The Awkward Squad

Hey hey heyyyyy!

First off, HAPPY ANNEVERSARY CADE AND KAYLEE!!!! Sorry it´s late but I hope it was fabulous. It sounds like everyone had a grand old time at the family reuinion. Be sure to thank all of the extended family for their awesome letters. I wish I could write everyone back butttt.....that´s just not going to happen. You should have sent all those letters in separate envelopes. Then I would have looked really cool and all the other missionaries would be jealous :)

Things as of late:

-Our district decided to make a goal to speak in only Spanish for four hours. It was hard and my head was hurting by the end, but it was good practice

-I decided to look up the word "awkward" in the dictionary because I felt it would come in handy. Right underneath the word awkward was "awkward squad." What the? It made me laugh. Hna Shelley and I now call ourselves the "peletón de los torpes."

-We play a fun game that I think you should all play. It's called "me gusta comer." It's kind of like big booty. You each pick a fruit to be in spanish. Let's say I'm mango (which is conveniently the same in english and spanish). I would start by saying "mango, mango, me gusta comer (other person's fruit)" as you shake your hands in front of you to the beat. Then that person says their fruit and me gusta comer someone else's fruit. Comprendan? Anyway, it's fun. Sooooo....yeah.

-I had a dream that Fui Vakapuna (sp?) was in the MTC and he got my number and said he was going to take me to Hawaii for his prom. But that didn't work out for some reason so we went to a soccer game between Argentina and the Czech Republic instead. Mission dreams are weird.....

-I heard that normal sized people in the United States are fat in Argentina and the people there will always call you fat as a term of endearment. So that will be fun.

-I am determined to break the record for the most dips in MTC gym. Wish me luck.

-Will you send me the music and lyrics to "Come Thou Fount" perchance? It's a favorite here at the MTC and it's stuck in my head a lot so I would like to know the words.

Now to the good stuff. One of our teachers pointed out something in Preach My Gospel that I hadn't heard before. He said the things which we should be doing as missionaries are "study, believe, love, live and teach" the the gospel....in that order. I really love that because before we can teach people the gospel, it first has to be a way of life for us. I've been working on really understanding and loving the gospel. I know it is true and that it has blessed my life, but I want to be able to teach people with sincere enthusiasm for the gospel.

Another thing our teacher said that stuck out to me was "make your sacrifices worth it." I never really thought of being here as that much of a sacrifice, but when I really think about it, there are a lot of other things I could be doing for the next 18 months. I want to make the best of every second I have hear and not just go through the motions. This is such an important work and no time can be wasted!

I want you all to know that I love you a ton and am grateful for all the support I have! I hope you're all enjoying your summer. It's sooo nice to be here in the summer at the MTC. We've been able to study and write letters outside as the sun is shining and the birds are chirping...mmmm. Will you all do something? Count your blessings. There are a whole ton of things to be grateful for. Ew I'm starting to sound like one of those super happy sister missionaries...yuck. But it's true, there is so much to be happy about! And all of it is because we have a loving Heavenly Father who is so willing to bless us.

Over and out.

~Hermana Hill