Sunday, October 27, 2013

That Just Blew My Mind and a Ton of "Hasta Ver's" Alex's Last Week In the MTC!!! 10-25-13


Family!!

So this week, I lost (well she left for the field) a companion, we lost a whole district and I moved to West Campus. I know it has been an exciting week so far. If anything, I am ready to go to Texas. I cannot wait!

My companion got to leave on Wednesday morning for Argentina, as well as my cousin zone! It is weird without them and it is crazy to think that right about now they are landing in Buenos Aries. SAY WHAT?!? The MTC has it's own circle of life. Missionaries go through the cycle and when others come, others leave. What is sad is you know you most likely won't see them again, but you rejoice in the fact that we are all apart of the Missionary Force. We have been sent out in every direction to preach the gospel. How cool is that?? (I think it is pretty cool.) The night before Sister missionaries leave we all sing, "Hasta Ver" (God Be with You Till We Meet Again)  to the departing missionaries. It is sad but it is also cool to sing Spanish hymns! Because I don't have a companion anymore, I am now a "SOLO SISTER" which means I am in a trio with 2 elders. My companions are now Elder Tai and Elder Sharp. It is really fun but they have to escort me everywhere and pick me up for class and meals. I can tell they get annoyed sometimes, but for the most part they find it pretty funny to always have to be with an Hermana. 

In class this week, we had a sub for one night. To end class, we read out loud for 30 minutes, the Book of Mormon. The teacher suggested we read Ether 3. As we were reading it, we would stop and talk about what is going on in the chapter. After we would talk about it, we would make so many connections to everything. It was crazy and awesome at the same time. The teacher went on to tell us how the book of Mormon was like an onion. There are so many layers! Each time we read a verse, Elder Sharp would yell, "My mind has just been blown," and then he would do some action to demonstrate how his mind was being blown. It was really funny and we all laughed! We were so intrigued by this "mind blowing experience" that we decided to read the Book of Mormon in Spanish as a district from the beginning and try to look for the deeper meaning. It has been really fun! There is so much, even in 1st Nephi, that I have just skimmed over every time that I have read it in the past. I am also reading the Book of Mormon for myself in Spanish. It takes a lot of patience for sure and I know I am going a lot slower because I don't understand what is being said, but it is a very cool experience to see how much Spanish I actually do know.

This week, I felt so confident about my Spanish. I feel like even if I don't know the language, the investigator will understand what I am trying to say because of the Spirit. I went into an "investigators house" and I just decided to not care about my Spanish at all I would just say exactly what came to my mind. I wouldn't worry about conjugations or little filler words but just go for it. You could tell the difference. The "investigator" said that is was the best lesson that my companion and I had ever taught. We were learning how to teach the people not just the lessons and learning how to really teach by the Spirit. Without the Spirit, you couldn't teach! I actually got to practice my Spanish more when they called me up in Sacrament meeting, on the spot, to give a 5 minute talk about Baptism. TALK ABOUT STRESSFUL! It was really cool though. I was able to gather my thoughts and bear my testimony all in Spanish about the importance of Baptism. The gift of tongues is real!

On Sunday, we watched the movie Legacy! It was a great story about the Saints and their suffering as they were crossing the plains and building the temple. There was also a love story and everyone here is so awkward about love now. It is really weird, even I am to blame for thinking it was awkward. When I see just a guy and a girl together I think to myself, "Ummm where is your companion??" I told myself I never wanted to be that awkward missionary, but now I can't imagine being anything else! 

On Tuesday we officially moved to West Campus. It is weird over here. There is a lot more freedom and we walk around the BYU campus, to get back to main campus MTC, so that is weird. We also get to go to the mall and eat Jamba Juice. (No complaints about that) We live in an apartment with 3 bedrooms for 6 girls and it only has one bathroom. It is weird because we have classes in another apartment complex and we have class in the bedroom and another district has their class in the living room. The room is so small for my district that one of the Elders sits in the closet with his desk. It is tiny but really fun. The food is way better here though, I don't feel as sick. We also will be able to hear the thousands of screaming fans from the BYU vs. BSU football game this weekend. One of the Elders in our district goes to BSU so he has been very tempted to "sneak away" and go to the game! (Of course he won't but we always tease him and we have a little rivalry that BYU will win!) GO COUGARS!

Funny moment this week: My district had to have In-Field Orientation all day on Thursday and there was just one part of it that was kinda boring. I was sitting next to Elder Teio, the Tahitian elder that hardly speaks english, and he took out a piece of paper and drew the lines for a tic-tac-toe game and then gave me the piece of paper. I drew an X and then he drew 2 O's I explained to him that that was cheating. All he did back to me was hit his chest and say, "I no cheeta, I Tahitian." He drew another tic-tac-toe game and we started again. Once again he cheated. I tried to explain to him that he couldn't do that, but once again he just hit his chest and told me he was a Tahitian. So then I decided to draw out a hang man game. I drew out the lines and showed him the piece of paper. He shook his head like he understood the game we were playing, but he took the paper from my hand and drew his own game of hang man. I willingly agreed to play his word. I started guessing letters and none of them were working. Before I knew it my "man" was already dead. He filled in the rest of the letters. I couldn't even understand what the word was. I asked Elder Teio what word it was and he told me that it was Tahitian. Well, let me just tell you, playing games with a Tahitian and they always win. Elder Teio just laughed at the fact that I couldn't beat him at anything.

Random side note: My favorite thing to do at the MTC is laundry. I love the laundry room here! It is so fun. I know this is totally random and the laundry room is just a basement full of washers and dryers but you get to do laundry with your zone and you just laugh and joke around and write letters. I don't know why I find it so fun but I do!

I love it here, but I am even more excited to go to Texas! I leave Monday morning at4:30 am and I am actually on the same flight as Elder Tai and Elder Sharp, my companions, so that works out nicely! I can't believe that I will have my first companion and area in just a few days. Thanks for everything you all have done for me. I have loved the letters and dearelders and emails. Thank you all for your support. I am sorry if my emails are too long. I am also using them as another form of a diary for my mission, so you guys don't have to read it all! If you need my new address, my mom has it.

Have a wonderful week!!

Hermana Cattich 

COME WHAT MAY AND LOVE IT


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Sunday, October 20, 2013

Alex's Fifth letter! only 10 more days in the MTC!! October 18th

Hola familia,
Como estas? 

Well my 5th week in the MTC is coming to a close. WOW, time has really flown!! My companion actually leaves a week earlier then me so I will have to move districts because I can't be alone with just elders! This will be hard for me, I love my district so much and they are all amazing but I guess it will just give me an opportunity to meet more people.

Okay, this week was amazing AS USUAL (when is it not a good week in el CCM) There are ups and downs everyday, but when I write in my journal at night (yes mom don't worry I am writing in my journal every night :) ) I can't seem to remember the negatives....only the positives. It's great! Life is wonderful! I am so happy to be here!
On Saturday, my companion and I had a hard day. My companion and I were tired and we kinda just wanted space from each other. It was just one of those days. We had to teach though so we went in and the spirit was not present. Our investigator asked me a question and I didn't know the answer at all. I didn't even know how to describe it in English let alone Spanish. I just started to cry. I tried to cover it up but it was not working. After the lesson my teacher, who is the investigator, pulled me aside and asked me what was wrong. I just explained today was just not the best day. He told me that people will ask me questions all the time, and I may not even understand the question but everything will be okay. The spirit, if it is present, will tell you what you need to say in a moment when there are no words in your mind. He told me that I could always tell the investigator that I will come back the next time and answer their question. After my meeting with my teacher (Hermano Park) I was determined to find out the answer to the question. The question was, "What is baptism by fire?" I searched everywhere, scriptures, PMG, even True to the Faith. I wanted to find out how I could explain this to someone. I ended up coming across the phrase, "Refiner's Fire." I have studied that out too. I have gained such a strong testimony about what a refiners fire is. 

Being here in the MTC is a "Refiner's Fire." You are becoming a new person and you are maturing, at a really fast rate I might add, and becoming more of a missionary. You are becoming a tool in the Lords hands. In my studies, I came across the scripture 1st Nephi 20:10 which basically says that you will be refined by your trials. Heavenly Father only gives you trials that you can handle and if you come out "on top" you become closer to your Heavenly Father and you become more like him. I have seen myself change and all the other people in my district. It is amazing what even a little time in the MTC will do to you. When you are studying the scriptures all day and you don't have the distraction of social media you really see change in yourself. I am so lucky to be a missionary right now, there is no place I would rather be, even thinking about who I was 4 weeks ago is really strange.

Being here, my testimony of Joseph Smith has grown so much! I have memorized the first vision in Spanish and on Sunday nights we watch films and I always watch Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration. I love that movie, if you haven't seen it, I know that it is on YouTube. Every time I watch it, I cry at the end and just think to myself, "How could anyone not believe that this is true?" This church and the gospel bring me so much joy, I am just so excited to tell the people of Dallas Texas all about it!

On Tuesday, we had a very special guest for our devotional. They wouldn't tell anyone who it was so my zone got there an hour early to get the best seats possible. Well all that waiting was totally worth it, the special guest was Elder Dallin H. Oaks. When he walked into the room, everyone stood up and it was silent. The peace and the feeling of the spirit was so strong it that room. It was amazing! He gave a fabulous devotional about change in the mission and also about what makes our church different than others. I took a lot of notes in my journal. It was a really cool experience to be in the presence of an apostle. 

The new districts are great, but sadly we are all moving to West Campus next week. They want West Campus to be ALL Spanish, so now anyone coming to the Provo MTC that is speaking Spanish will go to West Campus. We are kind of excited for the move, I am just a little mad cause I have to pack up and then unpack and then I leave 5 days after we move...oh well.

Funny moments this week:
Everyone has to mess up really badly at Spanish at least once. So this week we had a few experiences with that. The first one was Elder Tai. He was trying to explain that, "Through Christ we can be clean from our sins." The word for sins is "pecados" and the word for fish "pescado", so he ended up saying, "Through Christ we will be cleaned from our fish." The investigator was very confused. Then Hermana Boyce and I went to teach our lesson. She tried to ask the investigator, "Why have you kept making appointments with us?" The word for appointment is "cita" and the word for AIDS is "cida" so our investigator got really confused (if you insert the word in that sentence, it is just an awkward moment) and then just laughed at us. Well, everyone has to make their grammar mistakes at least once, but it was really funny! 

I love the MTC, but I am ready to move on to Texas! I got my travel plans finally and I will be leaving the 28th! I am going to email my mom my new address so if any of you need it (after the 28th) my mom will have it! Love you all and thank you for all the letters and dear elders, they are so fun to get!! 

Have a wonderful week,
Hermana Cattich

COME WHAT MAY AND LOVE IT

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Alex's 4th letter! October 11th 2013

Hello family!!

I know I start out every email the same but I am serious when I say that I love the MTC and I love it more everyday. This week was super special because of General Conference. 

General Conference was amazing! I tried something new this conference, I went in to the first session on Saturday morning with 5 questions in my mind that I wanted to get answers for. To my surprise all of them were answered in the first Saturday morning session! So I had to come up with more questions! I loved asking questions. I made conference more enjoyable as I was actually listening with intent and not just listening listen. I would challenge you guys that next conference, in April, come up with personal questions and pray that you will get answers to them. It is amazing when you do get answers, I literally jumped out of my seat. In the MTC you watch every single session of conference in an Auditorium. There were over 4,000 missionaries watching it all together. It was amazing when one of the rest hymns was Called to Serve. Being surrounded by the "newest generation" of missionaries and singing that hymn was AWESOME!! Words can't even describe the chills that I had!

My favorite talks were, "Come Join With Us" and "Moral Force of Women" There were some other amazing talks but these ones stood out to me the most and I have already printed them off and I read them daily.

In the talk, "Come Join with Us", a quote that stood out to me was, "Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith." Oddly enough this was an answer to a question I had. Many times in the MTC, because you are under a lot of pressure to learn all of the missionary lessons and learn them in a new language, I would often question my faith and if it was strong enough to support me on my mission especially when I was going through a rough time. When President Uchtdorf said this quote tears came to my eyes almost instantly. I couldn't believe it. I was in pure shock! My companion and I both looked at each other in awe, as the quote echoed in the auditorium. To any of my fristd that read my emails and are struggling with their faith or actually wondering if they should invesitgate the church, I want you to read this talk. If any of you have ever been offended by someone in this church and that is why you may not go to church anymore, I want you to read this talk. It is amazing. Seriously, "COME JOIN WITH US"

"Moral Force of Women" stood out to me because so often in the MTC many of the teachers tell the Hermanas that the Elders need us in each district because we bring a sense of calmness and maturity to the room. When Hermanas are present, Elders will act more respectful and they will stay more focused. "Hermanas are huge examples to the Elders," said one of my teachers. The quote in this talk that rang true to me is kind of long but part of it is, "We have enough vanity in the world, we need more virtue." This quote made me so happy to be and LDS sister and also a missionary. For the next 18 months I am putting aside everything of the world and thinking solely about serving Heavenly Father and bringing his children the joy and happiness that I have. 

This week has been extremely spiritual to me not just because of Conference but also because of our lessons that we teach our investigators. O feel like my purpose as a missionary is becoming more defined and I am way more comfortable with my Spanish. My companion and I are teaching 2 investigators right now. Our lessons are usually about 30-45 minutes. Understanding and being able to speak the lanugage here in the MTC makes me so much more excited to be in Texas where I will meet real investigators and get to share with them the message of the gospel. It makes me so excited to leave! Don't get me wrong I do love the MTC and the people that I have met here are wonderful, I also have a lot more to improve but I am just so excited to be in Texas!

On Sunday nights, we have devotionals! Because we had been listening to conference talks all week, we didn't really want to sit in a devotional and listen to another speaking. To our suprise the guests for the devotional was, Vocal Point. The AMAZING BYU men's singing group. Look them up on YouTube, because they are wonderful. We have a musical devotional where we did hymn shares (sang hymns) and inbetween each song a memeber of the group got up and said an experience that he had had on his mission. It was so cool!!

On Tuesday we also have devotionals. The MTC presidency told us that the speaker was going to be a General Authority so everyone was super excited. There was increased security and people waited in line to get into the devotional an hour early. To our not so pleasant surprise, it was no one we had heard of. Everyone was bummed but it still was a great devotional.

The oldest 2 districts left this week. It was really hard to see them leave. The hermanas left at 4:30am on Wednesday morning. Hermana Boyce and I woke up to say goodbye to them. The night before (tuesday night) our zone and our "cousin" zone, has a tradition where we get together and sing "Hasta Ver" all together. (God Be With You Till We Meet Again) All the girls came to our room and we all sang the hymn together in Spanish, it was really cool! These hermanas were like older sisters to me, I miss them so much already. Our room is now silent at night, and there isn't nearly as much laughter and jokes, but we try to still have fun. We said goodbye to our Elders on Tuesday night at the devotional review. They are going to do amazing. One of the Elders, Elder Padgett, who is going to Colombia, is actually staying an extra week because his visa didn't come through. He has been reassigned to the San Diego California mission and he is so excited!! It is actually only an hour away from his house, but he is so ready to leave on Tuesday!

Because we lost 8 Hermanas and Elders this week, we gained 18 NEW MISSIONARIES!! THat is unheard of, especially because 8 of them are Hermanas. Our zone is now huge!! It makes it fun, but it is harder for people to all connect with each other when there are so many people. I do love meeting new people though so these last 2 days have been fun for me. 

On Wednesday. I was able to host new missionaries and wave to people as they drove into the MTC loop. The thought occurred to me that I came into the MTC almost a month ago. I can't even believe it! Time is seriously warped! It is crazy! What is even more weird is I only have 17 months left of my mission, no longer 18. I JUST WANNA BE IN TEXAS ALREADY!!!

Funny moment this week:
Each class starts with a little spiritual message given by a member of the class and it has to be in Spanish. When I came into class, I saw that my name was up on the board and I started freaking out, it was the first day that our class had done this. I went outside to get a drink of water and I was nervous. An Elder came up to me from our "cousin" zone and said "CATTISSSHHH, why are you so nervous?" I explained to him my situation and to that he responded, "Well here is what you have to do, stand infront of the class and say this: El libro de Mormon es verdadero por que es verdadero. En el nombre de JesuCristo, Amen." (The Book of Mormon is true because it is true. In the name of Jesus Christ amen.) "And then CATTTISSSSSHHHHH just sit down." I just laughed at him because he gives the worst advice but he is so funny! 

Everyday is a new adventure here at the MTC let me tell you! We actually had to explain to Elder Teio this week that he could wash his clothes and wear them again. He had been wearing the same socks for about 2 weeks now. He doesn't understand that you can wash the clothes and they will be cleaned. This was a really humbling lesson even for me. Elder Teio only came with the clothes that he had on his back and a little carry on. Each week the church gives some more clothes that he can use but he doesn't understand that you can clean them. I am guessing he just grew up not having very much. Hermana Boyce and I were crying when we were helping him do his laundry! It was such a cool expereince. 

I love the MTC and I would love to hear from all of you! Send me a dearelder, email or even a letter in the mail and I will respond! I love you all and thank you for everything you have done. I am excited for my next big adventure and I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for me in Texas!

Have a great week and I love you all,
Hermana Cattich

COME WHAT MAY AND LOVE IT!

Alex's third letter! October 4th 2013

Hola family,

What a week it has been. The time in the MTC is totally warped! Days feel like weeks and weeks feel like days, it is so weird. I feel as if I have been in this so called "Spiritual Prison" for years, but no matter what I love it. This week has had its ups and downs. This is the craziest emotional roller coaster I have ever been on, but all I have to do is hold on and enjoy the ride!

To start, an Elder had to go home. It was hard for all of us. We know he will fix whatever is needed to and he will be back out here in no time! It has been weird without him and we miss him a ton.

Elder Teio fractured his foot so he has a boot and a scooter. He WILL NOT wear his boot. He refuses. Whoever thought it was a good idea to give a scooter to a missionary, who will let all of his friends use it, is kinda of dumb. Needless to say, the scooter is broken after several crashes and failed attempts at drifting it. But what is funny is on Wednesday, when the new missionaries come, Elder Padgett was pushing Elder Teio around on the scooter and they were going pretty fast. Elder Teio would scream "WELCOME TO THE CCM!!" It was really funny, they ended up crashing but they are "tough boys" as Elder Teio would say, so everything is all good.

Spanish is extremely hard for me, and I don't know why. I am going to try a new way to study language this upcoming week and hopefully I will see more improvements! My companion and I teach investigators every day, so that is good practice. We also do a thing called TRC which is where volunteers come in from the community and you get to teach them a lesson like a "Family Home Evening." They are usually cute old couples that are fluent in Spanish. They are so fun, and always positive even if we aren't saying anything right it is great. 

On Saturday, I was able to sing at conference!! It was an amazing/spiritual experience! I was so excited to hear from so many of you saying that you guys saw me on TV. That is pretty cool!! But the best part was being pretty much 20 ft away from the prophet. Before the session, we had a devotional with the Relief Society Presidency and at the end they hugged all of us individually. It was so amazing. I was also able to walk around in the "secret tunnels" that everyone talks about, so they are real!

Exciting news: All of the people in my zone got their visas!! They leave for Argentina next Wednesday at 4:30am! I am going to miss them a ton, it will be weird without them, but they will do awesome. They found out yesterday and we had a party last night for them. We like to call Thursday nights PPP or Pre-Pday Party!! Then tonight, we have Fiesta Friday to finish off P-Day. As our last P-Day together as a zone, we all went and did an endowment session the Provo Temple. It was so cool, and it is a lot bigger than it looks! I loved it!

Funny Quote of the Week:
So Elder Teio doesn't really understand the whole companion thing so he wanders a lot....LIKE ALL THE TIME WE LOOSE HIM. Well we lost him a few nights ago, and Elder Padgett was the first one to realize it. He busted down the hallway screaming. "Guys, guys we just lost a 250 pound Tahitian Man!" It was so funny. Everyone was cracking up!

Everyday and every week gets better, I can't wait for next week! I know it will be amazing. We will get new investigators and hopefully I will be able to speak a little more Spanish!

Shoutouts: Timms family!! YOU GUYS ARE MY FAVORITE!! Thank you for all the Canadian chocolate, I was so excited to eat it all. Don't worry, I shared it!! 
Dunbars: Thank you for the beautiful note, that was so nice of you guys!!


I hope everyone has an amazing week!!
COME WHAT MAY AND LOVE IT!!

Hermana Cattich

Alex's second letter! September 27th

This is my second week in the MTC, and let me just say I love it here more every single day. I wish you all could be right beside me experiencing my mission with me, it is just an amazing experience. I have so much to say but I don't have a lot of time to email so I will try and pick out the important stuff. :)

This week, well last Friday, my companion and I taught a whole lesson in Spanish to an investigator. It was the most nerve wracking thing that I have ever done. All I kept thinking was, "I DON'T KNOW SPANISH" and "THIS IS MY SECOND DAY HERE" I thought that it was going to be the worst thing in the world, but it was completely opposite. My companion speaks more Spanish than I do, so just listened and I could understand and say some things. I put in my few words every once in awhile. To finish up the lesson, I had to say the closing prayer....in Spanish. Once I began to pray I had this calm feeling come over me that no matter what I said, the Spirit was there. I know that my prayer didn't make any sense but afterwards I began to cry. I was able to show the investigator how important the gospel is to me and show them my faith in Heavenly Father. Coming out of the lesson, I felt so good about myself, even if I only understood 15% of what the investigator was saying. All I could think of was how I really can't do this alone and if I am willing to accept his help, then he will be right beside me every step of the way. He is my other companion.

I get frustrated a lot with my Spanish. It is not coming as quick as I want it to but it is still coming a long. One minute I can feel so confident about it and the next, I get so frustrated with myself. I just have to remember that I will get through the storm and I will be able to be happy with myself. Right now I am just learning everything. Heavenly Father knows we can't be perfect, but we can always try our hardest and he will help us out.

My testimony of the gift of tongues has grown so much this past week. Elder Teio, the Elder that only speaks French, has picked up English and Spanish faster than everyone in my district. It is amazing to hear him bear his testimony in English. Although it is broken English and often times doesn't make a lot of sense, you can tell he has real emotion and he believes every word that he says. We had a testimony meeting on Tuesday with my zone, which is just 17 people, but I don't think I have ever felt the spirit stronger in any setting. The faith and desire that each Elder and Hermana that I meet, it just amazing. It is so cool that you could put 17 complete strangers in a room together and you will all work together no matter the differences because we all have the same common goal. We all have something that we want to share. I know that I was supposed to meet each and every single one of these Elders and Hermanas for a purpose. It amazes me that in just a week I feel as if I have gained 16 new brothers and sisters.

Our zone got a new district on Wednesday. 3 Elders and 4 Hermanas and they are all going to Argentina. They are still trying to figure everything about but they are nice! I know exactly how they feel right now, but my "family" just got bigger!!

Most of the people in my zone have been reassigned. We will find out I believe next week where they are going. Most of them are really excited about being reassigned and others aren't to happy, it is kind of a touchy subject. But for the most part, they are excited to practically open their mission call again!

Funny moments this week:
Teaching our investigator this week, my companion and I asked him to pray. He said yes and then prayed with us. The next day, we went back and taught him another lesson and then asked him to pray again and he said no. My companion told him that he could do it but he still refused. After trying to talk him into it, I leaned over and told my companion that I could pray. She turned back to me and yelled, "No, I am going to get him to pray" It was really funny at the time cause the investigator speaks English so he just laughed at us. He is not really an investigator, he is already a member of the church he is just a volunteer that is fluent in Spanish. 

I met Elder Ferrin. If you guys haven't seen the video on Youtube called EFY Girls, it is a parody to California Girls, watch it. He is taller one! At the beginning it sounds really weird but it gets to be pretty funny. He is in the zone that we are really close with. It was funny, I was almost star struck when I saw him, but it was cool to say that I have met a Youtube star! :)

Gym time is so much fun. Never have I seen 4- square be so intense! it is so much fun! We are really close with this other zone and we always have competitions. I just love it here!!

Tomorrow is the Relief Society broadcast from the Conference Center. I will be in the choir so look for a girl in a pink shirt. I know that there are plenty of pink shirt people but that will help narrow down your search!! :)

Shout out to the Timms for the letter!! Thank you so much, and thank you Greyson for the artwork. I have it hanging up in my dorm. I sent you guys a letter back in the mail today so look for it!!

I hope everyone has an amazing week and I would love to hear from everyone!! So write me letters, emails or dear elders!!

Love you guys and thank you for all your support!!

Hermana Cattich

Alex's first letter! September 20th



Mom, dad, Brandon and family!!! I hope you all get this!!!

Alright, it has been my first 40 hours in the MTC, and can I just say I LOVE IT HERE!!!! I have so much to tell you all and not a lot of time, so I hope I remember everything!!!

Ok first off,
Getting here: Going through the Timp Temple was amazing on Tuesday!! I loved it and it still remains my favorite temple....EVER!!!! When my mom dropped me off on Wednesday at 12:45, I was so excited, I could hardly contain myself. Right when you open the door, they really do wisk you away! I jumped out of the car and my escort was so nice!! I didn't even turn around I just went with it all. As soon as I started walking away with my escort I started to cry. She could tell I was having a hard time and told me that I could cry as long as I wanted to and that she understood! She was so nice. She took me to a building, where I FINALLY got my tags!! That's right, I am now Hermana Cattich!!! :) She then took me to my room and to my surprise, it is TINY, and there are 6 girls living in it (I will tell you about them later). After I dropped off my bags, she took me to a classroom and there I was thrown into a class where the teacher only spoke Spanish as we were waiting for the other Hermanas and Elders to show up. I understood NOTHING....but it was great!!! I was just so happy to be there, I just kept smiling! I didn't know what else to do!!!

MY COMPANION: So this is a funny story....I KNOW MY COMPANION!!! I was so excited when I saw her name on my sheet saying that she was my companion!! I know her from BYU and she dated one of my best friends from summer, Mason Marstella!! Funny thing is, we really didn't like each other because I was one of his best friends and she was his girlfriend, but now everything is fine! Right when I saw her, I asked if I could hug her (cause I was still crying and I was just so relieved to see someone I know!!) We both just laughed!! So her name is Hermana Boyce. She is from Holiday, Utah and she is great!! I love her already. We get along so well! We are the only Hermanas in our district so we have to keep the boys in line. It is a weird adjustment having a companion, they are with you ALL THE TIME, but I can already see it as a great blessing. When one of us forgets something, the other one has it. She is very focused and stressed about learning the language, and I am more patient (surprise) about learning the language. She asked me multiple times how i am so patient. We really to balance each other out!!! Heavenly Father knew that I needed a familiar face, and I got one my companion!!

MY DISTRICT: As I said before, my companion and I are the only Sisters in there, then there are 5 boys. A companionship and then a trio. Let me just say, we are the most random people thrown together in a room and we are going to be so blessed to be in there together. I don't think I have met a more diverse group of people in my life.Heavenly Father placed the most random people together but it is awesome!! I already love each of them!! First, there is Elder Persad. His parents are from Latin America but he was born and raised in Canada. So we have a "Latin Canadian" Next, we have Elder Teio. He is from Tahiti and only speaks French. So we have to teach him English and Spanish at the same time. We play pictionary a lot to try and help him. He is so funny and he only really knows the words, "I love you man" and "Okie dokie artichokie"  We love him, but the Elders say he snores a lot at night!! So we have a Tahitian French Speaker trying to learn 2 languages. Next, we have Elder Bowie. He is from Nigeria but was born and raised in London so he has a sweet accent. So we have an African-European, with an English accent. Next we have Elder Tai. He is Somoan, and probably the most humble person I have ever met. After his mission he is going to play football for Stanford!! Finally we have Elder Sharp. He is from Idaho and has been going to college for 2 years. He is a sports maniac, but he really looks out for the Hermanas (me and my companion) especially with his companion. Elder Tai. It is hard for all them to focus together, but individually they are great! Our district leader is Elder Bowie, and he gives us our mail....so we really like him!! :)

MY ROOM: So my room is TINY, and there are 6 girls in there! All of the girls are going to Argentina (except me) They are so nice!! We have Hermana Goodall (who is like the mom of the room) Hermana Gonzales, Hermana Woodruff and Hermana Bastian. (Then of course my companion and I) They are super nice and really willing to help us with any questions. They are in a different district but we are all in the same zone/branch!

BRANCH PRESIDENT: President Tyler. He is great, and every time he speaks you want to have your scriptures and note book open!! He is wonderful. Our branch is the smallest one in the CCM (MTC) There are only 17 of us. There are 11 Elders and 6 Hermanas. Our branch is who we will have church with on Sundays!! A branch is made up of 3 districts, it's also called a zone!

ZONE LEADERS!! Our zone leaders are great, and super funny!! Elder Moody, Elder Bradshaw and Elder Blake. They are great!

MEALS; For meals we all sit together as a zone. We have our own little table, and each meal is an adventure!! Last night, Elder Padgett (an elder in my zone) dared Hermana Gonzales to eat a whole bowl of jello in one bite for $5. It was a failure but everyone was laughing and jello went everywhere. Elder Padgett is the zone clown, he will always make you laugh!! His partner in crime is Elder Blake, and together they terrorize the zone (in a good way) you can always hear them though. It is great!!! (Brandon you would love them!!!)

GYM: We have gym time everyday and one thing I have learned is that when an Elder says they are bad at a certain sport, they are lying!! I was paired with Elder Sharp for b-ball. The teams are one boy and one girl so the girl can block the girl and the guy can block the guy. We can't block/guard the opposite gender. So, I was paired with Elder Sharp and he said that didn't play basketball, but I know he was lying cause he was awesome and as a team we dominated together!!

PEOPLE WHO I ALWAYS SEE:
Elder Macias (COLORADO) We have the same schedule cause we are both Spanish speaking! I see him everywhere. It is hard to remember to call him Elder and not Art. 
Elder Rockwood (Aurora Stake) You can't miss Elder Rockwood he is like 6 foot 6. He is speaking Japaneese on his mission but he has the same dinner time as me. Yesterday I say him and I was his "investigator" while he testified to me in Japanese. That was really cool!!
Sister Meredith (COLORADO) She lives in the same building as me!!
Hermana Foutz (BYU) She lived on the same floor and is Jacob Foutz's cousin!! It is awesome to see her literally everywhere because she is Spanish Speaking as well!!
Elder Coon (COLORADO)
Sister Gallagher (Home Ward in colorado) She was actually the first person I saw, that I knew! She came up and gave me a big hug! She is doing great!!
I see a lot of other people, and it is really fun to see them! The hard part is you want to hug them, but you can't!! 

FUNNY FACTS ABOUT THE MTC:
1. You can't give high 5's. That was so hard for me. We have to shake their hand.
2. We have to call people by Elder and Sister/Hermana, not by their first name.
3. There is a tree that smells like Cream Soda....not kidding!! Every time you pass it you have to smell it!! 
4. Everyone believes in the saying "Speak your language" so I have been passed my so many people that say hello in there mission language! I have probably heard over 10 different languages so far!! IT'S AWESOME!!
5. There were 650 new missionaries here this week. 
6. They cut down the time for Japanese and Chinese Speaking missionaries. You are only in the MTC for 8 weeks. If you speak 2 new languages on your mission you are here for 10 weeks!
7. Dear Elder is the best way to get a hold of me!! go to DearElder.com and it is free and it get it that day instead of only on p-days. But still write me letters and emails too. Its all really fun!!

SPANISH:
It is actually coming along really well. The first day they just throw you into a class where you only speak Spanish. That was crazy. But now I know how to pray and bear my testimony in Spanish....CRAZY!! Tomorrow we are teaching our first investigator!!

SHOUT OUTS!!
Mom: I miss you so much and I hope you drove home safely!! I wrote you a letter and it should be there either today or tomorrow.
Brandon: how is your broken leg and stitches?? I MISS YOU!!!
Dad: I hope you are doing well with work and everything!! Love you!
Aunt Wendy: How is your vacation?? I am so jealous!!
Sister Wandry: Thank you for your dear elder!! I was so excited to get it in my first batch of mail!!! I wrote you a letter back and you should get it soon!!

Anyways, if you can tell I love it here!! SO MUCH!!! MORE THAN I CAN DESCRIBE!!! I would love to hear from anyone and I can print off emails, so if you can just write me an email or letter, that would be great!!

THE BEST NEWS EVER!!! I have been asked to sing in the choir at the Relief Society Broadcast at the Conference Center on the 28th!!! LOOK FOR ME ON THE TV!!!

I love you all and thank you for everything!! Can't wait to talk to you next week!!!

LOVE, 
Heremana Cattich