April 16, 2013

Hola!

This has been a crazy week, but so good.   I've seen a lot of progress this week, and a lot of difficulties.  But opposition in everything, right?

We met with the Argentine consolate earlier this week to get some final stuff worked out for our visas.  We don't know how long it's going to take to get the visas processed, but with any luck they'll be done by early May.  If not then we'll be temporarily reassigned to a mission somewhere in the States.  I used think that would be really terrible, but now I think it could actually be pretty fun.  I hear that as a state-side Spanish speaking missionary, you kind of speak more of Spanglish than pure Spanish, so it could be a really nice transition.

Concerning the Argentine mailing system, I guess that the mailing system is pretty reliable, but a bit slower than the US.  And I hear most packages make it to their destination in tact.  The nice thing is that all of the mail goes through the capitol, Buenos Aires, and so that means mine is faster than most areas!  Yay!

This week has actually been pretty good.  I'm feeling better about my language with each lesson and understanding more.  I really like doing TRC, which is where we go share a message with a member rather than a fake investigator.  We had two TRCs yesterday.  Both of the people we taught were native speakers.  It's great practice with the language and also just great to meet new people!

We tried our first door approach this week.  It was a bit rocky, but the person was pretty kind and receptive and probably nothing like a real door approach, but great.

The week was a bit rough for my companion.  She was feeling a bit discouraged about the language, so I've been trying to focus more on what I can do to help her.  It's hard to find the balance between helping her develop her language skills and continuing to develop my own, but I know that if I don't focus on myself, it'll come easier.

I got a haircut today.  I'll try to send pictures.  It's pretty short. Mom, you gave me an excellent haircut, but short hair is much more manageable, so hopefully this will make my 20 minutes to get ready in the morning a little simpler.

Anyways, that's basically been my week.  The MTC is a bit of an emotional rollercoaster sometimes, but I'm learning so much and getting pushed and stretched in unforseeable ways.

I love you all and thank you for your continual support.

Sincerely,

Hermana Walton

April 9, 2013

What a week!

 

This weekend, especially, was great. Conference was really wonderful and insightful.  Elder Holland and President Eyring were definitely my two favorite talks.  I would encourage everyone to read/re-watch those talks. 

Then later in the evening, for the Sunday night devotional, BYU's all-male acapella group, Vocal Point, came and performed.  They were phenomenal.  It was so fun.

 

Other than that, honestly, this week was pretty similar to last week.  Lots of language practice, lots of studying, lots of teaching.  Everything is slowly but surely progressing.

 

I'm pretty pressed for email time right now, but I'll try to write more next week!

 

Con sinceridad,

 

Hermana Walton

 

P.S.  The attached pictures:

 

 

 1.  Springfield Stake MTC Missionaries!

 

2. Me writing letters... missionaries love letters!  Write me!

 

I sent a message to Whitney Lewis to add her to Lauren's email list, and then she sent me this back.  Rachel Whitmer (reported yesterday) Andraya Funke (it's her P day), Lauren Walton and Whitney Lewis.  What an amazing group of young ladies!

Hello family and friends!

 

I'm finishing up my first week at the MTC, and goodness gracious, it has been incredible.  The language is coming along swimmingly, and I feel better about it everyday.  We taught our first lesson only two days into being here in the MTC, completely in Spanish, to Antonio.  All things considered, it went pretty well, but it was very difficult.  Mi companera ( Hermana Mumford) y yo are getting better with each practice, though. 

 

A cool experience this week:  My teacher was instructing the class, and maybe 30 minutes into the lesson, she stopped talking and said, "this isn't what you guys need right now."  She said that she wanted one of us to pray and then open our scriptures randomly andstart reading.  Of course I was the one called on to pray in my broken espanol, and then randomly open the scriptures.  I ended up opening to Jacob 5, the allegory of the olive trees.  It was completely about missionary work, and our class then had an incredible discussion on why we're out on missions.  It really was exactly what we needed at that time, and it had nothing to do with me.

 

A funny experience this week:  Hermana Mumford and I were walking back to our dorm and weren't paying attention to where we were going... we ended up walking onto the wrong floor and opening the door that coincides with where we would be on the floor to find two girls in towels and a girl laying on what would have been my bed... awkward.  The worst part is, we swung the door open and said "Hola hermanas!  Como esta?"  and it took us a good 30 seconds to realize it wasn't our room.

 

Sorry for the brevity, but I'm almost out of email time!  They keep us on a pretty tight schedule... but it's all for the good of the work.

 

For those of you who want to keep in contact with me, rather than emailing me, could you use the Dear Elder website?  I don't know how to use it personally, but as I understand it's pretty simple.  I'm sure my mother would be willing to help you if need be (thanks, mom!)! If you include your address, I can write you back personally as well!  I love getting letters, so thank you for all who have contacted me thus far, and feel free to send me your contact info so I can respond!  Thank you so much for your support, prayers, and love.  God speed, I love you all!

 

-Hermana Walton

FYI:  If you want to use the Dear Elder website her address is at the Provo MTC:

Hermana Lauren Jane Walton
MTC Mailbox #99
ARG-BAW 0507
2005 N 900 E
Provo UT 84604

That is also the US Post Office address - good until about May 6.