May 26, 2018 Halfway!

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May 26, 2018

Hola all! 

First things first: shout out to my amazing family which gets a little bigger this week! So excited for Camille and Jordan, so much love to you both!!

We officially hit our MTC halfway point last Wednesday, which is crazy. At first, the time really dragged, but now 2 weeks feels insufficient for all I need to do and prepare for. Having the mission field in sights in equal parts terrifying and exciting.

This week's highlight was definitely receiving new missionaries in our zone. We've been the newbies for 3 weeks now, so boy were we excited. I already love all four of them, although I think I completely failed at the "cool-big sister" impression MTC veterans are supposed to give new missionaries! Hermana Effington is a ballerina like Hermana Hall, Hermana Johnson has already made me laugh so hard I cried, Hermana Yates is a classically trained vocalist who just finished an English degree, and Hermana Hemsley just wrapped freshman year at BYU like I did. The best part of the MTC is by far the people. So many walks of life, so many perspectives, so many stories, but each person here to serve. It's pretty amazing. 

Poor Hermana Hall knocked her back out of alignment, which meant venturing off campus again, this time for real. Even though it was only a quick trip to the physical therapist, Hermana Hall was incredibly excited and we even bought "travel snacks" for the five minute van ride. While in the waiting room, I met the sweetest little family. Two little girls, one a toddler and one four, were tearing around the office while their mother tried to take a phone call. The girls and I hit it off pretty quickly; I share a name with little Sarah so she drew me a picture and we played ponies. The littlest one, Anna, was very concerned with taking care of her "bebe" and waving at everyone who came in. The mother was the nicest, and we chatted for a little bit. Originally from Columbia, she was thrilled to find out that we are trying to learn Spanish. She tried to encourage little Sarah to practice Spanish with me, but Sarah quickly discovered my skills were not up to par. It was just a tiny experience, but one I was so grateful for. The language is difficult, and I have so far to go, but that didn't matter to this little family. They were so excited for us, and the fact that were trying to learn--regardless of ability--allowed us to connect. 

Hermana Hall had a similar experience in the temple this morning. She complimented an older sister on her dress, which was covered in lace. A look of confusion crossed her face, as she tried to figure out what exactly Hermana Hall was pointing out. Without skipping a beat, Hermana Hall switched into Spanish, "me encanta su vestido!" The look of confusion switched to the widest smile. The sister then explained that she is trying to learn English, and we explained we are trying to learn Spanish. It was just a tiny experience, but how grateful we were to know the few dozen words needed to talk to this sweet sister. Spanish is hard, but Spanish is amazing! 

Some funny moments from this week: Elder Shellenberg (who has the exact voice of Crush the turtle from Finding Nemo) accidentally put on my missionary tag instead of his own after gym time, and wore it for a good twenty minutes. Identity theft is real. 
Learned some crucial vocabulary differences too...the word for "man" and "hungry" are really similar in Spanish. Also, in Spanish hunger is something you have, not something you are. Yep, you guessed it, I marched into the cafeteria and announced, "I don't have a man!" 

For the girls from Stover 3100: Hermana Walker and Hermana Ferguson are both here and well! I get a little too excited when I bump into them. Bumped into Mikelle this morning on the way to the temple too, best moment ever! For Hermana Daley: there are so many missionaries bound for Ecuador right now, and I've been giving them all your name. If things go my way, everyone will already know you before you arrive! 

Short this week, but grateful for all of you and grateful to be here. 

Lots of love, 
Hermana Hawkes 

Great Quotes: 
"You guys are eating rice crispy treats at 6:30 in the morning? Good golly." --Elder Erickson
"Even if your voice is ugly and I hate it, it will still make me fall right asleep." --Hermana Lata
"If I have a smart thought, it's probably the spirit and not me." --Me

"Quiere luchar?" --Elder Wyatt


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