Letter From Hermana DeLong June 7, 2012

Dearest Family and Friends,

 

Do you all realize how I've been gone for 7 weeks but if feels like a century has gone by!? Because it's for real. It has only been 7 weeks! Which also means I have a week and a half from yesterday that I will be leaving the MTC and moving on to the city! I'm so excited to get to New York. I know it's going to be hard being there, but I know that it will be amazing at the same time! I don''t know spanish. It''s offical. But that''s okay because I'm just going to have to put my faith in the Lord and pray really hard that everything will work out. Our whole district is getting ancy because we want to leave so bad. It doesn''t help that a district that just came in two weeks ago in our zone, is heading out a few days before us. They are going to the Peru MTC and will finish their language learning there. But hey when we leave we will actually be out in the feild.

 

Anyways...we had another fire alarm go off in our building this week. This time it was not because of popcorn. Some girls were cleaning and they stirred up too much dust or something, and the fire alarm went off. My companion was in the shower, and I had just gotten out. We ran out in our slippers and pjs/skirts with towels on our heads. It was crazy. Then by the time we got back in we had like 3 minutes to be to class. It was an interesting day. Other than that, I got some sweet packages this week thanks to Jordan and Kenny and Janaye! Who spoil me rotten. I love packages, my district hates me for them. Hahaha Oh well.

 

Well, we had an interesting week teaching this week. We did divisones or SPLITS. So I had to teach with one of the hermanas in my district who wasn''t my companion. It was weird but it went okay. I''m trying really hard to rely on the spirit and listen to what the spirit is telling me instead of teaching a lesson even when my investigator might not need that lesson. We learned a lot about Teaching People not Lesson''s this week. It''s good to learn but I wish they would teach everything in the curriculum here at the MTC backwards. Because it's ridiculous. Like, if I would have known what I know now... 7 weeks ago I'd be a lot better off. But I guess there is a reason for everything. Como sea. (Which means whatever in spanish or you could say cualquier.. but that's a little different.) ANYWAYS. Off track... I think what I've learned most about being on a mission is what mom has been trying to tell me for almost 22 years... ""The world doesn''t revolve around you Shelby."" I totally get that now. And I realize how selfish and self-centered I can be. Its not me that''s able to learn spanish, it''s the spirit and the spirit is helping me do that, and the spirit recieves it''s knowledge from God. Who is all-knowing. If I would have listened closer to my Mother in years passed, I wouldn't be hurting so bad now. But hey, it''s part of the process!

 

Lets see not much other than that. Just doing work. I''ve been really tired lately and I don''t get good sleep. So I started taking a Tylonel PM before better and it''s much better. Just that past two nights. But I wake up at every alarm clock and there is an Hermana in my room that doesn''t hear her alarm for the first 3 minutes that it goes off. So it''s torture! I wish I could figure out a way to not wake up to anyones alarm but mine. I thought the ear-plugs Em gave me would work, but they just hurt my ears. :( I have a stress kink in my back that has fromed into a huge ball so whenever I sit back in a chair it hurts. Because my muscle is just a huge stress point. It''s awesome! Not really... I''m still pretty sarcastic for being a missionary... whoops.

 

I saw two friends this week! I saw my friend randon lifford from Logandale and my other friend yler organ from high school. yler said he is going home on the 20th of this month and I might give him the box of stuff I want to send home to drop by the house. Instead of spending the money to send it in the mail. But it' might not work out that way because I''ve only seen him once in the 7 weeks I have been here! We will see, I will let you know. It''s so good to see friends from the outside world though, but it''s really hard to not hug them. I haven''t seen either of them in YEARS so it was cool to see them finally!

 

Other than that we are just working hard on getting baptismal dates for our investigators. We plan on commiting them to baptisim, but it always never works out or never feels right. Its the worst feeling. I hope that I can see some success in the mission feild. If not, that it''s just going to be showing people that Mormons are good people and have good standards.

 

I dont have my travel plans but when I do, which should be next week.. I will let you know! I should be leaving here on the 18th of June! So Yay for that!

 

Keep writing me letters! I will give you my NY address next week so you can write to there. Because if you write to here after next week, I wont get them. Okay!

 

(Oh and this email is titled, FOR DAYS because there is an Elder in my district who says that all the time. It''s funny.. trust me!)

 

Mi testimonio en espanol, Yo se que Jesucristo es su Salvador y Redentor. Yo se que el fe que usted necesita a poder exito en este vida es mas grande. Este fe venir para Cristo y El Libro de Mormon. Yo se que este cosas esta verdad! En el nombre de Jesucristo amen!

 

Con amor,

 

Hermana Shelby DeLong