The Proposal and my Identity Crisis

Hola!

I think I will start out with a great awkward missionary moment I was fortunate enough to have this week:) While in the combi (which is basically a big van that they use as a taxi) I was contacting the people I was sitting next to on the way back from zone conference.  There were three people I was contacting and we had a nice conversation an I invited them to church and so on.  About half way through our conversation one of the guys I was talking to told me he would like to marry me. I politely responded with a "Gracias, but I am a missionary" I then invited him to church and tried to pretend that I didn't feel extremely awkward, but I don't think I did a very good job at it.  I have now resorted to only contacting women or those that are already married to avoid future proposals in the middle of half hour combi rides :)

The other awkward missionary moment I had this week took place at a family home evening with the bishop's family and the young women's president's family.  They were doing a combined family home evening and we were invited to share our testimonies and help out with the lesson.  When we walked in they all started telling me congratulations and wishing me a happy birthday.  I tried telling them that they must have had me confused with the other missionary in our area who had a birthday that day but they didn't understand me.  At the end of the lesson they all came over to me hugging me and shaking my hand and saying congratulations.  After they were done the bishop's mother turned to my companion and said, "Why didn't you tell us it was her birthday, we would have made her a cake or something."  My companion chuckled and said, "Because it's not her birthday."  She then explained how it was the other hermana's birthday in our ward and that they must have gotten confused.  It was pretty funny.  They all said they took back their congratulations and asked me when my real birthday was so they could be ready for it and make me a cake.

I had another mix-up the other day on p-day when we were buying groceries.  Me and my companion both needed more deodorant so we went over to the deodorant section to pick some out.  When we saw the prices we realized that the men's deodorant was a lot cheaper than the women's and with a missionary budget cheaper is always better, so we each picked some out.  I just grabbed the cheapest one they had and she got the more expensive one but once we got home I realized the difference.  My companion had chosen the non-scented kind and mine was very much scented.  Words like scented and not scented are not words I know in Spanish...but, they are words that when it comes to things like deodorant make quite the difference. I now smell like an hombre everyday, a very good smelling hombre, but an hombre just the same :)

This week I have learned a new strategy for contacting people, it's called pretending like I don't know Spanish. I have found that I can get anyone here to talk to me if I tell them I am new here and need help learning Spanish.  The people here LOVE to help and to feel like they are needed.  So I will usually begin a conversation with something like, "I'm new here and need help learning Spanish, can you help me by letting me practice with you?" After they agree I tell them all about our church and what we believe in and they are very nice and listen to everything I have to say.  This is my way of using the fact that I am a gringo to my advantage :)

Last week on the 25th I hit 3 months in the mission.  That is insane, I don't even know where the time has gone!  My companion surprised me on the day of my 3 month mark by decorating my desk with a big sign and balloons and some yummy cookies.  She is so sweet!

To finish off this week yesterday Mary was baptized.. Yay!  It was such a great day, all three of her kids came to support her, two of which aren't members.  After her baptism she was crying because she was so happy.  I am so proud of her and she is going to be such an awesome member!

This gospel is such a blessing that we have in our lives!  Sharing it has brought me the most happiness I have ever had.  Lose yourself in service to others and you will be blessed!

Love, hermana Peine

Mexico Bug!

Living the Mexican Life

Hola!

This week was great! One of the members we are really close with gave me the nickname "Koli Poki" this week, referring to the movie, "The Other Side of Heaven" and the main character in the movie. Koli Poki goes to a foreign place on his mission and while there can't understand the language and is constantly getting sick and having things happen to him.  The member told me that I reminded her of Koli Poki:).

Eating pig head last week may have made for a good story afterwards, but it also made for a very sick stomach! I have been sick all week but luckily we have still been able to get a pretty good amount of work done. We only ended up staying in the house one day this week. This week I have learned a lot about forgetting about myself and focussing on others. Especially on the days that I feel really sick I have been able to practice forgetting about myself and how I feel and focussing on my investigators and what I can do to help them.

This week I had a pretty strange experience. One morning when I woke up I had a weird taste in my mouth, so I decided I would brush my teeth.  After brushing I was rinsing my mouth out with water when I noticed that the water I had been rinsing my mouth with was coming out black!  I looked at my toothbrush and saw that it was black too! I went over to the mirror and when I opened my mouth I saw that my tongue was completely black! My first thought was that I had some strange disease. Then I had the thought to look on the warning label of the stomach relief medicine I had been taking. Sure enough I looked on the box and it said that having a black tongue is a normal symptom from the medicine and not to panic.  Too late...I had already pushed the panic button at least 3 times before I read the box :).

My other panic moment of the week took place in the bathroom of the home of one of the family's we are teaching.  After I had finished using the bathroom and was about to leave I remembered that the rules are different here in Mexico, the toilet paper doesn't go in the toilet it goes in the trash can.  After realizing my mistake I went out to look for a way to fix the problem. I found a door that went outside into a jungle of tall trees and found a nice stick to take back and solve the problem with.  After I was finished me and my companion left the house and headed to our next appointment.  While we were walking I told her what had happened and she thought it was hilarious.  She said, "Oh that's why you took so long...I thought you had fallen in!" (Which is something that is actually very possible here in Mexico by the way.):)

Also this week we went to the Union Juares for a day to start working with some people there. It is about a 45 min ride from where we are to the Union Juares and is a very curvy road up the mountain. The streets are like hills and are straight up and down, it felt like a hike to get from one appointment to the next.  Also it is very high up on the mountain and there was one point while we were there that the clouds settled down on the streets and the houses so the fog was really thick. So for part of the day we got to walk around through clouds which was really cool.

Unfortunately Mary's baptism didn't end up happening this week.  It had to be postponed for a little while because of some family things so we are hoping to get things worked out within the next week or so so that she can be baptized as soon as possible.  We also have another investigator named Anna who accepted a baptismal date for October 18th so we are excited about that. :)

I wish I had time to update you on everyone of our investigators but there is just not enough time for that.  We have several awesome investigators though who are doing so great.

So that was life here in Mexico for the week.  Things are going great and I am loving it here!  I hope you all have a great week and I'll talk to you next week.

Love, Hermana Peine

Sister Shelly Hansen, the YW president in my home ward asked me to write a quick note of advice to the YW in our ward.  Since I don't have much time I am sending the advice I think is the most important. This is my advice;

Every one in this world is looking for happiness but they don't know where to find it.  The problem is that people are usually looking for happiness in themselves.  On my mission I have learned that if you truly want to be happy you must forget about yourself and focus on others.  You can spend every day for the rest of your life trying to make yourself happy and it may work for temporary moments of happiness, however if you want true and lasting happiness do something for someone else and make someone else happy.  Forgetting about myself and focusing on helping others has made me happier than I have ever been. 

Baptisms, Pig head, & a Noche Mexicana!!

Hola!

This week I went to Tuxtla to fill out papers for my green card.  It was basically a 6 hour bus ride to Tuxtla, a 20 minute process to fill out papers, and then a 6 hour ride back.  It was awesome :)  I really enjoyed the trip and got A LOT of studying done!

Also this week our ward celebrated Mexico's Independence day (which is today) by having a Noche Mexicana fiesta.  It was so much fun!  The members took turns performing Mexican songs for us and everyone cheered and yelled [Viva Mexico] about every 30 seconds, it was the best! We also had some really great food.. I have no idea what it was, but it tasted good :)

Noche Mexicana Fiesta

I sure love living the Mexican life, the culture and customs are all so beautiful!  The food is also growing on me.  I am learning to enjoy the sensation of having my mouth feel like it's on fire all the time.  Ha ha well.. kind of, I re-learn to like it every time it happens ;)  My body however is still adjusting to the food here.  The good news is that I have basically just adjusted to not feeling good all the time.  I have kind of felt permanently sick since the day that I got here, but now it doesn't bother me anymore, it's just life.  Esta bien :)

                                                   


Speaking of the food.. yesterday I had the wonderful opportunity of eating pig head.  I am not exactly sure what the title pig head actually entails, if it is brains and eyes or what not, because I didn't want to ask.  Somethings are just better left unknown :)  But the good news is that I ate it all and have kept it down ever since!  

This week we also had transfers, me and my companion have been anxious all week to find out what would happen.  We got a call last night informing us that neither of us would be transferred and we were excited to hear it!  I love this area and didn't want to leave.  We are making so much progress with all our investigators that it just wasn't a good time.. I'm guessing that I'm never going to feel like it's a good time though because I love it here so much :)

Jennifer's Baptism

Being a missionary is so fun, if it was a career option I would take it in a heartbeat.  This week Jennifer was baptized.. YAY!!  I don't want to say [it was my first baptism] because it wasn't mine, it was the Lord's.  It was the first baptism of one of the my investigators I have been teaching, and it was incredible!  Jennifer is so awesome, she is 15 and the only member of the church in her family, she is a great example to them.  On the day of her baptism she really wanted her mom to be there to support her but her mother refused to come.  So me and Hermana Juliana got to take on the role of being her motherly support that she needed that day.  We went back with her to change and get ready and talked her through all her worries.  It was so awesome to be able to really be there for her when she needed us.  

Another investigator named Mary has a baptismal date for this Friday, and hopefully her son Fausto too.  So we are very excited about that!  It has been so awesome to watch them grow and change and to grow and change with them.  

This week has really strengthened my testimony of how important the Lord's work truly is and that with him nothing is impossible.  Most things in life are neither urgent or important, but sharing the gospel is both!  Life is what you choose to make of it and if you choose to live it the way the Lord would have you live it it is GREAT!  

I sure love you guys!  Have a great week :)

Hermana Peine

The Week of the Machete!

Hola everyone!

What a great week it has been here in Cahcahoatan!  Great news.. I finally have a pillow!  This week I decided to buy one and it has probably been one of the best purchases I have made in my life thus far, because sleeping on a towel is just not the same!  Also, even better news.. one of our investigators is getting baptized this week, Wahoo!  Her name is Jennifer and she is 15 years old.  Also we have two investigators who will be baptized the following week on Friday, their names are Fausto and Mary.  I am way excited for all of them!  It is so awesome to see the progress they are making and how the gospel is truly changing their lives.

This week was also filled with several great adventures, the first being that I finally got to use a machete :)  While on exchanges this week with Hermana Zuniga we were walking to one of our appointments when we passed by a sister who was using a machete to cut down some firewood.  We decided to stop and contact her and after doing so I asked her (in my broken Spanish) if I could use her machete to take a picture with.  She looked at me like I was crazy and couldn't figure out why I would want to do such a thing.  My companion explained to her that I was from the United States and that things like this weren't normal for me.  She just laughed and told me I could take all the pictures I wanted :)

Also while on exchanges my companion introduced me to one of her investigators named Jose.  He was the perfect ideal investigator like you would only see in the movies.  They had their first lesson with him last week and he is ALREADY in Alma in reading the Book of Mormon.  He lived in the United States for several years so he is fluent in English.  I taught him a lesson in English and it was awesome, I could say everything I wanted to say and it all made sense :)

Speaking of my Spanish, it is coming!  I understand SO much more, but it is still hard to speak.  This week in one of our lessons my companion turned the time over to me and after I had finished talking the family looked at me bewildered and said "Sorry, but we don't understand English."  Oh boy, they thought my Spanish was English :)

Also family, just so you know you are all famous here in Mexico.  Every time without fail when I pull out my little book with pictures of you guys the whole family I am teaching gathers around and oohs and ahhs at your pictures.  Everyone here thinks you guys are the greatest and that you "look like people from the movies."

This Thursday we have big plans with the ward to have a fiesta called Noche Mexicana to celebrate Mexico's independence day on the 15th.  There will be music and dancing and lots and lots of Mexican food.  We are super excited for it.  I will make sure to send lots of pictures and give details for you guys next week :)

The last thing I want to share with you guys in an experience we had this past week with a sister who owns one of the computer shops where we go to email.  Last week we went to use the computers and she started talking to us about how she is not a fan of organized religions and how she thinks all the churches think they are better than each other.  After talking with her for a bit my companion decided we were going to give her the first lesson right there and then in the computer shop.  So we did and.. It was awful, it was so bad.  She was literally rolling her eyes at us and not paying attention to a word we were saying.  At the end of the lesson we thanked her for her time and left feeling as though we had just wasted our time and hers.  However, later in the week when we returned back to use the computers she said "so I was going to come to your church last week but I couldn't remember what time you said it was at."  (I'm pretty sure my jaw just about dropped to the floor).  She also told us that she would really like to learn more about our message and our church.  After we left me and my companion were like "wow, did that really happen?"

So, my challenge to all of you this week is to share the gospel with all those you come in contact with.  Hopefully it goes well, but even if it does not remember that you are planting seeds and that even if you think they were not listening or that your message didn't help them it did.  You can have such a great impact on someone and never know!

So there you have it folks, go out and share the gospel.  I know you will be blessed :)

I love you all and have a great week ok!

Love, Hermana Peine

Flooded House!

Hola!

This week was SO awesome, I don't even know where to begin!  I think I will begin with the food :)  This week I had an awesome meal called Chicharron, it is basically pure pig fat with a thick layer of skin on it.  Mine still even had the hair on it too, it was.. disgusting.  The flavor wasn't so bad but the texture was pretty gross.. I wouldn't recommend it.  

Also this week I got the chance to experience what a REAL rainstorm is like, holy moly!  I remember last week in my email saying that it rained so hard the streets were like rivers, but that was before the storm this week.  The roads last week were more like streams compared to this week, this week they were literally like rivers, there was probably a foot of water running down them.  Me and my companion had a lunch appointment across town with the relief society president the day of the storm.  Instead of waiting for the storm to pass we decide we would just go so we could be on time to lunch.  My companion was planning on just going out with a poncho on so I could use the umbrella, but I told her that was ridiculous and that I had a little umbrella in my bag so she could take the nice one.  So we headed out into the storm and I soon figure out how small and flimsy my umbrella actually was.. after about a solid 30 seconds of being outside I was completely soaked.  We headed across town to where we would eat lunch and every time we would cross a road (aka river of water) we would have water spray up our legs soaking us even more.  It was so fun, I have never had so much fun being soaking wet.  Also, we are now looking into getting a little boat of some kind or a floatation device to get around to our appointments, I think that may be more efficient :)

After lunch we headed back to the house to change into dry clothes.  It was still raining but the big storm was mostly over.  We got to the house and as my companion opened the door she turned to me and said "oh boy."  As we walked in I soon figured out what she was talking about.  Surprise.. we now had an indoor swimming pool in our living room!  Our house was flooded :)  We both just started laughing and thought it was way funny.  Our bedroom was the worst, there was about 3 inches of water covering the floor.  So, we spent the next little while sweeping the pond out of our house and took pictures of the process, it was a good time :)

Also, yesterday I had another great surprise, about 2 minutes before church started the bishop informed me that I would be speaking.  I wasn't scheduled or planning on speaking until the second week in September but the speaker they had scheduled didn't show up.  Luckily I had a few talks I had written in the MTC that were in Spanish so I just used them.  it went well I think, considering the fact that I only had a few minutes to prepare and I don't speak the language.  In reality no one probably understood the majority of my talk, including me because I didn't know what I was saying.  But, that's ok it was a good experience :)

So basically it was a fantastic week full of adventures.  But it was more than just a week of adventures, we also had several great lessons and currently have some awesome progressing investigators.  One of our investigators is actually a pastor in another church so those have been some interesting lessons.  He has several different views and insights on things but he is very excited to learn everything we have to teach him so it's been great :)

I hope you all are having a fun time at home.  Remember what's really important this week.  The gospel is so awesome and truly changes lives, don't ever take it for granted because there are so many people who don't have it!  

I sure love you all, thanks for everything you do!

Hermana Peine

Rainstorms

Hola everyone!

This week was awesome!  Wow.. you guys have a lot of questions for me huh?  I didn't get to answer them all last week either because there wasn't enough time.  So.. here we go :)  Yes we do eat with members here everyday, they are so nice to feed us!  And.. I am in Mexico, so of course there are tortillas with EVERY meal!  You know how they have dependable jobs in the U.S like health care professions, things that are always needed?  Well working in a tortillaria is a dependable job here ;)  Also, yes we do have hot water.. kind of.  I figured out that if I turn the shower faucet so that it is barely on and comes out super slow the water is somewhat hot.  So that was a great discovery!  We are not in the mountains but where we are is like a jungle, it is so beautiful!  There are plants and trees all over the place!  We don't have bikes and we walk everywhere.  My hair is loving the humidity and looks like a lion's mane.. maybe it's a good thing my camera got stolen so there aren't pictures of it for you guys ;)  I did buy a new camera last week though so I have been using that lately.  

It rains so much here!  The other day it was like a hurricane, it was pouring and the roads were like rivers with water running down them.  Me and my companion were soaking wet that day after the storm, it was awesome!  

This week we had a lesson with a member family who has two adorable little girls.  After our lesson the sister gave us hot milk with bread to dip it in.  As I was eating my bread one of the little girls came up to me and smiled, took a piece off of my bread and dipped it in my milk and then put it in her mouth. After that it was pretty much a free for all and we shared the rest of it.  I love all of the little children here, they are so cute!

Also this week has made me VERY grateful for the fact that I have been raised in the gospel my whole life!  We have a less active member we are teaching who is 16 years old and has a baby that is 1 year and a half.  She is such a beautiful girl and has all the potential in the world, but she has a really hard life.  At 16 years old she is trying to raise a baby, go to school, and work to support herself.  It is very sad to see.

Thank you mom and dad so much for raising me in the gospel, I have no idea where I would be without it!  The gospel means everything in this world to me.  I'm so grateful for it and for the knowledge that we can be together as a family forever!

I sure love all you guys and hope you are doing great!  Thank you for all your love and support.  This week don't forget how important this gospel truly is.  If you ever need anything your heavenly father is right there and is waiting to help you.  He loves you more than you can comprehend!  Love, Hermana Peine

P-Day Activity with the President and his wife

Life in Mexico!

Hola hola everyone!

This week was awesome!  I wish each and everyone of you could be here with me to witness these miracles we see here everyday.  The people here are so beautiful and so kind and Mexico is the best, I definitely got the best mission in the world.  

Last Monday for p-day we went to the ruins of the pyramids in Izapa, they are beautiful. Don't worry mother.. I took lots of pictures :)  For one of the pictures I even did a handstand on top on the pyramid.  I don't know that it was the safest idea considering that I had a very swollen ankle at the time, but all is well, and now I've got an awesome picture.

Speaking of my ankle.. everyone is friendly here INCLUDING the bugs who have graciously welcomed me with several bug bites :)  But one of the bug bites caused an infection in my ankle which is why it was swollen.  It was HUGE it looked like someone had put a softball in my ankle, unfortunately there are no pictures though.  So we went to the doctor and he have me antibiotics for it.  It's almost all the way back to normal now and hardly hurts at all.  The good news is that I can walk again, even though I did get LOTS of studying done on the days I was sentenced to the house :)

Also, about my camera.. the bad news is that it got stolen.  But, the good news is that whoever took it probably needed it much more than I do anyways, and cameras are cheap here so I will just buy another one.  

Last week in my email you reminded me that I forgot to talk about my living conditions.  Me and my companion live in a little white house, the floor is all cement, and the bathroom is one open area with the toilet, and sink and then a shower head hanging from the ceiling.  There is a big tank in the back of our house where we wash our clothes and do our dishes.

Tank where we wash our dishes and clothes!

It rains everyday here and from what I've heard there are LOTS of earthquakes.  The food.. well it isn't the worst thing I've ever had, but it will definitely take some getting used to!  A lot of the drinks they give us smell like the water in Kya's dog dish after she has slobbered in it a few time.. and it tastes about like I would guess that would taste too.  I will learn to like it :)

I am learning more and more everyday, but there is still so much that I don't understand.  So I usually just smile and nod to whatever people say to me, which sometimes gets me into trouble.  Like the other day when I accidentally agreed to speak in church when the bishop asked me to.. nah, just kidding I did know that one and I happily agreed :)

Yesterday after dinner with the bishop and his family he drove us to see the Guatemala border which is only about 10 minutes from where we live.  The dividing line is a big river and around it is all jungle, it was so beautiful.  

Also this week we had a really great lesson with a less active member.  She hasn't been to church for a long time.  While we were teaching her she said something I really like, she said "wow, I remember now, these teachings are so simple."  They really are, it is by the small and simple things that we do each day that great things are brought to pass.

Well, that's all I have for now, I hope you all have a great week!  

Love Hermana Peine

Great News!

Hola Todos!

Mom, that is so exciting about your kittens, congratulations!  Also, I like the motorcycle idea.. please be careful on it though momma, I know how you can be reckless at times ;)   

So, great news.. I am in Mexico!  Even better news, I am fluent.. in the language I learned at the MTC that is; however, that is not the same language as here :)  Not to confuse anyone, because I did learn Spanish in the MTC, but the way they speak it here sounds like a completely different language than what I learned.  I feel like that movie the best two years, it's so true.  But, esta bien I will learn eventually :)

Next, missionary stories.. yay, they are the best!  Yes I already have PLENTY of them, however I don't have enough time to write them all so I will have lots to share when I get home.  But I will tell you about a few of them.  

So first story, as I told you at the airport I hardly got any sleep on the first plane ride going to Atlanta, so by the second flight I was exhausted!  So I slept for the whole way on the next flight.  After our plane arrived we got off and were walking around in the airport.  One of the elders in my travel group informed me that I was asleep on the shoulder of the gentleman sitting next to me for the majority of the plane ride.  What a nice man, who knew :)

After the plane we got on a bus to take us to our next plane.  When the bus was about to leave a gentleman got on and came over to stand by us.  I figured I would be friendly and say hola, so I did.. and then he tried to kiss me on the cheek.  Being the innocent little new missionary that I am that was terrifying.  I later found out that is what everyone does here, so it's normal, who knew :)

I now understand how the animals at the zoo feel.  Me and my companion are in an area called Cacahoatan, which has a population of about 40,000 people.  Us two and one of the other sisters in our area are the ONLY Americans here.  So EVERYONE stares at us EVERYWHERE we go.  It's so funny, I feel famous or something.

Speaking of animals that reminds me of my first meal here.  We went to this sweet members house for lunch and on the table was a covered plate of food piled high.  As we entered the kitchen the sister uncovered the food and lo and behold I beheld 6 fish with their mouths open staring up at me.  I immediately said a quick prayer asking for help to eat it (seafood is one thing I have always had a hard time with, I gag when I try to swallow it).  But thankfully I was able to eat most of it so I didn't offend her.  After the meal I told my companion about my love for seafood and she assured me we don't eat it very often here.  However, the next day.. yep, fish once again.  Esta bien, I will learn to like it :)

Speaking of my companion her name is Hermana Juliana.  She is American like I mentioned earlier but is fluent in both English and Spanish, so that is awesome.  She is from Oregon and has been out for almost 6 months.  I love her, she is an awesome trainer!

I absolutely love it here!  There is NO WHERE else I would rather be and NOTHING else I would rather be doing.  I've only been out here a week but have already learned and grown so much.  I've come to learn how much I used to take for granted.  Not just things like air conditioning and hot water, but also the little things.  Things like a floor in the house, a pillow to sleep on, and utensils to eat with.  Before my mission these things were seemingly small and I took them for granted.  Being out here I have realized that these things I thought were actually much bigger than I thought.  The majority of the people here have next to nothing but are willing to give a perfect stranger all that they have.  I have seen and felt pure Christlike love from all the people here and I am so grateful for them.  

Sorry this  was kind of long.. I have much more to say but not enough time.  But you did ask for a novel :)

I sure love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love, Hermana Peine

I'm Finally Here!

Hola madre y padre!

My mission president is letting us all email our families to let them know we got here safely.  So this email is to let you know I got here safe and sound so you don´t worry.  I am already loving it here and never want to leave.  My mission president and his wife are awesome, I like them a lot!  I have lots to tell you about and will have plenty of details about my trip and all of the adventures I have had already on my first day.  I will make sure to tell you all about it on P day which I think is Monday but I'm not sure.  

I sure love you guys!  I´ll talk to you soon!

Mexico Here I Come!

Hola!

Alright momma, first off I will answer the question I know you have been dying to hear.. I am doing MUCH better, I promise.  The second time I went to the doctor he told me it was Upper Viral Respiratory Infection and that I would most likely be ok and it would go away on its own in the next week or so.  The sores are getting better everyday and they hardly hurt at all anymore, also my infection is clearing up and I can breath again so that is good!  I can also eat again too, so I am as good as new :) 

Texas sounds awesome!  I'm so glad ya'll had fun.. you deserve it!  That oil painting you are doing for the man who lost his wife sounds like it will be incredible as well.  That is so good to hear you could help him with that, you are very talented mom!

To answer your questions from your email, my companion is going to Pueblo South, Mexico, the spanish is coming pretty good, I wish I was fluent already but I'm sure I will get there :)  I don't feel "ready" to leave yet but I don't know that I ever would so ready or not here I come!  And, my responsibilities as a STL are to help all the hermanas is my district and zone with whatever they are in need of, meet with the branch presidency every week and discuss what we can do better as a branch, and basically just be an example to other missionaries.  

My week was so great too!  As a district we celebrated Christmas in July on the 25th as our little district family.  We each drew names and bought each other a little present and wrote a note to them about how awesome of a missionary they are.  Then we drew a little Christmas tree on the white board and put our presents under it before we opened them.  It sounds ridiculous, but it was a blast and probably one of my favorite parts of this week!

Christmas in July!

Another great highlight of the week was going in the coveted pillow room after service.  It is a room here on campus that only a select few know about and it is full of about 260 pillows.  So after our last service on Friday our leaders took us to it and we got to run down the hall and jump into the sea of pillows.  It was great!  The things you do as missionaries.. :)

Also this week my companion apparently slept in the closet one night.. Yeah, weird.  Apparently she heard some noises outside that she thought were gun shots.  She tried waking me up but I had taken some medicine that night to help me sleep because of my cold so I was out.  So.. she decided to sleep in the closet in case someone broke into our apartment for whatever reason.  I'm sure going to miss her.. she always keeps me on my toes ;)

And last but not least TRAVEL PLANS CAME THIS WEEK!  I may be just a little bit excited!!  So I am actually leaving on Sunday instead of Monday.  I leave the MTC at 9:00 Sunday night to catch my plane that leaves at 1am.  From Salt Lake I travel to Georgia from 1am till 6am and then have a 3 hour layover.  My next plane comes at 9:47 from Georgia to Mexico City and arrives in Mexico at 12:17.  Then I catch another plane from Mexico City to Tuxtla at 2:10 and arriving at 3:50.  So it will definitely be an adventure.  I'm super excited!

As far as calling goes it would probably be the most convenient for you guys if I call you Sunday night from the Salt Lake airport.  I don't know if you want to send me a burnout phone I think is what they call it where you buy a cheap cell phone and send it with minutes on it so I can call you.  Or I could get a calling card too, I would just have to wait in line at the payphone and hopefully get a chance to talk to you.  Either way, whatever's best for you just let me know and I will do it.  I can't wait to hear from you guys!  So just send me a quick dearelder when you get this with what you'd like me to do and we can plan on that :)

I sure love you!  Thanks for your support and have a GREAT week!  Love, Hermana Peine

One Month Already Gone!!

Hola!

Holy cow momma, you're in Texas!  That sounds like soo much fun.  That's crazy about your guys flight getting cancelled, but if there's a will there's a way right.  I'm glad ya'll made it there safely :)  

Weston's talk also sounds like it was amazing, he is just an amazing guy all around isn't he.  Especially as a missionary, my goal on my mission is to be the kind of missionary he was because I know how great he was.  Ok, I'm not sure if I heard you right.. dad, wake boarding.. what?  Wow, good for him!  He must've had a better teacher than the time he tried snowboarding.. do you remember that?  Good times, good times!  Also, wow.. words spreads fast out there in the real world.  I tell dad that my room is clean and I'm a morning person and at least 3 people have emailed me since telling me congratulations.  Miracles are real people :)

This week was so much fun!  Me and 3 other hermanas from my district did a musical number in sacrament meeting.  We sang "If You Could Hie to Kolob," and it sounded really good.  After the meeting our branch presidency and their wives all came up to us and told us we had to audition for the one of the devotionals to sing in front of the whole MTC.  How do you say no to that?  You don't, so.. we auditioned this morning and will find out if we made it later this week.  I will keep you posted :)

Also on Sunday we had a really great devotional by T.C Christensen who directed 17 miracles, Ephriam's Rescue and several other church movies.  I love the devotionals here, they are all SO great.  And then to finish off Sunday night we said goodbye to a district of elders in our zone who were leaving to Mexico Monday morning, it was sad and I will miss them.  And that will be me here in 10 days.. where does the time go?  I don't even know.. it is crazy!

So listen to this.. we were walking across the crosswalk the other day and my companion looks over and is like "Wow, that looks like my car," she keeps looking and realizes it is her family.  It was soo weird, they all rolled down the windows and were screaming and telling her how much they loved her.  I can't even imagine seeing you guys right now, that would be so weird.  

Speaking of seeing people guess who I ran into today?  Elder Hayes!  I had JUST finished reading Brady's letter that said Logan was entering the MTC this week and then I heard someone say "Sister Peine"  I looked up and saw the whole Hayes family coming to drop Logan off.  I ran over to give him a hug and then realized that wasn't allowed so he got a nice handshake.  I was really great to see them all again.

Ok one last thing before I finish (mom plug your ears).  The other day during class our teacher was talking to us about Mexico and what it would be like.  He is from Mexico so he knows all about it.  I was asking him about Tuxtla and what it was like.  He told me that it was a jungle like I had heard and that I would probably be given a machete (not sure on the spelling) while I am on my mission.  He also told me there are spiders and cockroaches there that can fit in both my hands, and several crazy insects and scary things there.  I am so excited!  I'm sure the Lord will protect me and all will be well, but I will definitely have some great stories when I come home!

I sure love you all and thanks for all the support!  You guys mean the world to me and I would never be here without you.  Especially you mom and dad, thank you so much for everything.  I hope everyone has a great week and I'll talk to you soon!

Love, Hermana Peine

Over Half Way Through the MTC!!

Hola Everyone!

I love you momma, thanks for your email.  It's so weird to see pictures of my room.. I kind of feel like it doesn't exist anymore.  It looks really good though, thank you for doing that!  I'm sorry it made you miss me though.. just think of it as a good way like "Oh Sadie's room isn't a mess anymore because she's not here," Sound good? ;) Texas sounds like it will be so fun, I am jealous!  Make sure to take LOTS of pictures ok?  Thank you for the update on the kittens, I am so glad they have found a good home, I have been very worried about that lately..

What in the world.. how does time go so fast?!  I am over halfway through my time here at the MTC.  I only have one P-day left here and then I will be in Mexico.  In about a week and a half I will proably be calling you guys from the airport.. hopefully I can still remember English ;) Nah, I wish that was the case.  

This week has been so great, don't worry you're about to hear all about it.  I GOT MY VISA!  Yay, I am offical now and will be a Mexican before any of you can say loco pollo!  On the way to get my visa I met all of the other missionaries going to my mission.. there is a grand total of 5 of us all together.  But I was so excited to meet them because for the longest time I haven't heard of anyone here who was going to my mission and was beginning to think I'd be the only one there.

Missionaries going to my mission

So last Wednesday me and the other hermanas in my district who are also my roommates decided we would have a little workout session.  So we worked out and pushed ourselves pretty hard and the next day we felt the effects. Haha we decided to do around 200 or so calf raises and the next day we were limping around campus.. it hurt so bad.  But, I am confident that because of all this pain our calves will be so strong one day.

Another way cool thing that happened this week was at breakfast when a girl dropped her whole tray of food on me.  The contents of her: orange juice, syrup, and yogurt all blended together so nicely to make the coolest pattern on my tan skirt (don't worry mom I have washed all the stains out by now and all is well).

It is such a small world!  So I guess one of the elders in my zone and I share the same cousin, weird I know.  His name is Elder Cahoon and we are both cousins with Brian.  He is from Hurricane and I guess I've been over to his grandma's house quite a few times at the same time he was there.  Also, he was at Corbin and Ashley's wedding too.  He is going to Argentina on his mission and said he talked to dad about it at the reception for a while.  So now we are in the same zone and we talk about Brian all the time, it is great.

Today the Provo temple opened again and we were able to go through and do a session this morning with our district and most of the missionaries in our zone.  It was so fun to go in the temple as a missionary.  The spirit was so strong and I loved every minute of it.

Well, I could go on and on about stories.. but I don't want to bore you and I only have a limited time to email.  But I sure love all of you and hope you are doing well.  I LOVE hearing from you and appreciate the time you take to write me.  Thank you, thank you for everything.  Until next week!

Love, Hermana Peine

4th of July at the MTC

Hello everyone!

 How is everyone doing?! Life here in the MTC couldn't be better!

 A lot has happened this week.. well a lot by missionary standards anyways ;) First off, it was the fourth of July this week, yay! I love that holiday.  It was a different experience celebrating it here in the MTC, but it was a great one!  We had class all day like normal but we had a special devotional at night to celebrate the holiday.  For the devotional we listened to some great talks about american heroes and then we got to watch 17 miracles.. such a good movie.  There were several elders who were crying.. that's how good it was.  After the devotional we went outside on the lawn and they gave us ice cream and let us watch the fireworks from the stadium of fire, don't worry I'll send pictures for ya :)  

Next item of business.. I became a Sister-Training-Leader this week.  So I am a STL for my district and also for my zone.   I literally walked into sacrament meeting on Sunday and my branch president came up and asked me if I would accept the calling right as sacrament meeting was starting and then announced it to everyone a few minutes later, so it was very short notice.  I love my calling!  I have been praying for a way to help the missionaries in my district and my zone and the gift of discernment to help them with their needs and I feel like this calling is an answer to my prayer! I'm still new at it but I think i'm starting to get the hang of things.

I am getting my visa tomorrow YAY.. Mexico here I come!  I have been a little worried over whether it would come or not in time for me to leave and it did, another answer to a prayer :)  so I will be heading to SLC tomorrow morning to pick that up.  It will be pretty weird for me to be in the "real world" again, but hopefully I can handle it.  

Next item of business (get ready to be jealous)... Elder Neil L. Anderson from the quorum of the 12 apostles spoke at our devotional last night.  It was.. amazing to say the least.  That man is amazing!  Seriously.. I know without a doubt in my mind that he was called of God.  He glows, the whole time he was speaking I was just in awe because he looked like an angel up there testifying of Christ.  His countenance radiates Christ's image.  I hope that one day I can have that same glow about me as he did, because it was UNREAL.  

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Time flies here at the MTC, I cannot believe it has already been two weeks.  It seems like just yesterday you guys were dropping me off.  I already feel like I have grown so much just from these two weeks and know that this is the best decision I have made in my life thus far.    

I love you all and hope you are doing good!  You are constantly in my thoughts and prayers.

Love, Hermana Peine

            

First week in the MTC

Hola Familia y Amigos!

Hello everyone!  Well, to start off there is some good news and some bad news.  The good news is I love being a missionary and I am absolutely loving it here at the MTC.. the bad news is that I love it here so much I never want to leave!  

I'm glad you all had fun at Yellowstone and touring BYUI, I won't lie I may be a little bit jealous that you guys went to Yellowstone without me, but.. esta bien.  

I'll give you all a quick run down on my stay so far at the MTC.  After you guys dropped me off at the curb (lovingly of course) they took me into a room, handed me my name tag and wished me good luck.  I went into a big room and picked up my books and then went to my first Spanish class.  The teachers spoke to us fluently in Spanish, no English at all (I'm pretty sure I had a deer in the headlights look that entire class because I couldn't understand what they were saying).  Then they assigned me a companion, her name is Hermana Peterson.  Holy moly I think they may have given me the BEST companion in the world!  I feel like she is my long lost twin, she is A LOT like me. 

My district is also the best ever.  We have become so close I feel like we are family, (that will also be hard to leave).  So we have our little district family and I feel like I am the mother because the elders seem to turn into 14 year old boys again every time they are together and I have to remind them to act their age and not their shoe size.  But boys will be boys and we still love them just the same.

Me and my companion had a couple of cool adventures this week.  We went down to Brigham's landing one week to get Jamba Juice.  The second we stepped off the grounds of the MTC we could feel a difference in the spirit, and as we were walking  EVERYONE and their dog was staring at us.  It was our first time being out in the "real world" as missionaries and it was such a strange experience.  I was a good one though, now I know how famous people feel.

This Sunday we may or may not have missed the bus to take us from sacrament to relief society.. ok, we did.  But really the bus missed us and it wasn't our fault ;)  So we realized the bus had left and went back inside to tell our branch president.  He decided he would just give us a ride to where we needed to be.  So we told him we needed to go back to the chapel for relief society.  But, this little old man had other plans for us.  He told us that he thought we needed to go up to a different campus at the main MTC where his wife was.  Me and my companion both knew that wasn't right but there was no talking him out of it.. so we just shrugged our shoulders and went along with it.  He dropped us off and we went into the building and asked one of the sisters if we were in the right place and.. we weren't.  So we sprinted back out of the building to the car (in high heels) and he was gone.  Haha, so then we had to go to the main office and have one of the security guards take us to where we were supposed to be.  So he pulled up in his 12 passenger van and escorted us to relief society.  

So those were our big adventures for the week.  The bar has already been set so high this week I don't know how we will beat it next week.  But I'm sure we will find a way ;)

I love you all so much and I hope you are doing well.  Thank you for all your love and support!

Love, Hermana Peine

The place where we exercise!