MTC/CCC Acclimation

Hola familia!!!

I've been in the CCM (MTC) for a total of 4 days (going on 4) and already it's been a really great growing experience. I finally understand why so many missionaries write such short messages to friends. They keep us so busy!! We're supposed to have the purpose memorized by Sunday, a talk to give to our comps done by sunday, the handbook read, and letters writted and lessons planned, and it is hard to do all of that!! It has been really great though.

Without the help of the Spirit, I have no idea how we can work this fast. On our first day, they only spoke Spanish to us in class. They kept it pretty simple and wrote a lot of things on the board in ingles. I could understand quite a bit and could speak to them quite a bit too. They told me I could go into the intermediate class if I want to, but I'm not really sure if I want to or not. I don't feel like I'm always challenged in my Spanish, but know that there's quite a bit of the basics that I still mess up alot. I also really love my companion, Hermana Southworth, so having to change companions and districts would be hard. Sometimes it's tempting, but I think I can help Sister Southworth with her Spanish and hopefully help myself in the process. I want to help her, but also don't want to come off as a know it all. and truthfully, my Spanish is really not great at all. I think I just take a bunch of words/ phrases/ etc. and put them together and hope it makes sense. My congugations are all over the place and my vocab is still pretty limited. AND my pronunciation is terrible! It's been fun though! And I'm having fun with it, just trying to find ways to challenge myself so I can keep improving my Spanish.

We taught our first investigator last night!!! It was really cool. His name is Manuel (it was a teacher acting like an investigator). Because Hermana Southworth and I were the last to go, we had a ton of time to prepare, so we essentially prepped the first discussion. We had watched a video about Manuel, so we knew a little about his life and planned the lesson to that. He's been in the U.S. for a little over a year and is from Mexico. His family is here because his sister has cancer and they're seeking treatment here (it's all role play scenarios I'm pretty sure). Anyways, so in our broken Spanish we tried to talk about God, and families especially. I felt impressed to share a little about Emmett and so I did. The Spirit was really strong. It was really cool. Hermana Southworth and I tried to transition back and forth from testifying and sharing scriptures and explaining principles. It was really fun, especially for our first time teaching. I think we rocked it! ;)

All of the hermanas that I live with are great, energetic missionaries. They're awesome. Sister Southworth is sooo sweet. I love her. She has never learned Spanish before in her life, so I've been trying to figure out how to help her without making her feel uncomfortable or without sounding like a know it all, and trying to find the balance there. However, she is amazing!!!! she's familiar with so many different languages (like 6 or 7) including- German, Arabid, Hebrew, Chinese, Japanese and Brail! she has a sight impairment and so she's learned brail her whole life. She's been teaching me a little here and there. And chinese too, she knows I'm interested in chinese- I told her I work at chinese flagship. She's really quiet and timid, but it's been fun to get to know her. I think we're becoming a little more comfortable with each other. She's also really positive and so I've really enjoyed being able to learn from her in that way. She also knows her scriptures reallly well. I think we'll make a good teaching couple.

So glad to hear that Emmett is doing well and is perky. Give him a hug from La! and everybody else too! .

Everyone was so perky when we first got here! it was a little overwhelming! Now, I feel like I'm one of them! ha! I've been able to see a bunch of friends from school and live on the same floor as on of the girls in my ward last year. we put our papers in on the same day! It's been fun. I saw Mark Gillespie a couple days ago, and know some of the teachers as friends from school too. That's helped alot to make me feel more comfortable. I know I'm doing the Lords work and know that because of that, He can help me and Hermana Southworth as we try to figure this out. He already has! there are so many miracles around! I love it and I love you all!!

Miss and love you,

Hermana LaPierre