Day 2 in Provo

My new address is:

Hermana Munden
85 North 600 E
Provo, UT 84606

 

I'm in the mission field! I had almost forgotten what it's like to ride in a car and experience the outside world. That being said, I miss the little MTC bubble I lived in for three weeks. I had a good last day though. Since Sunday was Fast Sunday we had Mission Conference with everyone there. The MTC Presidency spoke and then someone in the Missionary Department from Salt Lake. Sacrament meeting was the best. I love hearing other missionaries' testimonies and conversion stories. They're so uplifting and inspiring and give me the extra boost I need to keep going. My favorite part about night time at the MTC was when we got to our residence, we had the windows open and could hear the elders singing "God Be With You Till We Meet Again" in Spanish as they walked home. I'm gonna miss that so much. It was such a happy way to fall asleep.

It's so strange that yesterday morning I woke up in the MTC, and I went to bed at my new home in the field. Yesterday was so overwhelming. I had to say goodbye to my companions, my district, and a couple other elders I became friends with. It was the saddest thing! I spent every minute of every day with these people and now I won't see them for two years. Waaaaah. Hermana Barrera and I left the MTC at 2:30 and drove to the Utah Provo Mission home with the three elders who have also been reassigned while they wait for their Spain visas. I met my Mission President and I already love him. He said in my interview that he can tell I'm going to be a great missionary, and I really needed that. He also made a point of telling me that right now, this is my mission. He and the other missionaries are going to treat me like one of their own, not as someone who's here temporarily, and I really liked that. Then I met my new companions! I'm in another trio. I feel like there are some ups and downs to teaching in threes, but so far it's all I know, so I don't really mind. Hermana Alley is from Indiana and Hermana Soto is from Spain! Hermana Alley has been out for a year and Hermana Soto for two months.

Last night we were at it right away. We knocked on some doors in our and we came across this family talking outside. One of their friends was outside with them and we struck up a conversation with him. His name is Arturo and he's from Mexico. He's been in Utah for about 4 years and he's single. His wife left him for another man after 38 years of marriage, so he's struggling with that. We talked to him for probably half an hour and after a while he actually told us he'd been baptized in the Church. He's just not active anymore. I felt the Spirit so strongly when we were with him and I know that God loves him. He's a really good man, and seems so smart. I think he's really lonely, so I'm glad we got to talk to him. And we have an appointment with him on Thursday!

Next was our appointment with Clara and Joel. Hermana Soto went on splits with some girl from the ward, so it was just Hermana Alley and me. The Ward Mission Leader and his wife were at Clara and Joel's house when we got there. Clara fed us cake and horchata (I think that's how you spell it). Oh my gosh, soo good. I've had horchata before, but the homemade stuff is a thousand times better. Then we started our lesson, talking about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Hermana Alley taught most of it, but I bore my testimony about prophets. The Spirit was so strong as Hermana Alley was teaching these people. I guess Clara had been having some pain in her legs and wrists, so Hermano Bailey gave her a blessing. It was really neat. He sat down with her and explained what a priesthood blessing was and how it was going to happen. He then gave her the most beautiful blessing. Afterwards we asked her how she felt. She said she felt chills, and a calm and peaceful feeling. We told her it was the Spirit and she said it was a beautiful feeling. I love teaching real people!

Hermana Soto has a family friend from Spain who lives in our area, so we went to her house for lunch. We had these weird meat things. Ew, not a fan. Some of it looked like sausage with pepper, and the other stuff was called jamon cerana I think. It looked like raw bacon, but definitely didn't taste like bacon. Hermana Soto was so excited to eat it because I guess it's one of her favorite things, but Hermana Alley just gave me a look and was like, "Don't worry, we'll go eat a real lunch." I probably need to learn to like this stuff because it's what I'll be eating in Spain, but right now, I think I'll stick with my American food, thank you very much.

We live in the basement of a member's home; it's a million times more space than I had in the MTC. I like the schedule here a lot more, too. We wake up at 6:10, workout until 7, then take turns showering and getting ready. Personal study is for an hour at 8, companionship study is for two hours at 9 and then at 11 we do language study. Then we have lunch and don't leave the house until about 1. It's so nice to have all that time in the morning to study so I feel prepared for our lessons throughout the day. Tonight we have a few appointments, so hopefully they don't fall through!

Basically, life is goooood. It's strange serving in Provo. I'm nervous I'm going to see someone I know and not be able to run up and hug them and carry on like a normal human being. Haha that's okay, though. We live like 5 minutes from Alec and Irene's and pass the MTC at least twice a day. I'm excited to be here and it's incredible how much I already care about the people we're teaching. That's how it should be though, so I'm glad it's coming naturally. This Sunday, we're going to the morning session of General Conference, and I CAN'T WAIT! General Conference are my favorite days of the year and I'm thrilled I actually get to attend a session!