Me with my new companion

My first day in Yuma, trying my new bike

Cartoon Drawing of my MTC District

May 20 - Email

   I have been soooo busy! My companion and I get along great! I love her. And she is kind of bringing my personality back, (haha), so that is good. I am now laughing again, so that is great! I think I am now talking Spanish in my sleep, because I woke up laughing about it. I just dyed my hair brown, I love it!!! I will send pictures.

May 13 - Email

   On the airplane ride here, there was a guy across the aisle from me. I was thinking about talking to him, but I was scared. The elder next to me, told me to talk to him. So, right out of the MTC, I was ready to share the gospel. I started talking to him, just a normal conversation. Then I began asking him about his religion. I gave him a mormon.org card. He said he will check it out. All the missionaries around me were amazed! (haha) It was funny, but I loved it, it was awesome!
   The first day I was here, my companion and I stayed at a member's house. This lady, lets just say that she is very caring of animals... She had three cats and three birds. The birds were cool. Two love birds and a cockatiel. She would carry the cockatiel everywhere. It was well trained. It even ate her food off her plate! But yeah, just a very pet house and very hairy everywhere. (haha) You know how I love that...not.
   So the shower here is pretty nice, but so short! I always hit my head on it and I have to bend way down to wet my hair. I have a glorious time showering ya know...just imagine. I do remember to thank Heavenly Father that it is a nice shower with hot water because Whitney doesn't have hot running water in Guatemala.

Phone Call - Mother's Day

   I am in Yuma, Arizona. I am right by the borders of California and Mexico. It is only 2 1/2 hours to San Diego. It is already very hot here. Today it was 104 degrees! My companion is from Mexico City, Mexico. Spanish is her native language, so she helps me with learning it. We have a car and drive it during the hottest part of the day or if we have a long way to go. The rest of the time, we ride our bikes. We can only drive 50 miles a day, which isn't a lot because our area is so spread out. In July, the Church is making two more missions in Arizona, they will be splitting the Tempe Mission. It will all depend where I am serving at the time of the split, to which mission I will be in. We are living in a trailer. It has only been occupied by Elders, so it is very messy! It needs some good scrubbing! I love the Ward here. Has everyone been doing there daily scripture study??? 

Email from Mission office

We wanted to let you know that your daughter arrived safely and looks great. Attached you will find two pictures that we thought you might enjoy having: one is your missionary, and the other one is the group of missionaries with whom she arrived at the Arizona Tempe Mission.

Phone Call - Airport

   I am so excited to be going to Arizona, but also nervous! The last district testimony meeting, I was the first one to bare my testimony. I bore my testimony, not crying much, then I sat down. I then realized that I just bore my testimony and spoke all my thoughts in Spanish! I then started just bawling and I couldn't stop! I kept crying because I also realized that I understood everyone else's testimonies in Spanish! I was crying because I realized that Heavenly Father did bless me with learning the language.
   I am going to miss everyone in my district. We have grown so close over the last 6 weeks. We decided to have a reunion after our missions. All the Elders are going to missions in the states until their visas go through. Elder Stanford is going to the Tempe mission with the Hermanas! I will tell you my new Arizona address as soon as I get it.

Hermana Hansen and Hermana Horton!

Hermana Hansen and Hermana Savage in front of my favorite picture at the MTC.

My companion and I are like the odd couple when it comes to keeping things organized. My companion's bed is usually where she keeps her clothes. Below is where I keep mine. :)

April 30 - Letter

   I feel like things are going pretty well, but at the same time, there is no way I am ready to be out in the field, speaking Spanish! I am nervous, but really excited! I have been out here for a month! Crazy! 17 months to go and to bless as many people as I can with God's words and with Christ's gospel.
The other day we had a language assessment on the computer and it told me to teach a lesson about the Great Apostasy. All I could think of is, "I don't even know what that is in English!" (ha ha) So, I just started typing everything I knew in Spanish, Dios (God) y Jeus Cristo y Espiritu Santo (Holy Ghost), etc..I told my district about this after and they all laughed, I laughed until I cried, after I looked up what the Great Apostasy  was. (oops! ha ha)
   The other day, Elder Varner was expressing how he hates dogs and he began to show what he would do if a dog came by him while on his mission. He grabbed his scriptures and swung them like he would hit the dog. At this point his scripture case handle broke on one side, so the scriptures swung out about a foot more and nailed Elder Cavin right in the gut! (ha ha) It was the funniest thing ever! I laughed until I cried again.
   The other night Elder Dial jokingly ask our district, "who says the longest prayers?" Everyone pointed at me. I was like "hey!" Well, first of all, I have to feel the spirit and let God tell me what to say and then I have to translate that into Spanish, so it takes awhile! (ha ha) They all think I am funny, mostly they are laughing at me, but hey, I laugh at myself. So, I see it as they are laughing with me. (ha ha)
   In one of my prayers, the prayer I said before a Hermana (sister) stated that she had to go home because of illness, I felt the spirit really strong. By the end of the prayer everyone was crying. God had told me exactly what was needed to be said in that prayer.

YOSO
(You Only Serve Once)