Ok everyone, we received a letter a few days after Michelle got into the MTC saying she was happy and loving the spirit there. Today is her first P-day, meaning we got her first real, long email today! Here are some parts that I loved:
Hi family!!!
P-day has finally come after ten days of being here, and I am wearing jeans! It feels so good...those nylons and dresses I love too though, don't get me wrong!
So...I've been here for 9 days, and I'm still kickin'. The M.T.C. is a pretty unique place. We've done so much since I talked to all of you last, it's crazy. By last Friday we were already praying and bearing testimony in Spanish. We have a goal as a Zone to get 8 contacts a day, which means you go up to people and testify to them of the Church in Spanish. I am so grateful I've learned some because I am shocked at how much it has helped. My companion hasn't had any Spanish! I am so impressed by her though because she is constantly trying to learn, and every time I say something she makes me repeat it. I quiz her as we walk down the hallways and walkways all day long. We have fun together though, it's good. She's literally from a farm in Idaho, like she raised pigs and milked cows! She looks a lot like Courtney Nelson, and she has the best attitude ever. She's kind of goofy too, which works out well. Quick funny story. Our teacher was leaving class and it was raining outside, and we had just finished a long lesson in Spanish. We try hard to speak it all the time, but obviously if you don't know the words it's hard to do. But as he was leaving my companion looked right at him and said "You...have...umberella?" In this funny Mexican accent. Haha! We laughed so hard. Her brain was so jumbled with information that she didn't know what was English or Spanish. It was hilarious.
We had our first Teaching Appointment on Wednesday. We've practiced teaching the first lesson several times to other Elders or Hermanas in our zone, or to each other, but this time they were volunteers who speak Native Spanish and are from the "outside world". It was so scary, but really fun in the end! We talked to this guy on a bench outside who was such a little stinker. He was so hard! But really realistic. We went up to him and started asking him what he liked about the park and he says, "the silence and solitude". I laughed and told him we just wanted to talk to him a little bit about God and how God shows his love for us by giving us these beautiful surroundings. He was resistant, and he and I kind of talked back and forth about it for a few minutes. I was butchering my Spanish but I think it was understandable at least...anyway we found common ground because he said he was from Spain. Thanks Mom and Dad for taking us there :) I was able to make him smile by talking about that. Anyway, it was really fun! I was sweating and so hot. It was really nerve racking. Like really nerve racking. And it wasn't even real! haha. The only thing that's bad about our companionship though is that I end up doing all the talking because I get nervous. My companion really doesn't understand much yet, but it doesn't help if I just take over and do everything. We've talked about that and we're working on it. It's so nice we can be really open and honest with each other but we still have so much fun together. It's weird being with someone all the time though. Because you literally can't even go to the bathroom alone:)
Another thing we did that was fun was outbound phone calls in the referral center. We did follow up calls to people who had requested materials from the church to see what they thought. Two of the people I talked to wanted the missionaries to come! I bore my testimony to them in a non-awkward way and it was actually a really good experience. It was cool because they're real people, ya know? And one of them was this old lady from the south. She was awesome. Great accent and attitude. I loved it.
Our district leader goes to get the mail during each meal and it's always exciting in a Harry Potter kind of way.
I hope everything's going well for all of you! Keep us in your prayers and we'll keep you in ours. We need lots of prayers! I don't know how I'm going to be understandable in spanish...so that's the only way I can think of :)
Love you all so much!
-Hermana Groesbeck
One more thing--Michelle is and has always been about comfort over looks. (just like me right...) She got these knee high nylons that were truly heinous, we're talking like greenish vomity tan color. She wore them to her setting apart and we had to laugh about how awful they were. She defended them because they were oh so comfortable. Well in another letter to just my Mom and I she asked for new ones because when she sat down you could see a little patch of skin between her skirt and her tights. Such an amazing visual! What is it with knee highs anyway, you try to somehow clench your thighs but somehow they end up around your ankles. I just wish I could be right there with her and see what everything is like. Anyway, that's enough commentary by me. Keep praying for her! I cannot believe it's only been 9 days.....ahhhhhhhhhh!!
