Week 4: Almost ready to leave the MTC!

Hi!

I have now finished my fourth week here at the MTC and I´m starting to get really pumped to leave this place! Haha I´m learning so so much here, have gotten really close with the people here, and am realizing more and more everyday how lucky my life is. I think the biggest transition to mission life has been the concept of being productive in some way every second. It is amazing how much you can accomplish when your whole day is planned out! I don´t have very much time to email today, but I am thinking about you!

Love and miss you!
Hermana Bernal

Week 2: Are you fired up!?

Hi everyone,


This week flu by! Because I got the flu last Friday, ha. To be honest I´m still not back to 100%, pero esta bien. I bet my body could use some extra antibodies for when I get out into Tegucigalpa anyway. 

Every week we have one or two devotionals (speeches) given by the Mission President of the MTC and his wife. President Cox is the most enthusiastic man I´ve ever met. You can just tell he lives every second of his life to the fullest. Anyways his devotionals pump us up like no other to work hard and be the best missionaries we can be. At our most recent one, he told us how when his kids were in school, he would make them stare at themselves in the mirror and yell ¨I´M FIRED UP!¨ and then proceeded to invite shy-looking kids up in front and yell it at everyone and it was hilarious. So now Ï´ve been yelling at all our roommates when we wake up at 6:30, ¨YOU FIRED UP OR WHAT???¨

The other day it was really funny because me and the three other sisters in my district (150 missionaries here are split up in districts of about 16 missionaries who we share a schedule with) got back from a class break and we were singing the song ¨Ä Child´s Prayer¨ with the two overlapping verses, and as the elders filed in the class they joined in and it was like a movie it sounded so good! And then we got all excited and wanted to practice it more so we could do it for the rest of the MTC at a meeting or something, but after that one time we realized that when they actually tried to sing for real they all turned tone deaf so we´re not doing that anymore...

Overall, this week has been pretty amazing to see how my health has responded to the power of the peaceful spirit that I feel when I am practicing teaching a lesson with my companion, or listening to someone bear their testimony. I´m not saying it has been like a light switch difference or anything sudden, but when I focus on the message of the many tools Heavenly Father has given us to prepare for our futures in this life and the next, I forget about all of the aches and discomforts that have lingered a few days from the flu.


I LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL!

Hermana Bernal

Guatemala MTC

Hello everybody!!

So happy to be writing to you all right now!!! I'm sorry if this is email is super scatter brained!! Ok so right now, I am currently in the Guatemala MTC (Missionary Training Center) which is where missionaries who are going to any of the Central American missions go! Missionaries come here from between 2-8 weeks to study the language, and to adjust to missionary life! You guys I'm in heaven this place is awesome. Everyday we go to classes with our districts (groups of like 10), learning how to teach the gospel in Spanish! One of my favorite parts about this place is that many of the teachers are converts to the church. It is so special to be taught by people who care so much about what we are doing, because it is so personal to them. They are all latinos, and they are just such fun, great people!! Also, so far I've been feeling very prepared as far as spanish goes, but every time I get confident I usually try to remind myself how rough my week in Mexico was so that I don't get lazy in my studiez haha. There are about 150 missionaries altogether here, and probably 100 are latinos! Mi compañera is Hermana Gundersen and she is so so sweet! She lived in my dorm building at BYU and I never met her till here!! Crazy huh??

The food here is delicious (I figure that's the next thing you all want to know) and GUESS WHAT GUYS PAPAYA IS ACTUALLY REALLY GOOD. In the US I always thought papaya was really gross but it's delicious here!! For every meal we get to delicious latin food I can't start getting into more detail or else I will never stop so sorry

Last Saturday and Sunday I felt especially close to home watching General Conference! For anyone who is wondering what that is, General Conference is when we get to hear the leaders of our church speak to the world (literally) through live broadcasts two times a year. I thought about all you at home watching it on the couch with your little notebooks and remembered when Dad used to give me a dollar for every page of notes from Conference that I wrote... haha. I especially loved the talk from Neil F Marriot. She spoke about how as we recognize difficult situations in our lives as opportunities for learning, we can be sure that bad things that happen will always work together with the good things, for our benefit. It made me think about the scripture, ¨¨for he doeth that which is good among the children of men; and he doeth nothing save it be plain unto the children of men; and he inviteth all to come unto him and partake of his goodness;¨(2 nephi 26:33) Everday we have the choice to partake of goodness in whatever form...

Love you all and I am thinking about you!!

PS sorry this turned out to be a novel pictures coming next week!!