Week 3

Hello dearest ones!! I am so glad to
hear that you are all well!
I miss you all and feel like I have
been here forever!!
It's a similar feeling to midterms...
just trying to plow through right now and
then I'm sure I'll be wanting more time when
it's time to leave. The panic of finals.
I am so excited for the field though. Spanish
is going well.  I really like the language and
it is coming along well.  Oh my word, Kris was
an amazing teacher! I loved having him and my
class did too. They all mentioned how much his
activities helped and my companions want to date him.
Story of my life :). Things were great with
companions later on this week. .I had been
praying for humility...the Lord answers prayers
in unexpected ways. I certainly feel
humbled and so happy for kind companions.

I am WAY over the food. Like WAY over it. 
Which sounds so ungrateful since it is provided 
for me, but really, it is sick.
Sometimes they have salmon and Papa Johns which is great.
Mom, I am ready for the homemade bread and butter whenever
you are.  It does take a long time to eat all of it,
But I was able to finish most and it was so delicious!

This week with the general authorities was so great!
The spirit here was incredible. I didn't meet anyone,
but we were ushers at the devotional and had amazing
seats.  There were so many apostles on the stand!
Elder Bednar, Holland, Oaks, Cook, Christoffeson,
Andersen, Perry, Steven R. Snow, Costa, and I think
that's all, but wow, it was so cool!
Elder Holland spoke to us about letting the Spirit
teaching the lesson for us. He certainly has a way
of making things clear and applicable. 
I learned so much!

Yesterday in RS, Sister Wendy Watson Nelson 
(Russell M. Nelson's wife)spoke to us. 
If you don;t know her story, you should read about it.
She is amaing. She married Elder Nelson in 2006,
her first marriage.  Talk about the Lord's timing...
and what a worthwhile wait!

I hope I can answer some questions. I haven't run a 
whole lot here, but we work out every morning
 at 5:50 AM (believe it!)and then we also have
gym time during the day. I usually do some
 kind of cardio and toning, etc. My teacher told me that
in Paraguay, skinny people get fat and fat people 
lose weight.You can interpret that however you want. 
 I am way into 4-square here and it is really 
competitive, so I make sure to finish my
workout in the morning so I can focus on 4-square 
during the gym time :). Some of my other favorite
 missionaries left this week.  I get my heart
 broken every week by these missionaries. I
have such hope for the children of this generation
of people. They are amazing.

I had this vision of myself getting off the plane 
from Paraguay in a year 1/2 looking haggard 
(either really fat or really frail...I can't decide), 
with really long hair, and really worn clothes
and shoes. I go to bed feeling so worn every night, 
but I feel like I am really trying my hardest not 
to waste time and to be the best missionary I can be.
 There is great work to be done.

Have the best week ever! Write me letters
and dear elders! I love them!

Love always,

Hermana Rachel