These pictures are:1. Sister Kindlespire and her companion, Sister Rogers, enjoying some bubble wrap from a care package.
2. Sister Kindlespire's District, (back row) Elder Heywood, Elder Ivey, Elder Fales, and Elder Barnard, (Front row) Sister Kindlespire, Sister Rogers, Sister Noble, Sister Slater.
3. Saying goodbye to Nikki and David at the MTC drop off.
Hello family! It's Monday again! I've got so much to tell you about this last week. First off, thank you for all your letters. I've heard from close friends and family, and even one of my EFY girls. I love reading your letters!
So, my "apartment" looks more like a dorm room than anything. There are three bunk beds and three wardrobes. We only use two of the beds though. Luckily, we have a lot of room. I should send pictures of the bedrooms soon.
You'll never guess who came to the devotional last Tuesday! It was Elder Holland! He had the most beautiful talk prepared. It was amazing to hear from an apostle. I will have to include some of his advice in my letter. Alex Boye spoke and sang to us on Sunday. His story is incredible! Although, I don't know if he will be invited back to the MTC for a while. He was so funny and wasn't missionary appropriate all the time. :)
I leave the MTC on April 10th! Isn't it crazy that I'm almost half way done? We hit the one month mark this week. That blows my mind. It has just flown by.
Congratulations to Hailey and Correy Hatch! Baby Porter Rockwell Hatch was born on Thursday. Welcome to the world Porter!
Sister Slater leaves for Arizona tomorrow! We are so excited for her. Hna Noble has joined our companionship, and we've picked up another investigator. It's been so wonderful! But we have been really busy. 3 investigators, usually 2 lessons every day. We learn our last grammar principle today, and then the rest of the time in the MTC will be reviewing and polishing our language skills. I won't have anymore excuses to speak horrible Spanish, and that kind of scares me!
I've been listening and reading Elder Scott's conference talks in Spanish. He translates them himself. It's been nice to hear his voice, and understand his Spanish. Soon I will start listening to native speakers so that I can understand faster. I love this language!!
Once Hna Slater leaves, I will be the only piano player in our zone. I'm going to be practicing the piano a lot more. We're going to cut our lunch short so that I can have some extra time. I'm excited to play the piano, but I'm a little nervous. Esta bien!
We watched the Legacy on Sunday night. Wow! That movie has a strong love story. I felt like I was watching a chick-flick! It was wonderful! :) "Choose David! Choose David!"
I've got a few funny stories to share with you from this week. An Elder Briggs, going to North Carolina Spanish Speaking couldn't remember my name. He thought I was Hermana Spitfire. He was shouting for me in the cafeteria, but I don't normally answer to Spitfire so it went unnoticed. Needless to say, It has become my new nickname, and I love it so much!
I was able to use my Speech Pathology skills a few times this week. Elder Ivey and Hermana Franco don't know how to roll their R's, so Hermana Rogers and I have been spending some time with them teaching them what to do. They are getting pretty good at it and will have it down in a few weeks!
Our teacher, Hermano B, keeps falling asleep in lessons. We asked him why, and he then impersonated us teaching him the First Lesson, with bad Spanish and scared looks and all. I was laughing so hard, but my favorite part was when he said, "will you pray?" which is "Orara?" with the accent on the last syllable. He raised his eyebrows super high and held on to the accented syllable for a long time. It was so funny! I guess you had to be there, but I hope it's kind of funny to you too.
Let me tell you about something frustrating that happened this week. In three of the lessons that we gave, the teachers afterward asked me if I bore my testimony. Which I did. I was so discouraged that they didn't know I was when I was. I felt like my testimony was tossed by the wayside and wasn't making a difference, and I blamed it on the Spanish.
That night, while Hna Slater was offering our companionship prayer... I understood every word in Spanish. I didn't have to think about what she was saying. I imagined my mom walking through the door, hearing us pray in Spanish and not being able to understand a word. It encouraged me that I have been learning! And I have been growing! The gift of tongues is working in me even now, when I'm struggling with the language.
I love this gospel! It is such a blessing in our lives. The only real blessing that matters. Without the gospel, our families would only be a blessing for a few years. Without the gospel, the day would have no purpose. The gospel makes a difference everyday, and I know that to be true.
So, at this time, I thank you for the prayers that are being offered for me. But I ask that you include the people of New York in your prayers as well. They are being prepared for this message, as I am being prepared to share it.
Love,
Hermana Kindlespire
PS. I've memorized the first vision in Spanish. I will have to tell you about that later because I am out of time.
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