MTC pictures finally!!

Hola familia y amigos!

Santo Vaca. Is this really my last P-day before I leave for Costa Rica?!?!?!?! I JUST GOT HERE!

I am definitely feeling a little bit of the jitters. I am SOOOOO excited, but I feel a little nervous at the same time!

I leave the MTC bright and early next Tuesday at 3 am! (YIKES!) We fly from SLC, to dallas, to miami, and finally to Costa Rica. It's going to be a long travel day but I can't wait.

Hopefully my mom is able to post some of the pictures I send on this blog along with this email. They are kind of some of the random pictures because the computer got messed up.... so.... hopefully they are fun.

What a crazy week in the MTC for me and Hma. Law. Last week I said she broke her foot. She did. The probrosita has been on crutches all week and she is A BOSS. I feel like I have to run to keep up with her. We have left the MTC campus a couple of times to see specialists and such. Sadly, she is her departure date has been delayed. She is supposed to leave next week with the rest of our district, but instead, she is getting surgery on her foot and then leaving as soon as she is recovered. She is super bummed to not be leaving with us, but is grateful for the extra time to study Spanish. Her mom is flying in from Arizona tomorrow to spend the week with her and figure all the surgery stuff out.

While H. Law is getting surgery, I will be in a trio with H. Thompson (below) and H. Fredrickson, who I loooove.

Our district is officially the oldest in our zone. It's crazy. I JUST GOT HERE! We sent off a district yesterday to Chile (mostly) and I already miss them so much! I can't believe that will be me this next week.(Picture of district to right:

Top: E. Sorenson, E. Barnes, E. white, E. Whitaker Bottom: H. Law, Me, H. Fredrickson, H. Thompson)

For those of you who like to write me letters. This is your last chance to send things through Dear Elder or to the MTC. I wouldn't send anything in the mail later than Friday with the fear that I won't get it before I leave. I have heard a rumor going around that we are allowed to email who ever we want now (not just family) but I also heard it might be up to our Mission Presidents- so I will let you all know if that is confirmed and give out my email.

I still love it here. I will honestly be a little sad to leave. I feel like I have known these people my whole lives, and I am only taking one of them (E. White on left) to Costa Rica with me. (And I probably will only see him occasionally).




I can't believe how quickly the MTC experience has FLOWN by. So much happens every single day that it all becomes a blur.

I wish I had more time to write. Sadly, it took so much time to figure the picture thing out that this email is going to have to be a little short.

I love you all. Hope all is well!

Next time you hear from me will be my first email from COSTA RICA!!

The church is true, the book is blue!

Jesus Christ is my Savior.

Love- Hma. Patterson

 (This is a picture of Hermana Thompson and I eat Coco Bean from Lauren! Thanks boo)



Favorite people of the week:

-Emma Whipple

-Lindsey Whipple

-Megan Straw- *The astric is a thank you for the LBD goodness

-Grandma Kenney (someone please make sure she is reading my emails! ... and g. bodell tambien)

-Kaylie Crowley

-My Mejor Mama (Thanks for the packages mom! I love you guys!)

Loved seeing Sister Peterson!

 

 

Hermana Lloyd headed to Chile!

Sister Wyatt/ RAE from RFG. 

Basically my favorite picture. E. Sorenson is my Mejor Amigo (Best friend) 

My teacher, Hmo. Osuna from Mexico

-Hopefully I am not forgetting anyone because I left my list at my residence.... dang it. If I did... your the best. And I love you.

Cough... Haven't heard from any of my siblings other than libby in a while.... cough cough.

Esta Serio?!?!?!?!

This was the week I was DETERMINED to send photos home.

 

Aparently, that went well....

But I have a good excuse.

 

MY COMPANION BROKE HER FOOT LAST NIGHT. (Esta Serio?!?!?!? MUY serio.....) We were walking down the stairs to go to dinner, she missed a step, and she landed on her foot wrong. It was too late for to go to the Health Clinic, so we had to do that today and its basically sucked up our entire P-day. So... no pictures this week. I'm sorrry!  She has been on crutches since last night, we have been icing and wrapping her foot. This morning we LEFT the MTC (into the big bad world...) and got an X-ray done. When we came back to the MTC, they checked out the X-ray, and sure enough- it's broken. We go see a foot specialist tomorrow, and she might have to get surgrey, and her departure date might be delayed because of it. ISN'T THAT AWFUL! My poor compinera! She is being so brave. She hasn't even cried! You can tell that it is harder on her then she lets on, but she is a tough girl! I think this is the Lords way of forcing her to let people serve her. She doesn't let anyone help her with anything! She is too nice, always saying that's she is fine and doesn't need anyone's help. Keep her in your prayers and hopefully it will heal quickly.

 

This week definitely feels like a day. So much always happens, but then when it's time for me to sit down and think about it, I CAN'T THINK OF ANYTHING GOOD TO SHARE!

 

This week, Hermana Natilee Allen, Sister Kalli Wyatt, and Hermana Veronica Rohsdaal joined the MTC. It really just makes my day when I get to see "home" friends in the MTC.  We laughed together, we scream with joy when we run into eachother, and often, we cry together. Sister Missionaries cry a lot at the MTC. We cry with joy, we cry with frustration. We cry when we feel the spirit, we cry when we are homesick. We cry when the advesary is attacking us, we cry when the Lord blesses us. We cry for the good, we cry for the bad. Sometimes you just need a friend from home, who KNOWS you to cry with (good and bad).

I had been counting down the days for Sister Wyatt to come. We have always been good friends since we have meet, but we grew through preparing for missions at the same time. I was struggeling, and I just needed her so badly. Wednesday finally came, and I could feel her near. I finally did see her that night, but we were both rushing around and could barely get "hello"s out before we had to leave. Just seeing her made me happy. The next day, (still struggeling) we saw eachother from across the cafeteria. I bolted to her, and immidetaly said that I needed her help. As we began to talk, I was overcome with joy that she was there, frustration with myself, and in general, just too many emotions. I was right. She knew EXACTLY what to say. She clicked into "Retreat for Girls Counselor Mode" and let the lord use her as a tool to tell me exactly what I needed to hear. It was hard for her to get her call back in October, and not go into the MTC until march, but during that lunch, I knew part of the reason why was because the Lord knew I needed her. Right then, Right there in the cafeteria of the MTC I needed her.

Gah. Friends are the best.

 

Some of you may or may not know what "snailing" is. I don't exactly want to get into the most embarrassing story OF MY LIFE, but I will use this story as bait to get letters. I don't want to post this story on the internet for all too see. But, it's a good one that should be shared. If you know what snailing is, and want to here the story, write me a letter. If you don't know what snailing is, but you still want to hear the story, write me a letter. I will tell you allllllll about it.

 

Did you know I get travel plans for COSTA RICA ON THURSDAY! Es verdad! I do! Can you believe I only have 2 more weeks (as of today) in the MTC? ESTA SERIO? I JUST GOT HERE! I'm scared to death/ so excited I can barely stand it to get to Costa Rica.

 

Sigh.... Our time has sadly come to an end my friends. It's been a good week. Probably the best week in the MTC thus far (minus the broken foot). If the mission seriously goes by as quickly as it does here in the MTC, I will be home in no time.

 

I love being on a mission. I love this gospel. I love Jesus Christ! I love my companion! I love spanish! I love my District! I love the temple! I love this entire thing. So far, it's the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I am only 4 weeks in!

 

For those who want to send me letters:

Try to do so before I leave the MTC (april 2nd) so I can get them. Once I am in Costa Rica, it will take a  significant amount of time for me to get letters, so lets make the most of our time here shall we?

 

Thanks to those who took time to write this week:

-Emma Whipple

-Alyssa Whipple

-Megan Straw*

-Mom

-Dad

-Shauntel Reeve (congrats on your call girl! BRAAAAZIIIIIILLLL!)

-Grandma Kenney (and you are so tricky! You had me fooled for a while! HAHAHA!)

- Libby

 

Wow. This is always the shortest 30 minutes of my life. BUT! I heard a rumor that they might start letting missionaries email longer soon.... so..... stay tuned for that? (HOPEFULLY!)

Love,
Hermana Patterson

 

**Note from Lexi's mom:  She sent a private message asking for the following...so if you want to send her a package before she goes this is what she loves: 

PLEASE. I AM BEGGING YOU.

Send me Costco sized cheese-its, goldfish, and chocolate covered raisens (KIRKLAND brand), cadburry eggs

PLEASE! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Leave your comments here and I'll paste them into a "Dear Elder" for her.  You can write her for free here and she'll get it the same day or the day after depending on when you submit the letter.  http://www.dearelder.com/index/inc_name/home

Half-way to Costa Rica!

Hola Familia y Amigos!

Can you believe that I have been in the MTC for 3 weeks now? I AM HALFWAY DONE! I leave for Costa Rica on April 2nd!

On one hand, I feel like I just got here, and on the other, I feel like I was born in the MTC and know no other life. Haha. The MTC is kind of a weird time warp like that. So crazy that I will be on my way to Costa Rica in just 3 short weeks. The days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days at the MTC.

I was another really great week for me. After the initial wave of feeling overwhelmed, you fall into place at the MTC and feel much more secure. Those first few days are brutal because you have NO idea what is going on, but once you figure it all out it's smooth sailing from there.

I was hoping to upload pictures today because my mom sent me a tool that will connect to the computer to upload pictures, but as it turns out, most of the computers don't even have the normal software that you can just connect your camera to. I will have to wait until next week and see if I can upload pictures in the laundry room (groan....).

My Spanish is improving. I wish that we (those in our district) were better at communicating only in spanish when it is not absolutely required, and we are hoping to work on that, but we are definitely comfortable for the most part teaching in spanish. We all have very basic vocabulary and can usually understand what is going on, what is required, and what our investigators are trying to say. We are by no means close to being done. We have WORDS, but we are still learning to congigate, and piece sentences together without sounding like complete fools.  Also, my english is suffering big time. Because all of my time and effort goes into Spanish, I often forget how to spell english words, so please forgive me if this email is horrific. (By the way Rick, we were discussing our English spelling suffering and now we always feel better as soon as someone asks us how many L's are in both...;) )

We have many jokes as a district in "spanish" (meaning we use english phrases and directly translate them into spanish, so they probably don't make sense.

For example:

- Sorry not sorry (Lo ciento, pero, no lo ciento)

- ARE YOU SERIOUS? (ESTA SERIO?!?!?!?)

- Pues, pues, pues, que tenemos aqui? (well well well, what do we have here?)

- QUE ES ESTO?!?!? What is this?

- aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand the ever popular Lexi Patterson favorite: "Esta Bien" (it's fine)

We think we are all so clever and we often break into hysterical laughter. We like eachother. It's such a blessing to have such a funny/ silly district that can laugh one second and turn around and talk about the Savoir and teach lessons with the spirit the next. The MTC is AWESOME!

The hardest thing about the MTC is making sure that you always have the spirit with you and that you have faith in yourself. Learning a new language can really slam your confidence in a lesson, but we are trying to stay positive, and have faith that el don de lenguas will kick in (and if we think that it willl... it totally does.) Patience with ourselves  and humility is also a big deal.

The biggest suprise to me has been how normal the MTC feels now. I feel like I am just at school learning the gospel of Jesus Christ and Spanish ALL day long (litterally). We eat in the cafeteria, sit in classes, have roommates, and it kind of feels just like being in college minus all the facebook, texting, computers etc.

The best part is how much I am learning. Seriously. I learn something new every hour. I learn something about spanish, about the scriptures, about Jesus Christ, about the gospel, about my companion, about MYSELF all the time. Probably more than just once an hour. It's a constant waterfall of knowledge  that you try and cram in your head at all times.

For those who care, here is a typical schedule:

5:50-6:00 Wake up

7:00 personal study

8:00 Breakfast

8:30-9:59 GYM and getting ready

10-12 Usually class time. Our teachers are Brother Osuna (from Mexico) and Hermana Bryan (just got back from serving in Ecuador) and we are so blessed to have them. They love us so much and they really care about us as people and as missionaries.

12-12:30 Companionship study

12:30 Lunch

1:15-3 More companionship study/ prep for lessons/ try not to freak out/ try to focus

3- TALL time. Tall is the computer program for missionaries to learn the language. Try not to fall asleep (this is where life savers and jolly ranchers come in handy)

4- Additional study time

5:30 - Dinner

6:30-9:30 Class

9:30 get ready for bed/ journal/ help companioin with her calling/ yata yata

10:30-In bed lights out

Next morning, go back to the class room and feel like you never left (hense the time warp... you never know what day it is really.... )

I'm basically out of time, but hopefully this lengthy email makes up for the lack of pictures again! :( Lo ciento.... pero no lo ciento. HA.... we are clever, clever, clever. Once again. Sorry about the english- english is hard.

Also- DIDN'T GET MANY LETTERS THIS WEEK.

Thanks for the letters to the following:

Alyssa Whipple

Libby

My mom- BEST PACKAGE EVER

Jessica Svendsguard

Alex and Cindy

Okay, that was a lot of people.... but still. Also- I'm losing track of people that I did and didn't respond to yet, so let me know if you don't get a letter from me by next week. Mmmmmkay great!

Love you all.

Le quiero!

Hermana Patterson 

Lexi's mom here.  The best way to write Lexi is free at this website: 

http://www.dearelder.com/index/inc_name/letter_sender/mission/Provo%20MTC/

Her Mailbox is 330 and her departure date is 4/2

Leave comments here, and I'll copy and paste them into my next "dear elder" to her.

Lexi runs into some old friends!

CRAZY!

So crazy!

Two weeks down at the MTC!

The first week was sooooooo looooooooong. But I am not even sure where this last week went! (And I hear that it just gets faster from here!)

I am not even sure what to write about because I feel like I just wrote this email! HA! (If you have anything specific you would like to hear about let me know!)

This week was so much easier for everyone in my district. We finished teacher "Ariana" and that went well, and now we have to more investigators that we just met named "Carlos" and "Julia" (All three investigators are our teachers) and we are just getting to know them.

We got a new district under us this last wednesday and it feels so good not to be the "youngest" anymore! We really like to think that we have our act together! ;) It helps that my district leader (Elder Sorenson) and his Companion (Elder Barnes) got called to be Zone leaders this last week and my companion (Hermana Law) was called as Coordinating Sister (think RS pres.) so they are forced to be in the know and let us all know what is supposed to be happening. It's crazy when they all leave for their branch meetings because we were a small district to start with- 9, then Elder Cloward went home (sad- 8), then when those three leave we only have 5 of us around. Our district loves eachother so much. We have so much fun, but also feel the spirit together so nicely. We get along great and it makes it easier to not feel homesick or discouraged.

But guess who is in the new district in my zone?!?!?!? (This question is directed at you Erin Packard, any anyone else who might know her from Rexburg) Rachel Garlitz! So crazy when I realized who she was! Okay, and she is so DARLING! Love her already so much. We took a cute picture to send you, but still haven't figured out how to do that....

I also ran in Sister Lauren Peterson more than once this week. She is looking so great and happy! She will be here for 3 weeks because she has "visitor center training" so I get a little more time with her than normal english speaking missionaries.

To anyone entering the MTC soon- when will you be here? I know that Rae (Kalli..... wierd), Natilee and Veronica R. will all be in here before I leave, anyone else? I can't wait to see more familiar faces! It truely is a reunion at the MTC every day! Before you come in to the MTC, watch a video on youtube called 'missionary work and the atonement". IT WILL CHANGE YOU. We were crying our eyeballs out when our teacher showed it to us! It's from a talk elder holland gave to new mission presidents with a little bit of President Eyering as well. Of coarse. Those men are awesome!

Also- (And everyone should read this) try to find a talk by Elder Bednar that he gave on Christmas day (year?) at the MTC called "the Character of Christ". It's  made a big impact on my this week!

My favorite people of the week are:

Jacob Patterson

Libby Patterson

Alyssa Whipple

Erin Packard

Brianne Kirkby

Megan Straw

Emmalee Vanorman
Katie Smith
Veronica Rosedahl

and obviously- My mom and dad!

Thanks for all the letters, Dear Elders, and packages. You might not ever know how much it means to me! As for the rest of you.... I expect to have my mailbox full by morning! ;) Just kidding... But seriously.

The two weeks at the MTC might just be the best of my life!

Hope everyone is doing well!

(Lexi's mom here-feel free to leave a comment and I'll copy and paste them into a "Dear Elder" for her.)