Praying for Bandits, Costco Pizza, and More

(We have to wonder what Mexican keyboards are like…Ashley accidentally deleted her first email and had to type fast to get her subsequent emails sent.)

I feel so bad that I accidently deleted everything. I´ll try to write fast since I don't have much time. 

It´s been a week and would you believe that I´m fluent in Spanish! 

Well, don't believe it because it's not true! 

Haha our first day in class our teacher only spoke Spanish. That was fun. Our 2nd we taught our investigator, Yanis, in Spanish. I am blessed with an amazing companion. Hermana Huff. She is so patient with me as I constantly ask, "Como se dice ___ " (it means "How do you say…")

Sorry my last email was lots better. I wish that my fingers hadn´t delete it! No bueno!  

I was talking to my branch president on Sunday and he said, "I can´t tell you that you won´t be homesick and I can´t tell you this and this, but I can tell you that you will learn Spanish." That was such a comfort to hear. Sometimes it´s hard to see my progress because the girls that I live with all have had more years and experience in Spanish but I know I am learning. The other day one of my roommates said that I was talking in Spanish in my sleep! Yeah! It was probably just gibberish but I was excited.

I´m scared that I will delete it again whoops! On Sunday we got to watch a movie, a Joseph Smith movie. It was good and nice to be able to watch a movie. We also watched a devotional given last year in the Provo MTC by Jeffrey R. Holland. He said some things that I liked. He said, "I may be dumb but I ain´t stupid." I liked that because it reminded me of Dad and made me smile. He also said that PMG (Preach My Gospel) was meant to convert us and when we are converted to the gospel that we can go out and teach. I always thought that PMG was for the investigator, but it´s actually for us!  

So when I meet people sometimes they think I´m Spánish because I´m kinda tanner so they start talking to me in Spanish. I can only stare and say repiten por favor. 

Haha, so some elders were teaching Yanis and they were trying to teach her how to pray. They were trying to tell her to pray for blessings but they accidentally told her to pray for bandits. Muy mal Elderes! It was funny. 

I´ve tried flan, ewww and tamales. The tamales were served at breakfast and I took one bite and they just made me sick. But guess what? Yesterday I was saying, I really hope that I can have Costco pizza at least once before I leave the MTC and guess what was for dinner? Costco Pizza! The Lord loves me! 

I´m so sorry I don´t have much time. I really had written the best email… 

So the man I met on the plane, his name is Javier and his daughter´s name is Olivia. After we had talked a while he said, "When you walked on the plane you looked familiar." I said "Maybe we were supposed to meet," (this was after I had given him the Book of Mormon) and he said, "I think so."

One morning I saw an elder eating a bowl of Nutella for breakfast. I´m sure he was in heaven. It´s pretty good on waffles-haha. 

So the airport in Phoenix was crazy! It is huge and it´s a blessing that I made it to my flight on time. I´ll have to tell you more about that later. 

We hear sirens all the time no matter night or day but we know that we are safe here at the CCM. It´s been such a great experience. I´m not homesick at all. I feel like you guys are close. I pray for you everyday. I was so excited to write to you mom. Sorry I couldn´t write more. I realize that you have become one of my best friends and I love you! Thank you so much for blessing my life.

On Feb 9, the MTC will be dedicated. We will have an apostle come. We aren´t sure who though. 

Something funny is that when a person sneezes you say Salud which means health or bless you. Something we kinda do in my district is say Salad when someone sneezes; it is funny. 

I am doing great here! The Lord has blessed me every single day. I hope to hear from you. Pdays (Preparation days) are on Thursday for us here. I love you all very much and am eternally gratefully for you all. La igesia es verdadero!!!  Love your favorite Hermana in the world!