1st email from MTC!

Spanish is coming okay. Yesterday was hard, I kept getting frustrated with myself and not feeling like I was learning as much. But I've decided to work harder and pray more. Prayer is amazing. I say so many more prayers now than I ever did before. I open and close each study session with one and it's amazing how much of a boost praying gives me. When I'm starting to be tired and frustrated at the end of a block, that prayer gets me energized and helps me remember what's important. 

It's nice to know I'm missed :) You're written letter almost made me cry today I was so happy for it. So, thank you :) I'm not super homesick all the time, but I'm sure I will get homesick soon. There have been several moments though where I wished I could text you something I noticed or tell you about my day. I tried to remember everything about this week but everyday is so long it feels like two days! It's wierd to go to bed and try and remember that morning. It seems so far away.

loves!

Kelsey

Hola Familia!

So, surprise! My p-day is on Saturday. The MTC has been fantastic. I have already been so blessed. The first couple of days weren't as overwhelming as I thought they would be. I was still a functioning person that first day even though I'd been on the go for so long. The Spirit is so strong here. I've already recieved several tender mercies, especially when it comes to Spanish. I've really been struggling to stay positive about learning Spanish (mainly at the end of the day when I'm exhausted), but when I'm at my lowest the Lord shows me that I have learned a lot. We've started saying all our prayers in Spanish yesterday and all day I was having a hard time remembering all the little words. I could remember a few, but I couldn't form complete sentences without peeking at my notes. I was feeling discouraged. But last night I turned my paper over with faith, knowing the Lord would help me. My Spanish was still very broken as I said my final prayer for the day, but I was able to say so much more than before and remembered things I hadn't earlier. It brought tears to my eyes. The gift of tongues is real!!!

My district and companion are amazing! Hermana Hubbard is wonderful and so excited about learning Spanish and being in the MTC.  The whole district is visa waiters and Hermana Hubbard found out yesterday that she got hers!! She'll be leaving on Tuesday at 3:30 AM! I'll be added to the companionship of the other two sisters in the district. It's amazing how close I feel to the whole district already, and it's only been a few days.

The MTC food is better than I expected. We have the early block in the cafeteria so we're eating at 11 and 4, so that is taking some getting used to. I've had to have a snack when we go home a couple times.  You have to make an effort to eat well though. I had a salad and soup last night for dinner and it was the best salad ever! Told me I hadn't eaten enough vegtables for a few days, so I'm working harder at it. And not eating the cookies or ice cream. They're so yummy and it's way too easy to eat too many.

I spend a lot of time in one classroom. It's basically where we live. We spend lots of time with our first teacher, Hermana Doxy. She's so nice and really helpful. Yesterday we taught our first lesson to our first investigator, all in Spanish! We spent hours preparing and translating, and when we got in there it went easier than I thought it would. Nothing happened like what happened to Seur Bitter. I was grateful, but it means you guys don't get a funny story.

The temple is closed for renovations right now so we can't go to the temple. I'm very sad about that, but it should open before my MTC stay is over. And don't feel guilty Mom, we did go to the Temple. Several people in my district have only been the one time, so I'm doing better than most.

Tyler, you are so cute! Thank you so much for the drawing!! I have been hoping I would get one and as soon as I saw the envelope today I ripped it open, looking for a picture from you. Mom, your letter was wonderful too. I really appreciated it and the letters in my luggage. Mom, we haven't had any guest speakers yet but we have devotional Tuesday night and get to listen to old talks, etc on Sunday night. I'm pumped!

Yesterday we learned how to say prayers, bear our testimony, and introduce ourselves. It's amazing how much we learned in one day. That's not to say I can do those things perfectly, but I have a better idea than I did a few days ago. Looking back it's amazing how much we learn in just a few hours.

Mom, you were right. I should have brought more socks and at least one more t-shirt (If you feel so inclined, I wouldn't mind getting some in a package....). I thought we had to spend p day in our skirts but we can wear pants. And we work out for an hour every day! I did the elliptical yesterday and we jogged/walked the day before so today we just walked to give our muscles a break. It's been a while since I've worked out like I should.

Annica, your jar has been great. I've been pulling a quote out every day and you put some very good ones in there.

Jenna, I'm waiting to hear from you! (If you already wrote me, sorry. Haven't read my emails yet.)

Nate, same to you!

Dad, I think of you all the time here. I keep wondering how the MTC is different now than it was before. Hermana Hubbards mom served in the same mission as you. Did you know a Hermana Hubbard?

Also, heads up. dearelder.com is amazing! It's free and I get the letter the same day. (Hint, hint.)

So funny/sad story. They pinned one nametag on our shirts the first day here and gave us another one with our room key, etc. Somehow in all the hussle of the first day and orientation I lost it. :( I've been looking for it for a few days and hoping that someone would put it in the lost and found, but no such luck. So I'm working on getting a new one. Oh, and calling collect is super expensive, so when I call I'll have a minutes card. They sell them here in the MTC. I'm surprised by how much they sell here! And we get $8/wk for laundry and snacks so I can use that to buy one.

The first night right after I'd just gotten into my pajamas and taken a shower the intercom in our building dinged and started talking. It's almost impossible to understand whats being said so I didn't pay much attention until I heard my name. I rushed out into the hall but I didn't know what they wanted, so I had to wait for them to repeat the whole message. It was a long list of names. They asked me to come up to the front desk so I had to drag Hermana Hubbard with me (and put a skirt back one). Turns out a hairspray was found in a bag marked for Malaga and they were asking all the Malaga missionaries if it was there. I had been hoping it was my tag. But it was still kind of funny. Probably had to be there.

I love you all very, very much!!!!!!!

Hermana Woolley

p.s. I couldn't get the computer to read my camera, but hermana grover has a device-thingie that should help. I'll borrow it from her next week (she's not in the room or I'd do it now.)