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!
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