Week #5: Soda...is NOT my friend!

Week #5 June 28, 2016

Hola,

This week was another great week! We taught a lot of lessons and the spirit was really strong in each one. I really feel like my Spanish is improving everyday. I have been speaking Spanish like all the time now, which is really helping!

I forgot to tell you guys that I gave a talk in sacrament meeting just over a week ago in Spanish! I thought it was rough but i got a lot of compliments on it! Funny story actually, so I wrote a whole talk and put it in my Spanish bible (cause I was going to read a scripture from John) but then accidentally left my bible AND my talk in the classroom. So I totally winged my talk. good thing i had an idea of what i wanted to say and have been preparing to teach the gospel in Spanish for the past 5 weeks cause otherwise that would have been so terrible. The way that talks work here is that everyone in the zone writes a talk and you find out who is speaking after the sacrament has already been blessed and passed. so they announced that i was speaking and then 30 seconds later, I was up giving a talk.

If any of you wanted to know about my soda experience...it was awful haha. Soda...is NOT my friend. So at dinner I had like 7 sodas in front of me and I would have to close my eyes and drink one and guess what kind of soda it was. Lets just say that 4 of the 7 were "sprite" and only guessed 3 of them right. I thought Diet Coke was sprite...and that orange soda was sprite...but I did guess sprite when I drank sprite. Because I’m not used to all the carbonation and everything, I literally felt sick all the rest of the night and was throwing up from like 3am-5am...ya so I’m not drinking soda anymore. Throwing it up was no bueno.

So this week we got 22 new elders and 4 new Hermana in our zone...its so many people but they are all really fun and super sweet. a lot of them are struggling with homesickness so we have been helping out with that a lot. There was a devotional on Sunday about good/bad reasons to go home from a mission early and i think that it really helped them. 

The trickiest thing for me right now is finding the needs of my investigator. To help this, my companion and I are going to practice asking each other "get to know you" type questions in Spanish as a role play for different investigators. I think this practice will help because so often I want to ask more questions, but I run out of questions that I know how to say within the first 60 seconds of a lesson.

My best experience from this week was yesterday at TRC. Hermana M and I were in a trio with Hermana J, but our investigator didn't show up. J (an investigator of TRC) came out to the hall and starting talking to us because his missionaries haven't come the last three times. We decided to just teach him instead of our investigator. When we started off Hermana J asked him some normal get to know you questions (she is much better at getting to know people in Spanish than Hermana M and me), and he just kept talking and talking about one of his big struggles right now. As he was talking, I had no idea how the gospel could help him in his situation, but towards the end of the story what I needed to say came so clearly to me. Because I had shared what I did, Hermana J was able to share a related experience and testify of the principle. The lesson continued and I was able to also share an experience and testify, and Hermana M was able to share an experience and testify. The spirit was so strong! I know that in real life J is a member, but I think that we were able to help him in his real, current circumstances. I came to love J in just that short amount of time. At the end, Hermana J encouraged him to say the closing prayer, and after some convincing, he gave the most beautiful prayer.

Also! This was great! I taught my teacher Hno C as himself. and I had no idea what to teach him! He is so righteous and perfect, but he said his dad is struggling a little bit. While M and I were preparing, I got a clear impression that we should use Jacob 5 to help him. It ended up working out so well! We likened the parable of the vineyard to him personally. The lord= Lord. Servant= Hno C. Tree= his dad. The servant has to cut back the branches because they have overgrown the good roots of the tree. after the tree has been cut back and focused on it's roots, it brings forth good fruit and the servant is blessed with joy for his diligence. It was actually so beautiful.

It’s been a great week! Love and miss you all! 

Hermana Greenwood

Week #4: It's a dare...

Week #4: June 21, 2016

Hola!

This week has been another good one!

For the highlights:

We got to host all the new missionaries that got into the MTC on Wednesday and we get to do it again tomorrow. We basically just take them around and get all their books and help them find their residence and classroom. It was really fun and the sister that I hosted was really cute and is going to the Kirtland Ohio visitor’s center for her mission. 

We were supposed to get 2 new Hermanas in our room but one got engaged right before she was supposed to come to the MTC so she didn't show up and the other one was just put into another companionship. We would have loved having them in our room but it's kinda nice that we all have 2 closets, haha.

On Friday nights we always have pizza and it's literally the only good food that they serve at this place. They are setting up a stage in the cafeteria for some fireside for all the mission presidents and general authorities so only have of the cafeteria is being used and the wrap/salad bar is all torn down. It's always packed and there's only one option to eat instead of 2 or 3 that they used to do. Anyways, after dinner was CICLO (study time) and the first thing that Hermana M said in the prayer to start CICLO was "estamos agradecemos por nuestra pizza" and everyone just started laughing hysterically. It was really funny.

Also, everyone here thinks its insane that I haven't had soda in like 5 years so they've made it their goal to get me to drink soda...I didn't want to but when an elder in my district said that he would shave his legs if I drank a glass of soda...I couldn't resist! So this morning, we were having our weekly volleyball tournament and all of a sudden, Hermana M screams (which isn't unusual) and starts freaking out cause Elder M shaved his legs last night! Looks like I will be having soda with my dinner tonight...

Shave legs VS Drink Soda

Playing volleyball with Hermana M is literally like the funniest thing ever because she screams EVERY TIME she hits or is even near the ball. It's the best. Elder R is literally the only good one and he leaves for San Antonio tomorrow (he's too good at spanish and his mission president wants him to come early) so our games are going to be funny just cause we are all so bad. 

As for our lessons:

We are still teaching Pablo 2.0 and that seems to be going really well. He dropped all the other companionship's because he didn't feel like they listened to him and his problems but we are still going strong for now.

On Wednesday we get to Skype with people all around the world and teach them lessons in Spanish, which will be cool! I'm excited for that!

I'm out of time, but the MTC has been great and I'm learning more and more each day! I wish I could've been home for father’s day but I sent a letter home to dad so hopefully you get that soon. 

The stuff that you sent me is great! Thank you! I LOVED watching those videos and seeing the pictures that you sent! Sounds like you all are having a great time in Utah! 

Love and miss you all!

Hermana Greenwood

Week #3: If you have a cute dress, share it!

Week #3: June 14, 2016

Hey Fam!

This past week was another great one. Elder Bednar did come and talk to us in the MTC and that was incredible. He talked about how Christ knows everyone individually and does everything one by one. He recently wrote a song and the MTC choir performed it for everyone and it was the first time that it had ever been performed. I'm not in the choir but I got to listen to it and it was beautiful. 

As for teaching, we have started teaching more investigators and have to teach 3ish lessons a day instead of just the one, but it's good practice and I have been learning a lot.

This week, I wore the Jacey Lane boutique dress that Amy gave me for my birthday and it was a huge hit. I literally got compliments on it all day and it was the most comfortable thing that I have ever worn. The other hermanas in my district decided that they liked it so much that they were all going to wear it. So I wore it on Friday and then Hermana J wore it on Saturday, Hermana M wore it on Sunday, but then it needed to be washed, so Hermana G is wearing it today. If you ever feel like you want to send me another one, I am definitely happy with that but its not a necessity or anything, it would just be much appreciated. So shout out to Amy for giving me the best dress ever. 

Also, the other night, the Hermanas in my room and I had kinda a late night talking (it was only like 11:15) but a security guard comes to knock on my door and I open it and guess who it is...the girl that S E married. It was actually pretty funny though cause I was surprised to see her so when she was like "Hey, I’m going to have to ask you sisters to turn your lights off and go to bed", my first response was, "Do you know who I am?" haha. Probably not the best way to respond but luckily she did remember that I was Amy's sister and it all worked out.

One of my teachers is really funny and he always says "super bien" so that has become like the only response to everything now. You literally hear someone say it every 5 minutes but somehow it hasn't gotten annoying yet! My zone is the best! I feel bad that I haven't been able to send pictures yet though. These computers are ancient and half of them don't let you send pictures so that's a bummer. 

I hope Rachel has a great time at soccer camp! She needs to email me next week and tell me all about it. And same with Jason! That's so fun that he gets to go scuba diving all this week! 

Thank you so much for sending me stuff! I haven't gotten it yet but I assume that I'll get it today. You guys are the best! 

I didn't have too much time on the computers today but I love and miss you all! The MTC is treating me well and I’m learning so much!

Love,

Hermana Greenwood

Week #2: Devotionals are incredible.

Week #2  June 7, 2016

Hey Fam!

Just finished another great week at the MTC!

Hermana M and I have gotten a couple new "investigators" and each lesson seems to be getting better and better. So the investigator that we taught for the first week and a half is now our teacher, so that's cool because he knows exactly what to help us with in our lessons. We taught our first TRC investigator yesterday and she was really tough. She literally showed no emotion and we would try and ask her a bunch of questions to get her more involved but it didn't work as well as we hoped. We teach her again on Thursday so hopefully that will be better. We also started teaching Pablo 2.0 yesterday and that went SO well! We went in there with an outline of what we wanted to talk about but based on some of his questions, we ended up not even looking at our plan and just tried to bear a lot of testimony and it went really well! Because Pablo 2.0 is our teacher too, he gave us a bunch of feedback about our lesson and told us that we were the only group who "taught a person and not a lesson". He said that he felt the spirit in our lesson and that we're the only companionship that he was happy with. It was also probably my best Spanish yet so that was a huge blessing!

We have devotionals every Sunday and Tuesday night and they are incredible. On Sunday, Sheri Dew came and spoke to us about how we need to be willing to engage in the "spiritual wrestle". She also said that it’s important for us to pray and ask what the spirit feels like to you. It was really good. 

We have another devotional tonight and everyone suspects that it will be Elder Bednar but we won't find out until we get in there. The choir is singing a song that Bednar wrote and his grandchild is singing a solo, so that's why we think he is coming to talk to us. So excited. 

We've been doing a lot better at actually studying during CICLO (study time) and that has been super helpful. I really feel like my Spanish is improving and that my testimony is being strengthened through personal and companionship study. Its hard work but its helpful. 

I'm getting to know the people in my zone and district more and more each day! We are all really close and I already feel like we are a family. These Elders and Hermana's are literally incredibly and so much fun to be around. We have a lot of competitions. Like today, during exercise time, we had a district volleyball tournament and did a draft for teams and everything. Of course my team won every game. There are only 10 of us, 5 on each team, so its not that great of an accomplishment but it was really fun!

I've still been running pretty much everyday around the indoor track and its actually pretty terrible cause it takes 10 laps to run a mile but I’m just working with what I’ve been given. Sometimes I run with my companion, Hermana M, but I’ve also starting running with an actual runner and he has had a crazy life. To summarize, he was in a car accident when he was 14 and literally broke like everything and should have died. He was in a coma for 9 days and everyone else in the car passed away but somehow he woke up from the coma and has healed completely. It’s insane actually. 

Sounds like you guys had a great time in Florida and I wish that I could have been there with you guys! I loved seeing the pictures of you guys holding an alligator...so scary but so cool! That's awesome that Jason got to do Fly Sport or whatever its called. It looks really fun and I would love to do that! I hope that Jason had a great birthday and that you all had fun on the trip! I'm sure that it was great to see where Jorden grew up and do all those fun things! 

Thanks for everything! I love and miss you all so much!

Hermana Greenwood

Week #1: My zone is GREAT!

May 31, 2016

HEY FAM!

It was so great to hear from you guys! So my P-day is on Tuesdays so I should be on the computer around 8:30 or 9:00 on Tuesday mornings in case you wanted to get on and chat or anything. Also, apparently if you go online on Dear Elder or something, you can write to me and the front office will print it and bring it to me that day.

The MTC is great so far though! My companions name is Hermana M and she was Aubrey's roommate at BYU! She is so sweet and we get along really well! She is a music/theater/dance major at BYU, which is so different from me but its really cool and she’s an incredible singer. She is from Houston, TX (Spring area) and is serving her mission in Sacramento, CA and is obviously Spanish speaking as well. One thing we have in common is that her sister passed away in a car accident 3.5 years ago and was 18 years old too. So right around the same time frame and they were the same age. We joke and say that while we are mission companions here on earth, our sisters are probably companions on their mission in heaven. 

 

Hermana Greenwood and Hermana M

As for the Spanish, it’s definitely a work in progress. We have already taught 4 lessons to an investigator in Spanish and they actually have been going pretty well! The first lesson we like planned out everything that we were going to say and read a lot of it but after that, we decided that it wasn't really helping us learn Spanish and it made our message less meaningful so now we just plan an outline of what we want to say and its helped a lot. It's frustrating when you can't say what you want to say but its only almost been a week so I still have 6 more weeks to learn (5 more weeks of Spanish and then a week of visitor center training at the end).

My zone is GREAT! They are so welcoming and fun to be around. One district left this morning, which was a bummer, but we get 6 more Hermanas and 3 more elders tomorrow! I absolutely love my district already. There are 4 Hermanas (including me and Hermana M) and 4 Elders. The other 2 Hermanas are Hermana J and Hermana G. They are so great! I get along really well with both of them but especially Hermana J. She was at BYU and lived in Helaman as well and we have A LOT of mutual friends. Hermana G is so sweet and extremely innocent and is just so cute. She seems to forget literally everything that she needs. On the first full day, she forgot to change out of her shower shoes and wore her flip-flops around campus, which is totally not allowed. She forgets to wear her nametag pretty much everyday. She doesn't know ANY music, its actually so sad. The Elders are great! Turns out Hermana J was dating one of the Elders in my district at BYU and they were still dating when they got to the MTC. So that's pretty funny. The other 3 Elders are pretty quiet but they are starting to be more social which is great cause when they do talk they are so funny. 2 of the Elders are really big runners too so we've had some good conversations about that. They never did cross country or track in high school but they run on their own and have each done like 4 Ragnars and such. They're great. 

The food is pretty good but I've done a good job at not eating much and I haven't had any desserts since I've been here. I think I'm trying to go the whole time without sugar, which will be good for me cause I really would like to not get fat on my mission, if that's possible. I also have run and worked out every day since I've been here. Not so fun running on an indoor track for forever but it's better than nothing. 

 

It appears Erin has gained the reputation of an "nike"girl athlete.

The pictures that I'll attach are the ones that Hermana J took because turns out this camera is like super junky and the pictures are all blurry. I feel bad asking you guys to send me a better camera but I really want to have good pictures to remember my mission and not a bunch of blurry ones, so sorry, but if that's possible, it would be much appreciated. 

Also, turns out I would like to have my black pencil skirt and my flower pencil skirt, so if they haven't already been taken by Amy, Lisa, or Dana, could you send those too? (Her clothes were snatched up by her sisters but we got the skirts to her.)

One last thing, maybe you could send pictures of our family or the family calendar or something cause that would be nice to have. The Christmas card just isn't cutting it haha. (We tried to get her to take it with her, haha)

I really wish that I could be with you guys in Florida right now but I know that I am supposed to be here. I want to hear all about it! I'm sure you're having a blast. 

Sorry to hear about all the flooding in Houston but I'm glad that nothing happened to you guys or our house.

I don't know who in our family uses what email so I just attached who I knew and I figured that you guys are all together. 

LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL!

Hermana Greenwood