :)