Feliz Navidad!!!

Hola mi familia!! 

 

I LOVED talking to you all!! Well almost all of you! You are all so amazing and the best family that anyone could ask for! I was scared that I would be really sad afterwards but I was actually doing pretty good! That is definitely a tender mercy from the Lord. And it helps that I have the resposibility of being an example to my comp and so that helps me be happy and in a better mood to show her how awesome the mission is! :) But I am very glad that Christmas is over! Just one more to go! And I cant wait til the festivals are over so that these people will be back to their normal selves! Missionary work is much easier when people aren't drunk. haha Gotta love em! Well cleaning the temple was such an amazing experience and I wish I could do it every week! I felt the Spirit so strong and I cant wait to do a session! Woo! Then on Friday we had a Mission Activity and it was so awesome!! A nice break, and I got to see Hermana Rios and some of the people from the MTC! We played volleyball, soccer, water volley, an obstacle course and then climbed Cerro Lambare! It was a blast but man did I get burnt!! This week with missionary work has been rough but this is the Lord's work and nothing is imposible. So I know that it will get better any day now! But Angelica did say somwthing really awesome is class on SUnday. The teacher asked her to tell her story of meeting the missionaries and she said something that I didnt even know! She said that before she met us, she considered herself Atheist because she just wasnt sure if God exists. But then in the first lesson with us, she said that she just knew that He is there. :) I had no idea! I know that as missionaries we are led my the Holy Ghost to the people that are prepared! 

 

Okay random thing. Here, the don't have normal yogurt..its in bags and its super runny! I actually really like it now and then also milk is only in bags or boxes...haha kinda different but hey! Its South America and its awesome! Also my spanish is improving so much!! It gets harder and harder to speak in English every day and I was talking to my zone leader last night and he thought that I was Hermana Rivera! He said that my accent is very good! So I'm getting better! It helps that I dont speak any English at all!

 

I love you guys soooo much! Thank you for all you do for me! :) Until next week!

Love

Hermana McIntyre

Best Christmas Present Ever.

Quickie!

  Well this is gonna be a quick one cuz I only have like 10 minutes to write you since I get top skype you all on Wednesday!!!!!!!!! I'm only a lil excited! haha

  Well this past week has been nuts! Cambios were on Tuesday and guess what? I'm training!! Yeah that basically means I'm dying cuz I have no clue what I'm doing here. I had no clue how much I relied on Hermana Rios. Its so hard to be in charge of someone that doesn't know any of the rules or our area or our investigators so I basically have to do everything right now. But shes learning quick and shes from El Salvador so her Spanish is awesome! I already feel like I can talk and understand a ton more!! Her name is Hermana Rivera.

 

But yeah Ill explain more and tell stories on Wednesday!! I'm really sad that we can only talk for 40 minutes but I guess that's better than nothin right?? 

 

One more thing, I'm super excited cuz we get to go to the temple today and clean it!!!! YAY!! I'm stoked!!

 

Well I love you guys and please keep me in your prayers!! I need lots of support here. Thanks, I love you all!!

 

Love 

Hermana McIntyre

I'm finally done!!

WOO! My training is finally over!! Ive officially been here in Paraguay for 3 months now and every day gets better!! And MOST importantly Angelica was baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOO!! She is soo happy to be a part of the Lords only true church and to finally have some direction in her life. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to teach her and help her on her way to the Kingdom of God. :) She is so awesome and I will be sad if I have to leave her. :(

Speaking of that, transfers are on Tuesday!!! Crazy. I'm really sad cuz I'm almost positive that me and Hermana Rios will be leaving each other. Shes such a good friend and I know that Heavenly Father sent her to me to get me through these first 3 months. But I am very excited to be able to have a new companion that I'm sure I will learn so much! Here's to a new adventure! 

 

CHRISTMAS IS SO SOON!  We are able to Skype Sunday, Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. But Ill just keep it to Christmas day so that all of you who are planning on coming, it wont be an inconvenience. I'm not sure what time I will be calling though...hopefully i will have a way to let you know! Also, sad news. I only have 40 mins to talk to you all. :( So sad right? Well figure it out!! :) I'm so excited to see you all!!

 

So funny thing about Obama. Remember the language here? Guarani? Well Obama is a word in Guarani that means: ya se mudo which means he's already gone! hahaha isn't that awesome? I thought so! Guarani is REALLY hard but I'm hoping to learn some so I can be able to speak it a little bit! 

 

OH! Thank you so much for all the letters!! :) I got so many today! And i got you package Jess! But I'm not gonna open it until Christmas! And mom and Em, I don't have yours yet! Hopefully soon! :) Thanks! I feel so much love and support from you all! 

 

My Spanish is getting better and better. It really just depends on the day! Some days I can understand basically everything! But others....yeah. haha But I know that if I have to train this next transfer, the Lord qualifies whom He calls. And I just have to have faith in that! :)

 

I love you all and am ecstatic to talk to you in a lil more than a week!! :) 

 

Con Amor,

Hermana McIntyre

Trainin is almost over!!

Hola!!

How are all of you? From the letters I got you all seem to be doin really awesome even if it is in the negatives! Yeah...that doesn't sound like too much fun! I would send the heat if I could but if there's anything Ive learned here its that everything is up to the Lord. So....sorry! Enjoy the snow though! Winters my favorite time of the year so its sad that I'm missing it. Oh well I guess!

Well its getting close to Christmas and I am sooo excited to talk to you guys!!!! :) :) AH! Sorry if I'm a mess!...but seriously! I miss you all so much. I have the best family in the world! No joke. :) So all of the decorations are going up in peoples houses and its kinda funny cuz they still decorate with mostly the same things like snowmen and it just seems so weird cuz they definitely don't have snow here! But one thing that's different is that they put fruit out with the Nativity..haha I don't know why, but they do! haha BUT! Yesterday we were tracting and found a house where they were about to decorate their Christmas tree and they let us help! Ill attach the pic for you guys! :) It was so fun and nice to get into a cool house a lil bit! 

The mangoes are comin on full force and they are so yummy! Don't be too jealous Ben! :) I could eat so many!!! There's just trees and trees of mangoes every where! and then people selling Watermelon all along the streets as well! SO yummy!

So Angelica is going to be baptized on Saturday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 I'm so excited for her! She is happier and happier every time we go to teach her a lesson! And way excited for her baptism as well. She reads the Book of Mormon every day and loves it! She also told us yesterday that she wants to go on a mission as well! Isn't that so awesome! We also have a little girl that's 9 named Dulce that might possibly be baptized on Saturday as well. Its depending on this week! Cyntia is still doing okay but she just hasn't been coming to church. People keep telling her really bad rumors about the church so that doesn't help much but at least she comes and tells us right?

This is the last week of this transfer and I have no clue whats gonna happen. I find out next Tuesday where Ill be going and who I'll be with. Exciting right? Ill finally be done with training!

Well I love you guys a ton! And like I said am so excited to talk to you in 16 days! :) Keep up all the missionary work! You make me proud! :)

Con Amor

Hermana McIntrye

Sending Thanks from Paraguay

Hola mi familia!

Well it sounds like you guys all had an amazing thanksgiving week! I so wish I could have been there so spend that precious memory together but I know that there will be many more to come when I get back! Thank you for remembering me on Thanksgiving! Don't take this the wrong way but I tried not to think of you guys..haha only because its a hard day to be away. But I got through it and it was actually pretty good! A family from the ward that we live right next to invited us over to have dinner with them! :) I was so happy! It definitely wasn't the same as our Thanksgivings...but it was still pretty good! I was so grateful for them and their willingness to let us come over and enjoy dinner. (Their two kids went on missions to the US and the mom always travels there so that's why they had a dinner) But yeah! It was fun!

This week has been full of storms! We had 4 bad storms this week! (see picture) They are so crazy! Its kinds fun, but kinds not cuz it makes the work hard cuz no body comes outside when its raining and no body wants to let us in cuz were soaking wet. haha I don't understand why....

So Angelica!!! She is so stinkin amazing! She is progressing so much every day and is loving everything that we teach her and every time we come back shes glowing a bit more. Its amazing what the gospel will do to ya! :) Then on Sunday she wore a dress!! That's such a good sign. Usually investigators will just wear jeans and whatever they want, but she dressed up and did her hair and it was so awesome!! She is getting baptized in less than 2 weeks now on the 14th and she is soo excited! Reading the Book of Mormon like crazy and all! Ah! I love her so much!

So Happy Birthday to Michele and Ezra this week!! Enjoy your birthday and don't forget how much I love you both! 

Thanks everyone for all you do! :) I love you soo much and am so grateful to have everyone of you in my family.

Con Amor,

Hermana McIntyre

Milagros!!!

Wow was this week amazing!! First, it started off with Tuesday being able to listen to D Todd Christofferson. He talked a lot about us as missionaries needing to actually know the Book of Mormon so that when we need a scripture we can flip right to it. So it is my personal goal to know the Book of Mormon b y heart. I have been studying it a lot more lately!! Also, we were able to ask him questions if we wanted and I got to ask one!!! It was so awesome! I asked, how can we show our investigators that they are children of God and have them actually believe us. It was so amazing to get advice from an apostle of the Lord. :) And I did get to shake his hand!! Everyone did actually. We single filed it right on up there! haha :) Then Cyntia!! She is just so amazing and seriously a miracle (milagro) from Heavenly Father. We found out Monday that she had to move out of her house by the 18th and she also said that she wouldn't be able to come to the appointments because she needed to find a place to live. We were so sad!! But we decided that we just needed to pass by her house anyways and see if the owners would let her come out. So we said a pray and headed to her house! When we got there they said that she wasn't there as usual but we knew that she was! So Hna Rios just starting yelling her name and she came out! haha It was awesome! She ended up coming with us to a FHE with the bishops family and she loved it! Ever since then we've been looking and looking for a place for her to live and found one!! Which is crazy cuz there's like no places to live here! Well that are cheap. And she came to church as well! She is progressing so fast and her date to be baptized is the 7th of December! Woooo!

Then this week, on Wednesday we had a huge storm! Which is totally normal here but we were just walkin around in it and getting completely soaked! haha it was really fun until it got cold and no one wanted to let us in..haha but then! as we were walking down the street, a huge bolt of lightening seriously hit right next to us! we screamed so loud and my heart was pounding! haha but it was really funny at the same time! haha kinda..

 

Its still super hot here! And our AC is broke so that makes nights super fun..haha just makes the experience better right? :) But were looking for another place to live since ours is so small and we live so close to a member that Pres Agazanni wants to move us out. Not to mention i stepped through the floor last week....haha whoops! Its normal though! Im used to things like this happening now. But I don't think Ill ever get used to the humungo cockroaches!! so nasty! Especially when one is accompanying me in the bathroom during the night. Yuck! All is well though! And don't worry mom! I'm safe!! :)

 

Oh also this Sunday was the Primary Program!! It was so cute! Its always my favorite Sunday in the whole year! :) And I could understand pretty much all of it! Its amazing how fast I'm understanding Spanish! But I gotta cuz I only have 1 month left in training and then I could be training!! AHHH!!  

 

I love you guys so much! thanks for the letters as always!! Hasta Lunes!

 

Love Hermana McIntyre :)

Another Week Down!

Man this week flew! And was it hot! Almost every day was up close to 100!! Crazy right?! but the people keep tellin us, oh this is nothin! haha....yeah...but since every one is asking questions about what I do only a daily basis so here it is! So we get up at 6:30 every day and exercise and get ready and eat breakfast until 8. Then we study until 9 personally and then for 2 hours as a companionship-. Then finish with 1 hour of language study! I have never studies this much in my life!! But this is one of the many things that I want to continue to do when I get back. Study the Book of Mormon for an hour every morning possible! It just starts off the day so well! Then we either go eat at a members house or make lunch. Then we get to work. We proselyte and tract until 9 and then come back and plan for 1/2 hour and then have until 10:30 to do whatever and get to bed! Exciting right? haha but the people here back every day different. The funny things people say or the looks we get as 2 blondes are walking down the street!

I am so excited though because the watermelons are on in full force! People walk around with these huge carts in the streets selling them! And then there's mango trees everywhere!!!! I'm so excited! I'm gonna be so full of mangoes its gonna be great! Most of the people just let you take the mangoes off of the trees!! WOOHOO! 

 

Well this week was really good but pretty rough as well! haha This is when I have to take the advice of Elder Packer I think, Come what may and love it! But I have a feeling that this week is gonna be great! :) But one good things that came out of this week is Cyntia! We found her while just walking down the street. Both me and my comp felt like we needed to talk to her and so when we did she said that she had seen us 3 times before and wanted to talk to us but just was too afraid. So we had a lesson with her that night and she is so excited to be baptized!! She is the most prepared person that I have ever met! Satan is already testing her too! Its crazy how that works. Shes living with a family that doesn't like us very much. So they found out that she was taking the lessons and kicked her out. But shes like oh its okay! Now I can find a better place to live! I love her so much! Its crazy how much love you can have for these people here! 

 

Well sorry that I'm writing so late! I'm in the choir that's singing for Elder D Todd Christoffersen tomorrow!!!! Wooooo! Im stoked! I cant wait! :) I love you guys a ton! :) Hasta Lunes!

 

Con Amor

Hermana McIntyre

Noviembre!! Loco!

Isnt it so crazy thats its November already? And that Ive been gone for 3 months! Thats whats even more crazy! So  just so you all know, Ill be sending pictures to Em to put up on the blog so make sure to loook at them! :)

 

 Sorry to hear about all the sickness! :( I'll be praying extra hard! I know Heavenly Father is watching over all of you always! 

 

So this week was good! We weren't able to get a lot done cuz of lots of meetings but I'm hoping this week can have more work in it! So the investigators that we are focusing on are: The Familia Silvero. Pedro y Norma are the parents and the their kids Julian, Julie, Ellee, y Adriana. They are so awesome. Norma is pretty catholic (as is EVERYONE here) and so shes been a little closed off but shes beginning to open up a lot and its so awesome! :) then Pedro doesn't really like going to church or anything only working on cars. haha but they are so awesome! Then we are have Nancy y Dionisio. Dionisio is atheist but he is very open and a deep person! Hes reading the Book of Mormon and likes it so far! We think that something happened in his life that made him feel this way and to not believe in God. Then we have lots of other people but they are our main ones right now. 

 

Funny story: So we contacted this house and a girl came out and said that her name is Leticia and then a guy came out and I asked his name and he said Jose. But I heard him wrong and so I responded with mucho gusto Cosa! hahaha (cosa is thing in spanish) He just gave a really weird look and then started laughing really hard! They turned out to be really awesome and accepted a baptism date right there at the door! I cant wait to teach them today!

 

Well I hope this week goes better for everyone and that by nest week people can be feeling better! I love you all!!

 

Love,

Hermana McIntyre

 

 

BAPTISM!!!

This is of the familia silvero! :) Well Norma and Julie and our Bunny teeth! Aren't they awesome?

Happy News from a Stranger!

Hi,

My name is Alicia Anderson and I met your daughter in Asuncion, Paraguay while I was there on an Operation Smile humanitarian mission. I am a registered nurse from Salt Lake City and have gone with the organization on 3 previous missions fixing cleft lip/palates for children and adults. We performed 102 surgeries in Asuncion. It was a fantastic experience. I'm also a member of the church and when I saw her and her companion, I was so excited to see sister missionaries in Paraguay!  

My mom recently received a phone call from a woman who had met my brother on his mission in Buenos Aires, Argentina and it made her day. I wanted to do the same and notify you that I had met her! 

I met her when her and her companion came to the hospital we were working at. They met and played with the kids and families who had either just received surgery or would be the following day. She is doing great, loving the work and the people! She told me to tell you she loves you very much!

I hope this finds you well and wish you the best. You have a wonderful daughter!

- Alicia Anderson

NYAPUMI!!!!

Thats baptism in Guarani!!! Por Fin!! Flora Roa has been taking the lessons for 18 years now and she finally did it!!!!!!!!!! WOOO!! :) Me and Hermana Rios were so excited!!! And so was she! She was just beaming! :) She did have to be baptized 4 times though cuz shes really afraid of water and has bad knees. I was so scared that she was gonna back out but she forged forward and got it done! :) And now she was so many stinkin blessings from Heaenly Father! This is why baptism is so important! Because without it, these people are missing out on so much! Its sad. But in out area no one has been baptized for a year! A WHOLE YEAR! Crazy right? But we got it done! haha okay the Lord did since everything is on His time! But yeah we are so exiited and Ill send a pic next week!

But this week was great! I got to play futbol with my district and that was so nice just to have some fun and let some energy out! Then on Tuesday we got to go and play with the kids in Operation Smile ata hospital who gives free surgeries to kids with cleft pallets. It was way fun!! :) 

 

So basically all I do here is preach, sweat, and eat. The members give us so much food and its so good! But its a good thing its so stinkin hot or else theyd have to roll me home! haha Also random, no one can say McIntyre here!! Most people wont even try but the people that do usually say McInshtine...dont know where the s comes from! haha or Hermana Mac. Thats my name in the ward! haha This ward is awesome and its gonna be sad when I have to leave them! 

 

I love you all and am so grateful for all the advice and pictures! Have an amazing week and Ill pray for some rain!

Love

Hermana McInshtine! :)

Here & Happy!!

Hey everyone!!

Well this week was a ton better than last week! I still had some hard times, but they are getting less and less! So first of all it is so stinkin hot here!!! Its probably in the 90s every day and then you add in the humidity and what do you get? One really sweaty Hermana McIntyre! Seriously my entire back and shoulders where my bag is is completely soaked in like an hour of being out! Gotta love it right? Except for night time. I dont love that because I go to bed sweating and wake up swearting. But Im just trying to keep a good attitude about being soaked in sweat all day or else it would just be bad! I am pretty tan though so thats a plus! haha I am also getting eaten alive by mosiquitos! One time we were contacting this lady and while we were standing there I got 13 bites!!! In like 15 minutes! I was so itchy for the rest of the day! But mom, youd be happy to know that im usin my oils a lot so that I dont get some sort of disease! We havent found too many gross bugs yet so thats always good! Only one cokroach and then lots of ants and spiders! The food is actually pretty good here! Almost everything is fried so thats not good but hey im on a mission! I aint gotta look good for no one! haha We get to eat with the members almost every day for lunch so thats always nice and we almost always have fresh juice! MMMMHHHH!! :) We dont really get to do service projects just the random carrying bags for people or things like that.

The work here is moving right along and you'll be glad to know.....I HAVE MY FIRST BAPTISM THIS SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Flora, an ancient investigator, finally decided to be baptized! This will be both me and my companions first baptism! We had to drop our other investigator, Claudia because she wouldn't stop drinking and she wasn't progressing at all! But we've found so many people lately especially families! Its amazing what happens when you just put in a little more faith! 

I have officially been here for one month and man has it been slow, but everyone just keeps telling me that once I get out of training it will fly and I cant wait for that! It sounds like everyone is doing awesome there in Idaho and Utah and Washington! I miss you guys lots! Everyday when I wake up and wish that I could go upstairs to hear dad singing and mom sewing or reading the newspaper I just remind myself of how many people are here and are completely lost and that this is their lives. I only am sacrificing a year and a half and so Im gonna forget myself and go to work!

 

I love you all tons!!

Love Hermana McIntyre

Hola!!!

Hola!!!

Well sorry for the freak out last week but this week has been much better! I still had some rough days but once I pushed myself outta of my mind and got to work it was much better! The mornings are the worst cuz i dream about being home every night and doing all these fun things like drinking pop and playing with all the neices and nephews but as they say here in Paraguay, igual no mas! which means whatever! I know that in 15 months Ill be able to do that all I want and it will feel so good that I finished! I have definitely felt all of your prayers and support and I know that is how I was able to get through this week! And I know that this will get easier once I start to understand everyone here instead of just hearing random words here and there! haha

So this week weve been working a ton with our investigator Claudia. She is able to be baptized as soon as she goes to church one more time and stops drinking...but she really wants to be baptized and weve almot taught her all of the lessons! Its so hard cuz we want her to have the gospel in her life and be baptized so bad but she keeps diong things that are stopping her from receiving so many blessings. We pray so hard for her and all of our investigators every prayer! 

My Spanish is coming along! I understand more and more every week and cant wait for the day when I will be able to sit in a lesson and understand everything!! Then Ill actually be able to help these people more cuz I can understand them! Its just hard cuz people slur all of theeir words together and dont say their s in the words....haha pero esta bien!

So funny story. Me and Hermana Rios were tracting yesterday and came upon this bible study group. So we thought itd be a good idea to go and teach them! Well..it wasnt! WE ended up being serenaded for like 20 minutes!! haha at least it was about Jesus! 

Also, Happy Birthday to Sarah Katy Ryan and Emily!!! I will try to send letters to you all but just know that I love you lots! :) 

Well thanks again everyone! Please keep me in your prayers! I love you all TONS!

Love,

Hermana McIntyre

Week 7!

Hey everyone!

This is gonna be pretty short, but I just wanna say how awesome conference was and that I got to watch Sat in English and then Sun was in Spanish cuz we had an investigator come to the afternoon session. Her name is Natalia! Awesome name right?? haha but I learned so much! I learned especially that the promptings that you get from the Spirit need to be followed quickly and valiantly. He doesn't just tell you these things so you can decided if you wanna do them and when you wanna do them. You need to do them right then and there! Well sorry for the short letter but know that I love you all with all my heart and more!

Love

Hermana McIntyre

I'm heeeeeeere!!

¡Hola todo de mi familia y amigos!

   ¡Como estan? Well believe it or not I am finally in Paraguay and in lots of ways its nothing like i thought, but its also exactly what I thought if that makes any sense...haha My flight was so stinkin long and I didn't sleep that well on the flights so I still feel like I haven't caught up on the sleep yet cuz I'm so stinkin tires every single day! But its good cuz that means I'm workin hard and doin the right thing! So a little about Paraguay since I still don't have a camera, Im in an area called Lambare and its one of the more chuchi areas which means its nicer. Its so crazy cuz there'll be a super nice massive house and then right next to it is a rundown house that only has a couple walls. But that's what most people live in here. Its so sad because so many people int he US think that people they live in a small house that they are the pooreseçt of the poor but at least they have a bathroom and food to eat. Some people have literally nothing. It makes me want to give everything I have to them! But the thing is, is that most of them are so okay with it and are still as happy as can be! I have a lot to learn from them! The streets here are mostly dirt and cobblestone but the big main roads are asphalt so its always nice when we get to walk on the nice road so I'm not tripping every 5 seconds! Its a miracle that I haven't fallen yet!

    The food here is actually really good! Ive only had beans one time! Its mostly fired breads and lotsa meat! And the flavor is great! I am really surprised by the food here cuz I would totally be fine with eating this forever. Except that they don't really have salad here. Cuz they don't ever eat raw veggies. They think that its really gross to eat veggies when they're raw...haha 

 

   The people here are stinkin amazing! They are so kind and welcoming and very accepting! It actually has surprised me how many people are accepting of the gospel and it makes me so happy because they are willing to listen to us and hopefully accept to be baptized and gain so many blessings! We have met some amazing people lately that are on the direct path of baptism!! Natalie (awesome right??) is so great! We found her on Thursday and have taught her one lesson and have another lesson tomorrow! She loved listening and HAS ACCEPTED TO BE BAPTIZED!! YAY!!! We don't know what day yet for sure but I am so excited for her! She is amazing! Another girl that we just met is Marta and she seriously is so awesome! She has so many questions and sincerely wants to know the answers! We gave her a Book of Mormon to read last night and she was so excited and we told her to read Alma 32 (one of the best chapters!) and then she said that she would read that and more!! She is so awesome! We have a family also that we are teaching that are kinda struggling and its so hard to teach them because they are so poor and hungry all the time and we want to give them everything but we know that the gospel is the best thing for them and will bless them so much! We pray about them all the time trying to figure out what we can do for them! Its so sad. 

 

   The ward here is awesome! Especially the Bishops family and the familia Veron. They are so nice and welcoming! A new thing that missionaries try to do now a lot is work with members and refer a lot of people to mormon.org. The members will come to our lessons and just make the investigators feel more comfortable and mormon.org is just awesome in and of itself! 

 

   So Spanish. I learn a lot every single day but the hardest part is understanding the people with really thick accents! Sometimes I sit in a lesson and don't understand a word but that's starting to be less and less luckily! Guarani is actually used a lot here but everyone knows Spanish as well so thats good! Its such a cool language and I really hope that I can learn it! 

 

   Well I better get back to work! Have amazing weeks! I love you all and loved hearing about all of your stories and news! :) Chow!!!

Love,

Hermana McIntyre

Flight Plans!!

Hey everyone!! 

So the big day is tomorrow!!!! I'm almost all packed and I cannot wait to go! I'm pretty scared..but that's okay! We were taught that Heavenly Father puts us somewhere and leaves us there until we get comfortable and then moves us away! So here I am in my Garden of Eden and in order for me to grow and progress I gotta leave and go out into the world! So here I go! I leave the CCM at 3:30 tomorrow morning and then my flight leaves at 8:08! I fly to Columbia and have a 10 hour layover!!!! TEN!!! Yeah...guess its time to place some Books of Mormon right? Ill get a head start!! Then we fly to Argentina and have a 3 hour layover there and then the rest of the way to Paraguay! So Ill be traveling for over 24 hours but that's okay! As long as I get there, that's all I care about! Oh! and I have window seats for all 3 flights! WOOHOO! 

So justa quick thing about my week, it went by super fast and jammed all the Spanish into my head that I could! Friday all the missionaries that are leaving this week had in-field orientation where we just learn how to be a missionary basically. It was awesome and I learned a ton! I loved every second of it! The teachers here are so cool and inspiring! They make me so excited to get out into the field and work hard! Yesterday was my last day in class and it was really sad to say goodbye to my teachers! They have had a huge influence on me and I could not have asked for 2 better people! Same with my district! Everyone is so amazing and we all taught each other so stinkin much! We were able to take pictures as a distrcit so Ill be sending those to Em to put on my blog so make sure you see them! 

I love you all!! And hopefully Ill be able to send another quick email when I get to Paraguay! Have amazing weeks!

Con Amor,

Hermana McIntyre

¡¡¡Yo Tengo Un Chiste!!! (I have a joke!!!)

Woah another week is gone and here I am on my last pday and tuesday in Mexico in the CCM! Crazy huh?? I have 5 days left becasue Im leaving on Monday in the madrugada which means really early in the morning. Prolly around 2 or 3! My days are now numbered and I could not be anymore excited! I am nervous about the language but I cannot wait to get outta here and have some change in my life! This week went by a titch slower than the week before, but this week is already flying!! I feel like I was just getting here and struggling to understand anything anybody was saying to me. 

 

Me and Hermana Jeppesen at the Gritto with Hermana Colvin and Raddatz photo bombing!

Spanish: I can understand A LOT more than I can speak which is kinda frustrating becasue when I want to share a principal or tell a story I cant ever get my point across very well because I only can speak in smaller more simple words, but thats okay! Its a miracle that I can even have a full conversation in Spanish after only 5 weeks! So starting tonight at 6 my whole district is only speaking Spanish for the rest of the week!! I am so nervous and its gonna be hard at times but I gotta learn sometime right?? I mean its not like Ill be in South America in 5 days or anything....AHHH!! Its getting more and more real every second! I AM SO EXCITED!! I only have 3 days of class left which is nuts! I am going to miss my maestros A TON! They have helped me so much and I would be so unprepared without them. And without Heavenly Father as well! 

My mission president (white) & wife (black) at the Mexican night!

Food: Still good but this last week Cena was this hard taco thing that had meat and beans on top and so I decided to put some salsa on it..well I shoudl have known better cuz here you never know what kind of salsa yer gonna get! Whether itll be hot, mild, sweet, spicy, who knows!! But this time I got SUPER HOT!! Oh man I was dying and I no longer had anything in my nose! Bad news...haha but still ¡esta bien! Im gonna have to get used to it sometime right? haha

 

 

Mexico!!: So this week was Mexican Independence week and so the whole week we would have different kinds of candy or special meals and the campus was all decorated in green, red, white, and gold! Its so cool to see the patriotism that these people have! WAY more than we do! So then Saturday night we had Mexican Night!! It was probably one of the coolest nights ever and defintely a once in a life time kinda thing! All the missionaries and maestros gathered in the gym where they had lights and a stage and chairs set up and it was decked out with decor as well! So then once everyone got settled, all these dancers came out in awesome constumes and bright colors and did all of these different traditional dances! It was so awesome! There were even fireworks too!! Then on Sunday night we all got together again at 10:30 (with permission from President Pratt of course) and did the Gritto where just basically we are honoring the people who helped Mexcico gain their freedom! So after the President of Mexico would say someones name we would say ¡Viva! It was a lot of fun! Then we all had to rush home to get in bed before it got too late! I will never forget that experience!

 

 

Okay so the joke!!! Its all in Sapnish too! I hope you guys get it and think its as funny as I did

 

Tocar Tocar ( knock knock)

Quien es?

Barbie and

Barbie and quien!!

 

Hahahaha get it?? No...Yes? Well I just thought Id share it with you guys just so you know I havent lost my sense of humor! If anyone wants to share un chiste con me...itd be a okay!! :)

 

Well I love you guys to the stars and back! Until next week!!

 

Love

Hermana McIntyre

Stake Dance References.

Hey there everyone!! Its another week gone and man did it go by so stinkin fast! I cant belive that I only have 14 days left here!! And that I only have one more p day here! That makes it sound sooner! So I'm gonna write in sections cuz my thoughts are always so jumbled cuz I'm trying to write so quickly and everything that I wanna share is bouncing around in my head at one time! Haha

Spanish: Its a lot better thanlast week actually! Its crazy how fast Im learning Spanish! I know that its only through Heavenly Father that I am able to learn this fast. Its still kinda scary to teach our investigators just cuz their Spanish is so much better than ours, but I can understand a lot more than I can speak so thats nice! Its just trying to answer their questions and respond to their comments thats the hard part.. I usually just end up saying Si! or Esta bueno! Haha when those answers probably dont even make sense..haha whoops! Its like at Stake Dances when the music is really loud and you cant really hear what someone asked you s
o you just laugh awkardly or say: haha...yeah. Thats how I feel every day here! But I am learning more and more every day and I cant wait for the gift of tongues to set in! :) one day Ill just start speaking Spanish like nobodys business! That will be one awesome day! I did have a really cool experience though! One day in class, my teacher, Hermana Balderas was teaching us and we were reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish and then she would comment and then we would start saying more things. At that moment, I was able to undertand EVERYTHING!! It was so cool and gave me an extra push to keep learning Spanish cuz one day itll hit me and then every day will be like that! :)

Gospel: Man has my testimony gotten so strong!! Not only do we learn about the gospel every day and teach about it which helps me learn about it more, but I pray soooo much! I dont know how I got through my days before with only praying maybe twice a day. I counted the other day and I prayed more than 15 times!! Its nuts but I wouldnt be able to get through this without Him. We gotten pretty tight in these last few weeks! So I have a challenge for you guys! I want you all to pray about it and think about it too and figure out someone or more than one person, to give a Book of Mormon to! If you read in D&C 123:12 I think youll see that there are tons of people in this world that are so lost and have something missing in their lives but they have no clue what it is! I know its kinda scary, but just try it for me! And for them! We are told so much here, the worst thing that can happen is they say no. :) I believe in all of you! ¡Si se puede!!

Food: The food is still as good as always but I just have one funny story. This weekend is Mexico Independence Day and so we have been having special treats at the meals because of that! So the other day they had these Mexican candies out and I really wanted to try one! So I got one that looked like chocolate. So when I ate it I was expecting something nice and yummy and sweet but man was I wrong!! It tasted like sour raisens that had been put through a blender with chile powder!! Oh man, it took all inside me not to spit it out! I have officially learned my lesson on not eating Mexican candy!! haha

Randomess: So I havent hearn fomr Brian or Beth, what is she having?? I really wanna know!! Also, this past Sunday, I gave my first talk on La Fe y Perseverar hasta el Fin (Faith and Endure to the End) and it was all in Spanish!! Oh yeah thats right! I was so proud of myself! Also, me and the other girls in my district sang a musical number in Sacrament Meeting! We sang Battle Hymn of the Republic accapella and got lotsa compliments so Im gonna take it that we did good hoprfully! haha And then today my branch (5) and branch 12 are singing in the Devotional! Were singing I know that My REdeemer Lives! I dont know how weel its gonna go for me since I have no voice! Hopefully I wont squeak really loud or something..haha

Anyways I love you all so very much! Thank you for all the support! And I would not mind if any of you wnated to send me letters! :) I love the emails but letters are always a nice something to be able to hold! But if not, thaz kool 2...haha Once again, I love you all! God be with you til we meet again!

Love

Hermana McIntyre

Oltra Semana Gone!!

   Haha so as you can tell I dont know all the spanish words yet but Im gettin there! Well this week has flown by once again! I cant beleieve that I am officially half way done! Well with the CCM at least..haha its crazy! So this week I can up with the wonderous idea of writing down throught the week the extra things that happen to tell of you guys since I do almost the exact same things day in and day out! So first, it rains here every single day as Ive told you guys before, so imsuper excted for the rain that all of you recieved! Just know that I pray for you all every day and Im glad all of the prayers have been answered. It goes to prove that Heavenly Father does listen and he does care about every little detail in our lives. I know this for a fact! Anywho! So one day when it was pouring and the streets were starting to flood everyone just started running to get some cover. So a couple girls were running across a cross walk and one of the girls totally biffed it! (the paint is super slippery!) so her campanion goes running back to her and she falls! Then they both get up and then they both fell again!!! Hahahahaha man. I love it so much when people fall! Just not when I do. Luckily I havent at all yet! :) (knock on wood) So this past week was a little better when it came to breakdowns. I only had one and my teachers were so nice about it. One of my maestros gave me a letter which had D&C 6:34 quoted on it. I highly recommend everyone to look this up because it is a great scripture! It helped me a ton and since then every day has been great! This past sunday was fast sunday as you all know and here at the CCM we do a full 24 hour fast! I hadnt done one of those in forever! But it was an amazing experience and I am excited to continue to do that! I got answers to every thing that I asked and pondered about! :) I love my heavenly Father so much! 

   So I kinda lied to you guys..I have 3 weeks left not 2..so I leave the 24th! the date was just wrong on my packet! But all is well! That means more learning time for Hermana McIntyre! The food is still good. Im getting more and more used to it and now I hope for beans and cheese tortillas for breakfast! Weird right?? Ha My distrcit is still as awesome as always! I am so blessed to have them all! We all fit so well together! We were able to get together a couple times this past week and play volleyball! It was hilarious! I made some great memories! I wish they were all going to Paraguay with me! :(

   I'm getting really used to the uncomfy beds here. They feel like rocks, but its all good cuz by the end of the day Im so stinkin tires that it feels like a cloud! Even though my back doesnt seem to agree! Or my neck! But im so busy that i dont even notice that my back and neck hurts. haha 

   So random thing that I keep forgetting to tell you guys! So during the night, the people get really excited and start shooting off fireworks! Which, its cool and all...but not to try and go to sleep to! Plus the fireworks here dont have anything to see, its just the loud bang!......hmm. Then theres dogs goin crazy every night! Im pretty sure its dog fights! Its kinda freaky, but thats okay! Every night I get more and more used to it! Haha 

   Thank you to all of you that put random notes in my suitcases! I keep forgetting to tell you all! They make me so happy and I look at them almost every night! :) And aslo thank you for the pictures you guys all send me! :) I love seeing your faces!! And sorry for not being able to reply to everyone! Just know that I love you all and that I wish I could reply to all of you! Keep emailing me! I love hearing about everything! I just wanna bear my testimony to you all. Sorry, its gonna be in Spanish so good luck! Yo se que el Evangelio de Jesucristo es verdadero. Yo se que el Libro De Mormon es verdad y Jose Smith es un profeta de las ultimos dias. Yo se que esta Padre Celestial escucha a me. Yo amo el Evangelio mucho! En el nombre de Jesucristo Amen.

I love you all as much as ever! Until next week!!

Hermana McIntyre. :)

Hola Todas Las Personas!!

Me and my compenera who I love so much at the temple!!

Hola from Mexico City!!

  Man this week has flown by and it was 10 million times better than last! The Spanish is actually coming along great and GOOD NEWS! I didn't cry at all because of being frustrated with Spanish! I only cried a few times over missing your beautiful faces! :) So first of all I'm sorry If I cant reply to all of your emails! I only have an hour to get on here and email every one back! But to tell you all more about going to the Temple last week! First, forgetting my recommend wasn't such a good idea, but Presidente Pratt (the CCM pres) was able to get me one! Phew! So yes, ALL of it was in Spanish! I was able to pick up some words here and there but mostly I was just lost the whole time! They don't have the new film yet so that's a bummer but it was still great! I struggled getting a lot out of it, but I just looked to feel el Espiritu Santo and there we go! I felt it!! The Temple is beautiful as are all! So this week is basically the same as last except we aren't going to the temple but that means LOTSA free time and man do I need it! They expect so much from you here and so a day of rest (besides Sunday because Sundays we are in meetings all day too) is much needed. The plans for today are laundry, clean our room (its kinda nast and not cuz of me...juz sayin) study, email :), go to la tienda, and play volleyball with our district! Its gonna be great! Then tomorrow its back in the class room for us!

   So just to give you guys a taste of what I have to deal with, in class Hermana Molinero and Hermana Balderas ONLY speak to us in Spanish! Its a very good thing cuz it teaches us a lot fast, but its so hard! Haha so they speak to us in Spanish, we watch videos in spanish, our book are in Spanish, and to top it all off, we have to teach out investigators (our teachers in different clothes) only is Spanish with nothing but the Scriptures! No notes...nothin! You guys should really try teaching the Law of Chastity in Spanish to your teacher....yeah. Haha it is quite funny though!

   The weather is beautiful here is Mexico! Its sunny all day until about 5 and then it gets cloudy and pours!!! I love it! Then in the morning, its completely clear again and then but night its pouring! I love it sooo much! We also get earthquakes here a couple times a week. They aren't big what so ever and we cant even feel them, but a super loud alarm goes off and we all have to go outside and stand in these painted circles until they've checked all of the buildings! Haha

   So on Sunday we had a devotional by Elder Holland and man was it GOOD! He basically said that on our mission we better get to work and become completely converted cuz if we come back and not have a complete testimony of the Gospel, we've wasted our time out here. He also said that we have 200 years of tradition on our shoulders and that we better not embarrass the tradition! It kinda called me to attention cuz I've been feeling bad for myself that I'm not with my family but I will be able to be with you guys for eternity and there are people out there that don't even know that's possible! Sometimes, I'm selfish, but now I will, as Elder Holland said, pull my socks up to my armpits and get to work!!

  

   I have loved hearing from all of you!! You guys are amazing and I miss you with all my heart but I know this is where I'm meant to be! I love you guys! Hasta Luego!

Con Amor,

Hermana McIntyre

Hola!!

Hello everyone!!!!!!! :)

So as you can see p-day is on tuesdays for me! And I don't know my address here but I will go and look for it after I get done writing if I have some extra time! :) So you best all write me or imma lay a woopin on all y'all! Okay so here at the CCM its BEAUTIFUL!!! The campus is about 90 acres and its full of huge trees and flowers and all sorts of stuff! I love it! The weather is about at 70 degrees all day so knowing me, I constantly have goose bumps..We can also see outside the gates and secrurity of the CCM, a huge mountain that has houses all over it! They are just how I thought they would be! All of the houses are different colors and all made out of cement or bricks. Its so cool to see! I live in Casa 10 with 3 other girls in my room and about 16 girls in total in the house. The girls I live with are Hermana Jeppesen (mi companera), Hermana Colvin, and Hermana Radditz. My compananion is so nice and very easy to talk to! (which is soo good for me cuz you know me and awkward situations....no bueno) She is from Mesa, Arizona and is a theater arts major. Shes very expressive and cries very easily! Haha but s'all good cuz Ive cried my fair of times too here at the CCM. ha...whoops! The other two girls are nice too, their kinda quiet unless you get them talking about Doctor Who and then watch out! They don't stop!! Its a good thing though i guess. Better than silence right? haha The food at the CCM is pretty bland and a lot of it tastes like fake butter..not my favorite, but you get so hungry here cuz of how much you're doing all day that you just eat anything they give you. Haha The fruit is muy delicioso and I want to take the entire tray of it every time!! YUM! My spanish isn't doing too bad. I have learned soo much and its only been a week!! Its nuts! I can almost talk in sentences. I know that its only through the Lord that I am learning this fast. I have never prayed so much in my life. I have my morning prayers and 2 night prayers with my companion and personal. Then I pray about 5 other times during that day. Either before starting to study or if I'm not understanding something. I have gotten very very very close with my Heavenly Father in this last week! I am in District 5A here and I love everyone in my district! its all the girls in my room (me and 3 others) and then 4 companionships of guys. They are all so funny and hilarious! Its so awesome to be constantly surrounded be people that have the same standards as you and have the same goal in mind. I love it!! 

So my schedule almost everyday is get up at 6:30, get ready and study. Go to breakfast and then to language study until about 12. Then more study time until lunch. Then after lunch we go and work out then go and teach a fake investigator. and that takes about till dinner. Then we go to dinner and then more language study for a few hours. Then I plan with my companion until 9:30 and then we are in bed by 10:30. Then we get up and do the same thing the next day! Sundays are amazing here! Its a spiritual overload all day and its awesome! The only problem is that sacrament meeting is all in Spanish so I don't get too much outta that yet..Ha. Whoops.

So for my spiritual experience of the week. Yesterday I was having a super bad day when it came to  the language. I even broke down in front of my teacher! It was very embarrassing! So I asked my district leader, Elder Jensen, if I could get a blessing. At the end of the day, all of the guys in my district gave me a blessing and Elder Fogg is the one who gave it to me. He told me that I am here because God has called me here and that there is someone that needs me to help them come to the knowledge of the gospel. And then he said that the language will come to me and that I needed to lean on my Heavenly Father. :) I found out at the end of the blessing that Elder Fogg had no idea what I needed the blessing for. That goes to show that blessings are a very powerful thing and that they do come from God. It was so cool and now I am feeling so much better.

Well I have loved hearing about how you guys are all doing. :) I miss you all but I know that I am in the right place. Until next week! Yo amo tu muy mucho! :)

Love,

Hermana McIntyre