I Have Arrived!

So I was typing this nice long email and then the power went out. But I´m here and having a blasty blast for the most part. I pretty much don´t understand a word anyone says to me except for my companions, so I do a lot of smiling and nodding. My companions are Hermana Laime from Peru and Hermana Lopez from Guatemala. They speak pretty much no English so it´s a learning experience for everyone!! A lot of times they have to translate other people´s spanish into slower, easier spanish so that I can understand. But, it´s been pretty good. Really overwhelming but good. I won´t lie, sometimes it´s really hard for me because I don´t understand what´s going on. A lot of times I have no idea where we´re going and what we´re doing until we get there and do it, especially if it´s not in my planner (sidenote:that thing is amazing, I don´t know what I would do without it.) Sometimes I feel really alone, like I´m the only one that doesn´t know what´s going on. But I know the Lord is with me even if sometimes I don´t see it. And my companions are great. Very patient and very encouraging, even if they do talk really fast.


Anyway, some things about Guayaquil. It is HOT. I literally am sweating all the time!! Our apartment doesn´t have air conditioning, only fans, so I feel sticky all the time. But it´s pretty big, it has 3 rooms and 2 bathrooms. We all sleep in the main room and we moved the desks into another room, and then our stuff is in the 3rd room. We have mosquito nets but we can´t figure out how to hang them up, so I get bitten a lot. I´m pretty sure I´m going to get dengue fever eventually, but it´s okay!! And our shower is always cold, but I´m starting to get used to it. Our apartment building is behind two gates and there´s a cactus in front of it with flowers that only come out at night, which is pretty cool. All the houses in Ecuador have bars on the windows and gates over the doors, and most of them are behind walls as well. But I feel very safe even when we´re walking around at night. They´re trying to save money, so the city turns off the power twice during the day. People drive like maniacs here, the few times we´ve been in cabs I´ve seriously thought we were going to die. A lot of times there are no seatbelts or we can´t put them on, so I pray a lot!! OH. And at the house across the street from me, there are two roosters (gaillos) that start crowing very VERY early in the morning, it´s really obnoxious. But it´s also funny that the house across the street has roosters. Random!! There are cantinas everywhere but also lots of panaderias (bakeries) and lavanderias (laundromats) and random street vendors and bodegas and random things. Most of the time it smells okay but sometimes you can tell that people have been relieving themselves in the streets bc you can smell it. And there are dogs and cats EVERYWHERE!!! My first night in Guayaquil we got chased by a dog. And I thought that was just a missionary stereotype, but it actually happens!!

Some things about our investigators. I am in Huancavilca right now. We have the familia Belareiso, with 5 kids. They´ve been together 20 years without getting married. Hna. Laime said that a lot of times people don´t get married bc they just don´t think it´s necessary. Anyway the second day I was here, we went and taught the Plan of Salvation to them with the Aguilars, who were just baptized not too long ago and had kind of the same situation. Hno. Aguilar said something, I have no idea what, but Hno. Belareiso loved it!! I really wish I could have understood what was going on, but their family came to church with us yesterday!! We also have the familia Pino, who has been investigating the church for 4 years and they want to get married and be baptized but can´t bc Hno. Pino is separated from his wife and she won´t allow a divorce. Kind of annoying. And we have the familia Astudillo. The dad was less active but came back to church and now his 12 year old son Henry is getting baptized!! Muy excelente!! We are working with a lot of less actives and recent converts as well. The Bacaluna family are really funny and they came to church yesterday as well (or at least I think they´re really funny-I can´t understand them but my companions laugh a lot!!) Anyway. Most of the time I can´t understand a word they´re saying but I know that they love me and are happy I´m here, so that feels pretty good. I feel like I should know more about our investigators but right now I´m just trying to remember everyone´s name and whether they´re investigating the church or are less active or recent converts and what their stories are and the names of their kids and all that. It´s tough but fun!!

More about me. I have never walked so much in my life or been so tired in my life!!! I pretty much come home and die at 10:30 every night, and waking up is a struggle. I fall asleep in personal study and companionship study and sometimes I nod off during lessons too!! It´s especially hard to pay attention when I don´t know what´s going on, so yeah. But my companions said that the same thing happened to them when they first started, so it´s okay. (or I think that´s what they said . . . . Hno. Barrios, I think you taught us the wrong language in the MTC!!!) I get honked at a lot in the street bc I´m tall and white, and people in the street love to yell out random English words at me. One time we were walking and we passed this guy who said, "buenos dias, buenos dias" to Hna. Laime and Hna. Lopez, and when he got to me he looked right at me and said, "HI!" It was so funny. And one time we were walking at night and someone yelled out "Good Morning!!" at me. And whenever I tell someone that I´m from Indiana, almost always the next thing they say is, "Ahhh . . . . Indiana Jones!!" I just laugh bc I don´t have the heart to tell them that I´ve only seen one Indiana Jones movie. And even if I wanted to tell them, I wouldn´t know how to say it!! And they give us SO MUCH FOOD!!! Pretty much everytime we visit someone they give us food. TONS of rice at every meal, but I´m pretty sure that I´m losing weight bc I walk so much. Funny story. I haven´t run into a lot of things that I don´t like, but yesterday we were eating with a family and they gave us canteloupe juice. Yeah, I hate canteloupe. I tried to drink it without making a face but it must not have been very successful bc Hna. Laime said, Usted no le gusta? (You don´t like it?) I said, no!! She said, okay!! grabbed my glass and drank the whole thing when their backs were turned. I officially love my companions!!! But for the most part everything has been really good. Hna. Bacaluna gave us something called budin (I really doubt that I spelled that right) that was SO GOOD, kind of like flan but not flan. And the familia Pino gave us flan yesterday, which I didn´t like until now, bc they put a lot of honey on it!! Milk and yogurt come in bags here and jam comes in packets. The ice cream is so much better here, and they have these things called BonIce which are like OtterPops but way better. The yogurt is better here too, I´ve eaten it every morning except today bc yesterday I ate it all. And I don´t know how they do it but the bananas here are incredible!!!! And the chocolate is amazing too. Pretty much everything is awesome. Except the canteloupe juice. Ew. And I´ve discovered that I don´t like papayas either. I had some this morning and I felt sick until we ate lunch. But we had Pizza Hut for lunch so now I´m good!!!

So I´m sure everyone wants to know what happened on Tuesday. Well I won´t lie, Monday night was really sad. I was in a group with only elders, so I was in my room all by myself and I didn´t have any of my clothes. It was pretty tough. I had been really patient all day but when we got to the hotel I just wanted to cry. But I didn´t!! The next day we all got up and ate breakfast and then I just studied until we went to the airport. I didn´t really know what else to do!! We went to the airport at like 2 bc we didn´t want to take any chances!! In the airport we met a lady from Guayaquil who was telling us all about it, and then Elder Sandberg taught her the first lesson and gave her a Book of Mormon. Pretty awesome. Then we got on the airplane and I sat next to a guy from Guayaquil and had an entire conversation with him in Spanish!! Then I taught him the first lesson in Spanish, gave him a Book of Mormon, and showed him pictures of my family and friends. I bet you think I´m making this up but it is absolutely true!! I was really proud of myself. We got to Guayaquil around 1 in the morning and President and Hermana Johns picked us up. The elders stayed at the temple (there´s a place there for people who have to travel a long way) and I stayed at the Johns´ house. While we were driving there, they told me that my first assignment was to sleep in!! I was like . . . . . en serio??? I don´t know if I remember how!! But I slept until Hna. Johns came in and said, I forgot to tell you, they turn the power off so if you want a warm shower you need to take one now!! So I got up and showered and then went back to bed. Then we had orientation with the elders (they got to do a session in the Guayaquil temple and I was really jealous, but they said it was really hard) and the nurses came in and were having a really hard time speaking English, which gave me hope for the future. Then we met our companions and went out for the rest of the day!! Elder McGuire is still in my zone I think, but Elder Sandberg is in Machala which is about an hour away, so I probably won´t see him for awhile if ever. Sad. But I´m excited for zone conference just bc I get to see Elder McGuire. A lot of times when I´ve been depressed about the fact that I can´t really talk to anyone bc my Spanish is terrible, I think, I just want to talk to Elder McGuire!! And I get to in a couple days (or weeks maybe, I didn´t really understand when they told me when zone conference is. But welcome to my life now!!)

So yeah. I´m hanging in there. Most of the time it´s good, just sometimes I think, I am never ever going to be able to do this!! I try not to get discouraged but it can be tough sometimes. I just keep praying and trying my best and I know that eventually I´ll be able to talk and understand. I just saw Hna. Glanzer in the internet cafe where we are and she said she still barely understands anything anyone says to her, so I feel a little better. But I´ve come to love the Scriptures a lot bc they´re the same in every language, just like the gospel. Everyone, read Moroni 7:46, but replace the word charity with the Savior and see how the meaning changes. I know that without the Savior I would be nothing. He´s the one who makes it possible for me to communicate even a little bit, and the one who helps me keep going when I feel like there´s no way I can do it. Even when I don´t see His hand in my life, I know it´s there. And I know He´s blessing my family and friends too!!

So how is everyone?? I haven´t gotten any letters since I got here but I think that´s more due to the fact that I don´t really know how we get mail than to any fault on the part of you guys. But I want to know how everyone is, so write to me!! Look at the pouch instructions on facebook. Oh, and if you´re going to send packages, they can only be 4 pounds and DO NOT SEND THEM SPECIAL DELIVERY!!! Apparently when you do that it´s really expensive for me and sometimes I won´t even get it. So don´t do it!!! Just send them regular mail. For Christmas, can you send me my computer speakers?? The iPod one doesn´t work for some reason. Also, pancake mix and syrup. I haven´t gone shopping yet so I have no idea what I can and can´t get here, but I´ll probably have more things for you next week. Some more knee highs would be good too, I´m starting to get runs in the ones I have. Annnndd . . . . . I had a whole list in my head but of course now I don´t remember any of it. I´m in a pretty urban area and I can get most of the stuff I need here. OH. Can you send me little toys and stuff like that for the kids?? I almost gave away Carl the other day bc I didn´t have anything else. Even if it´s just like McDonald´s happy meal toys that´s fine. The kids here are so funny, and of course they all speak better Spanish than me, which makes me kind of sad. But it´s going to be good!! I know it is!! Presidente Johns told me that after I´ve proselyted for a few months, I´ll be one of the mission nurses for awhile, and then I might go back to proselyting, depending on what goes on. So for right now I´m a regular missionary but that could change in a few months, it just depends on President Johns. But he and Hna. Johns are both great and my companions are great and the other elders and sisters are great too (I just wish I could speak Spanish like they can!!) But Dad, every once in awhile I remember what you said about wanting to go back to the MTC and I can totally relate bc I miss my district a LOT!! Today I had a brownie and thought of Hna. Yoshino. But I know that I´m in a good place and that great things are going to happen while I´m here. Already I´ve had great experiences and I´m loving the people. They are all so friendly and loving, and after coming from a place where you can´t hug or shake hands, it´s so great to finally be able to shake hands with people!! And in Ecuador, the women do the little air kiss thing, which was kind of weird for me at first but now it´s no big deal. Hna. Laime asked me once if they do that in the States and I was like ummm no but it´s okay!!

So yeah. I´m doing good!! Having a huge culture shock but doing good!! Write to me, send me your addresses so I can write you, and be good and read your scriptures and pray all the time and feed the missionaries and be nice to people and be grateful that you can drink out of your faucet bc I can´t!! The church is true!! MUCHO AMOR!!!

Hermana Chamberlain

An Unexpected Extra Day in the US

This is a Mom update.  Ellen left the MTC at 5 am Monday.  Her flight to Dallas boarded on time, but they sat on the tarmac for over an hour, sorting out a problem with the plane.  When she and the 7 elders she is traveling with arrived at DFW, they had just missed their connection to Miami.  They were put on the next flight, but that got in 1 hour and 15 minutes after the flight to Ecuador left so they spent the night in Miami and will head to Ecuador today.  Kindly, the airline provided them with hotel and food vouchers.  Unkindly, they would not give them their luggage so Ellen, who doesn't really think about possibly not getting where she wants to be when she wants to be there, was stuck in Miami with no clean clothes, no makeup, no contact solution, etc.  She was quite happy, though, to have a large bed, a room to herself, the ability to shower, and the possibility of a toothbrush from the hotel.

In Dallas the eight of them headed to the payphones to call home.  Some man, watching Ellen leading 7 men all dressed alike, stopped her and asked, "Are you babysitting?" She thought that was pretty funny.  The highlight of the Dallas layover was helping a woman on their flight, who was from Paraguay and spoke no English, get her connecting flight worked out and off to her gate.  Ellen said she had to ask the lady to repeat herself several times, but she was able to blunder through enough Spanish to get her where she needed to go and she told the lady to look for her friend, who is on her way to Paraguay as a missionary.

Last Week in the MTC!!!!

Hola Hola!!! ESTE ES MI ULTIMA SEMANA EN EL CCM!!!!! Yo salgo para Ecuador en LUNES!!!! And . . . . . I GET TO CALL HOME FROM THE AIRPORT!!!! I don't have my flightplan on me but the branch pres said that I can call from all the airports if I want to, so I'll try to call a few times so i can talk to everyone. But you should just be home all day on monday just in case. Mom, thats really funny that now that I can't check facebook, I'm way more popular. Just accept everyone and when I get home I'll go through and purge the people I don't know/like. lol. Did you see Hno. Barrio's friend request?? He reads my blog now too. Hi Hno. Barrios!!! About your other questions: Yes I got Katie's letter and I sent her one last P day. Yes I got Aunt Meg's box and our whole room devoured all the pretzel-ish things. Sidenote: I love you all but you have got to stop sending me food!! Hna. Yoshino's mom sent her a box yesterday with a ton of Japanese snacks and now we literally have piles of food in our room, it's ridiculous!! I don't know what we're going to do with all of it when we leave!! I LOVED the photo album you sent me mom, it was so amazing!!! Although I had to look at the scuba diver for a really long time before I figured out it was Eric. Just so you know though, i have copies of all the pictures from my mission so you don't need to send them back to me. I can't really think of anything off the top of my head that I want/need for Christmas but I'll let you know if I think of something. Oh yeah. Here's an example of how awesome pres. clegg is. He called me down to his office on Sunday b/c he'll be in the Fort tomorrow and he wanted to know what he could take back with him. Isn't that cool?? We ended up talking for like an hour and a half. Someday I'll have to tell you all the things he said, b/c they were so awesome I wrote them down. I already have two referrals in Ecuador from him!! He's great. So the TRC. Usually it's members pretending to be investigators but I hear sometimes they have legit investigators. We get a situation beforehand and we adapt the lesson to the needs of the investigators. It's really really awesome, I love it. We've had some truly amazing experiences there. When I have time I'll write more about it but trust me it's awesome. So this is my last week in the MTC!!

Here's a list of things I'll miss:
The Spirit here, obviously. It's unreal.
Hna. Mount. I'm not sure what I'll do without her to keep me in line!!
Hna. Damm. I think we were friends in the premortal life. For rels.
Hna. Yoshino. I don't need to explain!!
Elder Yeates. He is so awesome. And pretty. haha j/k.
An hour of gym every day. Running around after sitting for hours is the best feeling!!
Our branch presidency. They're amazing.
President Clegg. I wish I could pack him in my suitcase.
Going to the temple every Wednesday. What an amazing blessing!!
Hno. Barrios and Hno. Sears. They are the best teachers ever. And I'm not just saying that b/c I know Hno. Barrios is reading this ;)
Knowing that my mail will arrive safely and securely. That's not likely in Ecuador.

And now a list of things I won't miss:
The food. My stomach hates me right now.
The bathrooms. They are DISGUSTING.
Living in a shoebox. Eric, I feel your pain, for rels.
No music. That was hard.
Being cold. So not going to be a problem in 5 days.
Elder McGuire and Elder Sandberg-b/c they'll be with me for the next 18 months!!

And here's a list of things I've learned at the MTC:
The Lord is willing to help you with whatever you need-but you have to ASK
I don't know anything. En serio.
The Book of Mormon will answer any question you have. Literally.
I am nothing without the Savior. Nothing.
EVERYONE needs this gospel in their lives. No matter who you are, what your story is, doesn't matter. You need the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Bible is also awesome. For sure.
The Spirit doesn't always speak to you the way you think it will.
Heavenly Father answers prayers, sometimes in the way you expect and sometimes not.
Heavenly Father has a sense of humor.
Stairs are very slippery. And ghostbusting is awesome.
Tongans are really good at volleyball.Watch out for the Tongans on your team. They will take. you. OUT.
My cooking isn't really that bad after all.
The Mormon world is a very small one and everyone knows everyone.
MTC food+sitting all day+ multiple packages of junk food=Hna. Chamberlain gains tons of weight
19 year old boys can preach the gospel and do it well
The gospel is TRUE!!!!!

So I bet you're wondering why I said to watch out for the Tongans. Well, last week in gym I was playing volleyball, and I jumped up to hit the ball. I hit it but it didn't go over the net, so I jumped up to hit it again. All of a sudden something HUGE slammed into me from behind and I fell to the ground. I looked up and there was a huge Tongan standing over me saying "sister I'm so sorry!!" Another hermana helped me up and after the stars went away I kept playing. But I have some nice abrasions on my right knee!!! BUT, it's all good b/c I turned it into a gospel analogy. Sometimes, we're going along, thinking everything's all good, and then BAM!! We get smacked down by trials, temptations, challenges, etc. That's life. BUT, like the hermana that helped me up, the Savior is always there to help us up. But like me, we have to reach out our hands to Him so that He can help us up. Awesome?? I think so. Remember that when you're having a tough time. And seriously, watch out for Tongans.

So, a lot of people still haven't written to me and I'm really sad. Today I'm just going to send out one last plea to the masses to WRITE ME SOME LETTERS!! Or postcards or whatev. In the next email I may start making a list of all the people who haven't written to me who said they were going to. Just saying. If you don't want to be called out, escribame!!!

Love you all and miss you all!! Next week my email will come from ECUADOR!!!!!
MUCHO AMOR
Hna. Chamberlain

PS: just out of curiousity, who are all my new fb friends/blog followers??

Our Zone at the Provo Temple

and the sisters I live with

Only Two More Weeks!

Hola Hola!!!SOULEMENTE DOS SEMANAS MAS EN EL CCM!!!!!! AHHHH!!!!!I thought this day would never come and now that it has I'm so excited/scared!! But mostly excited. It's going to be so amazing!! But I'm starting to realize how much Spanish I don't know. The first few weeks/months are going to be a HUGE culture shock for sure. Pero esta bien, esta bien. We're supposed to get our flight plans TOMORROW!! I'm so excited, but a little worried b/c there hasn't been any word on our visas. Please pray that Elder Sandberg, Elder McGuire and I don't get reassigned to Omaha Nebraska. Brother Dart, if you're reading this I apologize ;).So I don't really have a whole lot of exciting things that happened this week. We got to teach Lucia in the TRC again this week but we had to do it in Spanish this time so it was a lot more stressful!! I feel like it's harder to feel the Spirit when I teach in Spanish b/c I'm so worried about how I'm going to say what I want to say that I'm not listening. But I know it will get better. Right?? Last night we had an amazing fireside about temples from the director of the temple department. I was hoping he would announce a temple in Indiana but he didn't. Next conference I'll keep my fingers crossed. In the meanwhile, everyone in Indiana should go to the temple as much as they can, so we can show the Lord that we're ready for a temple in Indiana!! Hna. Mount and I have improved our planning a lot this week. We start by figuring out what our goals are and then we plan our day around them. We've really seen an improvement in reaching our daily goals and it's really interesting to see how the Lord puts people in our path so that we can accomplish our goals. Mom, your questions. I have tons of chapstick and Hna. Mount steals it all the time, but it's okay b/c I love her. I do not have any sunscreen so if you could send some that would be awesome, but I can also look for it in the bookstore. And I have not figured out how to get my stuff home but when I do I'll let you know. Why didn't you want me to send it home?? That's probably the easiest way to get it out of my hair. I dunno though. About a blog. If you want to you can set one up. It might be easier for people to access I suppose, but I worry that people won't read it b/c it's not sent directly to them. So I guess my point to you all is, if my mom sets up a mission blog, don't be lazy and read it!! :)I've been reading a lot of Jesus the Christ this week. Isn't it such an amazing book?? I challenge you all to read it again or read it if you haven't. It's so awesome, except that James E. Talmage uses a lot of big words. But fer rels, it's awesome. You will learn so much about our Savior that you'd never thought of before, especially about the Atonement. And while I'm on the subject of the Atonement, how amazing is that gift to us?? We sang a really beautiful arrangement of "Precious Savior, Dear Redeemer" last night at the devotional and one line popped off the page at me: "He will bind the broken heart." I thought of all the times that the Savior has bound my broken heart and I was overwhelmed with gratitude and love for Him. Never EVER forget that the Savior loves you, and NEVER hesitate to turn to Him!! He is always ready and always willing to give you what you need!! Tambien, yo he leido el Libro de Mormon mucho, porque yo quiero terminar El Libro de Mormon antes yo salgo el CCM. Yo termino 3 y 4 Nefi este manana!! Muy bien para mi!!Kelly, you should have a really special letter coming soon!!! I had it in my bag to mail ever since last P-day, but I kept forgetting to pop it in the mailbox. But until it gets there, I just want you to know that I love you and that if I was there that silly girl in your class wouldn't dare to pick on you b/c she'd be too afraid of your big sister!! I hope things are getting better in your class and don't hesistate to tell the teacher if she keeps being mean to you. Nobody deserves to be picked on!!Hmmmm, what else. We start teaching the Plan of Salvation in Spanish this week, and that will be interesting. We've already been doing it with our progressive investigator Hermenegildo, who, BTW, committed to be baptized!! Muy bien!! First he has to find a way to get to church every sunday, so Hna. Mount and I had a fast for him yesterday and Hermenegildo fasted with us. He was supposed to talk to his boss about it yesterday, so hopefully that went well and he's set to jet!! Oh, and Erica White, if you're reading this, I met Elder Deffense!! And Hermana Galbraith found him too!! So we're all buds now.Speaking of Hermana Galbraith, we were talking last night about how we're very sad that we don't get letters from any of our friends!! Don't get me wrong, I love my family, and I love hearing from them, but I want to hear from my friends too!! I want to know what's going on in your lives, and how the gospel blesses your life, and all the drama. Entonces, POR FAVOR, escriba las cartas a mi!!! Es muy necesario!! Lindsey, I love you for writing me letters and I wish I could be there with you this month!! I'll be thinking about you for sure!! The rest of you, QUE PECADORES!!! ESCRIBA A MI!!!! j/k. but seriously, do it. :'(AHH!! Only 2 more minutes!! LOS AMO MUCHO Y LOS EXTRANO MUCHO Y LA IGLESIA ES VERDADERO Y JESUCRISTO ES NUESTRO SALVADOR!!!

MUCHO AMOR
Hermana Chamberlain

Quarantine-11/4/09

Hola hola hola!!! Como estan everyone?? So many crazy things happened this week. First, mom, I don't know if I can send mail through pouch or not but I'll find out and get back to you. And there are actually only two new hermanas, Hna Funaki from Tonga and Hna Lee from South Korea, and they don't live in our room. BUT, we would love to give them treats anyway, so just send enough for all of us.Okay so first off, Hna. Mount got really sick on Friday so we went to the health clinic, and she got sent to QUARANTINE!!!! Estuve MUY triste porque no tuve mi companera conmigo. En serio, Estuve muy lonely. But cool story. That night I started feeling really sick too. My body hurt and I was coughing and I felt really tired and I was SURE that they were going to ship me off to quarantine the next day too. But that night I prayed that I would feel better and the next day I felt completely fine. Turned out to be a good thing b/c Hna Lee was sent to quarantine that afternoon and Hna Funaki was having a really hard time with it, so I was able to help her out a lot by being her companion until Hna Mount got out yesterday and Hna Lee came out today. The Lord really looks out for us doesn't he??Hmmm, what else. Hna Yoshino is still really hilarious. Monday Elder McGuire made fun of me pretty much all day b/c he's Elder McGuire and that's just what he does. Anyway, we were ragging on each other all day and when we got back to the room, Hna Yoshino said to me, "You and Elder McGuire are so funny!!" I said, "I know, we're like brother and sister" and she said, "what if, you know, after your missions . . . . . you guys get married??" I was like " . . . . . . stop it. Just stop it right now." She just kills me sometimes, seriously. So Grandma wanted to know how much time I spend studying the scriptures and Spanish everyday. It really depends on the day, b/c I get an hour for personal study and an hour for companion study, but sometimes I need to prepare a lesson or I want to go over something in PMG or something like that. So it just depends. Language is kind of up in the air too, b/c we're supposed to have an hour for language study but a lot of times we don't get it b/c other things come up. But now we've switched to having all our classes in Spanish so I guess that kind of counts. It's a lot easier with Hno Sears b/c he's a gringo, but Hno Barrios is pretty much impossible b/c Chileans like to leave parts of their words out and talk really fast and slur everything together, so it's difficult. We have interviews with our teachers every week and he always asks me if there's anything he can do better and I always say, "talk slower." But other than that our teachers are so great. Hno Barrios brought a pair of Mickey Mouse ears to class on Halloween and wore them, it was so hilarious. Grandma also wanted to know about my Spanish and if I have a travel plan yet. My Spanish is not too bad, I find that once I start talking I'm surprised by what I can say. But I know that once I get out in the field it will take awhile. And we don't have our travel plans yet but we should get them in the next week or so. Can you believe I only have 3 weeks left in the MTC??? I can barely believe it!!So I bet you want to know what we did for Halloween. We made a plan that every sister missionary who owned a Jody dress would wear it that day, along with the ugliest shoes we own. It was so awesome!! I have a picture of some of the sisters on my floor and me in our dresses. I'll send it to you when I get a chance. By the way Mom, those pictures didn't come through. I think you'll have to print them out and send them. So this week was my first week teaching in all Spanish at the TRC, and I had to do it without my companion :(. But it ended up being amazing. Remember I told you all about Lucia?? This time the other Hnas and I taught Rosa, who is Lucia's mother and doesn't speak a single word of English. I didn't understand most of what she said, and I'm pretty sure that my Spanish was muy mal. Pero, estuvo bien porque el Espiritu Santo fue muy fuerza!! Rosa was crying by the end and I was like, "Awesome, I can do this!!" This week has otherwise been kind of a bummer b/c since Hna Mount was in quarantine and I was with Hna Funaki, I didn't get a chance to teach any lessons. But tomorrow we're teaching a ton and Friday is another TRC and the RC. PS: I sent the missionaries to someone in the RC last Friday and it was amazing!! Those moments make all the answering machine calls totally worthwhile.So everything is pretty much the same here. I get up, I study, I eat, I sit in class, eat again, sit in class, eat again and sit in class. I'm getting fat for sure. Elder Yeates said he's gained 10 lbs since he's been here and I believe it. There is no way that the food we eat is nutritionally valuable. But it's cool b/c once I get to Ecuador I'll probably lose it all and then some. The medical training I got basically said that it's up to my mission president whether I'll be used as a nurse or not. But if I am, I'm not actually allowed to practice fully b/c my license isn't good outside of the United States. But I can take care of things like dog bites and little things like that. I'm also in charge of finding good doctors for the missionaries to go to and stuff. I want to write more but its time to go to the temple. I love you all so much and keep being good and reading your scriptures and writing to me. And if you want a letter from me, send me your address!!!

MUCHO AMOR
Hermana Chamberlain

Prayers for Brownies-10/28/09

Hola Familia y amigos!!!So much this week!! First, sad face, my favorite district left for Chile and El Salvador en Lunes y estoy MUY triste!!!! Especially b/c my favorite zone leaders left with them. I'm trying not to be depressed about it but I keep looking around for Elder Kouts to flip me a peace sign in the hallway and then I remember he's in Chile and I feel sad. But I'm getting over it :)So our devotional yesterday was no big deal. The speaker was just L. TOM PERRY!!!!!!!! OMG!!!! There were cops ALL OVER the MTC yesterday all day and we were like, what is going on?? So then all through dinner we were speculating on who was coming b/c they don't bring out the cops for random seventy members that we usually get. I was pretty sure that if it was Dieter F. Uchtdorf I was going to pee my pants and then keel over and die. But we got back and we saw Elder Perry walk in and everyone jumped out of their seats!! I don't think I've ever gotten up so fast in my life!! And I guess my face was really funny b/c Elder Yeates said I looked like I was going to pass out. LOL. His talk was so good, he talked about how to be an effective teacher and spent a lot of time talking about the scriptures. He is so great!! I wanted to talk to him and ask if he remembered me or Grandpa but they wouldn't let us, plus there's this rule here that you can't hug or shake hands b/c of flu season so they wouldn't have let us near him anyway. But it was SO AWESOME!!! I WAS IN THE SAME ROOM AS L. TOM PERRY!!!!!Anyway. This week has been pretty good. I feel like I've been in kind of a slump for a couple days, I haven't felt as motivated as in weeks previous, but I'm starting to come out of that. We are starting to teach the lessons only in Spanish now . . . . . and it's scary!!! But fun. We have been teaching our progressive investigator Hermenegildo (probably not spelled correctly, I don't think Hno. Barrios could have picked a more difficult name to spell or pronounce) in Spanish from the get go and it hasn't been too horrible. He's been reading the BOM and has questions about Laban and why God commanded Nephi to kill him, so we're going to teach him about that tonight and then teach the Plan of Salvation . . . . en Espanol!! I had this inspired idea to liken our life on earth to a futbol (soccer) game, b/c Hermenegildo really likes futbol, especially team Chile!! So we'll see how it goes, with our broken Spanish, but as long as the Spirit is there we should be fine :) And we are getting a new district today with THREE HERMANAS!!! One is from Korea and one from Tonga, and one from the States. I have met a few Australians here too which is pretty exciting. Eric, one of them looked a lot like you, it weirded me out a little. Pero, esta bien ;)Funny story. Hermana Yoshino loves brownies and one day they had brownies at dinner, but by the time she went to get one they were all out. So she prayed that night in roommate prayer that we would have brownies the next day. We didn't. BUT, Hermana Mount gave her a brownie from the elders that night and said, oh some random elder gave it to me!! Since then, Hermana Yoshino has somehow gotten brownies every time she prays for them. One time she prayed specifically for homemade brownies and got a homemade brownie on her desk. It was so hilarious. Dios contesta nuestros oraciones!!!Yo se que este es verdad porque tuve una experiencia con oracion la ultimo miercoles. We went to the temple early b/c I had a meeting during our normal time. We did initiatories and they were so amazing. Those blessings are so fantastic. Anyway, we had to book it back and when I came back I found out my recommend was missing. I have never felt so miserable or prayed so hard in my life!! I seriously was praying constantly through the rest of the night. But then right before we went upstairs, they called my name to the front desk and someone had found it!!! Dios nos ama muchisimo!!!Mom I'm so glad you are all going to send your testimonies soon. I'll admit I was getting a little bit frustrated when only Grandma sent hers. BTW Grandma thank you so much for doing that for me!!! I loved it and I am going to write to you today, I promise!! I'm so sorry to everyone I haven't written yet, I don't have a lot of time to write letters but I'm trying to get to everyone at least once or twice before I leave. That reminds me mom, can you send me Caitlin, Caleb and Christi's mission addresses?? I want to write to them and I can't get on Facebook to look up the addresses. Also it's possible that you might be getting letters for me at the home address b/c I wrote it in Elder Coats and Kouts' address books b/c I don't know what my address in Ecuador is. So if you get one can you forward it to me and then send them a note with my address and instructions for pouch mail?? Thanks!!Craig and Kelly, I loved your letters!! Craig, I read your story about Totoro to Hermana Yoshino and she was so excited!!! She knows all about Totoro, and she translated the Japanese sentence for me but I don't remember what it means. You should write me a whole letter in Japanese and I'll have her read it to me. Mom, the pictures you sent won't open on these computers. Is it possible to have them developed and sent?? And I would love pictures of the family, b/c Hno. Sears says in South America people love to see pictures of your family and they look at you weird if you don't have them with you. I am sending you all some more pictures today from temple walks and Elder McGuire's birthday which was amazing!! We gave 20 sisters Hershey kisses to give him randomly throughout the day and he would get SO RED everytime he got one. It was so amazing. Everyone, POR FAVOR, write to me!! Mail is the only connection I have with the outside world!!!Okay I only have like 3 minutes left!! Write to me and tell me what you want to hear in these emails, I feel like I ramble a lot. I love you all SO MUCH and I miss you all but not enough to come home b/c I'm preaching the gospel to people who need it and it's AMAZING!!!

MUCHO AMOR,
Hermana Chamberlain

Diseases and Parasites-10/21/09

Okay, first of all, FELIZ CUMPLEANOS PAPA!!!!! 50 anos es muy viejo!! LOLThis has been the most amazing week. Hermana Yoshino has received her box and she about peed her pants she was so excited. Our entire room is very grateful for the packages we have received. Grandma, I got your box and the chocolate covered pretzels were gone within 2 days. The rest of the food remains uneaten. Old habits die hard I guess. I know I ask for something every week and I promise that I feel bad about it, but this time the only thing I want is some sheet music that I can sing here. They have special musical numbers at all the firesides and I would love to do one but I don't have any music, so if you could send me some I would love it. The EFY book would be good and if you have In the Upper Room that would be good too, and really anything you want. Gracias!!So we taught some amazing lessons this week. We've moved onto the Plan of Salvation and it has been incredible. I'm learning so much about the Plan that I didn't know before. Isn't Heavenly Father awesome to come up with something like that?? We taught our zone leaders last Thursday and we used these little cut out diagrams that Hermana Mount has, and we made this little person with red hair b/c Elder Coats has red hair. It was hilarious. But it was a really powerful lesson b/c we both shared some personal experiences and we shared how we had been able to take the Atonement into our own lives, and yes, I cried a little. The zone leaders have not stopped asking us when we are going to teach them again since then. They are teaching us tomorrow en Espanol and I am way excited.So then we went to the TRC on Friday and we taught a really sweet lady named Lucia, who was from Mexico. At the beginning she asked us why everyone didn't know about this wonderful plan that God had for us, b/c it didn't seem fair, and I said, "Well that's why we're here as missionaries so that we can tell as many people as possible about it!!!" And then we explained that b/c Heavenly Father loves us so much, he's provided a way for everyone to hear the gospel and accept it. It was so amazing, and Lucia was so awesome, I could have talked to her all day. And, the Spirit was so strong!!! AHH!! I love it here.So THEN, on Monday we went to the referral center and talked to this guy named Robert, and we pretty much taught him the first lesson. After we talked about living prophets, H. Mount asked him how he felt about that. He said, "It would be like my prayers have been answered!!" SO AMAZING!! So we sent him a BOM and we're calling him back tomorrow to talk to him some more. Seriously this place is incredible. Yesterday I had to spend all day in medical training for the mission and we talked about the grossest diseases and parasites and bugs and I'm pretty sure that we're all going to die when we get to Ecuador. There's this one that bites you and then lays eggs under your skin, so the larva hatches IN YOUR BODY and grows up in there and you have to put vaseline over it so it can't breathe. I about threw up when he was talking about it. Plus I didn't see H. Mount or my district all day and so by the end I was really grumpy. But it was good to know that I want to be in class where I'm supposed to be. But today I have to go back from 4 to 6 so I can't go to the temple with my district, so H. Mount and I are going early to do some initiatories. OH!! We went early last week and did sealings, and there was a girl in there who knew H. Mount, and I got to be sealed for her great-grandmother!!! It was so incredible. La iglesia es verdad!!Ummmm what else. I learned some new words in Spanish this week. Desmanado=awkward. Tenorio=ladykiller. Our Spanish/English dictionary has some interesting phrases in it. Also, H. Mount's nephew drew her an entire storybook about dinosaurs. It was amazing. And in our medical training yesterday they gave us a bag full of stuff and now I have 3 stethoscopes. BUT, I also have a BP cuff!! I've always wanted one of those!! So I have more things to say but I have to go do my laundry. So I will try to come back today and write more but if not I love you and miss you all and remember that this is the most amazing gospel ever and you should tell everyone you know!!!!

MUCHO AMOR
Hermana Chamberlain

Okay 10 more minutes!! Ummm I don't remember what I said in my last letter. oh yeah. Please Please PLEASE write down your testimonies and send them to me ASAP!!! This goes for all my friends who are reading this too, por favor. I really would like to have them. And I would love to have some pictures of the family as well. And also I forgot to bring a pedigree chart with me sooooo . . . . . yeah.Mom, I loved that article about President Uchtdorf. Actually I love anything about President Uchtdorf. Elder Coats still hasn't figured out that "Me gusta su sonrisa" means "I like your smile" and it's starting to majorly stress him out. I let Elder Kouts play with my stethoscope today and I'm pretty sure we're now best friends. Then Elder Coats was like, "How do you take a blood pressure?" and I told him I would show him how tomorrow. I'm going to be muy triste when they leave on Monday, but at least there's only 4 1/2 more weeks until we'll at least be on the same continent.I finally saw Hermana Larsen in the bookstore a couple days ago and I talked to Hermana Glanzer at the temple on Sunday, but I didn't tell her that you read her blog Mom, b/c I didn't want her to think we were weird. She asked me where I'm going and I told her and she was like oh me too!! I just pretended like it was a big surprise, haha. We'll probably be companions eventually, so esta bien.So, Craig still hasn't written me any letters, and neither has Curt or Lindsey or most of my friends that read this email. What the heck guys?? LOL j/k. I'm not mad or even overly upset. But I would LOVE to hear from you all and if you do it on DearElder.com it's way easy. So if you have a minute, write to me por favor.I miss you all and love you all so much!! Be good, don't do anything I wouldn't do if I wasn't a missionary!!

MUCHO AMOR
Hermana Chamberlain

PS: Eventually I'm going to teach my district how to go star-tipping ;)

No Thanksgiving Dinner This Year-10/14/09

¡Hola familia y amigos!So Grandma wrote to me this week and said that Elder Newell is her sister´s grandson and so we´re pretty much second cousins or something. She also said she´s going to try and find out why he went home, but
don´t worry about it bc none of us really want to know. It´s none of our business and we only want him to be able to come back as soon as possible.Now that I´ve pretty much become Debbie Downer, how is everyone? I miss you guys mucho a lot, but again, not enough to come home. I´ll be sending more pictures soon. Hermana Mount got a Jody dress at DI for like 6 bucks and we both wore them last Friday, it was totally hilarious. We also taught a great lesson in the TRC that day, which just goes to show that wearing jody dresses is essential to having the Spirit with you. lol.Ummmm what else. OH!! Funny story. A couple nights ago I accidentally kicked the ladder that goes up to Hermana Mount´s bed in the middle of the night. I just rolled over and went back to sleep but then Hermana Mount woke me up and was like, OMG!! My bed was shaking and there´s a huge storm outside, did you feel it?? I was like ummmm, I think that was me kicking your ladder. It was hilarious and I haven´t stopped giving her a hard time about it yet.Still no sign of President Uchtdorf coming to give a devotional, but we´ve gotten some way good ones. Last night we had a seventy come, David Evans. He talked about the Book of Mormon and how we need to use it to convert people. It was basically awesome except for the part where he went half an hour over. No me gusta.Oh yeah. I got called as coordinating sister like the second day I was here. It´s pretty much the zone leader for hermanas, which isn´t hard bc there´s only 4 and they all live in my room. We´re getting a new district today with no hermanas, and we got a new one last week with no hermanas. Muy lameo. Nesicitamos más hermanas!! Another list of things I need. I´m still waiting for those black sweatpants from gap. And about the robe, it´s not a huge deal if you can´t find one. Also, my roommates say muchas gracias for the food you sent mom. Hermana Yoshino really likes granola bars and she´s really excited for the next box. She wants to know if you can send rice crispy treats. Mom we do have a microwave oven so bring on the easy mac. Except not really bc I think its gross. But if you want to send something else please feel free. I love those Betty Crocker microwave dessert things, just FYI.So one of my zone leaders, Elder Kouts, wants to be a plastic surgeoun when he grows up and when he found out I was a nurse he was like, tell me all your stories!!! So I told him about the time I got thrown up on and about the crazy guy that got out of his restraints and came after me and the guy that stuck the nerf ball up his rectum. He loves it, its so funny. Hermana Mount and I are getting ready to teach them the Plan of Salvation today and it´s basically going to be awesome bc we have some sweet visual aids. Another random story. Hermana Mount tells our other zone leader, Elder Coats, that he has a nice smile in Spanish and he totally doesn´t understand it and he screws up his face trying to figure out what she´s saying. It´s hilarious.Soooo, yeah. I don´t really have a whole lot else to say. It´s awesome here and the Spirit is strong and la iglesia es verdadero. For rels. I miss you and love you all, be good and read your scriptures and pray every day and love each other!!

Mucho Mucho amor!!!
Hermana Chamberlain

A couple more things with my last 10 minutes: please send more pants. P-days are killing me!! I should be able to send stuff home in boxes or send it to Abby, hopefully. Also, you can send pictures to me on myldsmail, so please send some!! I can't send to you though. What else. How are Craig and Kelly?? Why haven't they written me any letters?? lol j/k. Ummm . . . . I don't know what else. Not a whole lot of exciting things happened this week. Can you believe I've been here for 3 weeks already?? It feels like I just got here yesterday!! And now I only have 5 or 6 weeks left!! We figured out last night that I'm leaving the week of Thanksgiving, so no turkey dinner for me this year. BUMMER. Thanksgiving is only my favorite holiday after Christmas. Oh yeah. Hermana Yoshino hasn't gotten any mail from her immediate family yet. Would you family be willing to write letters to her?? If you send them to me and write her name on them I'll be sure she gets them. Also, would you all mind writing your testimonies down and sending them to me?? I would really really love to have those. Also mom and dad, in one of our firesides the speaker told us we should ask our parents for stories about their lives, like how did you meet and things like that. Could you write those down and send them to me too?? Por favor?? Awesome!!

Te amo muchisimo y adios hasta miercoles!!!

I Made It!-9/30/09

Hola familia y amigos!!I made it through my first week at the MTC!! It was pretty nuts. But pretty good too. I live in the LeGrand Richards building on the top floor, and Hermana Galbraith is not in my district (estoy triste!!) Mi compañera es Hermana Mount. She is from Misionviejo, CA and going to Louisville, KY Spanish speaking. She's super awesome, definitely keeps me on track. There are two other Hermanas in my district, Hermana Damm from Redondo Beach, CA and going to Chicago South, and Hermana Yoshino, who is from Japan and is going to Salt Lake City South. She kind of has a tough time sometimes b/c English is her second language, so Spanish will be her third!! They're all super cool though. There are 5 other elderes in my district as well, and two of them will be in Guayaquil with me!! Exciting!! One of them is leaving in 2 weeks for the Dominican Republic MTC though, so we will only have 4 other elderes. SO, the MTC. The first week was pretty good. It was exactly like everyone says it is. Some days I felt awesome and some days I was like, I want to go home right now, I miss my mom!! But for the most part it hasn´t been too bad. The food is . . . . . unpredictable. Hermana Mount and I learned the hard way that the Chinese food es no bueno!! And the orange juice should be drunk in moderation. But if you find the right things to eat, you´ll be okay. Mom, I have already run into Katie Ashby´s brother AND Elder Smith, the guy that the sister missionary from Grandma´s ward told me to look for. Small world!! And dad, the organist for our mission conferences and all of our devotionals has a thing for Barry Manilow key changes. He throws one in at least once or twice during all the hymns, and I think of you and laugh every time. Hermana Mount and I have been getting up early to go to the workout classes in the gym, but today I got up and said, I think I´m going back to bed. It was delightful, I slept in until 6:15 and actually stayed awake during my personal study!! Amazing!!It's incredible here, the Spirit is strong and I've already learned so much Spanish and so much about the gospel and the Atonement, you have no idea. Hermana Mount knows the scriptures so well, she's been taking mission prep since she was 16. So she helps me with that and I help her with her Spanish and pronunciation, and it all works out fantastically. Our teachers are Hermano Barrios, who is from Chile and is a native speaker. He has a really funny accent and I laugh everytime he says the word "wow" because it sounds pretty goofy. But we love him. And Hermano Sears, who served in Chile and is way cool too.So funny story. Hermana Mount and I went to the Referral Center on Sunday and I talked to this lady who had asked for a Book of Mormon. I asked if she got it and she said yes. I asked if she read it and she said sort of. I asked how she felt about it and she was like, oh well I've been sick so I haven't read the whole thing . . . . actually I'm in the bathroom throwing up right now, can you call back later?? We were like ummmm . . . . why did you answer the phone?! Poor lady.So I miss you all and I love you all and I wish I could have packed you all in my suitcases and brought you with me. But don't worry about me, I'm doing the Lord's work and I'll be just fine. I love every single one of you!!!Yo sé que Jesucristo es mi Salvador y mi Redentor. Yo sé que el Libro de Mormon es verdadero y el contiene los escritos de los profetas de la America Antigua. Yo sé que Dios restauró el Evangelio a travéz José Smith, y José Smith fue un profeta. Yo sé que Thomas S. Monson es el profeta en el mundo hoy. Yo sé que el Evangelio es verdadero. Estoy agradecida por mi familia y por el Evangelio. En el nombre de Jesucristo, AMEN!!!

TE AMO!!!
Hermana Chamberlain

Two Weeks Already!-10/7/09

I can't believe I've been here for TWO WEEKS already!!! Last P-day I saw all the new elders and sisters coming in and I was like, awww . . . . that was me not even a week ago!! SO insane.So, before I forget . . . . here's a list of all the things I need. First, WARM CLOTHES!!! I'M FREEZING!!! Cardigans, sweaters, hose, all the warm clothes you can find/buy, I want them!! And blankets, our room is also freezing. Also, I need some more P day clothes as well. We're allowed to wear jeans and basketball shorts, so please send me some of those as well as some t shirts for gym, I didn't bring enough. That's how I roll!!Mom, I have been getting all your dear elder letters and I love them!!! Everyone, write to me on dear elder, its so much easier than snail mail. So remember Hermana Yoshino, my roommate?? She is from Japan and I asked her your question about how foreign missionaries feel about American food. She was like, "It's all so FATTY!! And you eat too much BREAD!! And so much MEAT!! and the cereal is so SUGARY!! and the desserts are SO SWEET!! and you don't cook your VEGETABLES!!!" It was so hilarious. And then we decided that we are going to run for president when we come back, on the platform of improving American nutrition. And then she told me that in Japan, people would probably think I was a model. And then I came back into our room from the bathroom, and she was humming "Yellow Submarine" by the Beatles. It was totally hilarious. Hermana Yoshino=<3So my Purdue friends will be pleased to know that Carl the Stegosaurus has become the mascot of my district!! Our old zone leaders and all our favorite elders left for Chile and the Peru MTC this week, muy triste!! But we are getting a new district in our zone today, which is very exciting. Sadly we have already lost one from our district, Elder Newell went home last Wednesday. We think there were some family issues but no one really knows what went down. But it was a bummer for sure!!So, some random stories. I had a 1/2 hour chat with Pres Clegg last P day b/c Hermana Mount needed a temple recommend interview. He remembers Katie really well and says she was one of the best missionaries ever!! He's so great. Also, I met a teacher here who served in Arcadia with Daniel, Hermana Keller. She told me to ask if he remembered her, so Daniel do you remember her?? She said you were un bueno misionero. And Abby, I MET YOUR FRIEND CHIP!!!! It was so hilarious b/c we were having an ayuno de ingles (English fast) so I could only speak Spanish and he doesn't speak any Spanish, but I saw him in the health clinic and was like "Jibson, why is that familiar??" then he said oh I'm from ann arbor and I went to BYU and I was like "WAIT!! Do you know Abby Chamberlain??" (I cheated and said it in English) and he was like "YEAH she's one of my best friends!!!" So I said, "Mi Hermana!!! Mi Hermana!!" then I had to translate but it was super exciting. So yeah. PS: we have English fasts every monday, so mondays are always really quiet around our district. What else. Did everyone totally love conference?? The only thing I can say is Jeffrey R. Holland . . . . awwwww da-dang. Elder McGuire in my district said afterwards "We have decided that Elder Holland curb-stomped Satan!!!" Mom, you don't want to know what curb-stomping is. I like to think that Elder Holland roundhouse-kicked Satan in the face, Chuck Norris style. Either way, his talk was AMAAAAAAZINGGG!!! Actually, all of conference was amazzzzing!!! And next year I have to listen to it in Spanish. Uh oh.Hmmm . . . . so, random story. When I went to visit Hillary she said "Look how the Lord blesses you, when I was in brazil I never shaved with shaving cream and I never cut myself or got razor rash!!" Well I shaved my legs a few nights ago and cut myself so bad that I bled all over the place and had to go to the custodial closet and disinfect the shower. No bueno. Hillary, we're going to have a talk. I'm totally loving it here. Hermana Mount and I have been teaching awesome lessons to anyone we can find, and we've been going to the RC which she loves but I'm not so hot on b/c you all know I hate talking on the phone. But the Spirit here is ridiculous, always so strong during our lessons and when we're planning even, we get ideas that come out of nowhere, it's insane. This gospel is so true!!! Tell everyone you know!! Don't be scared, just open your mouth!! If I had time I would look up and list all the scriptures that say that but I don't so just trust me when I say that they're there.More random stuff. The MTC food is wreaking havoc on my digestive system. Mom, if you hadn't sent those Fiber One bars we would not have a good situation in room 471. Also, Hermana Yoshino wants you to send us some food that will prove that American food isn't all gross. I saw Sister Peek last night and she is leaving NEXT WEEK and I'm so jealous. Spanish was coming along until yesterday, when we learned about how the subject of a Spanish sentence can go anywhere you want it to go. What?? Everyone should just speak English. Apologies for my bad attitude. Something else random: I haven't bitten my nails since I got to the MTC. Isn't that weird???Oh, Lindsey, Jamesy and Curt!! Pretty much all the elders in my district watch Flight of the Conchords, and we were singing the business time song this morning. It was AMAZING and I missed you all, es muy triste!! Actually I miss everyone who is reading this email right now, not too much that I want to come home, but just enough!! I am going to try and write everyone but I can only write letters on P days so it might take awhile for you to get yours!! I love you all SO MUCH and I love getting mail from you and hearing about what's going on with you and all that!! Seriously!! TE AMO MUCHOOOOOO!!!!!!!Con amor!!!Hermana ChamberlainPS: If you want me to write you, send me your address!!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE!!