Halfway Mark (MTC)

Hola mi familia! 

This week marks the halfway mark at the CCM. 3 weeks left until my stay here is finished and then it is farewell to the gorgeous Rocky Mountains and hello to the East Coast. I have learned so much here and I still have so much more to learn in the next 3 weeks. My goal by the time I leave is to read and study the scriptures in Spanish without the aid of my English scriptures. I'ts going to take work but I'm on my way there. 

Last night for devotional, we were able to hear form Sister Sharen L. Eubank, the 1st counselor in the General Relief Society Presidency. She is a very inspiring woman. She talked about the story of Moses and missionary work. Her two main points were: 

1. Moses knew who he really was and his divine potential 

2. He patiently worked on his weaknesses. 

I love how she talked about this because we all have the blessing of knowing our divine potential and understanding that we are children of a God who loves us and knows us personally. We are blessed with the gospel of Jesus Christ which gives us the tools we need to overcome our weaknesses and make them our strengths as we go about this life. We all can share that light with others and help them understand they are loved just as we know that we are loved.

This morning my district went to the temple and we all had the opportunity to seal families together for the eternities. I loved this experience because it was some of the missionaries first time doing sealings and the spirit was so sweet in that room as we helped children be sealed to their parents. It was also the first time any of us had someone faint during a sealing session so it was cut a little short but the lady is okay now. 

After the session at the temple, our district was able to teach three, eight year old girls about temples and why we love to visit the temple. It was such a tender moment to see the temple Matron give these girls pamphlets and teach them about the work we can participate in as they looked up at the golden Moroni. It warmed my heart to watch this angel in white teach these children about Jesus and the love he has for us. 

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Ether 12: 27

-Hermana Barthlome 

Hombre Arana

Another great week at the MTC! 

This week was really neat because my companion and I have been able to teach 2 really great investigators! The lady from Peru I mentioned last week and a lady from El Salvador! I love them both so much! It has been fun to listen to the different dialects of Spanish and to converse with them. They are both so patient with us new missionaries learning Spanish. They laugh with us when we mess up, help us conjugate words correctly and listen carefully to us as we testify of the love our Savior has for them. 

My new teacher is from Peru and she is such an angel! She is learning English at BYU right now so classes are really cool! She is learning English as we are learning Spanish and it works really well!  She knows that it is hard to learn another language as she is currently learning English so that she can teach us Spanish. I admire her for that. 

New update on the elevator adventures. Not only does jumping break the elevators (as our zone figured out last week), but so does sticking your hand out to keep the doors open. We got an email saying that if you try to stop the elevator doors from closing, they won't open back up at the bottom of the shaft! I'm not sure if someone got their hand stuck figuring that one out but I think I'll stick with the stairs from now on haha. 

So Hombre Araña means spider man and the spider men here are superheros that wash the windows! My favorite thing to do outside is watch the window washers repel as they clean the already spotless windows. From far away they look like spider men because you can't see their harnesses and they look like they're free climbing. I realized that they are the same 3 men working everyday who are so diligent in their work, even if it seems like what they are doing is not making much of a difference at times. They teach me to be diligent in the work and to make that diligence a habit. I know there will be hard days ahead and diligence is going to help me through those hard days when it seems like what I am doing is not making much of a difference. Every little thing makes that much of a difference as small things build to make great things happen.

Miracles:

This week I have really felt my purpose as a missionary and to put all of my trust into the hands of Christ. It is really interesting to see how Satan works here. So many missionaries have been getting injured, reassigned, becoming ill and dealing with other various things to sway their faith of serving at this time in their lives. It is amazing to me to see how these missionaries around me push trough their trials and keep going to work everyday because they love their Savior and they are here to serve him no matter what the adversary throws at them.

I know that I am supposed to be here at this time. I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve and to see this work progress each and everyday. 

I love you all!

What a week!!

First week down in the CCM! I cannot believe its been a week already but at the same time the days felt like multiple days in one. 

I promised myself I wouldn't send long emails but I guess this first week is going to be a long email so enjoy the journey! 

On Wednesday, something happened that has never happened at the CCM before! My shuttle was late from the airport and as we pulled into the parking lot, the president and his wife were parking their car! Perfect timing right? We met them and the president opened the doors for us new missionaries and welcomed us. His wife took one of my suitcases inside for me (because me plus suitcases means struggles) and they went on their way. 

So there are 10 people in my district. 4 Elders and 6 hermanas. My companion is Hermama Wentz and we are both serving in DC! She is a sweetie. I love my district! They are all going to be great missionaries. Also, look out for an hermama Browne in early July because she is serving in Nampa, Idaho! She is from Hawaii (hermana with the dark hair in picture). The Branch presidency is great. The first counselor is from Venezuela and his wife is from Chile and they love to help us with our Spanish. The language is coming slowly but I have learned an incredible amount since last Wednesday. I have a lot of work to do but patience is key. 

The people in my zone are all amazing. There has been a lot of crazy this week in our zone. Both missions in Nicaragua closed on Monday so 4 of the missionaries in the zone are being reassigned and so will a good handful of the missionaries coming to the CCM today. We are getting 14 new sisters and 8 elders today! All spanish! So funny/terrifying story: 5 of the Elders almost got sent home on Sunday (their last Sunday before the mission) here for jumping in the elevator. The elevators here will stop if people jump and they tell all the new missionaries this when they come to the CCM. It was fast Sunday and these 5 Elders were going down to dinner when the elevator stopped because of some jumping going on haha. They were stuck in there for 2 hours, missed dinner and were rescued through the top of the elevator just in time to be called out during the devotional to chat with the president. Moral of the story: don't jump in the elevator because you will miss dinner on fast Sunday and get a talking to from the mission president. Luckily all the elders are still going to be going to serve.

Aside from the crazy, this week has been so amazing! We have had so many devotionals and great speakers come because its is mission president training season. This week Sherri Dew came and spoke to us about the missionary work and its growth in the latter days and last night Elder Gerrit W. Gong spoke to us about the divine revelation that goes into assigning calls and our purpose of bringing souls unto Christ. The CCM also went baptist for a hot second during the Be One devotional on June 1st which was such a cool devotional. 

My companion Hermana Wentz and I have been teaching our first investigator since day 3 and its going well. Yes, they really do have you teach in your mission language on day 3, and yes it is the hardest thing ever but the spirit is the real teacher. I know the language will come in time. My companion has 4 years of Spanish behind her so we are still working out how to work well together as we teach but we are making progress.

Today I had the opportunity to go to the temple for an endownment session! It was a great session. I cried for a good hour of it before receiving the answers that I needed to get through this next week. First time crying since coming out to the mission and it was actually suprisingly productive! I know that missions can be hard at times but they are so worth it! I have never felt so close to my Savior in my entire life. I feel like he is walking side by side with me at times and there is so much peace it overwhelms my soul with hope and love. I know that there are people in Washington DC that I need to meet, but there are also people in DC that need to meet me to change my life and help me grow. I know that Spanish is the language that I need to learn at this time to help with the work. It is the hardest thing about the mission so far, and I know there will be many more tears while learning it, but the mission is not about me. It is about God's children who have yet to come unto him. I testify that these are the days that the Lord is gathering Israel. He is at the head of this church. He is the one we are meant to follow to return back home to our Heavenly Father. 

I love you all! 

-Hermana Barthlome 

Sister Shandrie Barthlome