October 28, 2010
Well I'm sorry it's taken me so long to write! I'm only allowed to write on pdays (which are thursdays). Thank you all sooo much for my letters though. Seriously you have no idea how happy they make me. It's like Christmas!! Well I hate it here. But the church is still true and I'm still excited to serve a mission. Don't get me wrong, there are a ton of amazing things here too. They kind of treat us like we're prisoners, which they kind of have to because there are sooo many of us. Good thing I only have a week and five days left! I hear that the Guatemala MTC is way better and you have more freedom because there are only 100 people in the whole MTC!
There are a lot of things that I love here though. Here are a few...as you walk down the halls, you hear songs, greetings, prayers, testimonies etc. in about 1 million different languages. People always come up to you randomly and start contacting you in Albanian or something, it's hilarious. Another thing I love are big meetins with everyone! On Tuesday night there was a fireside and Elder Richard G. Scott was the speaker. It was absolutley amazing! In his talk, he blessed us with "the authority as an apostle" with the gift of tongues, safety for the sister missionaries and that the lessons we learn on our missions will bless us throughout our lives. Right before he spoke, we all (2500 missionaries) sang called to serve. Amazing! I also joined the choir and we got to sing that night!! It's amazing how strong the spirit is here. You know when the spirit is so strong sometimes, you think you're going to burst? That's how I feel all the time!! I love it.
In answer to some of your questions, the Spanish is coming along pretty good. I've learned more in this week then I ever thought I could. It's amazing to see how much the Lord really does bless you when you're doing His work. I really like my roomates and companion and my district. You know how I hate doing things alone so having a constant companion that has to go with me is my dream come true! hehe There are 5 sisters and 5 elders in our district. It's pretty much unheard of to have that many sisters so we are lucky! It is FAREEEEEEEZING HERE!!!!! It's been snowing a lot and all I have are my thin, cool Guatemala clothes. It's sort of miserable but it makes my day to wake up to white snow everywhere!!! Yes, I see Sam all the time. Like 50 times a day. It's not awkward at all though! We just chat a little and move on! I like it! :)
I had "Medical Training" yesterday. Basically she just told me what I was going to be doing and I signed into the charting system that goes to Salt Lake. Pretty much, I will be doing whatever the mission President wants me to. But I guess in my mission, he gives a lot of responsibility to the nurse. They said he might have me only prostelyte (spelling?) the first 6 months so I can learn the language better but maybe not. When I get there, I am supposed to get a map of the whole mission and visit all the doctors offices and hospitals to make sure they are good enough to send the missionaries to. Then I have a cell phone and am on call 24/7. I have to chart any time I am contacted by a missionary. Then I need to prepare health lessons to teach at zone conferences and emergency plans and stuff like that. Sometimes they also have the nurse hold classes and stuff to teach the local people there in Guatemala about sanitation and such. Kind of like what I did in Africa. I can't remember everything else but it's a LOT!! I will pretty much be playing doctor and I have my own office in the mission home with my own computer and stuff. WOOHOO! Oh and I saw the list on missionaries that I am supposed to cover and there are 265 of them! BAHHHH! Oh well. The lady seemed to think I'll be super compotent. Hopefully she's right!!!
Well I don't think I have much else to say. Sorry this letter is sooo long! I'm probably boring you all to tears. I love you more than anything in the whole wide world. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep sending me letters! They make my life!!!!!
Love, Hermana Alston
There are a lot of things that I love here though. Here are a few...as you walk down the halls, you hear songs, greetings, prayers, testimonies etc. in about 1 million different languages. People always come up to you randomly and start contacting you in Albanian or something, it's hilarious. Another thing I love are big meetins with everyone! On Tuesday night there was a fireside and Elder Richard G. Scott was the speaker. It was absolutley amazing! In his talk, he blessed us with "the authority as an apostle" with the gift of tongues, safety for the sister missionaries and that the lessons we learn on our missions will bless us throughout our lives. Right before he spoke, we all (2500 missionaries) sang called to serve. Amazing! I also joined the choir and we got to sing that night!! It's amazing how strong the spirit is here. You know when the spirit is so strong sometimes, you think you're going to burst? That's how I feel all the time!! I love it.
In answer to some of your questions, the Spanish is coming along pretty good. I've learned more in this week then I ever thought I could. It's amazing to see how much the Lord really does bless you when you're doing His work. I really like my roomates and companion and my district. You know how I hate doing things alone so having a constant companion that has to go with me is my dream come true! hehe There are 5 sisters and 5 elders in our district. It's pretty much unheard of to have that many sisters so we are lucky! It is FAREEEEEEEZING HERE!!!!! It's been snowing a lot and all I have are my thin, cool Guatemala clothes. It's sort of miserable but it makes my day to wake up to white snow everywhere!!! Yes, I see Sam all the time. Like 50 times a day. It's not awkward at all though! We just chat a little and move on! I like it! :)
I had "Medical Training" yesterday. Basically she just told me what I was going to be doing and I signed into the charting system that goes to Salt Lake. Pretty much, I will be doing whatever the mission President wants me to. But I guess in my mission, he gives a lot of responsibility to the nurse. They said he might have me only prostelyte (spelling?) the first 6 months so I can learn the language better but maybe not. When I get there, I am supposed to get a map of the whole mission and visit all the doctors offices and hospitals to make sure they are good enough to send the missionaries to. Then I have a cell phone and am on call 24/7. I have to chart any time I am contacted by a missionary. Then I need to prepare health lessons to teach at zone conferences and emergency plans and stuff like that. Sometimes they also have the nurse hold classes and stuff to teach the local people there in Guatemala about sanitation and such. Kind of like what I did in Africa. I can't remember everything else but it's a LOT!! I will pretty much be playing doctor and I have my own office in the mission home with my own computer and stuff. WOOHOO! Oh and I saw the list on missionaries that I am supposed to cover and there are 265 of them! BAHHHH! Oh well. The lady seemed to think I'll be super compotent. Hopefully she's right!!!
Well I don't think I have much else to say. Sorry this letter is sooo long! I'm probably boring you all to tears. I love you more than anything in the whole wide world. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep sending me letters! They make my life!!!!!
Love, Hermana Alston
