Last Week at the MTC...

This week was exceptionally normal, except for in-field orientation yesterday, which was basically a day of workshops learning about working with members, effective street-approaches, etc. Apart from that, I'm afraid I don't have too many interesting things to report. Actually, while we were at in-field, the two elders going to McAllen with me met a girl who just had a brother return from that mission and said that he absolutely loved it. Their family actually went and picked him up, and she met the president and said he's amazing. So... Family vacation 2016 in Texas to pick me up? ;) 

One thing that WAS cool, is that the speaker for the Tuesday Night devotional was born and raised in Colonia Juarez, Mexico. But he didn't talk about that too much, or I'm  SURE he would have mentioned that it was settled by our family and he probably would have asked me to come give my testimony, as the only descendant in the congregation. Okay, probably not, but it was fun to hear about someone who lived there. 

On Tuesday morning we had been studying for a couple hours, and then I was getting super hungry (which I usually don't in the morning) and wanted to go to the vending machines in 18M. So the 4 of us Hermanas went, and one of them got something that needed to  be microwaved, and so we went into the room with the microwave and there was a guy sitting there and we started talking with him. Turns out that he's the director of 17 languages and he goes around and trains mission presidents. As such, he has a profound knowledge of how to be effective missionaries and he talked to us for over an hour about things he's seen and what's really important in teaching investigators, it was amazing! I learned more in that conversation than almost anything else here at the MTC. He specifically talked about how technology has changed the way we process information, and that we've switched from linear thinking to what he called "google thinking," and how that results in having to teach the gospel differently since the gospel is so linear. He was reading a book that looked super cool, called "Mind Change" by Susan Greenfield (I think?) that was all about how technology is changing our minds. So if anyone is looking for an interesting read, check it out!

We have two teachers right now (Hermana White and Hermano Norton), and Hermana White's last day teaching was on Thursday and it was so sad to leave. I don't know how I'm going to survive leaving my mission if it's already this hard to leave people after 6 weeks. On Thursday night Hermano Norton had us listen to recordings of our first week teaching when we were teaching him as an "investigator." so we heard the very first lesson we gave when we had only been here 2 days, and it was pretty comical. It also gave me hope, though, because we could hear the progress that we've made, and that was cool.

One silly reason I'm excited to be in Texas is for the warmth. I feel like I haven't felt warm ever since I came to the MTC. My skin is always cold, and I am always trying to get warmer. The forecast for McAllen is between 65-90, so I'm pretty sure I'll be cured of feeling cold pretty quickly 

Okay, well I love you all!!! Make sure you don't send anything else to the MTC.. I don't have my address yet, but you can send things to the mission home until I DO get that address (mom has the address of the Mission Home and I'm sure you can find it on Google, too)

My next email will be from Texas - Hallelujah!

Much love,

Hermana Reynolds

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One More Week...

Last night our travel plans came... Aagh! I have to be at the travel office at 3:35 am on the 23rd, then my flight leaves around 8 and we get to McAllen at 2 ish that afternoon. In case you were wondering, the McAllen airport is teeny - one runway and two small buildings. It's so surreal that I'm actually leaving - this last week has kind of felt like I'm going to live here forever.. I'm getting really comfortable here (comfortable in my level of mental comfort, not physical,  ha.), which I know is a sign that it's time to do new things. but it's kind of scary! Here we have missionaries surrounding us 24/7 and our "investigators" are teachers and if we don't know a word in Spanish it's no big deal. But I really am excited to go. It's time :) There are two other Elders from our district going to McAllen, and then another Elder came to the MTC last week from Mexico, so he's in an advanced Spanish group and he'll be going with us, too. 

Even though I'm sad to be leaving everyone here, I'm also just so ready to be gone and be in Texas. Our district is struggling. In talking with my teachers they've said that usually the closer to departure a district gets, the more motivated and dedicated they become, and with that the unity increases. However, I feel like our district has been the opposite; at the beginning we were super united and progressively it's  gotten worse and worse. I'm hoping and praying that somehow this last week is better! It's not as if we don't talk to each other and there's back-stabbing, it's just hard for them to focus and work and be nice all the time. 

Spanish adventures for this week. We started into the wonderful world of the subjunctive. I know, I know; you're super jealous, and that's okay. If you want to imagine some of what that's like, it's like finding out that you're adopted and that your whole world is a lie. All I've ever learned about conjugation was switched, but only after some specific words and in some specific cases that have to be memorized. No big deal. Jk, it's not as bad as I expected, but it is definitely a stretch to my mental capacities. I had no idea subjunctive was even a thing - Mom, Dad, and Lucas, you did a good job shielding me from the harsh reality of Spanish. ;)

We got to skype with "Un Nativo" this week, and it was much better than I anticipated. They've had us practice talking to lots of members who speak spanish, but never a native. I don't know if I have a false sense of security that will be totally shattered when I get to Texas, but I'm feeling alright with comprehension. I don't know what percentage I'm understanding, but I feel like I understand most of what's being said, and can conjecture pretty well about the rest. 

We hosted again this week. That's one of the best parts of the week, because we get to be outside and the more often we do it, the more experienced I feel. Also, the weather has been super nice, and looks like it shouldn't be too bad for the rest of this week. Thank you, Utah. The missionaries that came in this past week that are English Speaking are all leaving at the same time as us - crazy! There are even some english speaking missionaries that came here that will be going with other members of my district to their missions. McAllen only has Spanish missionaries, though, so that's not the case for us. 

Oh, also, for those who have asked - McAllen isn't a mission with iPads, etc. McAllen is a pretty poor area, so I think it's not a techy mission at all. Here are some interesting facts about McAllen that I've heard:

It's #1 with amount of obesity in the nation. 38% (I think) of the residents are obese.

It's has the second most bicycles stolen of any mission in the Church.

However, supposedly it's like #7 in ranking of safe cities in the US. Maybe they just are really friendly but are kleptos? 

It's has the biggest costco, walmart, and some other stores. a TON of shopping happens there, and people come from over the border to shop there. 

That's all I know so far. 

I got sick this week, and that wasn't fun.. There were a few days where I was always cold and feverish and my throat hurt and my head was constantly in pain, and everyone was like "go to the Doctor!" I finally gave in because I felt like I couldn't concentrate or be nice because I was so miserable, so I went. And he basically tested to see if I had strep, and then when it came back negative he just told me I'd get over it. So I felt a little silly that I went, but I did get over it and feel fine now :)

Each week we sing in the choir for the Tuesday evening devotionals, and so there is  a choir practice on Sunday and on Tuesday before the devotional. The Choir director is super cool and always tells lots of stories about/relating to the songs we sing, and it's one of my favorite parts about the MTC. This last week we sang Nearer My God To Thee, and the back story is super cool. I'm guessing if you research it you can find lots more information, but the song is based on Jacob's experience of when he left his home because of Esau, and then had his dream, so I thought that was pretty cool. 

Speaking of devotionals, the devotional this week was super good! They're always really good, but this was had a lot of direct ways to apply what was taught. The speaker was a member of the 70 and spoke on the importance of the Book of Mormon. He said that only 5% of investigators feel like they have meaningful experiences with the Book of Mormon, and that most of them have a really hard time applying the lessons to themselves without help. He goes to different missions and does seminars on reading along with your investigators and helping them see connections, and he taught a condensed version of that to us. It was a great reminder that people who haven't grown up in the church don't just "get it" all the time, and that they need help. One thing he said that's pretty cool is that all 8 components of the first lesson in PMG are found in the first chapter of First Nephi, so if you want a scriptural treasure hunt you can read and find :) 

My companion's family sent us a package from Australia this past week, and she had them send us T-shirts and keychains and food - it was pretty exciting. We're all wearing our Australia shirts for P-day, so I'll send a picture later :)

Happy Valentine's Day! Thanks for the valentines that I've received! You all are the best. 

Hermana Reynolds

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Empty Seas: Week 4

On Monday morning a teacher came into our room and said "you are all on week 4, correct?" and we said "no, we're on our third week." and then he explained how they count the first Wednesday - Sunday as week one, so we were actually on week 4, and that we needed to take some language assessment. What?! Where is this time going? When I realized that my heart jumped and I couldn't believe it. We only have two weeks left!  I can't even comprehend what it will be like leaving the MTC. I've finally adjusted to the routine and patterns here, and then it's all going to change. I guess that happens frequently in the mission, though, so I'd just better get used to it. :)

Speaking of which, I got half-way package and I loved it!!! Thank you to all who contributed. My roommates all think I have the coolest family, which I also know to be true. It was a much-needed pick-me-up, and I've been eating all the snacks often (probably too often...).

Spanish adventures of the week:

We learned the difference between Imperfect and Preterit past tenses, and how/where to use it. The most interesting part of that was conjugating "hablar" into imperfect and ending up with the word "hablabamos." Clearly my adventures at the MTC are much more exciting than anything anyone else could be experiencing. ;) 

On Wednesday we "hosted," which means we helped bring in new missionaries. We must have a pretty special district because we got asked to host last week, again this week, and we've been ushers/given prayers during devotionals. Most other people I know keep asking "how do you get to host, etc?" and they've been here longer than us and have never been asked to do anything. Weird, but I don't really mind :) I hosted two girls, and it was fun to remember what I was thinking and feeling on my first day. 

In other adventures, some girls have started sleep-talking in our room (they've also started snoring, but that just comes with the inability to sleep, but no interesting stories). I was awakened the other night by Sister Robison sitting up and starting to talk incoherently, but her sentence ended with "preach my gospel." Ha, I guess the immersion is getting to all of us. 

Oh! Exciting news. I was talking to Sister (Jessica) Christensen, and she said we should get together and do a musical number (you can try out and play for devotionals, etc). She said she brought the music to Savior, Redeemer of my Soul that she sang for her farewell and Brooke accompanied her. Then the next day, Hermana Wilson (who went through the temple the same day as I did and now resides in the bedroom next door) ran into me in the bathroom and was like "Hey, I hear you play piano really well. I was talking to some people and we want to do a musical number. I played Savior Redeemer of my Soul for my farewell on the violin, so we could do it and it would be cool." I was super confused and thought there were two separate people wanting to play that.. 

Turns out that her friend was in Jessica's district, and knew that Hermana Wilson played violin so when Jessica said she needed a violinist for the musical number they connected them. So I practiced a little bit and it was harder than I thought it might be, especially since I haven't been playing piano recently. And then the morning we were supposed to audition I was practicing and then heard someone in the next room over playing the exact same song as me!  So I was pretty nervous. We ran through it a couple of times and just prayed that we would be able to perform well. We went to the room to audition, and the people you audition for are the wives of the MTC Presidency. Yikes. But as soon as we started playing I was able to be calm and my abilities were miraculously increased. After the audition they said they loved it, and would put it in the "yes pile." We need to work on getting it a little bit faster so that it fits in the time restraint, and just because it's in the yes pile doesn't mean we'll for sure perform it, but they said we probably will sometime in my last week here. Yay! 

Also, we have incredible teachers. Ever since the second week here I've seriously considered coming back to the MTC post-mission to teach. Obviously I have a lot of time to decide about that, but it's been an option. The other day in class our teacher had us each get up and try teaching a concept to the rest of the class so we could better understand it, and it was so fun. I love teaching. And the things that our teachers do and the people they are are so inspirational. Also the workers who clean are awesome. Twice a week we do service, and Hermana Taukafa and I always try to get building 10M, since we've made friends with those workers. Their names are Sydney and Karl and they're super awesome, and we just talk and all try to do jobs that we can be close so we can talk while we're working. On Thursday Sydney was talking about how she'll be so sad when we leave, and then said that for their favorite missionaries she'll get money from them and then go get Cafe Rio and then we can all eat lunch together one day, so we'll be doing that soon :) yay! 

I realize that most of you have been in Utah so this really isn't news, but the weather here has been amazing the past couple of days. Yesterday we studied outside, and I haven't been having to wear my coat around. Right now it's almost the same temperature as it is in McAllen usually. Kind of crazy! It's been a little tender mercy, as I've been perishing from cold. Our classroom is like a refrigerator, so being able to thaw outside is a little miracle. 

Okay, I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel for interesting things to tell you know. Life is good, the MTC is great, the food is mediocre, and I'm super duper happy. :)

Much love!!!

Hermana Reynolds 

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MTC: Week 3 pics

Empty Seas: Week Three

Hola!

We got two new sisters in our room this week, which was an adventure. Each room has the capacity for 6, but most have only had 4-5. On Wednesday we all thought for SURE we wouldn't get new sisters since we already have 5, so when we came back and saw luggage in our room we all died a little bit inside. I felt really bad, we hadn't cleaned or organized to accommodate two more girls, so their first hour of rest turned into trying to clear space for them to live. They're English speaking, so they'll only be here for 12 days, and I realized that if I had been English speaking I would be gone already - wow! I can't really describe how time seems to be passing here, it's a strange mix of crawling along like molasses, but flying quickly, too. It's as if in the moment is seems long, but retrospectively it's so fast.

We had a little celebration for our 2 week mark on Wednesday, and Hermana Fowers' mom sent us balloons and candles and we had been planning on coming home and eating cookies and celebrating. In the end, though, we just made space for the new sisters and then took a picture and climbed into bed. Ha. Well, it was still nice to have a moment to acknowledge that we've survived :) We're all getting a little crazy from sitting in a classroom for many hours a day, and this week there were multiple times that people from our district would start showing off their animal noises and then the next 10 minutes is all filled with laughter and sounds like a zoo. Our poor teachers. We've also played handball in the hall during breaks, and taking any opportunity to get up and get moving. Gym time really is an enormous blessing - I don't know how I would survive without having an hour of exercise mingled in with an otherwise stationary day. 

I met an elder the other day that has a brother serving in McAllen... I'm not sure if I should tell you this, but I'm going to :) He said "yeah he loves it there! Everyone wants to feed them, though. He eats 4 dinners a night, and it's really rude to refuse so they have to throw up in between meals" AAAGGHHHH!!!! NO!!!!!!!!!! I guess I'll get good at being bulimic? Jk. Maybe it's different for Hermanas. We'll hope. 

The other district (35 C) left on Monday and we all miss them. It's amazing how quickly you can bond with people here; we had only known them for a week and a half and they all felt like family. They had this tradition of getting to class 5 minutes early and listening to "Glorious" by David Archuleta, and on their last day they all came and ate sack breakfasts with us in our classroom and just talked, and then they all sang that song to us before we had to go do service and they left to the airport. Their district was replaced on Wednesday, and that district has 4 girls in it, so now our zone is almost equal in the Elder to Hermana ratio, which definitely has a new dynamic. It's been fun to welcome in all the Hermanas and get to know them. 

This week was more dramatic than last, in that the hard times seemed harder, but the good times were really incredible. On Wednesday night I was saying my personal prayers in Spanish, and I realized I was thinking in Spanish more than I was in English! I wasn't translating anymore, but was able to think of concepts and the Spanish words would come. I can't say that I feel like that all of the time, but it was really exciting and I definitely feel like I'm getting a better grasp on the language. Hallelujah! 

On Tuesday night we had a devotional, and Elder Kacher of the Seventy spoke (He gave the talk "Trifle Not with Sacred Things" in October). Our district was asked to help usher (aka herding missionaries). I'm not sure why they asked us to help. most of the time was the man in charge telling me that what I was doing was wrong and making me ask people to move, or usually just telling them himself. I was very relieved when that hour was over. Anyway, Elder Kacher's talk was incredible! He spoke about being a consecrated missionary, and gave 3 keys for missionary success: 1 - Obedience, which demonstrates that God can trust you, 2 - Faith, which demonstrates that you trust God, and 3 - to never assume that the Spirit in automatically present, and to always invite the spirit into your lessons and interactions and let it guide. 

Our branch presidency said that in the 3.5 years they've been there, that talk was in the top 10 of all the talks that have been given (including those by the 12). 

In one of the new districts, there are two Hermanas from Tahiti, and an Elder from Brussels and an elder from Portugal. It's a super diverse group, and they all speak many languages. It makes me remember that I actually don't know all that much. Ha. But they're super great. 

Okay, I feel like at this point i'm running out of interesting information. Let's hope this week brings good stories, because you already know everything about MTC life now. ;)

Okay, love you all! Hope your week is magical and wonderous!

Love,

Hermana Reynolds