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 :)