Hey everybody!
Every day is an adventure here. It is so great. There are happy moments, sad moments, exciting moments, and many humbling moments. We'll start with the funny moments. So, you know how I said the teachers don't really speak that much english, well we challenged one of our teachers to speak english for all of our class time to us, and we had to speak spanish to him all class period. If we said 10 words in our native language, then we owed the other candy. It was HILARIOUS. Our teacher speaks about as much english as we do spanish, and to hear him say things "wrong" cracked us all up, but I suppose that is how it is for him to hear us try and speak spanish all day, haha. Anyway, none of us got to 10 words :( Also, today was super awesome because we got to leave the walls of the temple grounds and GO TO THE STORE!! In the DOMINICAN REPUBLIC!! WHAT!? Literally the best day ever. We also got Frozen Yogurt. So, imagine me in the D.R walking the streets eating fro yo, in the warm summer sun. Yup, it was great. Although, it was kind of scary sometimes. We had two of our teachers go with us and they sandwiched us inbetween them. EVERYONE stared at us. Not only are we missionaries, but we were also 12 white kids just walking the streets of the D.R. It was weird, but I did feel safe, so don't worry :) It was cool because the sounds of the city reminded me of Chicago. I am such a city girl. We get to go to the University and teach people about the gospel tomorrow! I CANNOT WAIT! I'll have stories for you next week.
Sad moments. When I got here there were 7 Americans who only had 2 weeks left in their MTC time and then 28 missionaires who were just here for 2 weeks because they already knew spanish. So, they all left on Tuesday. It was SO sad because we got to know and love these missionaries so much. And they helped us with spanish and we helped them with english, and despite the language barrier, we still loved each other. All of them went to missions in the D.R, so I probably won't see them ever again, but we always have facebook, right? Maybe? So, for 2 days it was just us 12 americans here in the MTC which was fun, but it felt SO weird. Today, the new missionaires arrived, though!! AND there's a ton of people who are Hatian, which means they SPEAK FRENCH!! I am able to kinda talk to them, but, its crazy how much french I have forgotten because of spanish now. The next two weeks are going to be fun :)
So, humbling moments. Basically they are all over, but learning this language is the best thing ever. I am learning every day to teach the gospel super simply. It is hard when I have something to say, and I don't know how to say it, but it is also a blessing because I know that I am just getting down to the important stuff. We watched the best talk I have ever heard by elder bednar (one of the 12 apostles) and it was given 2 Christmases ago in the Provo MTC. He basically talked about the attributes of Christ, and he was super blunt in saying that we need to remember to be selfless. Life is not all about us. He related it to the cookie monster. and yes, he did the cookie monster voice! The cookie monster wants everything for his self, but we need to remember to go out and serve. Heavenly Father doesn't care how many baptisms I get, or how many people join the church because of me, it doesn't matter. What matters is that I try. I am here to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am here to invite others to come unto Christ. People have their agency and can choose not to follow, but I can promise every one of you that if you take upon yourself the name of Jesus Christ and follow him, it will bring you so much happiness.
Me and my companion Hmna Partridge and I are teaching 2 investiagtors (aka our teachers dressed up as investigators) and while we still don't know that much spanish, we are starting to realize we can say more than we think. Even though our lessons are fake, it is so cool how we take it so seriously. We LOVE our investigators just like real ones, and when we have super powerful moments in lessons, we can feel the spirit so strongly. Those moments are why I am here. I am here to bring people the gospel of Jesus Christ and when you talk of Christ and rejoice in Christ, the spirit manifests the truth.
I love you all
You are awesome!
Hermana VanKammen
These pictures are me and my companion, my district, and the temple that I see EVERY day :) Life is great here!
Every day is an adventure here. It is so great. There are happy moments, sad moments, exciting moments, and many humbling moments. We'll start with the funny moments. So, you know how I said the teachers don't really speak that much english, well we challenged one of our teachers to speak english for all of our class time to us, and we had to speak spanish to him all class period. If we said 10 words in our native language, then we owed the other candy. It was HILARIOUS. Our teacher speaks about as much english as we do spanish, and to hear him say things "wrong" cracked us all up, but I suppose that is how it is for him to hear us try and speak spanish all day, haha. Anyway, none of us got to 10 words :( Also, today was super awesome because we got to leave the walls of the temple grounds and GO TO THE STORE!! In the DOMINICAN REPUBLIC!! WHAT!? Literally the best day ever. We also got Frozen Yogurt. So, imagine me in the D.R walking the streets eating fro yo, in the warm summer sun. Yup, it was great. Although, it was kind of scary sometimes. We had two of our teachers go with us and they sandwiched us inbetween them. EVERYONE stared at us. Not only are we missionaries, but we were also 12 white kids just walking the streets of the D.R. It was weird, but I did feel safe, so don't worry :) It was cool because the sounds of the city reminded me of Chicago. I am such a city girl. We get to go to the University and teach people about the gospel tomorrow! I CANNOT WAIT! I'll have stories for you next week.
Sad moments. When I got here there were 7 Americans who only had 2 weeks left in their MTC time and then 28 missionaires who were just here for 2 weeks because they already knew spanish. So, they all left on Tuesday. It was SO sad because we got to know and love these missionaries so much. And they helped us with spanish and we helped them with english, and despite the language barrier, we still loved each other. All of them went to missions in the D.R, so I probably won't see them ever again, but we always have facebook, right? Maybe? So, for 2 days it was just us 12 americans here in the MTC which was fun, but it felt SO weird. Today, the new missionaires arrived, though!! AND there's a ton of people who are Hatian, which means they SPEAK FRENCH!! I am able to kinda talk to them, but, its crazy how much french I have forgotten because of spanish now. The next two weeks are going to be fun :)
So, humbling moments. Basically they are all over, but learning this language is the best thing ever. I am learning every day to teach the gospel super simply. It is hard when I have something to say, and I don't know how to say it, but it is also a blessing because I know that I am just getting down to the important stuff. We watched the best talk I have ever heard by elder bednar (one of the 12 apostles) and it was given 2 Christmases ago in the Provo MTC. He basically talked about the attributes of Christ, and he was super blunt in saying that we need to remember to be selfless. Life is not all about us. He related it to the cookie monster. and yes, he did the cookie monster voice! The cookie monster wants everything for his self, but we need to remember to go out and serve. Heavenly Father doesn't care how many baptisms I get, or how many people join the church because of me, it doesn't matter. What matters is that I try. I am here to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am here to invite others to come unto Christ. People have their agency and can choose not to follow, but I can promise every one of you that if you take upon yourself the name of Jesus Christ and follow him, it will bring you so much happiness.
Me and my companion Hmna Partridge and I are teaching 2 investiagtors (aka our teachers dressed up as investigators) and while we still don't know that much spanish, we are starting to realize we can say more than we think. Even though our lessons are fake, it is so cool how we take it so seriously. We LOVE our investigators just like real ones, and when we have super powerful moments in lessons, we can feel the spirit so strongly. Those moments are why I am here. I am here to bring people the gospel of Jesus Christ and when you talk of Christ and rejoice in Christ, the spirit manifests the truth.
I love you all
You are awesome!
Hermana VanKammen
These pictures are me and my companion, my district, and the temple that I see EVERY day :) Life is great here!