Week 4 - MTC January 25, 2011

Oh familia mio, could you be any greater? I feel so loved when almost every night I get the biggest stack of letters in the district. Thank you Laurel, Shelli, Dad, Sarah, Ashley, Mom, Amanda, Grandma Springer, Teresa, and Dani for your letters this week. (Amanda, your random Spongebob quote was awesome. I laughed so hard that I cried.) I'll try to respond to all of your letters as I find time.

So I totally didn't mean to sound moody and/or discouraged in my letter about last week. There just really wasn't much else to mention. I've settled into a steady routine. I am doing SO well and I'm SO happy here. I'm in my element and loving every minute of this experience. Day by day I can feel myself changing into a better, more positive person. I wouldn't change a thing about my situation. Except maybe Sunday meals. And the weather. It snowed today after a week of rain. No ice yet but I'm still looking forward to a nice Paraguayan autumn next month. :)

I can't BELIEVE it's already been a month since Christmas. The time is passing by so quickly and I want it to slow down! I can already tell that 18 months is gonna seem way too short. I'll have to push myself to fit in as much learning, teaching, and service as i possibly can. No way am I wasting these choice 18 months worth of opportunities. I recently got really excited to go to Paraguay. I love my district and teachers here SO MUCH and I'll be super sad to leave them, but every time I think about that long plane trip to another hemisphere I get so excited by the prospect of adventure. I'm excited to be able to say that I lived as a Paraguayan for a year and a half. I'm excited to be completely immersed in another way of life; to not just visit but to become part of that little overlooked country. And I'm excited to teach real people and not just actors. We had a good teaching week, with an "investigator" at the TRC who kept all his commitments and accepted the challenge to be baptized ("My first baptism!...Oh wait.") and we had great lessons with "Marcos" and "Pablo" but in the end it's all just pretend. I really want to help people come unto Christ and see them enter the waters of baptism. I get a thrill just imagining it.

I am seriously so absorbed in the work. I get surprised when I see "Carly" written on my scriptures. I have a first name? Oh yeah... Seriously, we all just go by "Hermana" here. I can actually tell the difference between the way Hna. Y calls me "Hermana" and the way she addresses other "Hermanas." We have new sisters in our room as I mentioned last week, and they get so confused by all the "Hermanas" we throw around. It's fascinating to watch the new sisters adjust. I can't believe I was in their shoes only four weeks ago. They're really sweet. They have a hard time settling down at night, but they're sweet.

On Saturday night when I was writing my talk I realized that I could write almost the entire thing without consulting my Spanish books. I love it when things like that happen and I realize how much I've learned and been blessed with greater understanding. My accent is relatively good, too. Hna. Y and I realized this week that all the Intermediate students ahead of us aren't being funny with their "gringo" accents--they really don't know how they're supposed to sound. We're both grateful for having heard authentic Spanish accents throughout our lives to give us an anchor in that regard. My only real issue with Spanish lately is numbers. It became a running joke in our district that I always have to have someone repeat page or hymn numbers wheneverr we open a book. I'm getting better, though, thanks to Hna. Y's tutelage.

On the subject of funny happenings this week, I was again thoroughly teased when, on service day, we had to clean the bathrooms and I confessed to Hna. Y and our friend Hna. Jensen that I'd never been in a men's room before (that I can remember). Whenever we went from a men's to a women's restroom they would grin and say, "Feeling more at home, Hna. Springer?" And actually, yes. Yes, I did. That's what I get for not having brothers.

I had a really funny dream the other night. I'm currently behind in my journalling and I had a dream that the 18 months were over. I was back home and everyone was congratulating me on a good job well done. Then someone asked about my companions and the people I baptized. I stood there for a moment, wracking my brain, and said, distressed, "I don't remember!" I couldn't remember anything! I snatched up my journal and opened it to find that I'd given up writing in it before I'd even gone to Paraguay. I started hyperventilating. Why oh why didn't I journal?? Now I'd never know how my mission went! Did I even HAVE comapnions? Did I baptize ANYONE?? Oh the horror!

Then I woke up and I was really relieved that I was still in the MTC. But seroiusly, I'm gonna catch up in my journal now. That was scary. :)

Seriously I'm kind of terrified about coming home. I never want to forget how I feel here, or lose my good habits or not have the Spirit of teaching with me anymore. I may have to come back to the MTC as a teacher just to stay sane. Or marry an RM right away. Either one, really. Elder Andreasen and I were talking the other day about how much we're going to miss Paraguay (yeah, we haven't even gone yet, but that's how we feel). Someone eating at our table said jokingly, "Why? It's the armpit of South America?" Poor Paraguay gets that a lot and we always remind people that no, it's the HEART of South America! "El pais de un mil y uno adventuras." As we continued to defend our country the conversation got sillier and sillieerr until finally Elder A loudly declared that he and I would baptize the ENTIRE country and Paraguay would become so favored of the Lord and the people learn so many great war strategies from their ancestors in the Book of Mormon that they would become a major world power and the Lord would move Zion there and THEN we'd see who dared call them the armpit of South America. :)

We really do have high hopes for Paraguay, though. We had a fabulous LGM about goal setting. We learned how goals equal desire plus vision, and how goals plus plans equal action. My favorite quote: "Goal-setting grants unto you the ability to pierce the curtains of the future for the benefit of yoruself and those you have stewardship over." I really can't describe how great of a lesson it was in so short a time but it did make me think up a challenge for you all. Missionaries are full-time teachers. Members are the ones who need to find people to be taught. So I want you to support your local missionaries by setting a goal to find people to bbee taught. I know I would greatly appreciate referrals and I know that the missionaries around you will, tooo. 1 in 1,000 street contacts gets baptized, but with member referrals 1 out of 50 do. So now yyoou know. Now you have to be responsible. Mwahahaha!

Um...yeah. Other than that things have been pretty rroutine. As I continue to teach I find my abilities strengthening. Hna. Y has also helped me gain confidence in myself by giving me exercise goals that at first I think no way I can accomplish. But as she pushes me, I CAN do it. Now I actually enjoy jogging. ME! I feel so athletic, slow as I aam, and I still find time to play volleyball every day so gym time is extremely enjoyable.

I'm also really enjoying reading the Book of Mormon again and delving into Jesus the Christ for the first time. It's so easy to see the eternal aspect of things here. Everything i do has purpose and helps me grow in mind and spirit. It's amazing. I especially love all the art around me depicting scripture events. I'm considering becoming a collecter of Friberg and Teichert paintings, among other artists. The visuals just provide a constant reminder that it's all real. The Church is God's church on the earth, restored because He wants us to be eternally happy and be with our families forever. I'm not here learning tricks of the trade to swindle people into being baptized. I"m only learning how to be God's mouthpiece, spreading the good news of His lovee aand modern-day direction; showing the people the way through promptings of the Spirit and the power of the Priesthood. I seriously can not wait to go to Paraguay and help people find eternal, unfailing answers; to see the change wrought in their lives through the Atonement of Christ.

I never have yet and I never will regret this decision to be a servant of the Lord. As I teach, I learn. I no longer bellive things; I KNOW them. I hope that in your own way each of you will be able to have (or already have) true faith in God and Christ as well. As always, I thank you so much for getting me here. I will never forget the part that your selflessness has played in my happiness. I love you. I pray for you. Be safe and happy and forever true to the faith.

Love, Hermana.

No...wait.

Love, Carly

P.S. I encourage you to watch "The Testaments" and the Joseph Smith movie and "The Best TWo Years" as often as possible. And keep reading the Book of Mormon and Preach My Gospel. And don't forget to do referrals! Love you!

Week 3 - MTC January 18, 2011

Mi familia amorada,

Thank you from the depths of my heart for all of your letters this week. Dad, Sarah, Starla, Laurel, Goompa & Nana, and Grandma & Grandpa Springer. You're all wonderful and your letteres brighten my days (If I didn't mention you and you sent me a letter within the past four days, I don't get mail Saturdays, Sundays, or MLK Jr. Day, so I probably haven't gotten your letters yet. Sorry)

Thank you again McConkies for the awesome package--I've worn the cardigan twice already. And thanks Mom for the gorgeous pictures of you and my sisters. I still need one of Dad and the boys, though. And Starla, CONGRATULATIONS!! I'm so excited for you to go on your mission to Peru. How lucky are you to be sent to a country that you already know and love??

To answer some Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: With only two elders, Hma. Y and yourself, is your district small for the MTC?

A: Um...yes. It's the smallest district I've yet seen here. The classroom next to us is almost the same size room as ours but has 23 people in it! I can't imagein that. In our room we each have two desks and even then I have to keep some of my study supplies on the floor. I LOVE having a tiny group. We get lots of one-on-one time, our teachers are our best friends, and we feel like a little family. Plus, we can all sing, so when we sing a hymn before and after class, we sound like a beautiful, harmonious quartet. I'm the soprano. :)

Q: What is the food like at the MTC?

A: For the most part, it's good, but it's nowhere near as good as homemade meals. Sometimes the food looks (and apparently tastes) downright icky, but there's enough of a variety and a broad enough menu that everyone can find SOMETHING they like. Except on Sundays. Since they don't want to make people work on Sundays we have leftovers. And lots of ice cream. I dislike Sunday meals. Mostly I stick with the salad bar which rarely fails to satisfy.

I feel like I have so much more energy lately. Hma Y is a BYU runner and has appointed herself my personal trainer. She works me hard twice a day during gym times and with her constantly at my side I eat very healthy, too--usually only from the salad bar. It's been so fun having her as my companion. our two roommates and friends, Hmas. Brown and Gomez, headed out to the field already--Hma. Brown after only two weeks here at the MTC! Hma Y and I are so lonely without our fellow sisters around all the time. I miss them already. But we'll be getting four new sisters in our room tomorrow. I hope I'll be able to bond with them after having already bonded so much with the otehr sisters. We'll see. Mostly I'm worried about the smell. Our shoes STINK by the end of the day. We may have to start leaving them out in the hall, as is the common practice here.

Learning about the gospel and speaking Spanish has been going fine. I can understand almost all written and conversational Spanish but I still struggle to speak it. Hma. Y and I read aloud in Spanish with pens between our teeth so we can learn to use our tongue and lips correctly. This is hard to do with my overbite. :) But it gets really frustrating when I can teach the gospel SO WELL in English, then can't say anything in Spanish. We've improved a lot, but Hma Y and I have a hard time teaching "Pablo" and "Marcos" (our teachers' alter-egos) the gospel. I want them to be excited and understasnd how great the gospel is, but I don't have the words needed to explain better. And when we're in the classroom learning how to say things, I have the hardest time paying attention. There's always a fan on creating white noise and it's easy to zone out when someone's lecturing in a foreign language. Controlling my thoughts has definitely been my biggest obstacle, even without books, movies, or music to distract me. I know i can do it, I've had days that were just amazing because I caught every word, but I'm still working on making it a habit to concentrate on the work. The Adversary sure knows how to get to me through reminders of Harry Potter or "How to Train Your Dragon" and the like, but I'm excited by the fact that when, through practice and self-discipline, I master my thoughts and become a master scholar, the enemy will have virtually no bad habits to snare me with. :)

Yeah, Hma Y and I have had our challenges. Not like as companions or anything. We're tight. But at the TRC last Saturday morning we got really frustrated by our lack of learning. The TRC is almost our only real-world practice (and it's not even real) so we value what we learn and experience there. This week, though, the volunteer who we taught barely let us get a word in. Not in a bad way, she just kept going off on stories or tangeants about the gospel and forgetting that she was supposed to act like she knew nothing about the church. It was nice to hear her entire conversion story, starting with when she was five, but it sure didn't help us any with our teaching skills. Hma Y was sick all last week, too, so she was especially stressed. (Before you ask, Dad, yes I gave her Silver. She already knew all about it before I even offered, which was cool. We both said, "I thought I was the only one who knew about it!")

We had our first major meltdown this week. Hma Y's emotions were running high because of her cold and missing her boyfriend, and when Hmo. Alder called on her to teach something in Spanish she just burst into tears. Then I cried because I felt like I'd failed as a companion to help her. I think the Elders were a little scared. Hmo Alder was super supportive though and used the rest of our class time to encourage and praise us. Afterwards, Hma Y and I went to an empty classroom and cried some more, getting all our fears, doubts, and feelings of inadequacy out in the open. We consoled each other and set goals and said how much we love each other. Then we decided to not put ourselves down anymore. We've never had problems with each other, but we always would be condescending to ourselves. So we decided to put a stop to that--still push ourselves to learn but not listen to whisperings of ineptitude. Ever since that day, we have both been SO much happier. (Oh, and Hma Y was SO valiant when she was sick. We never went home early or took it easy or anything. I really admire her for her determination. And amazingly I never caught her cold and she's better now so YAY!)

My knowledge and appreciation of the gospel continues to grow daily. I love reading all the scripture chains in Preach My Gospel. The scriptures just make everything I'm taught so valid in my mind, and everything makes sense in such a way that I've never felt before the MTC. And yet, if anything, I've almost completely stopped relying on logic and "deep doctrine" to justify the Church. We've learned so much lately that to argue religion is not Christ's religion at all. Arguing drives the Spirit away, and without the Spirit we're nothing but teenagers wearing nametags. So I'm learning to put aside the obscure "answers" and focus more on trust and faith. It's helped me a lot already and I know it's the best way to help investigators, too.

We've been so spiritually edified this week. I swear every time I start to doubt or fear something, a speaker here at teh MTC will address and resolve it for me. One such speaker is the first counselor in our branch, Bro. Hollister. Whenever he sits down with our distrcit to see how we're doing, he ends up giving advice akin to a General Conference talk. This week he addressed how "going on a mission doesn't alter who you're going to marry, going on a mission ensures that you marry the right person." Hma Y was totally grateful to hear his words, but they helped me, too, and I don't even have a boyfriend at home waiting for me. It just quelled a lot of the fears that the world has instilled in me. Oh, my the way Dad, Bro. Hollister served in your same mission like a few months before you, which was fun to hear.

We also had a stellar Large Group Meeting this week, which addressed another fear that I'm sure every missionary has had instilled in them by even the members of the church. The teacher promised us that there is NEVER a mission that "never gets baptisms" or "won't welcome the gospel." He promised us that God sends us places for a reason, and that if we don't let people tell us that we'll fail and we work towards high goals, we will be extremely successful no matter how "hard" our mission areas are rumored to be. (P.S. Goompa, he used a lot of examples from when Pres. Monson was mission president in Canada. I couldn't see you in the group picture he showed but it still made me happy.)

The best part fo this week though was last Tuesday, soon after my last e-mail, when we had our Tuesday devotional. We got a new MTC presidency--the Browns (they are so sweet and seem so nervous but thrilled by their new calling). Since it was the Smiths' last devotional as presidents, ELDER HOLLAND came to speak! It was absolutely one hundred percent mindblowingly incredible. He is my favorite. he's so passionate about mission work and so inspiring and just so wonderful. I am so grateful that I got to hear from him. Funny story, though. Hma Y and I got in line by the gym doors early to get good seats. We rushed in once the doors were opened and got perfect fifth-row seats. But then, right before the meeting started, Hma Y really really needed to blow her nose. So she ran out and of course I had to follow her. Before we'd even left the room, the ushers stopped us and told us that we couldn't go back to our seats no matter what but had to go to overflow in another BUILDING for security reasons. So we had to leave our great seats, our coats, and our note-taking supplies and watch the devotional on a TV in another building. It was so lame. I was so mad at first, but then I decided to just laught it off mostly because Hma Y felt so bad. I think it's hilarious, now, and it was a fantastic devotional no matter where we were sitting, but now we know to never leave our seats and to always keep tissues on hand.

Well, that's all I have time to write. Tune in next week for another exciting installment of "Life at the MTC--The Spring Story" Episode 4. I love you all! Sorry I can't respond to you all individually this week. I appreciate everything you do and have done. I pray for you. Take care!

Love, Hma. Springer

P.S. If it's not too late, I'd love to have my plaque picture be that one that you sent me of me and Amanda (with Amanda cut out, of course). It's my favorite picture of me.

P.P.S. Sarabi--whenever we talk about charity and love ni class I always think about how we became friends when you were sick in Utah. You have my permission (and I beg you) to write that story down for me and post it on my blog. Thanks, kiddo! I LOVE YOU!!

Week 2 - MTC January 11, 2011

Hola mi familia!

I hope you're all doing well. You sound in your letters like you're getting along fine. Thank you Dad, Mom, Grandma Springer, Sarah, Amanda, Ashley, and Teresa for your letters this week. It's so great to go back to class at 6:30 after dinner and ALWAYS have a DearElder waiting on my desk (I can't read letters until 9:30pm but it gives me something to look forward to at the end of the day). On Saturday nobody in our district got any letters. We were all really depressed. But then yesterday I got four pages worth of DearElders, so you're all forgiven. :) It makes me feel guilty when others in my district don't get mail, though, and we all rejoice in each others' letters. If you ever send me a package, please consider including something that I can share with Hma. Yingling, Elder Croft, and Elder Andreasen. And my teachers Hmo. Alder and Hmo. Concha if you're feeling especially charitable. :) By the way, I've been advised to tell you that if you ever send packages to me in Paraguay you should put MISSIONARY PACKAGE in huge letters and/or put a picture of Christ on the outside. Apparently that way it's less likely to get stolen.

Hma. Yingling is NOT oriental, just to clear up any confusion. If you ask her about her name, she'll tell you her biological parents died and she was adopted by a Chinese couple at infancy, but actually her biological parents and five siblings are very much alive. They're from Alpine, Utah, and they're of German descent. Ellis Island messed with their ancestral name, Yungleg or something like that. So no, I don't have an Asian companion. We are actually very much alike in height and European features as you'll see in the pictures that I"m mailing soon (you should get them Saturday-ish, I was late in ordering them).

So this week has been amazing. No moment here has been NOT amazing, but this week had some especially good times. We finally got our other permanent teacher, Hmo. Concha. He grew up in Mexico City but you'd never guess it by teh way he speaks. The past five years at BYU have given him an extremely good American accent, and he tends to talk in Spanish less than Hmo. Alder, our Utahn teacher. I love both my teachers. Hmo. Alder is so in-tune to the Spirit and Hmo. Concha is so fun. They've been working hard this week to teach us how to do door contacts and teach bits of Lesson 1 in Spanish. I'm so bad at approaching people where Hma. Yingling is soo good at it, and she blanks when she speaks Spanish but I remember well how to say things. Together we make a good team. :)

We had our first evaluation on Tuesday and I thought it went really well (Hma. Y would say otherwise--she's hard on us and always strives to improve, which is good because otherwise I might be fine with "just passing.") For the evaluation, we approached a volunteer in a "park" (a tiny classroom), shared a message in Spanish, and set an appointment to come back and teach him more fully. The volunteer, "Dave," was really sweet and eager to talk about his many grandchildren. But he gave us a real scare when we went back for the "appointment." We said, "Nos permite hablar en Ingles?" and he said, "No hablo Ingles!" We'd been told we wouldn't have to teach the lesson in Spanish so we weren't prepared at all. But before we could fully panic, he laughed and said, "Just kidding. English, it is."

Our Spanish is really improving, though. The four of us in our district are trying to become the district known for never speaking in English. We keep forgetting, but we do speak in Spanish A LOT together, and it really helps to just practice. I can almost roll my "r"s on command, now. When I don't think about it I can roll my "r"s perfectly, like when I'm reading. Again, I just need to practice. The other morning my friend and roommate, Hma. Gomez, said, "Hermana Springer, you talked in your sleep last night." I groaned and felt my face immediately turn red (I HATE when that happens!), but then she added, "You were speaking in Spanish." My shame immediately turned to happiness. :)

We had our first Service Day this week, which I didn't know we would do at the MTC. I guess I'm too used to paid janitors cleaning everything, but here the missionaries do ALL the cleaning. It teaches us the value of hard work, and after mopping five floors of stairs in the health building (with herds of missionaries coming through every five seconds because we're not supposed to use the elevators--another way they keep us from growing lazy), I will never again take janitors for granted. I'm not looking forward to the service day when we have to clean the bathroom in the women's residence hall. *Shudder*

To give you a glimpse of how much we work and are moved by the Spirit, I've stopped wearing makeup because I sweat and cry so frequently that it's just too much of a hassle to keep re-applying. I still make sure to look cute, though, no worries. :) Anyways, Sunday was especially spiritual (of course). I went to choir as Laurel and Teresa suggested, and it IS so cool to have more men than women singing! Plus when you sing solely to invite the Spirit to a devotional or fireside, and not for performance or personal glory, it's so much more passionate and stirring to sing.

Temple trips are always great, too. I discovered on Sunday that the Provo temple has a "backyard." How had I lived here for two years without noticing that?? It's so pretty, and it was great to see my familiar temple from a different, equally as beautiful angle. And it was really fun to watch all the Polynesian missionaries rolling around in the snow on the hill back there. They were having a great time. And today Hma. Y and I went to the temple to do endowments. As we left, a temple worker stopped us and asked if we were missionaries (we didn't have our tags on at that point). She said she could tell that we were because of our "glowing countenances." And yeah, she could have very easily guessed (the MTC IS right across the street, after all), but it still made me super happy to be identified as a servant of God even without the badge.

The best part of Sunday, though, is Relief Society, the fireside in the evening, and the movie before bed. At Relief Society this week we heard from Cathy Clayton, who spoke about writing our life story. She advised us to erase all the negative aspects of our story and rewrite them as learning opportunities and growing moments, essentially putting the bad things behind us (and it was a writing analogy! Yay for writing!). It was a really great lesson, but I especially loved it because in the middle of it Sister Clayton started relating a story. I thought, "This sounds really familiar..." and then I realized that she was telling a story that Nana had told me from her life! She was totally talking about Nana! I asked Sis. Clayton afterwards to confirm, and while she didn't seem to really know Nana very well, it was still so happy to hear that little story about my Grandma at a random church meeting. It was great.

And during the fireside by the MTC director (the man who takes care of all our housing, food, and travel arrangments--brave man), he had every missionary stand up who had only been in the church for two years or less. There were at least twenty-five, and he had each of them take a few seconds to share their conversion stories. It was hilarious how many of the men had been converted by their girlfriends, but so inspiring all the same to hear how the missionaries changed their lives not through their eloquent lessons or perfect language skills, but through their love and friendship. I'M a missionary! I can do that! It's incredible.

Then that night we watched "The Testaments," which I haven't seen in a while. With my greater appreciation for the Savior, His Atonement, and the great prophets of the Book of Mormon and today, I predictably balwed like a baby and didn't stop until after we'd gone back to the dorm room and I'd had a good cry on my bed. I SO wish you were all here with me learning the things I'm learning. I wish they published a magazine for all the MTC devotionals so you could hear what I hear, but while they have archives, I don't think they're accessible outside of the MTC. :( Would it be too much or me to ask you to read Preach My Gospel and really take time every day to ponder and find gratitude for the gospel? That's really all that I'm doing, and I've grown so much as a person and as a Daughter of God. I want you to all grow right along with me so that when I come home we can continue the work together. In the meantime, while you're at it, read the Book of Mormon, too. That's always a good thing to do.

I love you all so much. Sorry this letter is shorter (okay, SLIGHTLY shorter) than the last one. I'm gonna try this week to snail mail some more personal letters, and I journal a lot so I'm not sure how much to tell you or what I've already told you. Anyways, continue strong in the faith. Remember who we are and by whose name we live. I trust God wholeheartedly to take care of you while I"m away, and I trust all of you to be just as amazing when I get back. :) Thanks a thousand times over for all your love, support, and letters! I love hearing from you and want to know how you are so keep the DearElders coming. Be safe and be happy! I love you!

Hermana Springer

P.S. Mom or Dad, could you please send me my vaccination records (the yellow fold-out ones I left on my shelf)? I need them with me when I travel to Paraguay. No hurry, though. Seven weeks to go! :)

Week 1 - MTC Jan 4, 2010

Greetings from FREEZING Provo!

No joke it is seriously cold here. Thanks to my going to Paraguay, I didn't bring very warm clothes and I'm so glad the buildings here are so close together. Even then, I have to tread carefully--I've met four people so far who have broken ankles thanks to all the ice.

Anyways, this week was incredible. I hope I can do a good job of writing about just how great it is here.

I now have only one companion--Hermana Yingling. Hma. Brown switched to the Advanced class on the first day, pairing up with Hma. Yingling's companion and leaving us alone in the Intermediate class. We're still in the same zone though--we four Sisters and five Elders. Our zone is very small, yes, but our leaders are very nice and helpful. They gave us our mail for the first time so they quickly became our best friends. (P.S. I did get all of your letteres, even the ones that didn't have my mailbox number on them. Thank you SO MUCH Dad, Mom, Sarah, Ashley, Goompa, Starla, and Laurel.)

In our district it's just Hma. Yingling, me, and two Elders-- Elder Croft and Elder Andreason. The Elders are so dedicated to their studies and do a great job at teaching and speaking Spanish. And they're very generous with their aid and advice. I consider us to be good friends already. And Hma. Yingling I already consider one of my very best friends. I honestly think the Lord had me initially paired up with Hma. Brown just so that I would appreciate Hma. Yingling all the more when we became companions. That first day before the switch, Hma. Brown intimidated me a bit with her Spanish skills and she seemed to have a lot more in common with Hma. Gomez than with me. And it was the same for Hma. Yingling. We were actually quite relieved and grateful for the switch, and it has been an absolute blast every since.

Hma. Yingling is so sweet and fun. She's taller than me, has short blonde hair and blue eyes slanted like a cat. She loves to run, and I do a lot of jogging just trying to keep up with her between classes (we have to speed-walk a lot because there's never any spare time to our day, and she has longer legs than me). She loves the temple so much and we love discussing doctrine together. We also have a lot of fun learning the discussions and practicing Spanish. I think the Elders sometimes think we're silly and not taking this completely seriously, but the truth of the matter is that if we hadn't been laughing so much about our inadequacies and mistakes, we could have probably been crying all the time.

Those first three days were hard, just as everyone said they would be. Not so much emotionally because we're uplifted by the Spirit all day. But when it came to learning the language and figuring out how to use our time wisely, I felt like I could never keep up. My teacher explained everything in nonstop, mumbled Spanish those three days and I was so confused. Same with planning our days. It wasn't until yesterday that someone pointed out a daily checklist in the back of one of our books. Before that, Hma. Yingling and I just guessed and got frustrated. We'd had no idea how much of our learning depended on us. our days are so completely packed, yet we get to choose what we pack them with. I didn't expect that and I worried that i would fall behind.

On day four, though, it was like a switch went off and everything changed. All of a sudden I realized taht I'd retained all that strange vocabulary we'd learned and I could now almost totally understand my teacher. Hma. Yingling and I were doing companionship study for an hour when we both stopped and realized we'd been carrying on doctrinal conversations almost entirely in Spanish for a good 45 minutes! We took a minute to just sit back and be blown out of our minds. Also, yesterday I started reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish. I tried to do that over teh summer and got almost nothing out of it. Now though I can totally tell what's being said and appreciate the words just as much as if I were reading them in English. I have a newfound appreciation of the gift of tongues now for sure.

We have also learned SO MUCH about the gospel. I wish I could tell you every amazing revelation I've had this week but I don't have the memory or the time (sorry for the typos--I only have 18 minutes left). I guess to sum up, I'm just realizing how true it is that being am issionary (or a Latter-Day Saint in general) isn't about getting people to convert so we can boost our membership numbers. It's all about just loving people. It's about loving our fellow men--fellow sons and daugthers of God--so much taht we want nothing else than to help them see how much God loves them and how priceless they are in His eyes. That's what we've mostly focused on this week. We've also been learning to teach out of Preach My Gospel and practicing on each other. It's a blast. Not only is it loads of fun to choose an eccentric alter-ego when pretending to be an investigator, but I learn so many new ways every time how to get people talking about themselves so we can identify how we can help them find happiness in this life. I am so excited for our first visit to the Teaching Resource Center (where we practice on volunteer actors). I'll tell you how it goes in next week's letter. I'm sure I'll enjoy it a lot better than next week's TRC trip, because next week we'll have to teach in Spanish, and right now I'm nowhere close to being ready for that.

Anyways, I am really loving this Preparation Day thing. For my sisters who have no clue what MTC life is like, let me tell you. It's VERY busy. We're only ever in one of four places--the dorm, the classroom, the cafeteria, or the gym. Temple trips are few and far between and we REALLY love them for the change of scenery. We only go to the dorm to sleep from 10:30pm to 6:30am. The rest of the time--even Personal Study time--we are in the classroom, taking breaks only to eat (we're given 45 minutes so not much sitting back and enjoying it, either), or exercise. We're given gym time, but we sisters need it to shower and do our hari, so the MTC provides early morning classes every day for kickboxing, pilate,s and the like. It's a great start to the day and means taht we don't have to smell and look greasy all week. :) Plus now when we go to the gym we can just play volleyball or four-square or something (Hma. Yingling is not very coordinated and I have no endurance so together we make quite the pair). Every day we have one hour of personal study, one hour of companionship study, one hour of language study, and the other ten hours are filled with instruction, teaching practice, or devotionals. It all kind of meshes together after a while. It never feels like we get a break because even eating and sleeping are chores we have to do to stay alive. We are truly lost in the work. :)

And everyone around me is speaking Spanish all day. Our schedule coincides with all the other Spanish speakers, so I may as well be in a foreign country already. I pick up so much just associating with others in the dorm, cafeteria, and our class building. We're in a Spanish branch, too (naturally), so even church is in Spanish. Even as I write this I want to use Spanish words. I'm a total diglot (look it up). And something I never expected was that they have our entire branch write a talk for Sunday, 5 minutes each, in Spanish, EVERY WEEk, and then they just call people up at random so you have to be ready. It's a bit intimidating. This week was Fast Sunday, though, so we didn't have to give our talks (Hma. Yingling and I had already written them before we realized, though).

Sunday was incredible. All devotionals and firesides are increidlbe here, of coruse, but on Sunday we were all just so in the zone spiritually. Even though it was all in Spanish, I could feel the speakers' testimonies perfectly. At a fireside later that night we all sang "Army of Helaman" together and it was amazing. I got that "Great and Terrible" image of all of us as spiritual soldiers in training, ready and powerful enough to better the world. And then we watched the Joseph Smith movie which, after everything I'd been learning about God's love for us, totally strengthened my testimony and gave me a renewed love and appreciation for teh Book of Mormon. I cried really hard, teh Spirit was so strong. I thanked God so much that night for all my blessings I have had thanks to Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and God's kindness for giving the gospel to us.

I am seriously loving it here. There's so muchl ove and peace. I never have to worry about my stuff getting stolen (we leave it in our classroom as if it's a giant, communal locker), or about being harmed. And I always have my companion with me, which is kind of out of the way sometimes but very comforting all the same. Everyone here chose to be here. No one would stop them from leaving. Everyone loves the gospel and loves each other and I really hope the whole world can be like this small place in Provo someday.

I KNOW that God loves His children and that because He loves us He has restored His gospel on the earth today to guide us back to Him. I know that Thomas S. Monson is God's prophet. I have experienced the blessings that come from obeying the commandments and following the counsel of both President Monson and the prophets of old. I know that I'm in the right place, that I'm so superbly happy here for a reason. I pray that I'll be able to share that feeling of contentment and surety wiht others, starting with you. I love you. I thank you SO MUCH for all of your support and your strength when it comes to doing what's right.

Love always,

Hermana Springer

P.S. Hermana Yingling is going to Argentina, as is Hma. Brown. Elder Croft is going to Washington D.C. and Elder Andreasen is going to Paraguay, which is funny since he's from AZ, too.

P.P.S. I saw Elder Schwarz, carlee Child, Kevin Boyster, and an old friend from High School. I can't wait to see Sister Soderquist here soon.

P.P.P.S. I leave for Paraguay Feb. 28

PPPPPS...etc. No, Dad, don't send food. I'm definitely not starving, just that first day I was too nervous to eat so I was ravenous the next morning. I'm totally good now. Yes, Sarah, please put these on my blog and do whatever you want with my facebook status. This is the only e-mail I'll get to write. Mom, I want Omni 1:26 on my plaque. Thanks! Happy (very late) Birthday! I LOVE YOU!!