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| Manhattan Temple |
Hola familia y amigos! ¿Como están todos este semana?
I
know I just sent out an email on Saturday but now I'm in the field
and our P-day are on Wednesdays (so we can go to the temple once a cycle), not
Mondays (because the Manhattan temple is closed), that's kinda weird but it
doesn't really make a difference when p-days are. Today’s email probably be
kinda short cuz I only have 3 days to write about instead of 7. So... sorry
about that. I'm sure I'll have more to write about next week.
Saturday-
Last p-day in the MTC it was a pretty long day. We got up early to go do
laundry and everyone else had the same Idea. So we waited in line for washers
for a while. After that we got everything washed and we emailed then we had to
pack. When all of your clothes and things are stuffed into a tiny closet it
makes it seem like you have a lot of stuff. But then you see your entire life
packed in 3 suitcases and it doesn't seem that way anymore... then at 6:30 after
p-day ended we had our last class with Hermana Evans. I will definitely miss
both her and Hermano Jake. Both of them were such great teachers, they taught
me more than I would have ever thought possible and not just about Spanish but
just about everything else tambien.
Sunday-
We got up at 5:00 a.m. to go say good-bye to Elder Evans since he
wasn't supposed to come to the Provo MTC originally he had no one to fly out
with so he got on the plane to Mexico alone. After that it was pretty much a
regular Sunday. Although in sacrament meeting Hermanas Roberts, Hogan and
I sang "I Need thee Every Hour/Señor te necesito" it was fun to get
to sing with those girls that I love so much. At the end of sacrament we sang
"Para siempre Dios este con vos" (God Be With You Till We Meet Again)I
surprisingly didn't cry but I sure thought I would. Other than that not a lot
happened on Sunday.
Monday-
the whole day was kind of a blur, it feels like none of that happened and I’m going
to wake up and still be in the MTC. (Even as I’m sitting in my apartment next
to my new companion hearing sirens going off every few minutes I’m not quite
sure this is real.) Anyway, Monday morning we got up at 2:45 a.m. and
finished packing the last few things. We left for the travel office at 3:15 and
got all checked in. Then basically the whole zone (or at least the important
people in my zone) came to say good bye. Though I had not cried thus far I
can't say I got on the bus with dry eyes. 6 weeks ago I would have never
imagined crying at having to say good bye to people I had only known for 6
weeks or less. But the love I had for the people at the MTC was unreal. I will
miss them a lot. In fact I already do but I know that wherever in the world
they are they will be blessing lives and helping people come into Christ, and
I'm so excited for them.
After
the goodbyes at the MTC we got on the bus. You could feel all of the emotions
in the air. The sadness, nervousness but most of all excitement. Everyone
around me was in the same boat (or bus in this case) they were about go out and
preach this gospel to people they don't know in a new city or country and for
many of us, speaking a language we can't understand. But we were all so excited
to be doing so.
Then
we got to the airport got checked in and made it through security found our
gate and said goodbye to everyone not on the same flight. By this time it was
about 6:00 a.m. I had been up for 3 hours and I was starving so
naturally me and Hermana Hogan went in search for food. The only things open at
this hour were Starbucks, McDonald's and by some miracle Café Río [Aubi’s all-time
favorite restaurant].... So naturally Hermana Hogan and I had tostadas for
breakfast. (Don't judge. Please remember that I have had nothing but MTC food
for 6 weeks and anything sounded delicious even a salad at 6 am.) They
were delicious. We then got on our flight. While on the flight I read "The
Riccardi Letter" I would highly recommend for all missionaries and anyone
else too. It’s about how an Elder Riccardi changed the mission and life of his
trainee. It also changed a lot of my outlook on things and helped me realize
what kind of missionary I want to be for the next year and a half but also for
the rest of my life.
We
had a layover in Detroit. I got there thinking I was going to find a pay phone
and call home.... But it turns out there are no payphone anywhere in the Detroit
airport. Thankfully one of the sisters in my travel group had a burner phone
and let me use it to call home for a bit. Then we got on our next flight. It was on this little tiny plane and it was
full to the max. We were overweight so they spent 20 minutes burning off fuel
to be at a good weight again. (I'm not sure which would be worse being overweight
in the sky or knowing there was no excess fuel because we burned it all off
before we left the ground) Luckily it was a short flight but upon landing we
had some really bad turbulence, that is always a joy to be in...
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| President David & Sister Rebecca Smith |
Next
we got off the plane and met our mission President. President Smith looks like
Michael Scott from the office, but is neither crude nor annoying like Michael
Scott. He really is the sweetest and his wife is so nice as well. After we left
the airport we went right to the chapel by the mission home, did some role
plays, had dinner, had a testimony meeting and went to the mission home and
went to bed.
Tuesday-
Woke up in the mission home got ready and went to the chapel to study to while
President Smith did interviews then we got to meet our trainers, and find out
where we would be serving for the 3 months we are in training.
I am
currently in.... drum roll please.... The Bronx! Serving with Hermana Morales!
She was born in Peru but her family now lives in Texas. She has been out about
a year and is seriously the greatest person ever! She is so nice and
patient and encouraging she pushes me to be brave and use my Spanish but she
will also come in and save me when I'm struggling (which happens a lot) she is
so amazing at contacting she really is so great and I'm sorry but I don't have
a picture with her yet. But I'll take one with her next week.  |
| My New Apartment |
After
our meeting with President we took the train into the city and walked about 20
blocks with my luggage (that was fun) to our apartment. Then we dropped it off
and went right back out to an appointment. It was with a woman named Brenda
that Hermana Morales and her other companion found last week. She is so great!
She was so interested in our message and accepted an invitation to be baptized.
That was so awesome!!!
Then
we went and tried to contact other appointment but she wasn't there so we
decided to knock doors... I got my first door slam but also my first successful
door knock. It was these 3 ladies in their 60s very Catholic and they let us in
and we had a lovely little discussion about the restoration and they are
letting us come back again on Tuesday. We also went to try to have an FHE
with a less active but she wasn't there but we are going back next week
to try again. After that we went to meet Obispo and he fed us dinner and his
wife shared a message with us instead of the other way around but that was fun.
A weird thing about members here is that they don't eat with you when they feed
you. They just sit and talk with you and watch you eat... That felt a bit
weird...
Anyway
that's all I really have for that past few days. I love you all and hope to
hear from you soon.
Con
Amor,
Hermana
Dobson
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