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 :)