Letter #2

March 29, 2013

 

Hola Family!

Yes, I got the package – thank you so much for everything that was in it…& the Easter. I thought about opening it but decided to wait ‘til Sunday. Yea I want the Backpack. It will definitely help in evenly distributing all the books that I brought & that I got when I arrived.  Judging by all the pictures, you guys have been Busy! 

I know, I know, I know I am not making the Blog easy for you & I am extremely sorry.  I didn’t mean to offend you.  I know you want details, but I don’t have much time to email them…b/c there are SO many. Even on P-Day we have things to do. We literally only have 30 minutes on a computer before it kicks us off – we usually try (being the operative word) to email while waiting for laundry and such – But everyone else doing laundry has the same idea. And there is not much detail I can give in an email, while trying to answer questions, too, in 30 minutes. I will be waiting for the questionnaire - & just a reminder although I can only email once a week, & I am pretty sure only “technically” write letters on Wed, you can send me dearelders whenever your heart desires.  Maybe I can work out a system where I email as many details as I can (pictures with those maybe iffy b/c the computers only take a card w/a card reader – supposedly the cords won’t work & you can only send like 2 pictures at a time) then answer questions & such in a letter.
I miss you all too, going from seeing all of you guys all the time to not at all has been a strange adjustment. I got the thank you’s all written & sent. Thanks for those & the stamps.  I saw Melissa today (3-28-13…P.S. wish Brittany H. a late Happy Birthday from me) on the way to dinner but neither of us had a camera…so another time.
Just a head’s up if you get a package from Queen Creek, AZ don’t be alarmed. Hermana Andreason & I got talking about things we collected & I mentioned my card collection & she – who has been to Africa & a lot of other places [with a guy she doesn’t want to remember] said she would give them to me & just have her parents send them to the house. So just FYI.
Now answering DearElder letter...
That is exciting about the cabin property – but I am still sad you are selling it.     [Insert sad face here]
Yes each day is pretty exhausting. The waking up early isn’t the hard part     anymore, nor is going to bed. It’s the getting to sleep and staying asleep that is  the hard part. It takes me a bit to get to sleep. But more often than not I wake up at 4:30, sometimes 3:45 or just odd times & I can’t get myself back to sleep again (or @ least not a good sleep before the alarm goes off…it is not so Buenos.)
Yea, it is ridiculous! But those are the MTC rules I guess & the MTC EMT didn’t do anything. We brought her outside for air & he just talked to her, didn’t check vitals or anything like that.  When I took her into the doctor on Wed. he came out & found me in the waiting room & told me that she had a major concussion & tore her MCL in her knee or something like that. She tore like 3 ligaments or  something.
Oh that is super exciting about Baby Dax! Can’t wait to hear more about that &   can’t wait to see pictures. And how fun for Lucy & Mickey and Kaitlyn! Can’t wait to hear more about that too!
In response to dad’s p.s.s.
The food is decent but sometimes we are iffy to eat it. They have ice cream        from the BYU Creamery every Sunday & Wednesday. (so it’s a good thing there  are so many stairs to climb). They have a variety of meals, from pastas, to burgers, to pizza on Friday’s that they bring in from Papa Johns. But the other food just isn’t the same. I have definitely missed Sunday Dinners! I usually get a salad either as a meal or a side – but that has made me miss Hires & their ranch.
Classes are great. Our schedule is set until week 6. Not sure I mentioned in first letter or not, but the Friday after we got here we had to teach a 25 min lesson to an “investigator” – in Espanol!!! – a very nerve wrecking, scary, & humbling experience. The first full week we taught ‘Juana’ a few more times. Turns out Juana was really one of our teachers, Hermana Rivera & that the investigators that she pretended to be was actually one of her real investigators on her mission. And earlier in the week we found out that our other teacher would be another ‘investigator’ that we had to teach, also playing the role of one from her mission, which is cool to think about. They are pulling these role plays from real experiences they had on their mission. This past Monday we had a Teaching Resource Center [TRC] where we actually taught Real volunteers who are inactive/less active. Super cool experience that gave us a real insight on pretty much exactly what we will be doing in the field and although I have learned so so much about the gospel & Spanish, I can understand a lot more, but I still can’t speak it very well. Any who here is an outline of our schedule – so you can see our days are pretty full.
Monday:
06:30 am       Wake up
07:00 am       Personal Study in Class
08:10 am       Breakfast
08:40 am       Comp Study
09:45 am       T.A.L.L. [Technology Assisted Language Learning]
10:50 am       Additional Study
11:30 am       Gym
12:20 pm       Prep for next activity
12:50 pm       Lunch
01:40 pm       Additional Study
02:15 pm       Daily Planning
02:45 pm       TRC/Class [Training Resource Center]
05:45 pm       Dinner
06:30 pm       Class [until 9:30 pm]
09:30 pm       Personal Time [until 10:30 pm]
Tuesday:
06:30 am       Wake up
07:00 am       Personal Study
08:10 am       Breakfast
08:40 am       TRC/Class
11:45 am       Comp Study
12:50 pm       Lunch
01:45 pm       Missionary Portal
02:45 pm       Additional Study
03:15 pm       Gym
04:05 pm       Prep
04:45 pm       T.A.L.L.
05:45 pm       Dinner
07:00 pm       Devotional
08:00 pm       District Devotional Review
09:00 pm       Daily Planning
09:30 pm       Residence
Wednesday: P-Day [Preparation]
06:30 am       Wake up
07:00 am       Personal Study
08:40 am       Breakfast
09:00 am       Laundry
11:40 am       Personal Time [until 12:50 pm]
12:50 pm       Lunch
01:30 pm       Temple
04:35 pm       Personal Time
05:45 pm       Dinner
06:30 pm       Class [until 9:30 pm]
The rest of the week is basically the same with some changes…Thursday: Class in the morning and night. Friday: (like Monday) Class @ 2:45 – 5:45 pm, Dinner, then 6:30 – 9:30 pm class. Saturday: like Thursday. But Sunday’s are awesome. Sacrament @ 7:30 am (that’s different) oh and side note: They asked Hermana Andreasen & I to be the music coordinators. She plays, I lead (which is super hard when trying to follow along singing in Spanish). Then the Sisters have music and the spoken word @ 9:30, Relief Society @ 10, Study @ 11 while Elders are @ Priesthood. Lunch then free time until Dinner – then the Sunday night devotional – which aren’t as big as Tuesday but still awesome. So back to the schedule: like I said T.A.L.L. is a computer program that assists us in really learning the language. We can study grammar, tasks, words phrases on the D.M.G. lessons or just go in and study the key points in the lessons. Or there is other work that we can do to help us.  Each subject/thing you study you read an explanation, match words or phrases, multiple choice questions, fill in the blanks, listening etc. there is a different variety of activities depending on what you choose. In class we split the time 1 hour for gospel study then 1 hour language. Last hour teaching the investigator/additional study. Not very exciting event wise. But I do learn a lot and there is an amazing spirit in our tiny little classroom.   I am getting better @ understanding Spanish & I know more words, but still struggling with actually speaking full sentences. I feel a bit better when preparing to teach/actually teaching but there is SO much left to learn. 

March 31, 2013
Okay, so Saturday I went with Hermana Andreasen to the ER because her head pains were getting worse day by day. We were going to go to the MTC Health Clinic but it and the off campus clinics are all closed on Sat…DUMB! So we were shuttled down to the Utah Valley Hospital where they took a CT scan.  As much as I love the MTC, some of their rules are slightly ridiculous. As we were waiting for the CT, we were in a little room, waiting.  She was wanting to let her family know, or at least someone in her family, what was going on. We asked if they could see if the MTC could contact her brother, who incidentally wasn’t working that day. So the MTC rule is you are not allowed to see/technically talk to family members. So they wouldn’t let me get a hold of him or her sister. I felt really bad but grateful that I was at least there for her, cause she started crying silently while we were waiting for the results that they said would take 15 min to get back, but took about almost 45 min before the doctor came in to explain & discharge her. The final result: she only has a major concussion. Her skull is not fractured & her brain is not bleeding. But he told us to follow up with a concussion specialist on Monday April 1^st just to be safe – and we have a follow up apt with doctor here about her knee, but depending on how it is feeling tomorrow (Monday), we may go in then. Any who, we had the receptionist call the MTC for a shuttle to come get us. So we chilled in the waiting room…about 45 min. to an hour later still no ride. The Receptionist came over and told us that she thinks they forgot about us.  She called again & one was there within 10 min. So yes they forgot. We then had to go pick up her prescriptions @ a grocery store…which is where the purchase on my debit card comes in. We had 15 min. to kill so I picked up a few things. I found a 2 oz. spray pump for the Silver, a small pop up hamper that packs quite nicely, some cheap tom knock offs for here (but if you would still look for the others that I mentioned), paper clips because that is the one thing the bookstore does not have, some extra head bands, and some jelly beans to share with our District. So just fyi on that…but it was a different feeling getting to experience the “real” world as missionaries. Kinda strange. Hermana Andreasen & I both thought that it actually felt like a Saturday for one. All the days here (minus Sunday) just all start to run together.  All in all we had a VERY long day of waiting. We left the MTC around 11:30-11:45 didn’t get back ‘til like 4:15 or something & I (technically we) still had class @ 6:30. Super exhausting day. When we returned we tried looking for her sister to tell her, but she ended up leaving a note starting…”when I got back from the ER we tried to find you to give you goldfish…” Needless to say after class (Hermana Clarke stayed back with Hermana Andreasen while Hermana White & I went to class) Hermana White & I went to find her sister and she was not very happy about the note with not so much info. As would anyone. 
I opened the Easter bag today on Easter. Thank you for the bubbles & jelly beans! They made me smile & I can add it to the 5 large boxes of food & treats Hermana Clark’s grandparents have sent her over the last few days. We have our own little pantry going. So because today was Easter & Fast Sunday we had a large mission conference @ 10 – in our 7:30 am Sacrament Mtg we only bore Testimonies because @ this mission conference they said we would be taking the Sacrament which was really neat to experience. They said that this was the 1^st time trying this… & it worked! The men passing, in the main bldg. finished in about 15 min. & overall they said that the Sacrament was passed to over 3,000 people!!! Awesome! We are history in the making! After the devotional we were chatting with people in another district in our zone. I was talking to Elder Stowell in my district cuz he mentioned again how he went to Brighton. So I thought why not ask him if he knows Bolerjacks…here’s where it gets a little crazy…he says oh yea, Brody, Nick, Craig… & all them. I was like yep that’s them & told him how they were my cousins. Turns out his family and the Boler’s have been super good friends for a while. How crazy is that. I’m not sure if he knew that they aren’t members because he was almost a little surprised when I told him. So if you get the chance, you should see if they know an Elder Cameron Stowell & maybe you could relay the story on and see what they say. Oh & one more thing the musical # @ our Sunday night devotional, was a sister sang the actual soprano solo arrangement that Reegan added all the parts to for the girls to sing at my farewell…yea I was definitely slightly crying by the end. But the speaker was Sherri Dew – super inspiring!! 
Can’t wait to hear about St. George! along with Everything else that is happening. Hope you are all doing well & things are good (can’t wait to get the pix of the fam @ the Temple and any others you want to send)
Love you all, Miss you all!
Bueno Suerte!
Hermana Snow
P.S. Turns out Hermana Prater is in a res. room on my same floor super close to mine. Saw her tonight & got a picture.