¡Hola Familia!
I miss you all so much and I think about you all all the time! I
hope you´re all doing well, and I hope you had a good time in Vegas! I
hope you´re not mad at me... but... I opened my package today!!! and
THANK YOU! It was the best thing ever! The package guy was laughing at
me because I opened it right there in front of him and was freaking out!
I was really excited.
So... The MTC is the best place in the whole entire world.
Seriously. It´s like church Disneyland. I love it!!! When I first got
here they gave me my name tag with the really cool red dot and the whole
day I had missionaries yelling at me telling me hi and welcome and it
was great. I am in a trio companionship. So I have two compañeros and I
love them both so much. Their names are Hermana Dickson and Hermana
Tracy. It´s funny the first time I saw Hermana Dickson I was walking
into my room to drop off my luggage and she was walking out and when she
saw me her jaw dropped and she just pointed at me. And she said "I know
you!! I totally just read your blog last week and saw your video!!" It
was super funny and crazy. She knew my story and everything. But anyway I
love my district!! There's 6 of us and we're seriously a family. That's
what we call each other we do everything together. It's me, Hermana
Dickson, Hermana Tracy, Elder Moore, Elder Flores, and Elder Haight.
Hermana Dickson is from St. George, Utah and she is going to the Oregon
Salem Mission. Hermana Tracy is from Park City, Utah and she is going to
the California San Diego Mission. Elder Moore is from Alberta, Canada
and he is going to Georgia. Elder Flores is from West Jordan, Utah and
he is going to the California Fresno Mission also he is a marine, he has
some crazy stories. And Elder Haight is from Redlands, California and
is going to the Nebraska Omaha Mission. I seriously love them and we
have so much fun together. Our teachers names are Hermana Bradshaw and
Hermano Corbin. They're both awesome, I have the best teachers.
We are super busy. And just so everyone knows, this world is full
of liars. We don't wake up at 6:30 we wake up at 6. And we don't go to
bed at 10:30 we go to bed at 11. So I am super tired in the morning haha
but it gets better as the days go on. We have class from 7-7:50 then
breakfast, then class from 8:20 until 11:45 then lunch then class from
12:30 to 2:30 then an activity then dinner then class from 6 until 9:30
then we get ready for bed, write in our journals and all that fun stuff.
But it is seriously amazing here and the spirit is crazy strong! And
you would not believe how much Spanish I have learned in such a short
time, the gift of tongues is so true. I understand sooo much like almost
all of it but speaking it is really hard for me. But it's amazing how
much I can speak just after three days.
Last night we taught our first investigator... in Spanish. It was
muy dificÃl (very hard). The investigator is just an actor so she's
actually a member, but they use their real life situations. So the
Elders went first. They're also a trio companionship. When they finished
they came back to the classroom and they were mad at each other. They
were arguing and fighting and were in the worst mood. We asked them if
it was that bad and Elder Moore said, "She was telling us that her niece
just died and Elder Flores started laughing!" Yeah... it was that bad.
So us hermanas went next. We first asked her some questions and then we
started teaching her the restoration. Hermana Dickson gave her part
first and after she was finished I asked the investigator if she
understood and she told us no. So I asked her what questions she had and
she went off for a while of what's going on in her life and had all
these questions. It had nothing to do with what we prepared. So I looked
at my companions and we had no idea what to do. I was the only one who
really understood her and they're both struggling with the language so I
had to teach the rest of the lesson with all the Spanish I knew and all
by myself. It was amazing though, even though she was only an actor the
spirit was so strong and told me exactly what I needed to say. It was
the worst Spanish in the whole entire world but I was able to somewhat
communicate what the spirit told me what to say. We finished with a
prayer and we walked out. It was one of the hardest things I have had to
do. I was frustrated with the way the lesson went and Hermana Dickson
just started bawling but because she is really struggling with the
language. We were all in a bad mood. So we went back to the classroom
and all 6 of us were in horrible moods!!! The lessons were really
disasters. So Hermano Corbin tried to lift our spirits with a lesson and
he did a really good job. After the lesson he took the Elders out and
talked to them and they came back in and were in horrible moods again, I
asked them what happened and they told us that the investigator texted
Hermano Corbin and told him the Elders offended her so bad and she never
wants to meet with them again. I felt bad for them. It was really
really that bad. haha.
I love it here and I am so so happy! The spirit is amazing, my
companions are amazing, and the lessons are amazing! I wish everyone
could experience it here. Except the food isn't that amazing... haha. I
was worried about gaining weight here but I'm more worried about losing
weight now. I am STARVING all the time! So thank you for the package,
those mini muffins are going to be amazing!! But guess what else! The
MTC has blue powerade and I can have as much as I want!!! I'm going to
turn blue here pretty soon! It's really a blessing. Also, I've seen so
many people here I know! Elder Roberts is in my zone and I went to
school with him. I ran into Elder Millburn and Elder Bagley (school and
my friend from Murray). And I saw Sestra Turner. Mom is the only one who
would know her, we met at UVU orientation. So it's super fun.
Our zone is a lot of fun. We have 4 districts in our zone except
for 2 of the districts leave to Argentina on Monday so our zone will be
super small pretty soon. Our zone leader is a professional violinist and
was in some crazy professional group before he came on his mission. So
that's a fun fact for you. I also met the Branch President and he is
super nice and funny. So I'm doing good.
The nights and mornings are a little hard for me. I haven't cried
yet so that's good, but I miss you guys when I'm trying to fall asleep.
That first night I was here I didn't fall asleep until 1. It was brutal.
But I've had dreams about you all every single night so I wake up so
sad! haha but then I get busy and I'm fine. Both my companions are
struggling so it's hard I'm not sure what to do to help them. I keep
praying for them and for me to be a better companion for them. But I
think it will only just keep getting better.
Today we went to the temple and it was the best experience I've had
at a temple so far. Being a missionary is awesome and I seriously am so
happy. I don't think I've ever been happier. Tell Payton I got his
letter and his muscle picture made me laugh so hard. Me and my
companions were laughing for a good 10 minutes about it. I love you all
so much! Oh and I wouldn't be mad if you guys wrote me letters on Dear
Elder(: haha. Maddie wrote me one and it made the day so much better! So
if you guys want to, I wouldn't be mad if you even wrote me like twice a
day haha! But I'm serious. I love you so so so much! I hope you're all
doing well and have a very Happy Easter!
-Hermana Swapp
Me, Hermana Dickson, and Hermana Tracy.
My district: Hermana Dickson, me, Hermana Tracy, Elder Moore, Elder Flores, and Elder Haight.
The temple on our P day!!!
When we got our packages. We made the poor guy take a picture of us!
Yes, I know we all look super hot in this picture. But it was Hermana
Dickson's birthday yesterday so we celebrated with party hats and
horns!
- 8:16 AM
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