December 27, 2010

Family,
It was so awesome to get to talk to you this week on the phone!
It's amazing what one phone call can do to brighten everything! Thank
you so much for your excitement and for all being there to talk. I
feel more and more every day how blessed I am to be in your family and
I thank Heavenly Father for you every day. I am so glad things are
going so well and that you all had a Merry Christmas! What movie did
you go see on Christmas? Well you might not think that I have a lot
to write about because I talked to you, but I thought of so many more
things that I want to say! First of all, the rest of Christmas Day was
pretty good. Actaully, we talked to this one lady right after leaving
our house and she had a lot to say about the missionaries being a big
waste of space and that was a little interesting. Oh, bless her little
corazone (mom, this is a phrase you will have to learn as you study
spanish. You and I will use it often :). But that night we went to
visit one of the members named the Jaramillo family and when we walked
in, the mom was all alone and she asked us if we got to talk to our
families. We replied with excitement that we did and she said that she
also got to talk to her daughter on a mission and then she began to
cry and say how much she missed her. We all sat together and let her
cry and then she wanted to make us dinner. It was a beautiful night
and I told her that my parents would be happy knowing that another
mother was taking care of their missionary. The members here are so
generous. Now let me tell you about some of the people in our lives
right now:
1. Familia Hidalgo. I love this family. We eat with them every sunday
after church and they are a couple in their mid-60's. They are so kind
and Jaime can speak a little english. He has a great laugh and his
wife, Teresa, makes the best food! After, they like to take us on
drives around Loja and it is so pretty and enjoyable. I love it here.
2. Rosio- A woman we contacted last week in her 40's and she is so
humble and sweet. We taught her how to pray for the first time last
week and I was so incredibly humbled as she prayed with us to know the
truth. I am always so touched to hear people pray to their heavenly
Father for the first time. I can't imagine not knowing that I have a
Heavenly Father I can talk to and who knows me perfectly because he
created me. I love teaching people how to pray!
3. William- William is in his 20's and yesterday, he told us that he
wants to get baptized! We are his 3rd set of missionaries and he said
that he is finally ready. Last week I asked him, "Will you be baptized
on Jan 8th?" and he was really taken back. I think I came off a little
forward to him and later I had worried that I had said something wrong
because I didn't understand. Then yesterday, he said, "I want to be
baptized on January 8th!!!" we were so ecstatic and so excited! He is
so great and we couldn't be more happy for him. He is trying to give
up some habits, but we are confident with the help of the Lord, he can
do it! The Lord can make us into something wonderful if we let him.
We shared 1 Nephi 3:7..."I will go and do what the Lord has commanded
and I know the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men,
save we shall prepare a way for us to accomplish the thing which he
hath commanded!" And other note on the baptisms, I said we had five
people with dates, but I was a little confused apparently! Right now,
William is our guy!
4. Cesar- Cesar is a man we met in the streets and he was walking
while holding hands with both of his young children. He looked like
such a gentle man. We stopped him and we told him how our families can
be together forever. We went over last night to teach him and he was
so funny. He said how he really wants to hear our message but he
didn't have the time and he kept saying, "it's not an excuse! Please
come back!" Then he ran inside and came back with 3 ice cream bars. He
said, "I'm in the middle of making all my ice cream bars for the
week." He let us inside and he is a real legit ice cream man who makes
all his own stuff! He said we could come back this week and help him.
We are excited. He is such a kind man.
5. Hermana Melba and Marauxi (and family)- These two are our mamitas
in the week also and we are over at their house all the time. They
teach the investigators with us a lot. We love this family and they
are always making us food, no matter the day and time. Hey, I love it!
This family feels like part of my family. I love them. And there are
two little boys that always love sitting by us all the time. I gave
them the Jesus stickers you gave me and they loved them! Hermana
Meruxi wants a pack of those stickers if you ever have a chance to
send some! Thanks mom!
6. Sorry, Last person...lots of stories. Hermano Geronimo- Last night
we went to visit this elderly member man who lives alone in a very
humble home. As we visited him, we sat in his house and sang many
christmas songs with him. As we were singing, I looked up and saw a
picture of he and his wife. I then prayed and asked Heavenly Father to
know what he would have me say to this man because I don't know him at
all. Minutes later I felt the spirit so strongly and I had this
thought, "Tell him that I love him and that he is special to me." So I
tried to tell him in my broken spanish and he was silent for some time
after. He had tears in his eyes and I was filled with such great
emotion. I finally understood last night what it means to take upon us
the name of the Savior and to do what he would do and say what he
would say if we were here. I felt the great import that our message is
to make sure everyone knows they have a Heavely Father who loves them.
Jake told me in a recent letter, "They need the Lord. Find them." I
have tried to do that and I hope we all do. Every person needs the
Lord.
I love you all and I am sorry for the long letter. I didn't get to
tell you much about the people that I spend so much of my time with.
I hope you have fun at the cabin and I'm glad we are keeping it! You
are the best family in the whole world. I"m pretty sure of it.
Love,
Hna. Salmon

December 20, 2010

Family,
Wow, it´s sure good to hear from you all! I miss you all so much
and I can´t wait to talk to you on Christmas, so before I forget, let
me talk about it! We have a few options. I can buy an international
card or if you have international minutes, you can call me (if you
don´t, it´s really expensive), or we can skype! That´s probably the
cheapest. But my companion said I could call you on Wednesday for a
minute to finalize things for Saturday. I don´t know the time
difference, so if you could figure that out before wednesday, that
would be nice. And my plans are to call sometime on Saturday before 2.
We have to get back to work at 2 pm here, so figure that out before I
call, if that works for you! I will try the home phone and your cell
phone I think. I cannot wait to talk to you!!!! I sure am missing you
all this time of year. I keep thinking of all the things we would be
doing if I was home and so I am trying not to get too homesick. Oh,
and I have not recieved packages yet because we have not had a
district meeting yet. It is tomorrow and they give us packages so I
will let you know on Wednesday! Thank you so much! That makes me so
happy to have a little piece of home here on Christmas.
Well to tell you about the city. Right now it is summer here, but
the weather is so LOCO! One minute in the morning it is super hot and
the next it´s raining and freezing. Needless to say, I always pack my
rain jacket that has come in super handy and my warm coat from Banana.
Never thought I'd need it in old Ecuador! It is pretty here and I feel
safe. Lots of hills to walk up and I feel so weak, but it´s good for
me! I really feel like that statement is true..."we had to walk up
hill both ways" because for some reason, it seems like we are always
walking uphill and never down. But it´s good for me. My companion is
super great and she is a hard worker...which I love. We get along
great. She is trying hard to help me becuase I don´t really understand
anything around here. I mostly smile and nod a lot and so the people
really think I understand. It´s a good trick I have. They keep saying
" wow, she understands a lot!" Little do they know....I´m pretty good
at appearing interested even when I don´t really know what´s going on!
But my companion is great and makes me teach a lot and the
investigators are so nice and have great patience with me. I have
faith it will come, slowly but surely. Lets see..what else...oh, we
have lots of great investigators and 5 people with baptismal dates.
The people here are wonderful and faithful. I love teaching people how
to pray for the fist time and I love teaching them that they are
children of Heavenly Father. I am grateful to testify of Christ and
Heavenly Father every day. We have mamitas that make us food every
day....it is a different one every day. I finally had to tell my
companion to tell our mamitas to give me less food because I was
feeling so ill after the mountain of food they would give me. And the
intersting thing is, we just eat a grande lunch and don´t eat dinner.
I just usually eat a bowl of ceral (no surprise there) when we get
home. Today was really fun because we went climbing up to this castle
with our district and it was so pretty. The elders are hilarous and I
feel like I have so many little brothers because they were doing
little brother things. Hermana Rivas and I just laugh and enjoy it. We
took lots of pictures so I will have to send them! The view is
amazing. Well tomorrow is our district christmas party and on
Wednesday is the ward party. I am excited. I told my comp I would make
her pancakes on Christmas morning and she is so exicted. They all
think that I´m this awesome cook now even though you just have to add
water! Hey, whatever works! Well that´s it for me...now lets get to
you!
Mom, those crepes sound AMAZING! and I´m glad you had some for
the both of us. I can taste them now. And the Christmas program
sounded wonderful. I´ts always one of my favorite parts about
christmas. And I´m so glad cookie day was a hit. That is the best. Oh,
and I can´t believe you are having such a small christmas this year.
That is crazy, but I´m sure it will be wonderful. Anytime with our
family is.

And I´m glad everone is doing great! How is old Max? I bet he is a
cute little guy. I´d love to see Charlee around him. Oh, dad, I
thought you would think this was hilarous...we have this guy in our
ward who is just great. HIs name is Jaime and we eat at his house on
Sundays. He gave us a ride to church and he asked me where I was from
and I said Arizona...and he said, "oh, Narizona?" and grabbed another
Hermano´s nose and it was so funny. I thought of you instantly. It
sounds like things are great and I can´t wait to talk to you all!!!!
What a Merry Christmas it will be for me. I love you all so very much
and I am so glad that you are celebrating with Christ in mind. He is
the reason not only for this season, but for everything. He is the
reason we even have hope in this life. I love Him and know He lives.
Love you all,
Hermana Salmon

December 16, 2010

Familia!
Ecuador is fantastic! We landed on Tueday and it is so green and
beautiful. We then went to the temple in Guayaquil with Pres. Montalti
and he is a great man. I am really going to like him. He is funny and
keeps telling me how we are going to be great friends. It was a great
day. That night I slept at the apartment of one of the nurse´s and her
companion and Hna Garlock and her new comp. Then yesterday morning, I
boarded a bus with two other Elders from my district in the CCM in
Peru and drove 10 hours to a beautiful city in the mountains called La
Loja (like Aloha). And then we had pizza with the members and they
seem so wonderful! It is SO pretty here and its clean and very safe.
All the streets are kinda steep so I´m expecting a good work out!
Sheesh! My companion is wonderful and I am her last companion before
she goes home. She is from peru and her name is Hermana Rivas. She is
27 and I already love her. We live alone and have a great view of the
city. It´s nice and cool here and even cold at night and there is no
more english to be had anywhere around. So this is going to be
interesting, but great! I love it here! I am so happy. And I asked
president if I could be one of the first sisters in the Galapagos and
he said that we will see...I´m guessing its a no, but a girl has to
try! I´m sorry I can´t write long. Today is not my p-day but my comp
told me to write and tell you I got here safely. My p-day is monday. I
love you all and I´m so happy you are all doing so well. And give Max
a big kiss for me! He sounds so cute and when you said you named him
max, I thought immediately of the Grinch! I´m so pleased. Oh, and dad
there is an Elder Griswold here and I wanted to ask him if he was
related to Clark but I had to refrain. I will let you know on Monday
the plans for calling on Christmas. Let me know your plans and we can
see what we can work out. I can´t wait to talk to you all! This gospel
is so true and I feel the blessings of it everyday. I feel so blessed
to be a missionary for the Lord and to know he sent me here. I can´t
wait to see what awaits the work here. My comp likes to work hard and
I am super happy about that. I sure love you. Find Christ this week
and Pres Monson in the christmas devotional asked us to turn our lives
back to Him as a gift to Him. I love him. I know He lives. Talk to you
soon! I love you so much! Thank you for all the support. It means the
whole world. And enjoy cookie day! Tell Grandma I´m sad I couldn´t be
there to make a cookie with a mountain of frosting on it. Got to
go...our mamita is making us lunch!
-Hermana salmon

December 7, 2010

I had a most wonderful week this week. I wanted to share a very
special experience wtih you. So last week I got a cold and lost my
voice except for occassional squeaks. On Thursday my voice was barely
audible and I was really sad about it because we had the American
Embassy coming to visit and only 6 of us Americans were chosen to be
in a special meeting with them to speak of our experience and why we
are here. So I wanted so badly to talk. The Elders offered to give me
a blessing the night before, but I really wanted to pray hard that
night before I recieved a blessing. So in my prayers I told the Lord
that I had complete faith in his power and after my study of the
Atonement these last few days, I was confident, nothing lacking, that
he could heal my voice if it was His will. I then asked the Lord that
even if it could only return for the time that they Embassy came, then
I would be forever grateful. Then in the morning in my prayers just
before asking for a blessing, I asked that we could see this miracle
happen and see the Lord´s power. I knew I would be asking Elder
Applegate for a blessing and that it was only his second time giving a
blessing and that he was so nervous. I wanted this miracle for him to
see the power he has within himself as well. During the blessing, I
felt the spirit so incredibly strong and they blessed me that my voice
would return to full strength and I really had faith that it would. I
knew that I was on the Lord´s errand and that I could not share his
gospel without a voice. So after the blessing ended, I stood up to
mumble out "Thank you" and my voice was back! I cleared my throat and
instantly, I could speak and I said, in front of my whole district,
"Do you hear my voice right now?" and then I started to cry. I was so
incredibly amazed and humbled. It was amazing. The Elder looked
surprised and it was amazing! I was able to go to the meeting and
share my experiences with the embassy and it was a wonderful
experience. It strengthend all of our faith. Before my mission (I know
Jake knows this) I had a lot of questions concerning my faith.
Finally, when I studied what the Lord could do in the lives of others,
I finally realized that he could do those things for me as well. He is
a being we can place full confidence in because he is full of mercy,
love, knowledge, he is all-knowing, and kind. It was such an amazing
experience and I can tell you miracles have not ceased! I knew he
could do this small thing for me, which turned out to be a great thing
for me. After that, this week, I feel like a different person. I feel
like the Lord really is behind me. I believed it all along, but now I
know it. I literally feel his strength every day. The Lord really does
look out for his missionaries! So no worries Mom and Dad!
Saturday was wonderful as we were proselyting! We saw this young
man up in the window of a building and he looked like he was listening
down to hear the other missionaries as they were teaching another man.
I then pointed him out to my companion and I called up to him from the
street. He quickly came down and we taught him, Kevin, the whole first
lesson about the Restoration of the church. At the end I asked him to
pray about it and he said " Can you teach me how to pray?" We said "of
course we can!!!" and it was such a beautiful experience. I asked him
if he had questions he needed answered in his life and he said he did.
I felt the spirit so strong that Heavenly Father loves all his
children and he wants them to know how to come to him for any problem
or concern. Also, we met this young lady named Karen with 3 kids whose
husband left her and she left the room for a minute and I asked my
companion what she needed most. My companion said we needed to bare
testimony of our mothers. So I told her how special you are in my life
mom, and how your example has helped me become who I am now. I also
told her how we used to read the Book of Mormon over speaker phone
with Dad every morning and how that kept us close together as a family
and strengthed us across the distance. I sure love you, Mom and Dad,
and I feel so bleassed to have your support and the support of Lara,
Jake and Matt. I sure love you!
Love,
Hermana Salmon

December 1, 2010

Hello!
I think I will be leaving somewhere around the 14th from here to
Ecuador, so we are good. Sadly, though, I found out I cannot call you
at the airport. I have to wait until Christmas. Good thing it will
only be two weeks later.
Well everything here is really great...as always! Last week the
tour was so much fun and it was great to see a new side to Peru. In
all our areas I´ve only seen the very poor parts and I didn´t know
there was a tourist part of Peru. But we went on a bus tour and
Hermana Slingerland (the Doctor's wife who will train me some more
before I leave to the field) is so knowledgeable about Peru so she was
our guide. We drove around and saw ruins that looked like Book of
Mormon ruins that dated before Christ´s time. We also saw the beach
and a Marriott! Mom and dad, come on over! And then we got out in the
center of the city and went shopping, mostly, we just went straight
for Pizza Hut and then when we went to go get souveneirs, we were
distracted by Dunkin Donuts and did what we needed to keep ourselves
going. We were happy as clams. Then we enjoyed the streets that
reminded me of Europe! Loved it! We were all so happy on the bus,
eating our spoils and talking about all the places we want to travel.
It was wonderful. That night we had to get up at 1:30 am to greet the
new arriving americans and that was fun to do in our PJ´s.
Then Thursday was Thanksgiving!!! That night, Hermana Whetten (mission president's wife) had
the kitchen staff make the most delicious Thanksgiving feast and we
actually had turkey, mashed patatoes and pumpkin pie! Don´t worry, I
had 2 pieces of that and one of chocolate cake. We were all so
excited. We all ate together as Americans because our Companions
hadn´t all arrived yet. I dont think the Latinos all really liked the
meal but we were in HEAVEN!!! We were all talking about how good it
was and what a great memory it was for all of us.
Everything else has been great. We were bumped up to the advanced
missionaries now and I can´t wait to get to Ecuador. I am getting so
ancy!! My new companion is wonderful. Her name is Hermana Carazas and
she is from Peru. She is already like a great friend. We like a lot of
the same music and like to do the same things. I really like her. She
pointed out that my favorite Spanish word is "interesante" and she
always throws in "obviously" in random parts of our spanish
conversation. It´s funny. But today was special. I got to be her
escort at the temple and it reminded me of how special it really is. I
am so grateful for it. Her dad died when she was 14 during an accident
in Machu Pichu and was baptized after. Later they were all sealed so
today was a special day for her. She was the last in her family to get
to enter the temple.
I sure love it here. I am always reminded how wonderful the gospel
is and I honeslty can´t get enough of it. I love digging into my
scriptures and I come to love the savior more as I read them. I am so
excited about them and I come to know how real this gospel is as I
study it. People really can find out if it´s true just by praying with
a sincere heart and real intent. I feel like there was never a better
time than now to be on a mission. The Lord certainly knows me so well
and I am humbled by the thought of it. I love you all and I hope you
enjoy the pictures! Happy December 1st!!!

Con amor,
Hermana Salmon

November 24, 2010

Hola mi familia!
Wow, it sounds like lots of exciting things are going on this
week! Oh, first of all, when I said not to send letters, you can most
definiteley send emails, just not mailed letters. Those take forever
around here! And I´m shedding a tear as we speak about Harry Potter! I
wish I could´ve been there to wear my robes with the best of the harry
potter fanatics. It´s okay though, I will try to be strong! Ha, but
I´m glad it was so good. I need more details! And Mom, I´m sorry you
lost a little chicky. "There goes the last female." (Ha, i just
thought of that from the Ice Age). There is another Elder here that
loves the Ice Age so he appreciates my Sid voice. I´m glad someone
around here does! And that is so fun that all those cousins are in
town! Lucky lucky! Please tell them all hello for me and a big "I love
you!". That is sad to hear about Grandma Lovin. I hope she is okay.
What a painful thing to happen on Thanksgiving!
As for me, this week has been wonderful....like always. Last
Saturday, we went out tracting again and I was so happy! I wanted to
talk to everyone and I was speaking to everyone (whether it was
correct Spanish or not, I do not know!) and I felt so good inside.
This one lady came to the door and here they have these little glass
windows that they open and stick their face out of so they don't have
to open the door, and she stuck her head out and said she wasn´t
interested and I just said "but my message is so important for you!"
Nothing major happened that day. We taught lots of people in the
streets and I felt so happy to teach people about God and that he
loves them and see the surprise on their faces. I love being a
missionary. Sunday was awesome because in my district we got to watch
"The Other Side of Heaven" and the "Joseph Smith Movie" and the spirit
was so strong. I realize more and more everyday of the reality of this
message and the great need I have to share it with others with a sense
of urgency!
Yesterday was a powerful day. All of our companions left and only
the Americans were here to run the place! Hermana Garlock and I are
the only sisters and it is strange! But yesterday we had this elder in
our district that was having a very hard time. It turns out that on
Saturday when we went out tracting that he got chased by a scary dog
and he broke his ankle. He got put in a cast and he wanted to go home
even though it wasn´t neccessary. So as he was in the president´s
office calling his parents and deciding if he was going to go home or
not, our district got on our knees and asked Heavenly Father to bless
him to want to stay becuase of the great importance that he is in our
lives and because of all the good he can do. As we were praying, I was
reminded again so deeply of why I am here and how happy I am to be
here. Then last night we had a testimony meeting for him (he didn't
know it was) but we all bore our testimonies about the reasons why we
are here and how we got on a mission. I was so humbled as I bore my
testimony and was reminded that I am here because of the blessings and
happiness the gospel brings into my life. I feel it is such a little
thing I can do for the Lord to show him my gratitude. I also want to
help people to know who they are and know the peace and joy that comes
through the Atonement. I felt such complete joy. I get frustrated at
my shortcomings and want to become better all at once so I can be the
best missionary that I can be. I know that with time and work and lots
of prayer, we can become what Heavenly Father would have us be. He can
take broken things and turn them into beautiful. I love him so much
and am so grateful for this plan.
Everything else is going so great. The language is coming along
great and thanks for all the encouragement. The people here are so
wonderful and they continue to teach me to be grateful. They are so
happy and seem to have everything even though by our standards they
have nothing. It just reminds me how grateful I am for a loving family
and the gospel. The Lord hears us. I know he does. I know it. I´m
sorry my time is shorter today and I can´t reply to all the letters
individually, but know I love you and will miss you this weekend. But
enjoy it and I can't wait to hear all about it! Tell everyone I love
them and don´t worry about me, President Whetten´s wife is making a
Thanksgiving meal! Wahoo! I hope theré´ll be pie! Love ya. Gobble
Gobble with a wobble!
con amor,
Kate ehm...hermana Salmon

LETTERS

PLEASE SEND ALL LETTERS AND PACKAGES TO HER MISSION HOME ADDRESS ON THE RIGHT UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE!

November 17, 2010

Hola Mi Familia!!!
Como están? I am glad to here everything is settling down over
there in Arizona for you, Mom and Dad. That sounds like quite the
chore to clear all those boxes. I know I´m not there to keep a
watchful eye out for all the scorpions, so I hope you have not had any
attacks yet! And I love that you got chicks!! How cute! Remember
Peanut and Roadrunner? Mom, I bet you are a good mother hen with your

new pets :) How many do you have? Oh and hearing that you went to

Rosa´s I almost shed a tear. Not that I don´t love the rice and more
rice, but I could go for a bean burrito!

This week has been...wow...great, difficult, wonderful,
stressful...everything! But first I must appologize for my last
letter. I hope I wasn´t too explicit in my use of the word "hell" and
I thought about it after that that probably wastn´t good missionary

language, but I thought our family would think it was funny. Sorry if that was

offensive! I continue to say offensive things on accident here! Oh my.

But still, sorry about that!
How is everything else? Are you all getting ready for Turkey Day!!
I hear we get a Thanksgiving feast even though the old pilgrims didn´t
land here, so we will see what that entails. Probably rice with a side
of rice! Ha, just kidding. It´s just dandy.
Well this week has been...wow! Last Thursday was probably one of
the tougher days here so far. Our whole district seemed so discouraged
with the language and it seemed like every head in our room was
hanging down. That night after we got back from teaching lessons to
each other, we bore testimony to each other of the reality of the
power of God and that with him, we can do anything. What started out
being a rough day, ended to be such a faith-building day. Then,
Saturday we got on a bus early in the morning and drove about 3 hours
north of here to a place called Huaral (I think) and it was past the
beach and the scenery on the way there was beautiful. We went there to
meet the members, teach less active members of the church, and to find
those searching for our message! It was so wonderful. In the morning
we left with a member(me and my companion Hermana Luquez) and we went
and started to knock doors...I knocked my first door as a missionary!!
Wahoo! But the funny thing was that I didn't understand one thing
that they said. I probably looked like a dear in the headlights to all
the people because I didn´t even understand when they would say the
simplest question, "De donde es?" I would just smile and say, "si"
which is not a good idea. They would just laugh. So quickly I became
mute and I let the others do the talking. By lunch we met up with all
the missionaries again in our group at the church to regroup. I was
feeling myself becoming frustrated that I didn't understand anything
and everyone was telling about their neat experiences and we knocked
and knocked more doors in the morning. I decided that I wouldn´t get
frustrated, but that I would just accept the fact that I couldn´t
speak and just enjoy the day, taking everything in and I´d let the
others do all the talking. So after lunch we went with my teacher,
Hermana Flores, to a less active members house and we were there for a
while. I could tell she loved the church and the missionaries, but I
had no idea what was going on. Then my companion, the member, and my
teacher were all crying and bearing testimonies and I didn´t know why.
Then they asked me to bare mine but I had no idea what to center my
testimony on for her. As we left the house, my eyes filled with tears
because I wanted so badly to help this sweet lady but I did not
understand anything or have the words to help her. I just thought,
"Why am I even here if I cant talk to them!" And I thought that this
would be the time I could cry because everyone else was and they´d
just assume I was crying because I was touched. But then I remembered
a promise I had made to myself before coming on a mission. I promised
that I would not let the language get the best of me. i would not let
it get to me because it takes time to learn a language. So I said a
silent prayer and I had this feeling that everything was going to be
okay. I then had this thought that Heavenly Father did not send me
here to fill the space in a chair...like I was planning to do the
whole day. He called me to preach the gospel and he promises us in the
scriptures that since he called us, he will qualify us. That when we
open our mouths, he will fill it with the words we need. So I pulled
myself together and we went and taught this sweet man in his store. We
taught him about Joseph Smith and the Book for Mormon. I actually
understood about 25% of what was going on and I was able to testify
more and not sit on my testimony. After that, we went to the home of
Leoncio who was taught the first lesson once before and who is
investigating the church. It was wonderful. I understood much of what
he was saying and I was able to teach a lot more. The spirit was so
strong and I could tell what we were saying was making sense to him.
It was a wonderful experience. I finally feel like a real missionary
being able to teach other people than missionaries! I just feel that
we have so much work to do becuase this message about the gospel,
families being together forever, and Christ's atonement for us is so
wonderful and important. I am so very happy to be a missionary....now
all I need to do is study more and more spanish!! But from that day on
I promised myself that I would not hold my tongue for lack of words.
My companion is wonderful and we have a lot of fun together. We
laugh a lot. She is so good at helping me understand and giving me the
opportunity to teach....and then exercising patience with me when I do
teach. She knows the scriptures very well and it motivates me to study
them better. Elder Ballard said in the talk right before I left the
provo MTC that when we know the doctrine better, we can teach with
greater conviction. I want that. But I feel so lucky that I have such
an understanding companion. She leaves next week and I´m sad, but
change is a part of the mission! Next week all the Latinos leave and
all the advacned missionaries leave that were here when we got here.
So that means next Tuesday and Wednesday will only be the Americans
that all flew here the same day 2 weeks ago-with me. That is about 24
of us and Hermana Garlock and I will be the only two advanced sisters
(that's what they call the people that are on their last 3 weeks in
the MTC). Next wednesday we get to tour Peru and go to the beach and
to touristy things!
Word has already leaked that I am a nurse and so the MTC
president's wife already has me doing duties for her (don't worry
Dad, no dead-guy duty)! The doctor here is the doctor for several
missions so he is gone a lot. So this week I got to give a sister
antibiotic injections for an infection. Pretty good stuff. I have
sisters coming to my room to check their throats and feel their
foreheads. I do love it!
Honestly, I hope you are all doing so well. I love being a
missionary and I know I say that all the time, but I do. I know I am
supposed to be here with all my heart! Every day I feel more and more
the reality of this church and I love testifying that Joseph Smith
actually did see Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and that this church
is the same as it was when Christ was on the earth. Oh, nothing
better. I feel I am changing so much already and I am continually
humbled by the love of the Lord. I hope you never doubt His love. It
is real and tangible and the power of Christ's Atonment is just as
real. I love him so much. It has already changed me much more than I
even knew I could. I am learning to be more patient with myself and
others. I am humbled by the people. They have nothing, but seem to
have everything.
Thank you for your love and support. I can feel your prayers and I
pray for you all during every day!
Te amo,
kate

November 17, 2010

me and
Hermana Garlock outside the temple!

me and my compañera on the crazy bus.

all the missionaries packed onto the bus

the Lima Temple and it is so pretty in the middle of
the city

November 17, 2010

Hermana Garlock, Hermana Catú, Hermana Luquez

and me. We all share a room. I love them.

We found oreos in the store we get to go to after the temple!!! I am so happy!! One thing I
don´t have to live without!

Lima Temple

November 10, 2010

Hey Familia!!

Hola!! Que Pasa?
How are you all?! I hope all is well for everyone and I can't
believe its already November! It is spring here so it's kinda weird to
think we should be pulling out the turkey, plus, sadly, the pilgrims
didn't land here and so no thanksgiving! But it's okay! Well it's
been a great week. It's been up and down and all around (I sound like
Dr. Seuss)! So I told you a little about the situation here last
time, but I will try to explain a little more. My companion´s name is
Hermana Luquez and she is so sweet. It has been so interesting to
communicate because I keep waiting for her to translate things in
english for me and I lean over to ask her things in english and she
just smiles and asks me to repeat in espanol. She is so good at
helping me understand though. If anyone was to see us during companion
study they would laugh because she is always acting things out so I
can understand. It is interesting to learn spanish without an english
translation, but I can already tell a huge improvement in my spanish.
She is really funny and always happy. I feel so lucky to be her
compañera. Usually, in the mornings I wake up and I have to turn on my
spanish brain again and I forget that my whole world is in spanish.
Needless to say my brain takes a little warming up, but then by night
I fee I am a latino myself. It's funny because they call everyone
here either a "latino" or a "norte americano" and they will announce
on the loud speaker who they are addressing the message to. But in
class my companion is Hermana Garlock because the latinos don't need
to learn spanish! It's interesting though because one of our teachers
doesn't speak really any english and the other speaks pretty good, but
not a lot. So learning spanish in spanish is a little tricky. I think
my teacher has got to laugh when he looks in my direction because my
brow is always furrowed like I'm thinking really hard. He always says,
"Hermana Salmon, entiende?" meaning, do you understand? It's pretty
funny. Everything here is great though. We work a lot more than we
did in Provo and don't have any free time to do what we choose. It's
good though because it keeps me focused and working hard. We teach 2
lessons a day to our "progressing investigators" and that is way more
than before. It´s crazy becuase we only teach in spanish and we never
had to teach in spanish yet in Provo, but they are very patient with
us gringos and I feel the spirit strongly.
The food here is interesting. It's not bad, but it's not our
favorite. Lots of rice and chicken!! We are not supposed to leave any
food on our plates because it is offensive, but they serve HUGE
proportions. So I figured things out pretty good after I went to bed
with a big stomach the first 2 nights. I now ask them to give me less!
Ha imagine that. I just didn't know how to say it in spanish before,
but we are all in good order now! They have fresh fruit juice every
day like the ones at the mexican retaurant on main. They have
watermelon, cantalope, apple cinnamon, and purple corn. They are good
but we learned quick to stay away from the papaya. It is an
interesting one. They give us these bags on our silverware every night
and the elders learned quickly to put the food in it that they don't
like and put it in their pockets. Its pretty funny.
Some funny stories:
So first of all I feel like I have so many problems
miscommunicating things. I usually heard one or two funny stories that
people had on their missions about saying things that were totally
wrong, but I feel like it's a daily occurrence for me. Good thing my
companion just laughs and does not take any offense. For instance...
-yesterday during a lesson with "investigators" I was telling the
story in the book of mormon about how king Ammon was a mean man and he
made the people of Alma be his slaves. And instead of saying that the
king was mean, I said he was ugly! The latinos started laughing really
hard and i didn't understand until after our lesson. Ha, well he
probably was ugly too!
Then last night after we were teaching, I was trying to tell my
companion that she was on fire during the lesson and that she was on a
roll. So I said, "usted es inferno", and she looked at me so
strangely. She asked me what that meant and I thought she didn't
understand because it was an english saying or something. So I
explained it meant she taught with strength and power (the only words
I knew in spanish to use), and I repeated "usted es infierno" 3 times
so she could understand. She just looked at me and shrugged, as to say
"whatever..okay...whatever you say!" so I got to class and told my
teacher what I said. He started laughing really hard (becoming usual
for me) and said that I just told my companion to go to hell!
hahahaha. The whole class was laughing histerically (the north
americans) and I had tears cause I was laughing so hard. I said, "oh
my gosh I said that to her 3 times and I just told her it was an
american saying!" Ha, it was so funny. Then afterwards as I was
sitting in class and I started laughing out loud because I remembered
telling my companion at breakfast when we were drinking hot chocolate
that as a family we used to sit by the fire and drink hot chocolate,
but instead what I really said is that we used to sit in hell and
drink hot chocolate! I wondered why the hermanas were looking at me so
strangely! Ha my teacher thought it was so funny and I had him expain
to my companion what I meant. Oh, good times.
Another funny story...on Monday we showed up for our physical
activity and there was this drill sargeant (seriously, that is what
they call him) and he had us all line up and start jumping over
benches and around cones and doing push ups while yelling "bien"!!! It
was so hilarious. I kept saying "enserio" which is "seriously?" the
whole time and we were all looking at each other and thinking...who is
this guy? Apparently he is here every Monday to kick us into shape. Oh
my, I have to figure a way out of the next one. some of the elders
vomited afterwards because it was so intense. Bless his heart.
Well everything is going pretty good. I am not discouraged about the
language, but I do get frustrated that I can't teach becuase i don't
know how to say what I want and I feel like my comp has to do
everything. It is frustrating at times, but I know it will come. And
sometimes I end up testifying of something else because I didn't
understand. But I am so happy and I can tell the lord is blessing me
beacause there are times I feel like I'm speaking so fast and don't
know where its coming from. I love it. The spirit is strong and I
pray every day for patience. It reminds me that the gospel only needs
to be taught in simple forms anyways!!
I'm sorry I don't have much more time but I'm glad that your things
arrived and that you killed those pesky stink bugs that you brought from

Virginia in your things. Eww! Maybe they will kill the scorpions! I will pray for Sister Miller, that is so
hard. Yeah for all the new babies in the fam! How exciting. I
miss you all so much and I love you. I pray for you every single day.
This is the true church. That I know with all my heart. Thank you for
your support. The lord hears our prayers. If he didn't, I wouldn't be
here because I couldn't do this without him. I'm off to the Peru
temple today and to shop in the city! Te amo.
-kate

Hey, I just found out I could still write you! Goodie! I have so much
more to say! I just want you to know that things are going really
well. At times I have felt frustrated because I'm not able to just sit
back and enjoy the spirit of a meeting because I am trying so hard to
concentrate on what they are saying. But I prayed really hard that I
would be able to feel it, and it came. The spirit is in every
language. I know with all my heart this church is true and every time

I testify of it in my weak spanish, I know that it is. Heavenly Father
is there for us and he is so loving and kind. I feel so grateful for
the atonement and that I can lay my problems at the feet of the Savior
and I feel a literal change inside. I am so grateful to know who I am
and where I came from and I love teaching others about these blessings
that they can have. I can't imagine not knowing the Savior and I want
everyone to know the relief they can find in Him. I love him so very
much. I am continously humbled every day and realize that without the
help of the Lord, I cannot do anything. This is His work and I need
him to help me. These are his children that I'm teaching and he knows
what they need, I just need to listen and that is the tricky part. We
have to be obedient and in tune, but I am so happy to be a missionary
for him!
Other things I thought you might like to know...on
p-days...today...we go to the temple on different shifts and then get
to go to a store called "todos" after and it's like a big walmart. I
already have a grocery list of the good foods I'm missing so bad. I am
living off the granola bars you sent with me mom!! The MTC or "CCM"
is small and there are only 140 of us. It's so cool. On saturday we
are going out into "the world" or outside of the small 4 tall brick
walls that surround us to teach a lesson to real people! Oh my, I'm
scared but excited. It's going to be interesting and oh so humbling.
Dad, I think you would have a lot of fun here. You would be the talk
of the place because they'd think you are just so funny. I think of
things that you say and I say it in class and the elders laugh hard.
They especially like the ginea pigs in a blanket. That will never get
old. As for now...nariz thanksgiving!!
Oh, ha, I sang at the fireside on Sunday with another elder
because my companion volunteered me because i'm singing all the time.
It went okay, but it was in spanish! Here, they think that anyone who
can hold a tune is a great singer, so I feel like Celine Dion.
Seriously, I love it here though. We get to keep our latina companions
for 2 more weeks and then they leave. After that it will be only me
and Hermana Garlock that are the "advanced sisters" meaning those who
have been here 3 weeks and we will get all new sisters coming in. We
may have latina companions or we may be with each other. We shall
see!!

I'm praying for ya!! I miss you all!

Sorry for the novel.
-kate

November 4, 2010

These pictures are of us and the elders at the map again... then us and the other hermanas in our room and district (hermana B. and hermana H. and we love them!). the next picture is of our district with our teacher Hermano B. in the middle. He is really funny and he is from Chile. The last one is maybe one of my favorites. It is of us and the elders after arriving in Peru last night. Elder A. was the travel leader and we were the only hermanas and so he was so worried about us at all times. First of all...on the way to the bus in the morning, we were going to be on time but my comps. suitcase broke and we couldn't carry 3 suitcases at once. so...we were late needless to say! then when we got to Atlanta on our itinerary we were told our plane left at 5:15 but it really left at 5 so we were trying to talk to our family..you..on the phone and the elders were frantic because they couldn't find us. we thought we were totally on time but they were calling our names over the loud speaker and that is why i had to hang up so fast! I{m so sorry. we had to run like crazy to our plane and our elders were so stressed. there are like 21 of us that met up in Atlanta to go to Peru. then when we got to Peru, we had to go through customs and me and hermana thought we were so good because right when we got there we went right on through and met the people on the other side that were there to meet us. elder A. and elder storm were missing for quite a while and then we see them like frightened parents on the other side. when they saw us they told us that we were going to be the death of them. we had to laugh and we just said we would stick to them like glue from now on as to decrease their blood pressure. it was crazy and that is why they are making such funny faces in the pictures while we are just so innocent. so mom and dad, we are in good hands. and sorry that the punctuation is crazy, the keyboards are Spanish keyboards.
te amo-kate

November 4, 2010

Pictures! The first two are HermanaG and me on the day that it snowed! we were freezing little hermanitas and we were thinking of Peru because we didn´t pack warm clothes! The next ones are of us at the famous map with our whole district and then two of me and my hermana with elder storm and elder A. who are all going to Guayaquil!
te amo, kate

November 4, 2010

Here are more pictures...
The first one is a picture of me with a katydid..thought it was quite
fitting! and the others are of us at the temple on our temple walk.
ok, enough emails! i just finally get to send pictures and hermana
G. sent these to me.
mom-thanks again for the socks and the other clothes, they work
perfect and i'm so glad you sent them. my backpack was a lifesaver
yesterday and everything worked perfect so thanks for being so
efficient on that one. Tell grandma thanks for the package! i'm still
living off that one and i loved it. i brought the double stuff oreos
with me to dinner so i could have them with milk and the whole
district was so happy! oh will you let Syrell know that the elders we
met up with yesterday in Atlanta asked me if i had a cousin in Utah. i
said yes and they said that they met her at the hospital because her
husband -tate- had a concussion and they gave him a blessing. i hope
he is okay and i'm praying for him. i am sending her a letter soon,
but it might take a while to get there and i wanted her to know i was
thinking of her. love you all. i won't be sending this many emails
again, so enjoy for now!!
dad- so far, no tadpole soup! i feel pretty lucky. miss you.

November 4, 2010

Mi familia!!
First of all, mom and dad...I'm so sorry i had to hang up on you so
fast yesterday! i hope you got my emails with the pictures and the
explanation. i was so sad i didn't get all the time to talk to you.
the good thing is that i get to call you again in 5 or 6 weeks when i
leave here to go to Ecuador! but i wanted to tell you so bad, thanks
for the packages before i left. they were lifesavers. i miss you both
and love you so much!! your support means the whole world to me!
Elder A. just leaned over to me now and asked, "did you tell
your parents about the heart attack you almost gave me?" i said yes
and he seemed pleased. we are in good hands here with all these elders
to watch over us 2 American gringas.
So i'm officially in PERU!! We got in about 1:30 am and all the
Americans were outside in Peruvian beanies to meet us! it is So
amazing here!! Matt, did you come here? what did you think
of it if you did? i keep thinking of you here in Lima. I love it.
The weather is so pretty right now. it's overcast and slightly
sunny, if that makes sense. its really moist in the air but it doesn't
feel too humid yet. the campus is really pretty. it's is made up of 3
white buildings and there are pretty green plants and flowers all
over. it is small, but beautiful. we are surrounded by a brick wall
that is guarded...so i'm safe here! we met our companions this morning
and we all have Latina companions...well hermana G. and i are the
only 2 girls that arrived in the new group. my companion is from
Nicaragua (did i spell that right?) and is really sweet. she doesn't
speak English and so i am excited to glean as much legit Spanish as i
can from her....none of this Utah Spanish business! the funny thing is
that they go to their own classes during the day and we go with the
Americans during the day to learn more Spanish. we will do our study
time with them and stuff, but we will spend a lot of time with the
Americans still too. so hermana G. and i are still American companions,
i guess you could say. but i love it here! i can't believe I'm in
peru! this is so cool and such an adventure. the food is pretty good.
they have this rule that you have to eat all your food on your plate
that they give you, so i have tried to make sure that i tell them how
much to give me so i don't have to eat too much and gain the old mtc
15 or 20 or 25 lbs. So far, i am still fitting into my skirts thanks
to our early morning gym classes. they don't have those here though.
they have outdoor soccer field and volley ball, basket ball and
foosball. so Hermana G. and i are dedicated to coming up with a good
exercise regimen. oh, the other cool thing is that there are only 137
missionaries here. it is small, but so great. we get to leave next
Saturday to go out and talk to the people....i'm excited, but i have a
lot of Spanish to learn! I love the Latin people and i am so happy i
get to serve among them. They are the most gracious people.
Seriously, it is so great here and i couldn't be more happy. this
lady we sat by on the airplane asked me if i was excited to try new
food like the guinea pigs. i said that i was up for it (i know,
surprising right?) and one of the elders that was listening said, " my
sister has one as a pet, you eat those right?" she started laughing as
she nodded her head and said "my sister has one too...but they are
tasty!"
Ok, so let me tell you about the mail system.... don't send me
packages here. it is expensive to pick up and we have to go to the
airport to get them for some reason, so don't send them here, send
them to Ecuador to the mission home if you want to send them. other
than that, they said that dearelder takes about a week to get them
from when you write them and the letters in the normal mail can be
iffy. some sisters told us that they got their letters about a week
after their fam sent them, so i'm hoping its pretty good. i know i
told you not to email me because i don't have much time, but we get
lots of time here because there aren't as many missionaries, so you
can email me anytime. our address for letters is a little different.
the pouch is still the Provo or SLC address, but the address here is
Hermana Salmon
Av. Melgarejo 159
Urb. Campo Verde
La Molina, Lima 12, Peru

This morning has been great! They gave us nap time to catch up on our
sleep and the day is pretty laid back. It feels so different from
provo because it was very structured there. Don{t get me wrong, I
loved it, but this is super sweet. The mtc in spanish is the CCM and
we slept with our window open last night for the fresh air and woke up
to several animals making noise and it sounded like we were in the
middle of a jungle. We are actually in the city and we drove by the
church last night. we get to to to the temple next wednesday and i am
excited. i just love everything about it here...and i am happy to have
a latina and to have sis G. as my comp as well. The milk tastes a
little different here, but i am a milk drinker so i'm determined to
like it. it was funny because we had to get interviews with the branch
pres this morning and before we went in, all the elders were sent
upstairs and got their heads buzzed. ha, it's great.

So enough about me, has the furniture got there yet? how is the ward?
and the fam? what is going on there? Where is thanksgiving going to
be this year? What else is new?
Lara-I hope you got my letter and thanks for yours. I loved them. And
all the sisters LOVE my skirts and all want them. you should think
about marketing to sister missionaries!
Kim-happy birthday! I love ya and enjoy 26 baby!
Jake-thanks for helping me out yesterday...you were a lifesaver and i
loved talking to you!
I miss you all and love you so much. I'm so happy to be here in Peru
getting ready to share the gospel in Espanol!!!
te amo,
kate

OCTOBER 30, 2010

Family! Que Pasa!
This week has been so great! I love it here. I know I say that all the time, but I do. It will just hit me at random times and then I say to my Hermana..."Can you believe we are on a mission? How cool is that?" We are having so much fun together and she likes to work hard. She is so sweet and she makes me want to be better. I think we will be great friends always.
Well to start out with a funny story...we were teaching last week and we were practicing getting to know people on the streets in Spanish. We were practicing with a tutor that could help us and give us feedback. When it was done, he said, "Frankly, I just feel weird." We had a good laugh about that one. We realized that we had just interrogated him instead of being normal human beings and had a normal conversation. On the way back from that little experience, we were talking and realized that it's so great how people can tell us these things and we get feedback all the time about how we can be better and it just makes us more motivated. I appreciate it because I want to be better and be more effective. I never realized how good criticism can be sometimes... But we had a good laugh over being the creepy sisters and making our investigator feel "weird!"
The highlight of my week was Tuesday night...the fireside. Elder Scott came and it's very unusual to get two apostles in a row. But Hermana G and I sat right up front and it was so powerful. I don't know if I ever felt the spirit so strong. It was so dense in that room that I felt peace all around me and a strong confirmation that this church is true. When he talked I felt it so much that he is a true apostle of the Lord. I have never felt it so strong. He spoke to the missionaries about how to listen to the spirit and told many life experiences. He invoked a blessing on the sisters adn talked for awhile about the sisters and he told us we would be protected. He also blessed us with the gift of tongues, which I am so grateful for. After I left, I felt like so many wonderful things were spoken and I felt like the people in 3rd Nephi in the Book of Mormon when Christ came to the Americas and prayed for the poeple and after they said that so many special things were spoken that can not be written. I just felt like they must have felt in that moment. At the end of it he said, "I know the Savior lives because I know him." It was so powerful. We also sang "called to serve" and I love singing that! We all sang it at the top of our lungs int eh big auditorium and I couldn't be more happy to be a missionary! After the fireside we had a district meeting and we all went around and bore our testimonies. I find everytime I hear the testimonies of those in my district, I am boosted up 10 feet, as grandpa salmon would say. It was by far my favorite night int he mission thus far.
I am so happy to be serving for the Lord adn when I get discouraged or have a hard time focusing at 8:30 at night during class, I just remember that it's for Him and to bring the happiness I have to his other children. This church is so true and I know that Christ died for us. He really knows us individually and loves us. His atonement covers our heartaches, sadness, sins, and sorrows. It lifts us up higher than we could ever be lifted alone. It gives me purpose and self confidence. I love him so much. I know he lives. The thing I learned is that if you are struggling in your life or with your testimony, study the atonement and all that will vanish. It is the reason for everything.
I leave for Peru on Wednesday morning and we get to call you from the Airport!!! Our layover is in Atlanta from 3:40-4:45 pm so it will be around that time...Georgia time. My address there is
Peru MTC
Ecuador Guyaquil South Mission
P.O. Box 30150
SLC, UT 84130
(this is pouch mail for only paper folded and taped. Requires regular stamp)

Centro De Capacitacion Misional
Melagarejo 15q La Molina
Lima 12
Peru
(you can send anything here, but it is $0.98).

OCTOBER 22, 2010

Hi Everyone!

Sorry, I feel like I am typing like the dickens because we only have 30 minutes to read emails and to respond and the little clock in the corner is just ticking away. Anyone (friends or family) can email me, but it is hard to read all of them in the time and write back, so if you could write me through Dearelder.com, I get the letters the same day you write them and you can just type them on the computer. That way I can write you back and I won't have to email you.

Everything here is great! It was an excellent week and we are finally not the new missionaries anymore. Elder Nelson came on tuesday to give us a fireside and it was amazing! I love it here! I have run into Derek our cousin and we gave each other a hug and really freaked out some missionaries. He spoke to me in Bulgarian and it sounds awesome....not gonna lie, I'm glad I'm only learning Spanish. But on that note, Hna. G. and I taught our first lesson in the training center today and part of it was in spanish. We taught to a volunteer who pretended to be an investigator and it was so scary. We definitely thought we knew a lot more spanish than we did. ...we realized we have a lot of work to do and we've been practicing hard! We are memorizing the first vision in Spanish and lots of questions. Our district is great and the spirit is so strong here. I can't help but be so excited about the work every day and I'm SO happy to be here.

A few funny stories.... We were teaching the first lesson yesterday to some elders in our District and we were teaching them about the first vision of Joseph Smith where he saw God and Jesus Christ. Instead, I testified that Jesus Christ saw God and Joseph Smith and the kind Elders started laughing and I did too. Needless to say my comp. had to take over. The other Elder was then teaching and I was the investigator and I asked him about the Holy Ghost. He said, "He's not like Casper or anything...Oops, I didn't mean to say that.' and once again, we all started laughing. I guess that's what these tests are for. Better to work out the kinks now than later!

I feel so happy to be here and I feel so blessed. Hermana G. and I talk everyday about how we feel we got the best mission. My medical training went great and I was one of two young sisters. I am so happy though because I found out that I am going to be in good hands when I get there. A lot of the other missions the couples were going to didn't even have a clinic set up yet or anything and they were going to be the nurse's for several countries. Mine is all set up and they are going to train me when I get there. Another reason, ecuador is the best!

We found out more and more about Peru this week. We found out that, yes, we do get to leave to go proceliting in the streets, malls, such, so I guess those kinks better get ironed out asap!!! WE hear they don't speak a whole lot of english, so we are working hard on the spanish. We practice to and from meals, at meals, at gym, and any other time we can. We also heard that Peru MTC had an outbreak of lice this July and all the elders had to buzz their heads....what does that mean for the sisters?? Who knows! Let's hope I don't have to relive my 5th grade nightmare of lice again. Also we got our flight plans to peru already and we are so excited!!! When I know my address, I'll let you know. We hear there are lots of missionaries going with us.

Yes, dad, I hear they love ginea pigs there too! I will let you know what Ginea pigs in a blanket tastes like. THe other night at dinner the elders asked me if I ever had any pets and I told them about all the pets we had, including that poor little hampster with a tumor that I gave to Syrell, which she then gave away too! They all teased me relentlessly about it and told me that that is the harshest thing they ever heard to give a hamster away that was ill. Then later on I said in class, "I could really go for a ginea pig right now." and one of the elders said, "why so you can give it away when it gets a tumor?" I am looking forward to this ginea pig delicacy...and I will never hear the end of my inhumanity towards animals.

Everything esle is so great. I love Hermana G. I love teaching with her and we are already great friends. We hope we will be companions in the Peru MTC as well. Well that's about it for now! I love you all!!

always,

Hermana Salmon

OCTOBER 16, 2010

Hola! Que Pasa! Well these first few days at the MTC have been great. We had been told so many times right when we got here that the first few days were the worst because they were so crammed full of stuff, but my hermana (Sister G) and I decided that we didn't feel that at all. We were just loving it! We have a district of 6 elders and 4 hermanas. Four of us are going to the Ecuador Guayaquil South Mission and we are so excited. But the funny thing was that the first day the elders stopped us and said, "Hermanas, do you know we are going to the MTC in Peru in 3 weeks?!" We laughed and didn't believe them, but oh yes, it is true! We are leaving together for Lima, Peru in 3 weeks! We are so excited but the 4 of us feel a huge need to learn Spanish ASAP, so we are always trying to contact people at mealtimes to bear our testimonies in Spanish and such. Yeah, crazy right? We leave here November 3.

As for Hermana G, she is so great! We laugh a lot and really get along well. We are so much alike and she likes to work, so I feel very lucky. She actually has a cousin in Mesa that was a good freind of mine in high school. She is from Washington State. The first day we got here, we were not feeling overwhelmed necessarily, but we both felt this huge need to figure out our purpose for being here and find the motivation for our work becuase we got asked it all the time. So on day 3, our teacher came in and asked each of us in our district to go around the room and tell why we decided to come. We had all heard each others testimonies on that before, but this time she told of a personal experience that influenced her into coming on a mission. Then, one by one, we each went around the room and told of these amazing things that had happened to us to motivate us to come on a mission and all of them had to do with the Atonement changing our lives in very personal ways. Hermana G and I had been studying in PMG about our purpose and we read that as we come to learn more about the Atonement, our desire to share the gospel will increase. I always knew I wanted to share the gospel, but that wasn't enough for me. I wanted to know what about the gospel changed my life so it would motivate me to study harder and teach more powerfully. That day in class, the spirit was so strong and we all talked and said how each of us had been wanting to know that for ourselves. It was a lifechanging moment for all of us. Later that night, the hermanas and I were talking and saying that even if we could only go on a mission for these past 3 days, then it was worth it. We had already felt like our testimonies had grown leaps and bounds from where it was when we came. Of course we can't wait to see what the rest of our mission holds for us! But we LOVE our district. Everyone works hard and wants to help each other. One day our teacher didn't show up, so we decided to help each other learn our purpose in Spanish. We all laugh a lot together and get along really well.

Another thing we love is our gym time! In the mornings at the MTC now we get to do pilates, yoga, kick boxing, and other fun stuff like that. All of us hermanas love it. And I don't even mind getting up early for it....surprise surprise!! I have a feeling we won't be getting that in Peru?
I found out that I have medical training next week, so I guess I'll get to see what all that is about! And great news, we don't have to wear nylons anymore! Best news of my life. Sadly, we can't chew gum here so I am on gum detox. I will need to get a lot of candy to keep me from getting the cravings.

Well I am loving it here and I couldn't be happier. I love this gospel and coming to understand the Atonment can change the purpose of our lives. I know it's true! I am so grateful for it. I love you all and am prayin for ya!