Raegan's Mission to Mexico: July 2, 2014

Hola familia! Como estan? Estoy muy feliz aqui! I loooooove the MTC!! I have the best district in the entire world! Did I already tell you where everyone was going? If not here's the deal: My companion, Hermana Storms, is going to the Hill Cumorah Visitor's Center in New York; Hermana Gardner, Hermana Andrews, and Elder Pinder are going to Cancun, Mexico; and then Elder Smith, Elder Lamm, and myself are off to Juarez! My district is seriously an insta-family. We get along great and already all love each other. I attached a photo.

We've been teaching an "investigator" named Martina in Spanish! That started on Friday. My vocabulary was NOT ready for that haha. I walked out of the first lesson super frustrated because I could understand her pretty well, I just couldn't talk back! And I knew exactly what I wanted to say in English...but I had to speak Spanish...so it came out in really bumpy sentences. Who knows what I really said haha. But every lesson since has gotten better and I just let the Spirit guide me. People!! The Gift of Tongues is real! I mean in a 24 hour period my vocabulary sky-rocketed. I have to work pretty hard, but I'm learning really fast and my brain thinks in Spanglish ALL THE TIME! It's awesome. I'm super exhausted but super happy.

So my thoughts are all scattered, and I'm sorry if this email makes no sense. There is so much I want to tell you guys! So here is my attempt to do that. Anyways, one day we were practicing teaching and inviting people to pray. I forgot to ask the Hermanas (the pretend investigators) if they would like to pray. Instead I finished teaching, asked if they understood, and the said, "Arrodillarse!" (Which means 'kneel') We had a good laugh at my being a demanding missionary. So my goal is not to forget to invite people before commanding them to do something haha. And then, when it was my turn to be the investigator, I said my name was Clara. My teacher thought I said "rara" which means "weird." HA! SO FITTING! So the hermanas laughed uncontrollably for a solid 5 minutes. Of course, this probably doesn't sound that funny to you guys, but when you've been cooped up in a classroom for the entire day, almost anything has you laughing. One more story: We were walking to class after dinner one day and saw a momma duck and her ducklings in the pond. Hermana Andrews and I basically chased them around the pond to get a better look. I mean, hello, BABY DUCKS! Anyways, for some reason when we turned around to walk away, I had a major deja vu moment. Like I had been in that EXACT place before having the EXACT conversation with someone. I know I haven't been here before and I didn't know Hermana Andrews until last Wednesday...so it was crazy. I blurted out in the middle of Hermana Andrews' story: OH MY GOODNESS I'M WHERE I'M SUPPOSED TO BE!! and was super excited about it. The hermanas laughed at my enthusiasm and randomness, but I really believe that! Anyways, now the district quotes me on that all the time. Elder Smith says I'm the comedic relief in the district, I don't really try to be...it just comes out. My district has a theme song, it's "Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes' in Spanish. We performed it for our teacher the second day here. Oh, we are soooo cool haha. We have so much fun while learning.

Ah I'm having a blast here! Except I do miss running and hugs. I'm stuck on a stinking machine for exercise...but it's fine because I can study at the same time. I've memorized the First Vision and My purpose in Spanish!!! :) There isn't a moment to waste here. It's super busy and I feel like my mind is going to explode all the time, but I've been super blessed so far. I miss you guys, but I'm not homesick and I have been able to keep level-headed even with everything going on. I don't feel overwhelmed and like I can't do it...because I CAN!! Si, puedo!! (Con Dios of course.) Missionary work is the best. I might not be able to change the entire world like I would like to, but I can change at least one person's world in Mexico.

Con todos de mi amor,

Hermana Anderton