Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Week 1 of MTC

Hola Familia y Amigos!

                This week at the MTC has been the most crazy experience!  We everything is on the grounds of the santiago temple and it is beautiful!  I wake up, see the temple.  I walk outside, see the temple.  I eat lunch or go to class, and i see the temple!  It is amazing!  
                 Great news!  I have a maid! Well kinda, she does all our laundry here at the MTC!  She takes it every morning and brings it back at night, it's a woman's dream come true!  I am in a trio with 2 hermanas from the United States.  It's really hard, I'm kinda the awkward third wheel.  They are both 19 and super bad at planning, so I'm always trying to get them to hurry to class or to lunch, etc. It's really hard for me to be in this trio, so please pray for me to have patience and love for my companions!
                Spanish is going great!  My favorite sister missionary is a latina from Ecuador and she is 25.  The latina in the picture with me is her.  Her first name is Jocelyn but she goes by Josy!! How cool is that?! She doesn't speak any English but she talks to me slow and so I understand most of what she says! And she helps me memorize the first vision, baptismal commitments, and scriptures so that I have the pronunciation right.  Also many of the latinas have questioned where I learned Spanish because they say I understand really well, so that's a good feeling!
                  Sunday was my favorite day!  For those who went to girls camp with me, remember singing trees?  It was kinda like the spirit we felt at that but we had a fireside and we all wrote down our favorite hymn and then the president drew a card from a hat.  If it was your song, you had to say why the song was your favorite, and then we sang the first verse in Spanish and the second verse in English.  At the Chile MTC the latino missionaries are supposed to learn English so it's kinda cool.  But the spirit was SOOOOOO strong!!!  My favorite song is "praise to the man" because of the spirit that I felt when I went to Carthage Jail for the first time!  Also I explained why is was my favorite in all Spanish and they understood me!!!
                On the second day here we taught our first lesson in ALL Spanish. I didn't know how to say a word so I said "como se dice...."? (How do you say...) and the "investigator" teacher, said "no entiendo, no habla engles" (I don't understand, I don't speak English).  It was a train wreck, but oh well that is why we are here, to LEARN!!!
               I absolutely love the missionary schedule, I love waking up and spending all day learning about the gospel and learning a new language.  Also after waking up at 5 for work.....6:30 seems like sleeping in, so there's a plus to early morning nursing shifts!
               An elder in my mission sprained is wrist today, so i got to tell him how to take care of it and how much ibuporfen to take, so simple, but still cool because i am already getting to use my nursing skills!
              It is summer here, so everyday has been sunny and so beautiful! Every morning we get to run about half a mile away to a nearby park and exercise and play sports. After I ran some laps around the park I was doing some standing exercises and some latinos started joining me and ask if i would teach them, i ended up teaching a 20 minute workout and it was so fun!
            Thank you for all the love and support!  I love you all and am sooo grateful for you! My Pday should be on Wednesday for the rest of the MTC stay and I will always be emailing at 12 Chile time (8 am Utah time).
          
             With so much love and gratitude!!
                        Hermana Sullivan
                        Chile Santiago South Mission

Thursday, January 12, 2017

Called to Serve in Santiago, Chile!

Dear Sister Sullivan, 

You're hearby called to serve as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Chile Santiago South Mission. Your primary assignment is to labor as a Mission Nurse Specialist. It is anticipated that you will serve for a period of 18 months. You should report to the Chile Missionary Training Center on Wednesday, October 26, 2016.


The BIG SECRET is out!! I am so excited and soo blessed!