First off, thank you all so much who have written and emailed me already. It's kind of hilarious how excited we all get about letters here. Our district leader Elder Parker has gotten 4 to 7 letters everyday since we've been here...he's a pretty popular guy, I guess...maybe that's why he is District Leader. Speaking of district I am loving mine! We are District 42, and the coolest district here...of course ;) Life here in the MTC is great! Mi compañera es Hermana Grousbeck. She´s from Montana, loves to ski(she seriously might go pro), is 20, and very nice and hard working. She is also much better at Spanish then I am...kind of embarrassing since I'm the Mexican here. She's had four years of Spanish before she got here, so she can speak and understand much more than I can. I'm glad though, because she helps me so much and inspires me to improve.
My first day here was awesome. I ran into 7 girls from Salem Hills...seven! I took pictures with all of them of course and it was so nice to see familiar faces. Cosette Stone is in my branch! We were both SO excited when we found that out. Speaking of familiar faces I think my favorite so far has been seeing the other Sister Salcido here, Mi Madre!!! I was walking into the cafeteria with my district when someone called me by my first name, to my suprise it was Yvonne. We were both jumping up and down and I almost started crying because I've never been so excited to see her in my life. My poor companion and district were so confused about what was going on. It was so cute, because mom came and ate lunch with us, and I thought, "How many people here get to hang out with there single mom while at the MTC?...oh yeah that's right, ME!"
There are four of us girls that our in my district. Hermana Lockheart, Dedrick, and my companion. We all share the same dorm room, and have such good times together. They are all going to THE (Texas Houston East) mission as well and speaking Spanish! In fact there are 11 people in our district and 7 are going to the THE mission, Spanish speaking. That made me really happy to find that out my first day. No one warned me that it's going to be hard separating but I have a feeling it will be because we've all grown so close. The other four Elders are going to Mexico. As hard as the MTC is I also don't think I've laughed so hard or had as much fun in the past couple years then I have with these girls and with my district. We go from a spiritual high, to a ridiculous laughing session in a matter of seconds. I honestly haven't felt this happy or so cared for or understood, then I have with meeting and speaking with so many different Hermanas y Elderes in just one week. It's so cool here. People are randomly praying and bearing testimony anywhere and everywhere in the buildings, and no one thinks it's weird!
My teacher is Hermana Powell. She looks SO MUCH like Tacy, which means she's beautiful of course. She is so nice and so patient which is great. Español es MUY dificíl, but I´m finally understanding and catching on. The teachers only teach and speak in Spanish, unless they are teaching a specific doctrine. I´m already getting my Spanish and English mixed up, so it's like not knowing either language anymore...crazy! So, if I write something weird, just assume it's my English and Spanish brains mixed up. For those who got to serve speaking their native language had it EASY! The MTC is so busy everyday, and it's one thing after another. Plus, it's getting so crowded in here. Plus, we have to learn the language lessions so much faster, because we only have 6 weeks now instead of 9. Hermano Harris, one of the teachers, said he never remembers the MTC being this hard. Of course, it's always been work and diligence, but they say it's never been this intense. Though it's totally possible, because we have the Lord on our side.
Many of you know that you have to teach an investigator the second day you're here...in your mission language. Surprisingly I haven't ever been scared or nervous about asking bold questions such as inviting them to accept Christ or inviting them to be baptized. The only thing I've struggled with is asking all that in a different language. The most paralizing feeling is when you know exactly what, how, when, and why to say everything, but not have the words to say it because you have to say it in another language. My companion is the opposite. She knows the language so well, but gets nervous about teach and saying bold things. Good thing we have each other, and the Lord. We've had the coolest experience con Rogelio though! The gift of tongues is SO real in the MTC. I love it here(except the food is gross, but that is a give in) Rogelio is our first investigator. He moved here with his family and they are from Mexico. We've taught him about the Plan of Salvation, The restoration, the Doctrine of Christ, etc. My second time teaching him, as well as yesterday so SO cool. When I would feel the spirit I would just open my mouth and all this Spanish would come out, and you could see when he felt the love of God and the Spirit. Then after the lession I would have no idea what or how I said enough to make it through a lesson. That's because the spirit really does do the job. This isn't my work , nor do I have the abilitly to do it without JesuCristo. Yesterday my companion and I felt the spirit so much with Rogelio. We invited him to be baptized and he's read some scriptures from the book of mormon, and said he really believes in Jesus Cristo and is going to think about baptism. Wow, so neat. I could see he felt the spirit. I can't wait till I get in the field and can experience this with real investegators!
There is always so much work to be done, and I encourage EVERYONE to be a missionary NOW! Thanks everyone for your love and support. How is everyone??? I'd love to here from you! Thanks Shenelle, tell Haylee HI and that I love her and Brenner lots. Good luck with your musical. You and Spencer are so amazing talented! I always was kinda jealous ;) let me know how things go. THANKS Riss for doing the blog thing, and writting me twice already! That is such a treat, you don't even know! yay I'm so happy Catherine won:) Good luck with school, I know you said it's really hard this semester. Happy one year! How is everyone else?
Please use dearelder to write me! It's email, but it gets sent as a letter, so I can use my email time to write you all instead of read...I only get a half hour:(
Yo se la iglesia de JesuCristo de los santos de los Ultimos dias es verdadero!!!!!!!!!!!
Con Amor,
Hermana Dray Droo
P.S. Can you email me a list of all my families addresses?? Love you Riss, you're such a comfort to hear from :)