i have twenty six minutes to write this

hii! ok for now, email me through dear elder. i have like zero time to read anything on the computer...and I can read Dear Elder every day!


So here it goes... It's finally my first full pday and it feels so awesome to finally have some down time to just think. I don't really know where to begin. I feel like enough has happened to fill a month's time.

First off, I loss a companion Tuesday. Sister Lebaron has left sister Stahly and me for Brazil. I was kind of jealous at first but then we heard she'd be one of two american sisters there so I decided that I was A-Ok where I was. I was sad to see her off but so glad that she was on her way. 6 others have received their Visas this week so things are looking up. Only 200 or so more to go. haha. Keep us in your prayers. LA still needs to contact a few of us just with the online portion. We are all working so hard and are very much willing to go wherever it will be that we are sent, but there is work to be done in Brazil and we very much want to be there to do it! I know I do at least!

But on a better note...I'm so grateful to be here in Provo. Seriously, it is amazing. For example, Sister Dalton (Young Women General President) came to speak to us in Relief Society. It was by far the best talk ever. Ok maybe not ever, but how cool is that? 250+ sisters stood and recited the Young Women Theme. I loved how she stated that this mission would turn the course of our entire lives, and that  it would be just the first of the greatest things we would do.

Speaking of Sunday...That has been the only day that I have been homesick. I think it was because it was the first day i had time to sit and think. We are able to walk to the temple and just read and write in our journals. That was the first time that it hit me that I'm in Provo but can't just walk over to see my friends or call home to check up on ya'll. Weird! But as much as I miss all ya'll, I wouldn't trade being here for anything and each time I think that, the homesickness goes away.

Wednesday our district hosted the new missionaries. (My district is my class) Everyone was so jealous because only old timers (7-8 weekers) usually get to host. It was a mix up (but we told them otherwise). I walked my new sister around in a circle a few times, but she was too frazled to notice...I hope.

Goodness...I have so much to say but so little time to say it. We had our first TRC (That's where we go and teach practice lessons). So that meant that we taught and studied Lesson 1 all week. The first time I practiced on my teacher, I totally bombed it. I was so nervous. Luckily Sister Stahly saved it. I didn't get too discouraged. I just told myself to keep on studying, working hard, and praying.

One day while I was studying a couple of elders shared a spirtual thought with us ( I love how you are always pulled aside and given spirtual thoughts and spoken to in different languages) This time i know the message was meant for me. The gist of it was--be yourself and trust in the lord and you will be able to teach. After that I continued to preaper but i prayed almost as much. And after that each time I taught, I was able to do it confidently and as myself. And what I found was that by doing that, I was able to be much more than myself. I still have a lot of room for improvement, but I'm learning. That's why I'm here.

Another thing I wanted to tell ya'll...We did contacting for the first time this week. That's where you just go up to random people and share a spiritual thought/ your testimony with them. We did it in port. I am often intimidated by Stahly's quick ability to catch on to the language but when we were bearing our testimonies I found that I was able to say just as much and even make up sentences that I hadn't memorized.

Its amazing how fast we are catching on to the language. We don't even spend that much time learning the language from our teachers, but we practice in all our free time and always pray for the gift to speak and we are learning. It is such a blessing. I'm not saying I could go and communicate with a Brazilian..I couldn't. But I do see how we are able to do so, so fast.

The Lord is molding us into something much more than we are. Every day I'm here my testimony of Him and of His presence in our life is made all the more strong.

On a last and slightly different note..you might not want to to post this. I've never said this out loud. I'm really struggling with my appearance. Not in the way you think though.. Everywhere I go, there are comments on how I look. At first it was fine...it was mostly just sisters and the elderly couples, but then it became more and more frequent. So frequent it is not only embarrassing but almost frustrating. It wouldn't be so bad if i didn't have another person glued to my hip having to hear the comments each time...but i do have a person glued to my hip. And then on top of that wherever i go there are elders whispering, coming up to me telling me they have a goal to get to know as many missionaries as they can and then precede to ask me my reason for coming on a mission...if i have a boyfriend...etc. Seriously. I thought I was just being big headed at first...and even told myself that I was imagining things...but I'm not. One Elder even came into my classroom and said that his whole district wanted to know if I would write them while we were on our missions. Luckily my teacher saved me before my face could go too pink or before I said anything too mean.. My district is full of great elders. Very mature...as much as you can be at 19. We just laugh it off,but i think it would get frustrating after a while. So mom, if I cut off all my hair...don't be to mad. once again, I'm not sure how that sounds out loud. y'all be the judges...

I love ya'll so much. I miss ya'll. Thank you so much for making my dream of going on a mission a reality. And thank you so much for never letting me back out of it. It would have been a shame to have missed this awesome opportunity because I was too scared to try. I know that this is where I should be. love, Sister Powell