Week 2- Was there even life before the MTC?

Hola!!

Ok first things first- Shout-out to mom and Sister Lamb for sending me food and delicious cookies!  I use them to bribe the elders in my district to do things for us and so far it's been very effective.  I have been here for exactly 2 weeks but I'm officially in my third week which means I only have 3 more weeks left here in the CCM. Everyone here hits a breaking point where they just become the weirdest they've ever been and pretty much everyone in our district hit that point this week.  It makes things a little more fun but it also makes me want to punch people in the face because no one can focus on studying.  Ok so Spanish is going pretty well.  I am learning how to roll my R's!  The only word I can roll is 'arrepentimiento' but I'm so excited about my new talent that I am frequently seen walking around campus telling people to repent.  Our first 'investigator' turned into our second teacher and he is so funny.  Now we are teaching our 2nd 'investigator' and it is a completely different experience than the first.  In our first lessons we would spend our entire study time memorizing phrases to recite to him but now we can spend about 15 minutes planning an outline for our lesson and spend the rest of our time reading scriptures and PMG in spanish.  Our lesson yesterday was incredible and it was the first time that I could feel the Spirit guiding us in our lesson which was the coolest thing I've ever done.  My companion and I worked so well together and because we had studied vocabulary and prepared scriptures we were able to really cater the lesson to his specific needs.  I thought it felt real teaching our first investigator but I had no idea what it felt like to really teach someone with the Spirit and I'm sure it will only get better from here!   The elders in my district LOVE to sing and they pretty much never stop (refer to me wanting to punch some people above) but every night after our study cycle before we go back to our rooms we sing a hymn together and pray in Spanish.  Music here in the CCM is the best and my favorite part of every devotional is the musical number/singing with all of the missionaries. We are starting to talk more about building relationships with the people we will meet and I sometimes get distracted thinking about all of the incredible people I get to meet and I already love them so much.  When things are hard or frustrating I just try and think about those families and remember that I need to work harder and pray harder so that I will be able to teach them with everything I have.  I am so so so so happy and I really love being a missionary!!  I love you guys!!

Hermana Smith

With her comp

With her good friend Hermana Cassie Beecher