I've been so excited to email you all week!! Again, this is crazy because we have so little time and everyone is typing their hands off! I'll try to give as much detail as possible :)

Sooooo....TYLER AND MADELINE ARE ENGAGED!!!!!! Oh my goodness I am so excited for you two, and so excited for me too, because I get a new sister-in-law who I love!!! Thank you for the package and photos and letter Ty and Madeline - I cut out one of the photos and put it on my wall by my bed :) And those cookies were delicious - my entire zone (and even some random missionaries on our floor) got to enjoy them! Thank you thank you thank you!! Mom, I got your letter yesterday with more details explaining the proposal but I haven't had time to read it all. When I opened Tyler and Madeline's letter/package and read that they were engaged I squealed and then told all my roommates and we hugged and then I started crying haha looks like I AM a sister missionary :) I am SO excited for you two. When's the date? What are the colors? Can't wait to live at your house for free!!!!

This week was THE best for getting mail!!! I feel so loved! Thank you Melissa and Jon for your package too! Best snack ideas ever!!! Did MFA help you with that?? My poor district is so jealous of me because I always get lots of mail and get so excited and they just roll their eyes :) But I can't help it because it is SO good to hear from you all. I apologize in advance that my replies will be delayed by mail time and by my lack of time here. We are SO busy here and there's no time to get everything done. I've discovered that the best time to read letters is on the eliptical during gym time because then I can multitask and keep my mind off the fact that I'm not good at exercising...although, I think I'm beginning to love it. It really does wake you up and make you feel good afterwards! I'm going to be sad when there's no machines out in the field. I'm also going to be sad when there's no delicious food out in the field because I have to make it :) I'm liking it a lot more than I thought I would. My favourite thing for lunch is to make my own wrap. Oh and I'm drinking lots of water (well trying to), washing my hands tons, using the hand sanitizer dispensers all the time so that I don't get sick! I've felt pretty much perfect except for last night :( I woke up in the middle of the night with a sharp pain in my abdomen and my initial thought was that I might have appedicitus or something (Monica, watching Madeline (the show) is good for something), but I was too afraid and tired to do anything about it. I went outside our room and died for a little while, and I decided to call the front desk to see if a nurse could come make sure I was ok but they said they didn't have nurses at 3 in the morning haha. Anyways, I woke up my companion and she took such good care of me I was so grateful. I don't have apendicitus but I'm still not really sure if it's the food, or what...but I'm doing a lot better now. I just didn't get much sleep, and we had to wake up at 6:15 to go to the temple and I was soooo tired. It was wonderful to go though!

So this week was great, but the fact that I am with someone 24/7 is also wearing on me just a little. Hermana Cornwall and I are learning that we are different and we are learning how to work together and be unified and on the same page. This week was a little harder for both of us - she got really discouraged and down and I needed to be there for her and help her but I feel like I did a bad job. She often gets really discouraged but then really excited and happy about other things so it's hard for me to know what to do, especially when I feel like my emotions aren't as up and down. I'm learning tons though and I'm so grateful. I'm learning lots from her in positive ways, and I'm learning to rely on the Lord as well. And to communicate! Communication is keeeey! This morning I was really grateful for Hermana Cornwall because she was so kind and loving when I was feeling sick and weak. She took such good care of me and I was so touched. She is such a loving person and is really enthusiastic which is great.

Our whole district is great actually. Hermana Lemmon is awesome, she makes me laugh and we have a similar sense of humor. She was a convert at 11 and is so sincere and real and wonderful. Hermana Whiteley is so sweet. She always keeps us on track and makes sure we're being exactly obedient. She's pretty funny too, often because I don't expect her to be joking and then she is and it's super funny. She really brings the spirit to our classroom. And she gets sweetly frustrated with Spanish and it's really cute. Elder McCutchin is our District Leader, he's the oldest and is from Vegas - went off the beaten path a little but then turned his life around and he has such a strong testimony and gets really teary when the spirit is there even though he's the tough guy. He's also the one who takes taking the Sisters' trays after meals seriously, but literally circles us like a vulture until we're done. Multiple times I'll stop eating for two seconds to talk, and he'll grab the food from right in front of me before I can even stop him! Hahaha it's pretty awesome. Elder Christensen is his companion who is 18 and he is hilarious. He reminds me so much of Tyler. Those two always have us laughing. He says the most outrageous things but is also so good. His favourite line is "Un chiste!" (for when he's joking). Elder Larsen is a piano performance major and is super talented and a bit of a music nerd. He is awesome. My favourite quote from him was when we were all arguing about our favourite board/card games, and then he just said in his sweet little voice, "Old Maid is where it's at!" It probably doesn't sound that funny to you but everything is more funny when we're tired and in the same room all day. Last but not least is Elder Bradford who is tall and a tad lanky, and so kind. He is great. Although we didn't know it at first, he's pretty funny too. He told us the story about how he lost his Spleen - and it was so crazy! He was snowboarding at a place he'd never been before, trying to follow a friend and not looking, and he ran over a Moose's hoof as it was resting! So he got chased down the mountain by a daddy moose and then fell off a cliff! He's so proud of it. :)

So this week we taught 4 lessons in Spanish to a fake investigator. Man was that hard but soooo good. Such a good way to learn. I always laugh because we literally sound like cavemen but we're trying so hard. If I was to translate what we said in English it'd sound something like this. "Jesus Christ go world and our Savior." or "Joseph Smith to read the Bible and to go prayer to know true" it's awesome. We have no idea how to conjugate anything. A lot of people are pretty stressed about it but I'm happy that I'm not too too worried. I know that with hard work and as we rely on the Lord, the language will come.

Shout outs before I go:

Monica, thank you so much for updating my facebook for me! You are the best :) I'd love to get a letter from you one of these days too! Love you.

Dad, thank you for updating my blog. I loved the dearelder letter you sent me yesterday. Your letters are just like your texts and they make me happy :)

Mom, I got your letters too and I've read most of them but I'll send you a hand-written one later if that's ok just for the sake of time. I love hearing from you. Please don't worry about things you do, you are so wonderful and supportive and I love you always. No need to overthink the things you say :) I'll let you know if your letters make me homesick, but for now, they just make me love you!!

Scott, you're the best. Your letters put a huge smile on my face and the other Hermanas think I'm loco :) I love the updates. Thank you!

Rachel, you are my favourite almost 14 year old sister!! :) I love you and can't wait to hear from you. Send me a family photo please!

Emma, I think I leave the MTC on your birthday! If that's the case, I might get to call you on your birthday. Yay! I love you lots.\

Thanks again so much for all the mail and prayers and support. I am SO happy and I love missionary work. The spirit is so strong here at the MTC and it's amazing how much we are learning. Being a missionary is the best.

Yo se que esta es el Evangelio verdadero! (not sure how correct that is, Ross don't laugh).

Love you all,

Hermana Vance

Ps. I don't need a cooler or stamps (melissa and jon sent me some!) And EPM is my apartment management. No need to send, but please send my liscence! Xoxo!

First letter

I'm a real live missionary!!! Right now I'm in this room full of happy, excited, frantically typing missionaries because we only have an hour total to email family and friends :) The typing is kind of annoying but kind of awesome at the same time.

 

Ok, before I start,  I got dearelders from Mom, Dad, Gran, Tara, and Barb (Humphreys) but haven't had time to read them all yet. But it was SO exciting to get letters, you have no idea!! Thank you!!!!

 

Could you please send me or get someone to send me some more Chocolate Chip Clif Bars (my saving grace, thank you mom! I am starving at night because we eat dinnerat 4:40), and stamps (american and international please)? That would be wonderful. I feel like there's something else but I forget.

 

How are you all!? I feel like I haven't seen you all in weeks, but it's only been about 48 hours - which is so crazy. I can't believe how many things we fit in here - the days seem long, but only because we are able to fit so many things in, not because they drag on. The time goes so fast! But I haven't been that tired! I don't remember my dreams at all, because I don't remember sleeping. Haha.

 

I admit it was really really hard to say goodbye on Wednesday (and Sunday), and I was scared, worried, nervous, sad, and full of doubts as I walked into the MTC. After the orientation meeting (where I was put with a temporary companion because I was late, but I actually knew who she was, and she's going to my mission) we went to dinner, and then we went to my room where I met my companion and roommates! Kristi Grover (wal mart girl, friends with Scott and I)'s little sister, Hermana Whitley is one of my roommates! I feel bad because I didn't recognize her at first, but my roommates are awesome. My companion is Hermana Cornwall, and she is wonderful. I was sure I was going to get a tough companion to start with, but I am SO glad I didn't!! She is positive, upbeat, hard-working, and dedicated. We get along really well, the only thing that I find hard is getting on the same page teaching-wise. We both have different ideas of what is most important and so we waste a lot of time trying to figure out what the other is saying. Everything else is great though. She is a blessing!
The first night here was tough, I felt pretty alone and was having more doubts, but that night I prayed and asked Heavenly Father if He could please bless me with strength, faith to move forward, a positive attitude, and I asked Him to please lift me up. I was a little sad and It took a while for me to fall asleep, but I did, and then before I knew it, Sister Singh's alarm was going off at 6:15! However, in my tired state, I thought it was my companion, Hermana Cornwall's alarm clock and we are supposed to arise and retire at the same time, so I rolled out of bed onto my knees to pray. But then, I looked up and Hermana Cornwall was still asleep and I realized that Sister Singh and Sister Hansen wanted to wake up at 6:15 so I went back into bed hahaha :) just because I could, even though I was awake and only had 10 more minutes. Then we got up and got ready so quickly - there's no time to do anything here! But it doesn't even bother me :) I also prayed that morning for Heavenly Father to bless me, and I feel like He did almost immediately. The whole day Thursday was wonderful. We packed so much in, I can't even remember all that we did! I do know that we had exercise time (that's right), and Hermana Cornwall and I were able to get to know each other better. The first night I didn't want to open up to her really, but on Thursday I was able to a little more which blessed both of us I think. I got to meet my whole district who are awesome! The elders are elders, but they all have their quirks and they are so kind and strong. Last night the Branch Presidency and their wives came and spoke with us as well as our Zone Leaders and it was a wonderful experience. They asked us each to take two minutes to tell about ourselves, why we came on a mission, our personal successes, and to share our testimonies. It was a great experience and it helped me learn more about each member of our district. We were also each interviewed by a member of the Branch Presidency. I went last and met with a counsellor (I forget his name, sorry!) who was so sweet and wonderful. He basically just asked me about myself, we chatted, He asked me about my relationship with the Savior, gave me some advice like that my Testimony of the Book of Mormon and the Atonement are absolutely essential to helping others. I needed to hear that. He also told me that one day when I am a mother, my children will sit on my lap and love to hear stories about my mission and I will be so grateful that I decided to serve a mission. That really really touched my heart and brought tears to both of our eyes. Even typing it now it still does. I am just so grateful for this opportunity to serve a mission. I know it's only been 48 hours, but when I feel the Holy Spirit it is so strong and so wonderful. I LOVE being a missionary. I absolutely love it.

 

Today is our Preparation Day and we got to go to the Temple with our district! I was tired. I wasn't too tired all day yesterday, but I think it's hitting me today. After the session (it was so great to see my smiling companion in the temple - did I mention how great she is?) we went and got breakfast in the Temple Cafeteria - which was heavenly. Best breakfast ever. Then we did some assignments, assessments, wrote our Branch President, and then planned our lesson for tonight - we are teaching an "investigator" named Tito (I smiled the first time I found out - it's destiny). We're teaching him IN SPANISH tonight. Oh boy. Wish us luck!!

Can I just say before I go how glad I am that I took that Spanish class at BYU?? SOOOO glad. SO stinkin' glad. The language (for the 48 hrs we've used it) is coming a lot better than I expected. Hermana Cornwall took 4 years in High School 4 years ago, so it is slowly coming back to her, and so we help each other with words that we don't know. We're a pretty good team and we made a goal to speak spanish as much as possible and bring our dictionaries around to look things up when we dont know words. We feel like geeks and I think the missionaries in our zone who have been here longer than us are annoyed with us, but I can already feel it helping so I don't care! We're both really excited about Spanish and this goal, which is a huge blessing because we are progressing together and it is fantastico! :) 

 

Oh, I am so glad I have such a great companion. I keep thinking that. Sorry if this letter is super scattered!

 

So, I only have a few more minutes left and I'm going to try to send some photos although the computers are really figity so there's an 85% chance it won't work.

 

I love you all! Thank you so much for your prayers. I can feel them. And thank you for your letters and love :)

Wish me luck this week with learning and teaching in Espanol, trying not to drive my companera crazy, feeling and following the promptings of the spirit, and not being tired! I LOVE being a missionary so far.

 

Love you lots!

 

Hermana Vance :)

 

ps. tell my friends that dearelders and letters are the best because I dont have much time to email at all. Thank you!!