Wednesday, July 8 Letter

Here is Carmen's First email from the MTC- at the end of her first full week there.

From: Carmen Dunford;     Wednesday, July 08, 2009 10:28 AM;    

Subject: Hola!

HI! Wow this is crazy I am going to try and write as fast as I can since I only have 27 minutes.  This is for the family!! I love you guys so much. today in the temple I missed you all a lot. But it's ok.

So far It has been a roller coaster in the MTC. I am feeling low and sad, maybe a little discouraged and then I pray for help and the Spirit abounds! My teachers are amazing. Hermano Nelson y Hermana Gutierrez. They both served in the States and are very nice yet also bold in teaching us.  My companion is amazing. She is very nice and fun (we get along VERY well) but wants to work really hard and study and learn and practice all she can. Just like me. It is really a huge blessing to be able to have a companion that I get along with so well and is willing to work hard and always pray to have the spirit.

The first full day we were here we learned to pray in Spanish. So now all my prayers, yes including my personal, are in Spanish. Ok maybe my personal have a little Spanglish thrown in :).  We also learned to bear our testimonies in Spanish and were encouraged to do so on fast Sunday. I went up and only said this. Yo se que El Libro de Mormon es la palabra de Dios y yo se que Jesucristo es mi Salvador. It was very short, and basically memorized but I knew what I said to be true.  Our goal this week, tonight actually, is to teach in the TRC, the teaching Resource Center.  We have to meet people in the park and leave with them our message, ask them if they would like to learn more and then set up an appointment. All in Spanish. My companion, Hermana Godfrey, and I have been practicing consistently with the many Spanish speaking missionaries we see. (There are MANY).  Luckily, with the help of our Heavenly Father, we are actually progressing quite well, even though I still get nervous when I go to talk to someone. It was so nice when one sister found out we have only been in the MTC for a week and she asked if we were in an intermediate or advanced class; we aren't, so that was very nice to hear!! 

Also in the TRC tonight we are going to teach the first lesson.  It has been difficult to find good scriptures, ways to say things simply and powerfully, and ask many questions to teach the investigator (well we haven't had one yet) to their needs. I am praying constantly for the Spirit to be with me and guide me to say the right things.  I am so grateful for my testimony because I am able to rely on that heavily to get me through the lesson. As long as I can bring the Spirit and testify of the truth of what I am teaching, I know the investigator will be able to feel that power. I have already experienced that, even just teaching other missionaries.

The MTC is an amazing place- everyone is so nice and smart! I feel inadequate, but hopeful because I know with diligent study and prayers of faith I will be able to learn what I need to throughout my whole mission to invite others to come unto Christ.  I get scared often thinking about actually going and teaching real people. I know that I alone cannot do things necessary to teach the gospel, especially in another language.  But I know as I continue, and as I have already witnessed, that the Lord is always with and always will be with me to help fulfill His work. 

My district is so amazing! I love them all so much.  I am sad that two of them, Elder Jacobs and Elder Carpenter will be leaving in two weeks to go the MTC in the Dominican Republic to continue learning.  But the rest of us will stay together and will be going to the Rosario mission, Elder Hardy and Elder Glazier. The rest, Elder Thompson, Elder Unker, and Elder Gibson and Hermana Godfrey are going to the Buenos Aires West mission. I am sad that Hermana Godfrey won't be in the same mission. But I know she will be amazing.  

I have seen so many people that I know, and that has been fun. Elder Milligan, Elder Harker, Mike Durney, and many others that I know from school. I even saw a friend from an old ward in the temple today. Hermana Godfrey jokes that she would be rich if she had a nickel for every time I saw and talked to someone that I know.  It is cool to see many friends from BYU that work here or are even on missions.  Another thing that blows my mind is how many Elders there are!! I mean it makes sense but, still very powerful to see. I have to go to class now, but please respond through DearElder!!! I want all of my time on e-mail (which is only a half hour) to write you and not read. Please use Dearelder.  

I love you so much. Please pray for me so that I can learn all I can. 

love with all my heart,       Hermana Dunford