Hello from down da road!!!

A few hours after getting her letter in the mail, I checked my email and found this!  What a FUN day!!!



Aug 8, 2012
Hola Mi Familia!!!!

Oh my goodness I miss you all soo much. But I am happy to FINALLY be able to write you and tell you all hello!! There has been so much that has happened and i feel like i have been her forever but at the same time i feel like i have not been here long at all. I wrote a letter to you all on ummm thursday but i didn't send it until yesterday but it should be in the mail.

Thanks for the package! I loved the muffins and so did everyone from my district. Thanks for the little note mom and grandma! And Ky Ky!!! Your picture made my day! I didn't get an email from you all so hopefully i will get one next week....just saying. I am glad Kate wrote me or I probably would have started crying. :)  So muchas gracias mi hermana kate.

The mtc is great. There are tons of ups and downs here though. Like honestly one minute I am super happy and excited and the next minute i am way sad. I have only cried one time though since I got here. So that is good. I feel like i am learning so much and there is so much to learn. The first day we went to class and our teacher was speaking in all spanish. It was insane and so crazy. Learning spanish is super hard. I have no idea what i am saying but i can understand a lot of what my teachers are saying. On our second day we taught our first "investagtor" we hardly knew how to say anything. It was so scary. We basically asked question and talked what little we could about God's love for his children. We bore our very very simple testimonys. It was the coolest thing because the spirit was so strong as Hermana Kelly and I testified. It was really amazing. It is frustrating and hard to want to say things and explain things but not know how. On Saturday we taught our second "investagator" it was hard again but then on monday we taught Santiago (our second "investagator") again. Sister Kelly felt like it went well and i felt like it went horrible. When we were talking after she was realizing that it was really bad. haha. Then we both were really depressed. We talked a ton to our teacher Hermano Harker and he was encouraging us to not let the Spanish Monster get to us. On Tuesday we taught santiago again and it was really really good because we taught him instead of a lesson and we were careful to listen to what he was saying instead of just reading and practicing to ourselves what we were going to say next. The spirit was definately more there. At the end...we were teaching about the restoration and the book of mormon.... we were getting ready to pray. We had committed him to coming to church and praying to read if the book of mormon was true. Hermana K asked if it was ok if we ended in prayer. I was supposed to pray and I just felt like he should ask him instead. So i asked him if he would pray. He wouldn't but it was still good because I felt like we were listening to the Spirit and we can't be scared of asking. What is the worse that will happen right. He said he would think about it for our lesson on thursday.

So Hermana Kelly. I love her. At first i was really scared and was like ....ummm we will see how this goes. I was worried. As we have talked and worked together I have developed a great friendship and love for her. She is such a sweet girl! She is super funny and outgoing. We laugh a lot. I think she thinks I am insane at times when i walk around in my shower cap and eat a lollipop in the shower and also when i randomly scream or slide down the stair railing. She just says...."you aren't my companion" haha. but oh well. We have a good time! We get a long really well and we are more a like than i thought we were. I have been blessed to have a good companion.

My district is sooo great! We have 4 sisters. Me Hermana Kelly, Rowe and Mills. We have Elder Baldwin, Mann, Brown, Smith, and Seastrand! They are so fun and I love them all already! I wish I could tell you more about them. I will try to write it in a letter later. I saw DR. Slingerland. He is in a branch presidency here. It was great to see him!

We lived with a three some companionship but they left on tuesday to go to Flordia. Hermana Clayton was the best! She is such a sweetheart!! She was always saying Hermanas how was your day?? We had some good talks with her when we were living together. We just got two more sisters today but we haven't really met them. Just said hi.

My favorite things at the MTC are.....Sunday Sundaes! SOOOOo good. BYU icecream. and toppings. Don't worry Tanny, I won't get fat! ;) Grape Juice and BYU creamery Chocolate Milk. GYM TIME! We get it every day and it is the best to let out all of your energy. Hermana K and I like to work out so it is fun and we work hard!

My favorite things about the MTC (spiritiually) Sundays and Tuesdays because we get a devotional. They are so uplifting. On sunday we sang Army of Heleman and it was so good. They changed the words to we are NOW the Lords missionaries to bring the world his truth and it was incredible. I saw Mr. Mendenhall on tuesday but didn't get to talk to him. I also am already playing the piano in our zone church meetings. They have put me to work! It is nice to be able to play. The Spirit is great here

If there is one thing I have learned and has been testified to me here in my first week is that. Without the Lord I am nothing but I can do anything with him. I need to rely on him and humble myself all the time so that I can be blessed with the many gifts he has promised his missionaries.

I know this church is true and I love this gospel so much. Please pray for me that I can learn and remember Spanish. :) El don de langues ( the gift of tongues)

I can sorta pray and bear my testimony in Spanish so that is good. I am so excited to be here. I hope you all are doing well. I miss you all so much! Keep improving everyday even if it is just a little bit. I have to remember that even if i learn just one phrase that I am doing good in spanish and that i made improvement. Love each other and be the best to each other!!

I love you

Hermana K. Rife