Semana 2

Hola mi familia and friends!!!

It is week 2 here in the MTC.  I could not figure out the best way to tell you guys everything I want to so I am just going to go day by day!

Tuesday - After writing home it was really hard because I felt so sad that I literally just had to shut the computer off and shut everyone out of my life for another week.  Wow, that was hard!  But I played volleyball with the Latin's after and that made the day so much better.  That night I really struggled with the language and I was just really struggling.  Brighton, my cousin, made me a missionary motivation jar so I decided to pull one out and see what I could find and literally it was the most perfect quote.  It was actually a line in my patriarchal blessing so that was really nice to read and truly boosted my spirit.

Wednesday - The morning was spent doing service around the MTC.  We cleaned and picked up leaves and sticks.  Working was so fun, ha ha, just because it was a break from the normal schedule.  That afternoon I had the coolest experience.  I was studying outside and through the fence a little Columbian girl and her dad came up and started talking to me and I actually understood what they were saying!  She blew me a kiss and it made my day amazing.  That night language study was really hard again but Hermana Romera (Venezuela), Hermana Oris (Paraguay), and Hermana Solis (Peru) read me a beautiful scripture that I would encourage you all to read. It was 2 Nephi 28:30 and what she taught me is that Spanish comes poco by poco (little by little).  Ever since then I have truly felt my Spanish improving.

Thursday - This was such a long day!!  It was pretty cool though because we committed our first investigator to baptism which was awesome (it was for practice - he was a fake investigator).  I played volleyball with the Latin's again.  They call me Hermana Labrum and then go
SORRRYYY because I always say sorry when I miss the ball.  They tell me that I am funny and I am not funny so that is how you know how amazing the Latin's are.  I have never loved a group of people as much as I love them.  They are kind, humble, funny, and always shake my hand and talk to me.  They are spectacular!  That night was our first night to fall asleep to gunshots which was fun.  Every other night we fall asleep to sirens.

Friday - I had to get a dang shot!!!  You better know I almost started crying but they gave me some candy and that made me pretty dang happy.  We actually got mashed potatoes and oreos for lunch.  It was a blessing from Heavenly Father.  I have never been as happy and I am around these Latin's. 

Saturday - Nothing crazy from today so I will just tell you guys about typical foods.  We eat a lot of weird jello, lots of meat, and lots of rice.  My favorite thing is their bread and this weird drink I have every morning that is kind of like hot chocolate but not really, ha ha.  The food is disgusting but I am definetly getting used to it. 

Sunday - So every Sunday we all have to write a talk but luckily I didn't have to speak this Sunday which was great!  My heart is broken however.  Next Tuesday all of the Latin's leave for their missions and that makes me so sad.  They are like family and it is so heart breaking because I will probably not see them again.  It was a fun afternoon though because I taught lots of the Latin elders how to make paper snowflakes and they loved that.  They sang "Frozen" while we made them - ha ha.  I heard one of the most beautiful quotes on Sunday.  It said, "The mission is not an event of learning a new language, it is a journey of loving the people."

Today - This morning we went to the temple (we go every Tuesday) and then we took our final pictures with the Latin's. 

I am so grateful to be here.  I know I am in Columbia for a reason.  My testimony is growing daily and my Spanish vocabulary is increasing significantly.  I love you all!  You are in my prayers and I can feel your prayer for me.  Thank you!
Love, Hermana Labrum

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Semana 1

Hola mi familia y amigas,

I made it through one whole week!  Holy cow, this is great!  So I will start with day 1.  The plane rides here were so hard for me.  I have never felt to broken but you know what, it all worked out.  Heavenly Father has a great sense of humor however.  I prayed that he would sit me next to someone who could talk to me a lot on the plane.  I got on and guess what!!! I was literally by a deaf person, but that's ok because we talked the whole plane ride over by texting on his phone so it was great.  When I got to the MTC it was about midnight and we had to be up at 6:00 the next morning.  My companion is Hermana Shaw and she is amazing!  I am so grateful to have her.  We get along so well.  She is great! 

So my typical day at the MTC is up at 6:00am.  Personal study from 7:00-8:00am.  Breakfast at 8:00 and then classes until 12:30 and then lunch.  Classes again until 4:00 and then the gym until 5:00 and then dinner and then classes until 9:30 and in bed by 10:00pm.  Everyday!!  It is very packed!!

So here is a fun story for you.  I got to have a wonderful Friday.  I woke up feeling awful and ended up throwing up 6 times in 2 hours.  Yep life was not fun!  Never have I ever wanted my Mom as much as I did at that moment.  So it is pretty fun here - there are 60 latins and 20 nortes.  The latins always make sure to watch me at meal time so they can watch me gag.  The best part of the day is playing volleyball with the latins.  They call me Lo Siento Gringo because I always say sorry  when I miss the ball...ha ha!

Let me just share a very special experience I had this week.  There is an Elder in my district and his name is Elder M.  He is from the Phillipines.  I learned this week just how lucky we are to live in the US.  He grew up in what he calls a humble home, which is actually a home of leaves and sticks.  They ate one meal a day and when he was 8 he started having to work to pay for food.  In 2013 the missionaries found him and he converted without his families support.  A huge storm hit them and killed over 10,000 people and they were all dead on the streets.  He said he was lucky because he got the chance to know that he could see them again.  How lucky we are to have the lives we have and live in the country we live in.

Spanish is definitely hard!  Very hard!  But I like it a lot. I am learning so much.  I can now pray in Spanish and bear my testimony in Spanish and carry a pretty good conversation.  The gift of tongues is real!

I don't have a ton of time but I miss you all so much and am so grateful for the opportunity to be here.  Never have I been so happy in my life!  I am truly blessed!  I know how important this work is.  I love you all!  I feel your prayers each day!

Love,
Hermana Labrum



**A little more info from several quick lines of email exchanges -
I absolutely love the Latin's.  They are amazing! We got to go to the Temple this morning.

Hola Mi Familia (her quick email to let us know she arrived at the MTC)

Hola! I am here in Columbia.  I will not lie, I have never felt so broken or alone while I was in the airport in Dallas.  I said a prayer that Heavenly Father would put someone next to me on the plane that would want to talk to me too so that I would feel better.  He obviously has a sense of humor.  I sat next to one person and he was deaf! LOL.  But he was so kind!  We texted on his phone the entire and I learned a ton about him.  It definitely helped calm my nerves.  When I got to Atlanta I met up with lots of other missionaries.  I watched "The Good Dinosaur" on the plane and that was a bad idea because its all about him missing his family.  The Columbia airport is crazy.  I have never seen anything like it!!!  When I got to the MTC I got my companion.  Her name is Hermana Shaw and she is amazing.  She is already becoming one of my best friends.  I love her!  We are in a room with two other girls from Venezuela that are super cool.  Now today we have been learning tons of Spanish   I had an interview with the MTC President and I love him.  We already have an amazing connection.  My Spanish is already coming along pretty well.  I can now have a simple conversation and actually understand the Latin's.  I have a name tag now and I love that.  The food is interesting.  So far I hate rice pudding, the eggs, the hot chocolate, and the soup.  But I like the bread, rice and chicken, 7Up, and orange juice.  I love it here!  I am so happy!  I miss you like crazy but do not worry - I am doing well.  I love you!  Adios!

 

 

Hailee flew out of Dallas on May 10, 2016 on Delta flight 1710 at 12:15, arriving in Atlanta at 3:33.  She then took Delta flight 981 out of Atlanta at 5:43 arriving in Bogota, Colombia at 9:36 pm.