¡Aye Chihuahua!: 3 Weeks Down!

Howdy a todos!

This has been an incredible week! I can't believe how fast it has flown by and how much has happened! I've now been a missionary for over 3 weeks and will be in Mexico in less than 3 weeks! Whoop!

Disclaimer: Sorry for terrible grammar, I'm trying to type as fast as possible, and learning another language kind of messes up your old one at first, ha.

Here's the low down: I have good days, and great days, but I have yet to have a bad day. I don't know how I could have a bad day, the Spirit here is so strong! In all honesty, I've been surprised at how easy this transition has been for me. Of course there are challenges, but the things that everyone complains about don't bother me at all! I don't even have those phantom vibrations from my cell phone, ha. And the food isn't too bad once your body adjusts to it. On Sunday, I had to give a talk in Sacrament meeting, and I was so excited! I spoke on the Book of Mormon, completely in Spanish. It was so legítimo! Ah, like, I can't even describe how cool it is to testify in Spanish! Oh, and I forgot to tell y'all last week that I've been called as a Sister Training Leader. It's kind of funny because my companionship is the only sister companionship in the Zone, ha. We just got 6 new elders last night, but before that there were only 12 of us. So we're all pretty close, it's great. We went to pick up the new elders last night and wound up helping all the new missionaries because we were the only leaders to show up! It was mass confusion, definitely of man and not of God.

Oh, we have two patos (ducks)! They live in the little creek outside of our classrooms. I named them Laman and Lemual. Hermana Brown and I snuck some bread out of the cafeteria to feed them the other morning. And then in our lesson with Nayelli (our super great investigator whom we love!) we were trying to tell her about it. But instead of saying we fed them, which uses the verb "alimentar" we said "nosotros comimos" them, which means we ate them! And Nayelli got this terrible look on her face! Ha, it was so funny!

I had the most incredible experience with our investigator, Emilio. He kept saying that we only believe in the church, we only believe in Christ. It kind of offended me, so I jumped into the conversation and I was like, "Emilio, no cree en Cristo. Mi testimonio no es un idea. Yo sé que Cristo vive. Yo sé que Cristo es mi Salvador." It shocked him a little, but in a good way. The Spirit was so strong and my Spanish actually flowed and my companions were like "Dang, Texas, you were on fire!" It was so cool!!!!!

Another great experience that built my testimony so much occurred on Sunday. For choir we sang a song about the Atonement. When we performed it it sounded beautiful. Our Choir director, Brother Keck, was so passionate and had tears streaming down his face. I've never felt a testimony so strongly. He didn't say anything, but I could feel his love for His Savior. I know that he is truly converted to the Lord and I was so grateful for his example. I even sent him a thank you note. It was such a beautiful moment.

I've also learned that obedience is so important! Earlier this week we had a two hour study block. Normally, our district does so well at keeping focused, and we actually all really love our studies. But that day was just off. We wound up having a push up contest. It was fun, but I have never felt so terrible. Afterwards I realized how important those two hours could have been. I felt like I had willingly given up two hours with God. It was the most terrible feeling and I will not allow that to happen again!

Oh, I got the coolest maroon hymnal cover! It's adorable! I found out that "Con Valor Marchemos" (onward Christian Soldiers" sounds so much cooler in Spanish! And I've actually found some Aggie connections here. The cafeteria manager and I are besties, he comes and gives me the weather report. He calls me "Sister Texas A&M" and his stake president went there. So the other day he was on the phone with him and he held the speaker out so I could yell "Howdy!" I miss howdy, so that was an awesome thing, ha!

Oh, it snowed here on Tuesday! It was pretty exciting. Everyone was like "Hey, Texas, have you seen snow before?" Ha. It didn't stick long, but I got some good pictures!

Also, my companion Hermana Brown has a cousin in our mission and he said that our missions will probably be cut by about two or three weeks. So I may be home like the end of July or first of August of 2015. Just a heads up.

Here are some great quotes from this week:

"Repetilo más despacio, por favor." This one is golden.
"I know we're supposed to get lost in the work, but right now I'm just lost." HAHA! Elder Temple has daily rants, and this was one of the best ones.
"Todo día, cada día" (All day, erry day) "Sabe" (You Know) "legítimo" (legitimate) Hermana Brown is a beast at basketball, and we needed Spanish trash talk. So here it is, ha.

And when I'm on main campus, I find myself puffing out my chest because I'm so proud of my Spanish name tag! I don't speak the language, I don't know Chihuahua yet, but I already have so much love and excitement for that place and those people! I know there will be so many challenges, but I have so much hope and faith for being able to endure them! I have really come to love John 16:33 "...In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." I have such a strong testimony of this. I know that My Savior lives and that through him everything is possible. I know that He has known everything I will face. I know that He is the light and the way and I'm so grateful for Him. I love my brother, Jesus Christ. I know He loves me and I know He loves each of you.

Con Mucho Amor Para Siempre,
Hermana Dudley

Pictures!!

Provo P-Day!