the little mermaid?

I walked into the classroom and all I heard was Latvian. No English whatsoever...It. was. Awesome.

Sorry I didn't write last week. We were supposed to wrtie on Thursday night but our zone leaders took way too long on the tour of the MTC. Half of our zone just went to greece. We called them the greeks. They were from Norway, England, and Finland. And then yesterday we got new greeks! They are from Sweden, England, Spain. In my district there are 4 of us (three girls and then Elder Webb) that are learning Latvian. Then one is in the classroom by herself (she's a solo sister) that's learning Lithuanian. Then two are learning Armenian. Then the last two are learning to speak georgian (they will be the first sisters going there they said).

My companion...is a red head!!! God knows me best. :) She is perfect. I absolutely love her. We are always laughing. I totally thought she was the Little Mermaid when I first saw her because she had her red hair and then she wore this green dress. Love it!

I don't have much time to write so I apologize...

I love dear elder by the way. Best thing ever. If you don't want to send letters, write me on dear elder! Thank you to all who have written me. I have felt the love pouring out of the envelopes when I open them!

• What have you been learning in the MTC? Nathan -I have mostly been learning how to listen to the language of the spirit.
• What have you been doing in the MTC?  Nathan-Praying...a lot.
• Have you been drinking chocolate milk?  Nathan YES!!! Adam was right. He should be jealous because I will be here longer than him. Oh, 9 weeks total here.
• Who is your companion?  Alex -My comp. is Sister Stout from Layton, Utah.
• How do you say I Love You in Latvian?  Alex - Es Tevi Milu (with some lines over the I and U)
• What is your favorite thing to eat in the MTC? Alex -hm...They have everything you can eat basically. So Alex, the ice cream is really good but I've had it only once. I now just try to control myself and have salad, bananas, and then once in a while I will have like a main dish like enchilada or something- oh they have guava dad. The drink we would have on Sundays.
• What do you do in your free time?  Taylor - There is NO free time.
• How is the language coming?  Taylor -It's coming. I was sooo glad I learned my numbers, baby words, and some hello's and things before I came. Because I've always struggled with grammer in English so Latvian...is difficult.
• Does your companion sing?  Taylor- Yes
• Do they still have the MTC choir?  Dad -Yes but Haven't done it yet. Will next week.
• How are your teachers?  Dad -I have three of them. I really like them. One speaks way to fast.
• Are you sleeping?  Dad -not really. I wake up at 5 every morning. I've been using Dotera so that helps but it's hard when My brain is only thinking of Latvian words and how to conjugate them.
• How many people are in your district?  Mom -11 and then the new greeks which is like 5
• How many sisters are heading to your mission? Mom- three of us girls
• How many missionaries in the MTC right now? Mom - 3000? And we all just took the sacrament together in one room and in an overflow. it was a cool experience.

I love gym time. I am so grateful for my Military Fitness class. It taught me alot of things/exercises that I ended up teaching to some girls in gym. Also....I love BASKETBALL. I work out then the last of the time, I practice shooting hoops...hahahahahaha oh, if only you guys could have seen me trying to do it my fist time. Bahahaha! I was hilarious. And then I realized I really don't know what I am doing. So I asked. I asked someone how to shoot. Haha funny. And guess what? I can now make some pretty good baskets! But I had to ask first, practice and I'm still practicing. I never thought that I would like basketball. It's like my favorite thing. :)

I teach an investigator with Elder Webb. (I know, I thought it would be with a girl but....He's solo so we are kinda companins right now. We plan, teach together. Never heard of that before. And...I'm trying to learn patience. He just turned 19) The second day we went in and with the little latvian tha I knew, we tried to teach her. It. Was. Horrible. Haha we even forgot to start out with a prayer...man. It was rough. But then the second day was Awesome. Mostly because I wasn't focusing on the grammer or how to pronounce things. And the number one reason that made it a great lesson was because it wasn't about me. I didn't focuse on the me getting everything right part. We made it about her. I thought I was a great teacher but I have learned that the greatest teacher of all, is the spirit. I am merely an instument. One trying to learn a new tune to be able to be heard by the Latvian people. My strings are being pulled to be able to stay in tune, I mess up the notes sometimes, but the melody will be heard because the spirit is there. I have a song. A wonderful, beautiful song. And it will be heard by those that are ready. If I am ready.

 

Love you all!

Māsa Vūdlande (Sister Woodland)