Familia!

[She sent this on Tuesday, Nov. 19. I am just a bit slow posting it.]

 

To my dear wonderful family and friends! It's been a couple weeks! Thank you for the emails. I had a lot to read and it was a little overwhelming actually, I feel very loved. Thank you for all of the love and support. I hope I am able to answer your questions, but I don't have a ton of time.

 

First of all, yes, my MTC companion is also here in Ogden. The rest of our district all got their visas and are in Mexico. Which makes me think that it shouldn't be too long before I get mine. But I have not received any information about it, so I'll just keep working hard here in Ogden!

 

So my companion is Hermana A. She is from St. Louis and this is her fourth transfer in the mission. She is wonderful! She also has blonde curly hair and some of the primary kids here think we are actually sisters. haha it's fun. We have lots of fun and work hard together. We are in the Buenaventura Ward (Spanish) here in Ogden. I love the ward. There are four sets of missionaries in our ward, us and 3 sets of elders. It is our whole district plus our zone leaders. It's pretty fun. We also don't have a car, so we walk a lot, but mostly it's not a problem and enjoy it.

 

We all have ipads and use facebook. We use facebook for an hour a day. Our ipads have our area book and planners and basically everything, but I still use my paper scriptures and Preach My Gospel a lot as well. It is really nice having the ipads though for reading conference talks and manuals or for looking up scriptures quickly. 

 

One thing we do a lot as missionaries is PRAY. I always knew missionaries prayed a lot, but it's crazy how much! I love it. We pray before we leave, we pray when we study, we pray before we do a roleplay, we pray to start meetings and to end meetings and in the middle of meetings. It's great. When we went running last Thursday morning, we said a prayer before we left and it brought to my mind the scripture 2 Nephi 32:9, which talks about how we don't do anything for the Lord without praying first and then He will consecrate our performance that it "may be for the welfare of thy soul." It is a very cool thought to me. 

 

Another thing I love is how well I am able to sleep! I fall asleep pretty quickly and sleep all night. Well, actually, I usually wake up once or twice in the morning before our alarm. I guess my body isn't used to sleeping in until 6:30. haha :)

 

We had a fireside on Sunday night with Elder Arnold, of the Quorum of the Seventy, I wish I could tell you everything about it, but I don't have time. But I do want to share what he said about how he shares the gospel. He said he was sitting in a Subway restaurant in Wyoming and he asked a man, "Do you know where the Mormon church is?" He already knew where it was, but he wondered if this man knew. And then he talked to him and a couple other guys there and now they are being taught by missionaries. It doesn't have to be a scary thing to share the gospel, we can easily bring up the gospel in everyday conversations. 

 

Okay for my Christmas package, they said they want them by November 30 I think because there will be a big party or something where we will get our packages. I don't what really to ask for, except for maybe a few winter clothes items. When I go to Mexico, I send a box home or leave it at the mission home for Jake to pick up. One of the sisters in my MTC district gave me her coat, but I could probably use a few scarves or gloves or maybe a longer skirt. Other than that, I still have to fly to Mexico at some point, so I don't have a lot of room for things. Maybe just letters or stories or quotes or pictures. I don't know. I trust you to figure something out, and I know it will be wonderful. :)

 

Well, I should probably go soon! Sorry this letter is kinda scattered, I hope it will be better next week. :) Remember that I love you and pray for you!

 

Love, Hermana Serena Loveland

Dad- Thanks for the emails and for all of your hard work. I love you!

Mom- Thanks for the emails and pictures. The door looks amazing! I'm glad you had a great birthday. And that is so awesome that you are sharing the gospel! It's the best. 

Ross- Happy birthday on Sunday! Thanks for your advice. You rock.

Katie- Thank you for the email! And for the pictures. That cake looks amazing. And Claire and Aoife are such funny girls. Thanks for being so awesome.

Autumn- Good job sharing the gospel and inviting your friend to activities! You are wonderful! I love you.

Wes- Thanks for the emails. I am loving it here. Yeah, I have a real companion and we knock on people's doors and teach people. It's awesome!

Oh and someone tell Clarissa thanks for the cupcakes! :)

Here's my address:

Sister Serena Loveland

4380 S Orchard Ave

South Ogden, UT 84403

Mom- can you also add these people to the email list?

"Nowhere else could we be able to handle this much stress, change, growth, adjustment, disappointment, homesickness, everything, and still feel GREAT about it!"

My dear wonderful family!

Thank you for the emails. I am definitely feeling loved right now. I'm not sure how much I'll be able to write today, because I have a LOT to say and not a ton of time, but I'll do my best. Also, I wrote you guys a letter, but I don't know if it's arrived yet (or maybe you just keep forgetting to check the mail :) ).

 

Today has been SUCH a good day. This morning we went to the TEMPLE. I love that place, and it's even better when you go with a ton of missionaries! I don't know everything, but I know that the temple is the house of the Lord and I can feel soo much of His love there. 

 

So about my district, we have six hermanas and zero elders. It's kinda crazy, but I LOVE it. These sisters are some of my favorite people in the world, and I've known them for less than a week. Crazy. But we are together all day every day. We all live in the same apartment as well, which is fun, though at times a little difficult because there is only one bathroom for all six of us. :) But it works out. My companion, Hermana U. and I the only ones going to Tijuana, and the other four are going to Cuernavaca. It is going to be incredibly hard to say goodbye to them next week. I love them all SO much.

 

Speaking of which, we fly out next Tuesday. I think our flight is around 11 AM. We fly into San Diego and drive from there. I think we have our visas, but I think we have to go to a consulate sometime to sign stuff or show ids or something, I'm hoping the travel office lets us know what's going on. If all else fails, maybe we'll be stuck in San Diego for a little bit. Worst things have happened. haha.

 

So the MTC is HARD, but good. Everyone says that but you never really know exactly how it feels until you get there. One of the sisters in my district kept saying last Wednesday, "This is the weirdest day of my life." It's a pretty accurate statement. It was a weird day. But this is a cool place. Nowhere else could we be able to handle this much stress, change, growth, adjustment, disappointment, homesickness, everything, and still feel GREAT about it! I am learning lots every day. It's hard and I'm learning to be more patient with myself, yesterday a teacher said, "Don't set standards for yourself higher than God sets for you." I like that. I am very excited to share this gospel, but I'm still trying to learn how to do that, but I believe it will come with time and I just have to keep trying and improving.

 

The language is going well. Being in an advanced class isn't as intimidating as I thought it would be, a lot of them grew up speaking Spanish some in their homes or with relatives and know a lot more than me, but they know more "street Spanish" and not as much the gospel terms, so they are still learning as well. It is great because we all work together and help each other out. If I don't know how to say something (which is often), usually someone else in our district knows. I learn the most Spanish when we are trying our best to speak it all day. I use the phrase "Cómo se dice...?" (How do you say...?) about a thousand times a day, but I'm improving. On Sunday I had an interview with our Branch President, President Call. In it he said something to the effect of, "No one will be converted because Hermana Loveland can conjugate verbs so well...The spirit is the most important part." 

 

Last night one of our regular teachers, Hermana deLeon, couldn't come to class, so we had a substitute. His name is Hermano Rock. He was amazing. He taught a great lesson and I learned a lot. But it was other things he said, stories he shared, scriptures he read and counsel he gave that were incredibly helpful to me. In a way, they answered some of my prayers. Yesterday was an especially rollercoaster-y day. Lots of ups and downs. Before class I was feeling a little down, but afterwards I felt amazing. He served his mission in Alabama and at first was English speaking. Later his mission president changed him to Spanish speaking. He didn't have the MTC to learn Spanish, but he somehow figured it out. His first Spanish speaking companion was from Chile and didn't speak much English, which helped. He said for him, the best way to learn the language was to not worry about learning Spanish. He would do his best to listen to the people and love them. For a while almost all he could say was, "Está bien." which ended up meaning a lot to him. It's all right. :) Things are okay. :) I like that message. Another thing he said was, "If you worry too much about speaking Spanish, you're gonna miss the point of why you're called to speak Spanish." After his lesson I felt much better. He reminded us to be happy and not stress too much. We also read 2 Nephi 2:24. It's a good one. I'm so grateful for that class. It helped me better understand my purpose and how to be patient with myself and be happy.

 

Oh! Another weird thing here is our meal schedule. We have breakfast at 6:30, lunch at 11 and dinner at 4. It took some getting used to, but it's all right. Está bien. :)

 

Well, I have to go pretty soon, maybe I'll even take a nap today. Maybe. 

 

I love this place. I love this gospel. I love the people of Mexico, and I haven't even gotten there yet. I love you all! Have a beautiful week.

Mom- HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I hope you have a great  day. You deserve it! And yes, you should celebrate all week. I love you. Thanks for everything.

Dad- Thanks for the email. I want to see pictures of the new door! Thanks for everything, Dad. I love you lots. 

Jake- Do you have a post office box yet? I want to send you letters! I love you.

Autumn- That's cool you get to play in the Young Women program. Good luck! I love you! 

Wesley- I'm glad you're being fed well. I am too. The food is all right. Not quite like home food, but it's still okay. :) Thanks for the advice. I love you!

I hope I can write more next time, whenever that is, from Mexico!

Love,Hermana Loveland