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!