Hello, I am alive!

¡Hola! It is another beautiful day her at the CCM (MTC) and it is finally my p-day.

I got here at 10:30 at night which was much later than anticipated because they forgot to pick me up at the airport. So I asked some random guy and used his phone as a translate and he called the MTC and they sent someone to come pick me up. They fed us pizza and I met mi compañera.

(I just want to apologize in advance for my bad grammar and spelling, it is surprisingly difficult to type on these Español keyboards and computadoras).

Mi compañera es hermana Bloomer and she is from Utah, just like everyone else here basically. We are going to the same mission, we make each other laugh a lot and I am happy that we get along so well. Our district is a lot of fun too. There is another set of Hermanas and 2 sets of Elders that are going to Chile and then 2 sets of Elders that are also going to Paraguay with Hermana Bloomer and I. 

The atmosphere here is really cool. Everyone is friendly and says hi to us as we walk by all the time. It is so pretty being surrounded by palm trees, sunny skies, birds chirping literally all the time, and its just a really pleasant place to be. The food on the other hand... no bueno. 

I am trying really hard to be adventurous and try different things and not be picky but the other day I decided to try the chicken wings and to my surprise, after one bite, I discovered that these chicken wings still had the feathers on them. So I am basically just staying away from all the meat now. But the rice is super good and the fruit is just unreal!! I had no idea that this is what fruit is supposed to taste like.  side note: what is horchata? i want to try it but i am too scared and it looks kinda weird like some type of strange milk

Classes are a lot of fun. Our classroom is in this really big pretty white building with a bunch of windows and you can hear all the birds and the music from the city that surrounds thee campus. There are also fireworks going off like every five minutes (during the day, yes, I have no idea why) but it seriously sounds like cannons are firing at us. Our district has two teachers. The first one is only in the mañana and she teaches us a little spanish and a lot of just interacting with people, how to be a missionary, we read scriptures, stuff like that. She is very sassy and very tired and the mornings and she does not really seem to be in the mood to deal with a bunch of people... I relate. Our second teacher is in la noches and she is just so! much! fun! we only do spanish with her and she is just a fabulous teacher. She explains things so well and I feel like I am learning a lot from her. She also served a mission in Paraguay so it's really cool that she is able to make things specific for those of us that will eventually be going there.

Spanish I kind of a grind but it is also a lot of fun. I cannot tell if my French is helping me or just screwing me over because I feel like I am ahead of the class and picking things up very fast but also, now when I speak, I am intertwining three languages and I just confuse others and myself lol. That being said, I am loving learning a new language! It is so much fun and it is really cool that everyone else here is learning the same language and everyone makes the effort to speak i together. I love trying to carry conversations in spanish and I am fairly confident in my abilities. I have also had random people pass me in the hall compliment me on my Spanish and my teachers and branch President as well. so that feels good because i am trying super hard. One thing my teacher said though that I think is really important to keep in mind is ¨If you focus too much on being perfect, you will never be perfect¨ and I don´t know it´s just true and I think that can apply to anything, not just learning a language. 

The apartments are sketchy but not as bad as i thought they were going to be. I is really hard to fall asleep at night though because there are always dogs barking and sirens going off or like trumpets and stuff. also the beds are rock solid and it is freezing cold. But it is so much fun and I just love being out here finally. It has only been four days and I just feel dead inside because I am so tired but we are just go go go all the time but also I have so much energy and motivation to work hard and get things done and I am learning so much!! I feel like I have been perfectly placed here and this is exactly where I need to be. 

I have no idea how to describe the spirit here except that it is thick. Like it feels like the biggest, warmest hug and it is just everywhere. This campus has been dedicated so it feels like walking around the temple all day. I just feel so much love and Peace here and I know that I am here for a reason, im unsure what that reason is yet but I just know with my whole heart that this is God´s work and it has just been amazing. Everyday I feel so excited to work and become better. There are angels everywhere here and it is so inspiring.

Sorry I do not have any pictures to send because I forgot the chord for my camera at home but next time I will try and remember lol. 

also my p days are thursdays for the next 5 weeks.. i only have like 20 minutes for emails so sorry this is so short! hopefully i will get faster at typing and have more exciting things to talk about.. and also adjust to these new weird keyboards!!!

I also found our I am getting transferred to Paraguay on December 17th instead of january 4th so that is really exciting... christmas in Paraguay. that will be the day.

love you all!! thank you for all the emails and love!

-- 

Hermana Hill