.: Halfway Done!

Hola Amigos!

Can you believe I'm halfway done with the MTC?! It's insane! The weeks are flying!! I will be in Guatemala is 17 days... whoa!

I feel like there really isn't a lot to update on. We study a lot! The spanish is coming!! I can teach all three lessons in PMG and mostly get the point across! Both of our "investigators" are committed to baptism! The MTC is fun. I'll be sad to leave everyone here!

Friday: We ate at the temple cafeteria. It was like a Thanksgiving Feast. No joke. It was the best meal I've had in three weeks, and probably the last best meal because now the temple is closed for cleaning! I am pretty depressed about that. The temple was my favorite part of the week. BUT, there are rumors going around that they will bus us to Mnt. Timpanogous (i can't spell anymore)... Speaking of spelling, I can't speak english anymore either so please excuse my horrible grammar. In my class I was voted for "best spanglish." Example: "You don't beso of the first date."-me

Sunday: Sunday's are always the best here.The Hermanas get to watch Music and the Spoken word. It is my second favorite part of the week. I cry everytime we watch it because it is so beautiful! Here, music is rare. So, we make music!! A BYU music major in my zone asked me why in the world I wasn't a music major. Apparently, some of the Heaton's music talent runs through my veins too! Everywhere you go someone is singing... My favorite is listening to sisters sing in the showers...last night someone sang a pitchy version of "You Raise Me Up" by Josh Groban. I plugged my ears, but hey, whatever floats their boat! That night Sherri Dew spoke to us! It was great! Then, we got to watch an old MTC devotional by David A. Bednar. His talk was called "Character of Christ." It is my FAVORITE talk ever. But, it is not on lds.org so I can't find a way to print it off! If you find a way to get it, pleasssseee send it to me!!

Funny Story (At least I think it's funny, but I may have lost my sense of humor): On Tuesdays we do a service project. This week we were the lucky ones who got to empty out ALL of the trash in the women's bathroom-if you know what I mean. It was not fun. You would think the sisters here would be clean, but NO that would be a lie. Anyways, we were looking really beautiful in our grungy work out clothes with our hair on top of our heads, sweating too! We had to carry literally like 20 bags full of trash out to the dumpters. I guess on the same day the MTC was doing a photoshoot with the more atractive looking missionaries. Well, that photoshoot was taking place right next to the dumpsters and there was no way to get to the dumpters other than walking straight though the photoshoot. There were two sisters (from our zone) who are literally drop dead gorgeous and also two elders... I bet you can guess who! Yes, Elder Bench (my cousin) and his companion. To make things worse, we were each carrying three huge black leaking smelly bags full of who knows what! It was so embarrassing! The head photographer said to us, "Um, do you mind running through?" So, because I felt bad I tried to half run jog walk but that doesn't work when you only have two arms and three bags bigger than your own body. So trash was falling out left and right and juices of every kind were spilling all over me. It was a good time. All four of us had to make three trips! I wanted to jump in the picture and yell, "THIS IS WHAT A REAL MISSIONARY LOOKS LIKE!" Hahah. We are the Cinderellas of the MTC. We laughed about it all day! Elder Bench did a great job modeling though! He is my claim to fame!

You can't even give your cousin a hug????

"Model....ooops! I meant Elder Bench"

Yesterday was my favorite! My favorite holiday is the 4th of July!! The missionaries looked like a walking American Flag. It was awesome! They let us watch 17 miracles and then stay up past our bedtime to watch the Stadium of Fire fireworks!! I felt a lot better knowing that my family was watching the same light show as me!! I missed you guys! That was the fist time I felt a little bit homesick!

The entire time we watched 17 miracles I thought about Honor and Mariah Watson Kirby. I am so proud of where I come from. They did hard things, and I can do hard things too! I am so grateful for a country that supports religious freedom. I'm grateful for the prophet Joseph and the restoration of the gospel. I know that God lives and lovs us. I know that His son, Jesus Christ atoned for the sins of the world. I am beyond excited to share this message with the Guatemalans! I love this gospel. I love being a missionary! So far, this is the best experience I've ever had. I love wearing the name of the Lord over my heart. If you are reading this, remember who you are, and why you are here! Remember that there is a God above whpo knows you personally. He will answer your prayers!!

Thanks for writing me!!! I love all of you!! Keep the letters coming!

Con Amor,

Hermana Minnick