Dear Mom and Family, July 9, 2013
My first day here was one thing after another. since
the fourth celebration was the next day we had to do all of our
orientation in that first day when normally it's done in two. the
hardest thing was the fact that my shoes, new with heat and sweat
combined together...gave me blisters. and i've never had blisters
before. which i thought honestly was funny. until i actually looked at
them. those things are gross. bleh. The
girls in my room {S Hauet - meu companhiera, S Mills e S Cotton} all
helped me figure out the best way to make it so i could walk because i
was literally limping by the end of the day. the next day was so bad i
cried. then i prayed and i don't know why but i thanked God for my
blisters, because i felt so weak and humble because of them. it was a
beautiful experience.
My district is WONDERFUL. E Carney is the district
leader and SO incredibly smart. he's blond but has a red patch of hair.
he and i bounce off a lot with spiritual comments, and i absolutely love
it. he's from Colorado. E Thomas is E Carney's sr comp and is also from
Colorado. He's hilarious and acts like all of ours little brother
{although he didn't like it whent i told him that ha} He has a sense of
humor too. Then there is E McLaughlin and E Wilson -
they are both very quiet honestly but great guys. i don't know them very
well but E Wilson kind of reminds me of how dad would have been on a
mission and E McLaughlin is just... nice {as S
Cotton who is from the south would say - Bless his Heart}. E Turk and E
Frazier are amazing too. E Turk and I kind of have a lot in common - we
spent quite a while talking about plays before one classroom time, he's
also the oldest at 21, he was in the army and has a very sweet spirit. E Frazier sounds like one of the ninja
turtles although no one but me can hear it. He's also very interested in
politics and likes to sing {oh as do Es Carney and Thomas and Turk}. S
Mills is like mom with no comfort zone at all and twice as friendly ...i love her so - she's also very uplifting
to be around and a VERY distinct laugh haha. S Cotton is probably one of the sweetest
girls i have ever met. she looks kinda like Megan but acts with the
grace of gramdma A haha. we all love her accent especially "water". (:
she was the one who helped me the most with my blisters. she's like the
quiet mom of our group, although S Mills is definitely the "leader".
my compy gets her own paragraph! (: tall beatiful red
head who i have never seen unhappy, although she tells me i am usually
the external manifest of what she is feeling {overwhelmed, scared, sick
to my stomach, confused...etc hahaha} although i can't say either of us
have been homesick yet. she's from logan and did swim, and she thinks
she may know seths' family up there - the Pecks. could you add us on
facebook Lo? her name is Rachael Hauet and she went to Logan high
school. she also wants to be a marine biologist and i told her since
seth didn't teach me how to swim that she needs to (: but obviously not
for another 18 months. we love each other - we seriously have more
things in common than you can possibly imagine. she is also a 19er,
loves musicals, dr who, humor, cello, music....gah. it's awesome. we
really get each other. she also reminds me of a mix of Kels and Lo. (:
probably why i love her.
Anyway i better finish up yikes!
Everyone
here is so beautiful, the devotionals and meetings are all so life
changing. i've probably cried every single day but because every day is
so long it doesn't really feel like that. :P i love having elders and
sisters in my district as well, young and old {Es McLaughlin, Wilson and
Frazier are all 18, the other two are 19 and turk is 21} S Mills'
family i believe will be posting pictures she sends and you can see them
then {sorry, i didn't have time for pictures today but i will try next
time, it's hard to find a computer fast enough to do it and still write
an email and still do everything else needing to be done. it may take a
while.......} my teacher Irmao McGill is inspired of the Lord. I don't
know how it's possible but i feel as though i have learned a third of
what i learned those three months in spanish in only one week with him.
if not more. it's crazy. he also talked to S Hauet and I yesterday and
we discussed some of the difficulties we've been having and he left a
note on our desks this morning and it was just very uplifting and
inspiring. each and every teacher here is the right one for those people
in that district, it's so incredilbe how things just work out like that
here in the MTC, or i guess...anywhere.
so much to tell you! I thought i had bed bugs but no,
we checked and it wasn't and i'm okay now. just a small rash. i have
also learned to take even faster showers than i was expecting. there is a
whole floor of girls to only eight showers every morning. talk about
stress to wake someone up haha. Lo if you can take a shower in 5-10 min
you will be set though. S Hauet and I have been running and doing core.
mom if you could maybe explain a workout? we need more ideas, things
that don't include stress on the shoulders because S Hauet had an injury
and can't do those. i will be VERY in shape by the time i leave ha.
it's beautiful here as well. oh and send me a frisbee! we can't play
ultimate but we can toss it and i miss it (:
i love you all so much! next time i will try and do
better to tell you what spiritual things i am learning. also
let everyone know DEAR ELDER is amazing and it's the best way, because
then i can also write you a handwritten letter {i get those in person
the day after you send them i believe, and keep dating them because they
don't. in fact tell dad to do it, i would LOVE that} also i need
Kaytlyn's PHYSICAL address and email. thanks!
I love you all so much! The phrase that keeps going
through my head today is that "I can do hard things" i don't know where
it's from but it is so true! I love you all, thank you for your love and
support and if you write me I WILL write you back. it's like in the
Joseph Smith film where and he says to one guy, the Lord brings us low
so that we can rise higher or something to that effect. I hope and
believe that is true with all my heart. I have learned the beauty of
humility this week.
Love and Safety to you, m beautiful family {and HUGS! lots of them}
Sister Kaylla White