Week 2 - Better and Worse

Family!

I love you guys so much and its killing me to only send stuff once a week! I think of things everyday I want to tell you and now that P-day is here I can't remember half of it!

This week was better and worse. We started teaching our teachers and when we started planning one of our lessons I just got super overwhelmed and discouraged. But later in the day I had a good talk with our teacher Sr. Coleman, who told me she had a prompting to come back to the MTC after her shift was over. She gave me some things to do, and gave me some encouragement. Mostly, I just felt better knowing that my Heavenly Father was watching over me, and gave her the prompting. 

I got sick this week along with 75% of my district. Our teacher yesterday said he felt like he was torturing us because we were all so lethargic, but we were just soo out of it. I'm feeling a little better but still sneezing and having to blow my nose every 5 minutes. It's great.

My district is seriously the best. Two of our elders are the new zone leaders, so obviously we're the most righteous district. haha jokes. But they're the absolute best Elders. Our classroom is in the middle of the hall so it tends to be where everyone congregates at night when we're all French Fried and ready to go to gym. I love it. 

Last night I was helping Elder Ho with some English and I realized how crazy our language is. I am so grateful that I don't have to learn it as a second language. Oh my gosh. He is so perceptive and so kind. We had a lesson that I was feeling not great about and he was so sweet with trying to cheer me up. Such a good person. 

This week was struggle week for everybody, but there was a ton of growth too. I can't believe we've only been here for two weeks. It feels like so much longer. Which is probably why we all get frustrated so much that we can't speak French fluently yet. 

Soeur Walton and Blackhurst are the absolute best, I love them. They've gotten us all in the habit of saying "beaucoup" in place of "a lot" or "very" so we'll say I'm beaucoup de tired or I've got beaucoup de candy or the day we were all crying there were beaucoup de tears. Haha it would probably make a Francophone cry but to us it's hilarious. 

I got the package you sent, the ritz bitz were much appreciated since we didn't get breakfast this morning before the temple. Thats also where the "beaucoup de candy" came from, I have so much so I just carry it around in my purse and hand it out to the Elders in my district. I'm basically Mary Poppins in case you're wondering. 

This whole MTC thing is starting to feel so much more comfortable, not that I'm happy all the time and never stress out but I'm not totally shell-shocked. And I know that probably means I'm in for a rude awakening and I'm going to get knocked down a peg or two but oh well. One of the things Sr. Coleman told me to do was to pray and ask to be made into the missionary I want to be, because it's what Heavenly Father wants me to be too. I hadn't been doing that and know I don't know why not, but even in the last couple days I've just felt so much of an impact from doing that. 

Mom, you're not going to believe this but I've been running during gym. I know. Crazy. Stop the presses, hold the phone. Maren has been running. I'm terrible and I can only do a little bit but in the big gym we can be apart from our companions so I go run while Sr. Walker plays foursquare or volleyball or something. I get to be in my own little world and it's the best.

I love you all and hope you have an amazing week!! 

Soeur Hansen

Cedar Mill Stake missionaries - Maren with Hannah Murphy and Gavin Smith
(Thanks Heather Murphy for the photos!)