ADIOS MEXICO, BIEN VENIDOS NICARAGUA!!!

ADIOS MEXICO!!

I am going to be in Nicaragua in 24 hours!! AHHHHH!!! I leave the Mexico CCM at 5:30 am Monday morning to get my flight on COPA Airlines #137 departing for Panama City, Panama at 10:15am. We will have a five hour layover there. Our next flight will be on COPA Airlines #711 departing for Managua, Nicaragua at 7:06 pm arriving in Managua at 7:46pm (one hour time zone change)  It is going to be a long day! A little worried about packing so wish me lucky. Missy you looked gorgeous for homecoming!!!!  Dad, ahhhhh I have no idea how you packed my stuff. All of my luggage is overweight. especially my carry on. It is 40 pounds when it is suppose to be 22. The books they gave us weigh an extra 15 pounds or more! Could i get away with 40 pound carry on? I love you soo much!!

MOMMMMM please don't hate me. I am ruining all of my clothes. I went to go iron that one skirt that is blue and has the white stripes from Coo De Ker. When I put the iron on the skirt, and pulled the iron up, there was a HOLE in my skirt. THE FREAKING IRON MELTED MY SKIRT!! So now there is a hole. What do I do? Try to sew it back together? I wear that skirt all the time so I am kinda freaking out. Suggestions would be lovely.

 I have the best family in the world! Stay strong and keep smiling! Thanks for all the love and support. I will talk to you in Nicaragua! AHHHHHHHHHHHH. I love this work! Te amo mucho! Padre te amo much! Es un buen ejemplo por mi. I miss usted mucho pero yo se que este es que i am suppose hacer. Te amo much! Hable a usted en Nicaragua! xoxoxoxo te amooo!!!! pray for my espanol porque es no bueno. are some photos from my time at the Mexico CCM-

Me, my companion and instructors

Hermano Gutierrez  (instructor)

Dancing in the rain

Hermana Dewey (instructor)

Scripture Power-Sister Style!

It's what we do!

New scripture covers

Yeah it is going to be a long day! Nat that is so awesome!! good job!! you are the best runner in utah! If only I was that good. You will have to hurry and get me in shape when I get home because I haven't exercised hard since I left home and I eat so much here haha. But that is so awesome! I am so proud of you! I am going to need some clothes later in my mission that is for sure! Ah I miss your cooking so bad. That sounds SOOO good right now. Mom your cooking has always been good! I miss it so much! Even the shepherds pie is heaven to stuff here. Ah grandma's bread also sounds lovely! I love how everyone is wearing the braclets. makes me feel loved! Love you all!! you soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much!!

Where did the month go?

Buenos tardes familia! So I have officially been out a month. Wait what?! Seriously it was yesterday that you guys dropped me off at the airport. So crazy! It is even crazier to think that in 13 days i will be in Nicaragua. I am not ready at all I feel like! I still am not even close in mastering the spanish language. But hopefully when I am surrounded by espanol in Nicaragua I will just be able to start picking up on the language! I loved reading all of you emails this week! I also got a lot of letters to which is always a tender mercy. I AM SO EXCITED FOR RUBY AND SARAH!!! Annie and I were talking and she said she knew where they were going. So she told me and I literally started jumping up and down with excitement! Everyone was looking at me like I was loco but who cares. I am SO excited for them! It is so awesome how all these girls are going! Represent sisters! So this week a lot of people left leaving my comp and two other hermanas the ONLY hermanas in our zone. It is kinda lonely! But it is kinda fun being the oldest and acting like you know what is going on when most of the time you don't. So answering your question mom, YES i can call home when I get to the airport so I will keep you updated on when i keep my flight itinerary so we can talk. Mostly likely it will be at like 4 in the morning your time....so your choice but I would love to hear all of your lovely voices!

So this week has been a full week of really highs and really lows. Hopefully I will become more stable in the mission field because this is exhausting feeling all of these emotions!  On saturday night, an Elder in my district gave a lesson on pride. Wow was that needed for me. I realized that I had been very prideful and just focusing on myself, not on the companionship. The Lord doesn't call just one person to teach, he calls two. This was a very humbly experience for me. 

You know how in the story of the brother of Jared how he says he was chastened by the Lord for three hours? This is how I felt basically for the past 6 days. Which in the long run was very helpful! I learned a lot about my weaknesses which according to Ether 12:27, if I turned to the Lord he will make them my strengths. This previous week I have been so emotional. The most emotional I have ever been in my life which looking back is very embarrassing.  God knows me and is looking out for me. Though this week has been the hardest week yet, I have learned SO much! I think I needed this in order to focus me on the path the Lord wants me to go.

Since I have been here, I felt like I haven't been trying my hardest and have been focusing on myself. This trial helped me realize I need to forget myself and go to WORK. Hermana Dewey gave my district an essay called The Fourth Missionary. I read the essay and it was exactly what I needed to hear. The main theme was, what kind of person will you become? Corbridge, the author, then goes on in depth describing four types of missionary, four being the best. The fourth missionary surrenders himself to the Lord and serves with all of his heart. I realized I needed to forget about what I miss at home and give everything I have for the Lord for the next 17 months. By submitting ourselves to the work of the Lord, the Lord can change us for the better. (Go to the bottom of the letter to see this awesome quote and then continue reading) How true is that statement! It helped me evaluate myself causing me to realize I have been the third missionary. In my journal i wrote a promise to myself to help me be the fourth missionary. I am just going to write what I wrote in my journal: "I make a promise now and for the rest of my mission that I will serve the people and not focus on myself. I will forget myself and go to work. I will work my hardest and serve others. This is the Lord's time and I need to use it to the fullest. I will strive to become the missionary that God knows I can be and I will strive to become like my Savior." This experience that I had helped me evaluate the missionary that I am right now which I know I can be better. Though It was hard, it was worth it! So don't be worried about me because I am all good! God has taken good care of me haha. Same with all of the wonderful people here! I learned that I can turn to my Savior and he will help me. Also, it is all about attitude! I can choose whether I am going to be happy or sad and I choose to always look on the positive!

This week has been so awesome with our investigators Juan and Juana! So the past couple of lessons with Juana have been kinda bad. She hasn't been progressing and has refused to pray. My comp and I decided to have a really good planning session to know what we needed to teach Juana for her to open her heart. Last time we taught, we told Juana to read Mormon 9 so as a companionship, we read it and then discussed what we felt guided by the Spirit to teach. We both felt like we needed to talk about faith, specifically verse 27 in the chapter. Before we went and taught, we prayed that we would be guided by the Spirit and know what to teach Juana. The lesson stared and we asked Juana what verse stood out to her from the chapter we gave her to read. She said she was impressed by verse 27. AHHH!! I was freaking out! The Holy Ghost totally guided us to teach her about faith. So we taught her and at the end of the lesson we asked her to pray...and she said YES! This experience taught me to rely on the Spirit to know what my investigators need. The exact same experience happened to us when we taught Juan and this other investigator Carlos this week! The spirit is the essential teacher! I have really learned that only through the Spirit is when others become converted unto Christ.

This week I started to read Jesus the Christ. It is so good and intriguing! I cant put it down! I love the different insights and in depth the book goes. So if any of you want to learn more about Christ, read that book! Yesterday was a pretty good day! Hermana Hall and Hermana Lesher, my roommates, finally pranked back me and hermana Rogers! they switched all of the clothes in our closets with each others clothes! It was so funny! I opened my closet and freaked. Where are my clothes. hahaha I was laughing so hard when I figured out what was going on! Also, last night me and Hermana Rogers were saying how we sing better low than high. So we started singing all these hymns in man voices and man it is sad how good we were. President Pratt and his wife were in their car in front of our casa and we were scared they were going to come and check on us because it sounded like there was Elders in our Room! Don't worry they didn't though. Anyway, just a fun little moment of my week! I will never understand how when you are a missionary everything is funny. I like it though because I love to laugh!

Well I loved hearing all of your emails this week! You are in my prayers every day! I wrote letters today and sent them so expect a letter coming your way! Sorry it took me so long. I am guessing they will get there in two weeks! I hope you all have a great week! LOVE YOU!!!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Howell

Quote of the week: "The Lord will create of you a masterpiece. You will create of you only a smudge. You will create an ordinary man; He will create a God."

A missionary who can laugh, lasts!

Here are some pictures from this week! Yesterday POURED here. Seriously I have never seen rain come down sooo hard. So I went and played in it! Everyone else was chicken. So that is what picture 2 is, me soaking wet. Except you cant really see it!

I JUST WENT TO THE POST OFFICE AND SAW THE NOTICE I HAD A PACKAGE AND STARTED SCREAMING WITH JOY!!! THANK YOU SO SO SOS OS OSOS OS MUCH!!!!  i absolutely love it! I love everything in it! I have the BEST FAMILY IN THE WORLD!! you honestly don't know how much packages mean here. Its like becoming a millionaire!! i haven't been able to read all your sweet notes yet but i devoured aunt steph's cookie and it was soooooo GOOD!!!!! thank you!!!!!! I love you all SO STINKIN MUCH!!!!

Buenas tardes familia! Como esta? Okay I just love you all so much! i hope you know that. Thank you for sending me weekly emails and always uplifting me. I need it so much and am so grateful! Especially thank you for the AMAZING package. My heart is still beating from all the excitement. I loved it. I got sooo many letters this week! THANK YOU!! Shout out to Becca, Em, and Morg for their awesome letters and for Grandma and Grandpa´s letter! I loved them all so much! I also got some dear elders this week I think from you mom so thank you! Honestly, last week was hard but God totally made this week amazing by giving me all this support and love through letters from home. Letters take forever to get here though so just a heads up, don't send anything after next week. I print off you emails and read them again and again throughout the week, so keep sending emails :)So this week totally compensated for the hard week last week. I have never felt so love, happy, and close to the savior before in my life. There is soooo much to say and it is sooo hard to decide what to write each week! I would probably be on the computer for at least 5 hours emailing everyone back if I could. So I am SO sorry I haven't been able to write everyone personally back. Know i love hearing from all of you! Oh and side note, is 6 days I will have been here in the CCm for a month...ummm wait what? YEAH SO CRAZY!!!

This week has been so amazing. Let me start out with I just have the most amazing teachers ever. Hermana Dewey and Hermano Gutierrez teach in the morning and Hermana Wilson teach at night. So this week, Hermana Dewey was talking to us and asked us a question that has impressed me all week: what is your life word? A life word is a word that describes what you aim for in life. This question really puzzled me and caused me to ponder what my life word is. After much contemplation, I came up with two life words: radiate and forward. Radiate for me means to radiate joy, love, and Christ. I want so badly to radiate the light of Christ. I want to radiate joy from my eyes and happiness through my smile. Forward for me means continue forward. Not to hard to understand but i think its a great principle. During hard times in life all we can do is move forward. Moving backwards gets you nowhere in life. You must keep moving forward. I challenge all of you to think of your life word. It helps you so much focus on what you want in life and helps you strive to be a better person. I love it!

God just knows me too well and knows what exactly I need in my life. I have had so many tender mercies this week it just blows my mind. So last week was rough I will admit that. I definitely felt the power of the adversary trying to get down on me. In class, Hermana Dewey could tell that we were all having a hard time. After lunch, my district all came back for language study but it ended up as wonderful testimony meeting. Elder Diaz said that Hermana Dewey wanted him and two other elders in my district to bear their testimony to the rest of us. They all shared their feelings how they have been having a lot of doubts and their faith is being tested. I have been been feeling the exact same way so it was great to hear others going through the same thing I was! We all helped each other out so much and I could just feel the saviors love for all of us. Everyone bore their testimonies and the spirit was so sweet and strong. I knew that God was mindful of what every one of us were going through. It was definitely another experience that brought out district closer together!

Hermana Dewey challenged all of us to get to know the Mexican workers because most of them aren't members. So during exercise time, Hermana Rogers and I had the opportunity to talk to a worker named Moses. He was the sweetest old man ever! He was a member but he was so excited that we were serving missions and he just had so much love for this Gospel! I had so much fun talking to him. Another time this week, Hermana Rogers and I saw a worker just hanging out on a bench so we decided to go up and talk to him. His name is Jose and he is Catholic. I didn't understand really anything he was saying but he was a really sweet old guy. So we got to knew him a little and then said adios. Well later in the week, we were walking around campus in the morning and we walked by Jose. He recognized us so we said hello and chatted in our awful spanish for a little bit. Well he said something in spanish to us but we didn't understand so we just said bye. DUMB move on our part. About an hour later, we were sitting in class and we both suddenly realized he told us he had a question to ask us. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? AHH!!! He could have been wanting to know about the church and we just walked away. Smooth. I was totally freaking out. I said a prayer that we would be able to find Jose and redeem ourselves. MIRACLES HAPPEN PEOPLE!! Literally five minutes later, we were walking in the hall and I look out the window and guess who it is. Yep Jose. So we run to him and say lo siento and ask Usted tiene una pregunta? He just wanted to know what our names were again...but at least we redeemed ourselves! How cool would it be if I baptize someone before leaving the CCM...new goal. Jose better watch out because I am coming to teach him all the lessons!

On night in Class, Hermana Wilson had us pray about a problem we were having in our life and then as a district we read from Moroni 10. I prayed to help me be a better missionary. Miracle happen and God answers prayers. As we were reading from the chapter, my prayer was answered. In the tenth chapter of Moroni, it talks about different gifts that God has given all of his children. We are all different so we all have different gifts from God which i needed to remember. God has blessed me with certain gifts that make me a great missionary. These gifts are what will help me bring others to Christ. I realized I have special gifts and I need to strengthen my gifts so I can utilize them to the fullest abilities! After I received this revelation thing, I was like..okay what are my gifts? God continues to answer prayers. The next morning, Hermana Dewey had each of us write down spiritual gifts of each other. My district is just the sweetest. They wrote down the nicest things about me. I know that if you all have a question, pray to god, and you WILL find your answer in the scriptures. You have to have FAITH. God loves you SO much so why wouldn't he answer our prayers? He always does. Maybe not in that moment, but he will answer our prayers. So pray always!

I have begun to realize that I am more like Dad after all. I am obsessed with pulling pranks. So I had this great idea to prank the Elders in my district. I told them that we had to sing on Sunday in sacrament. First, our elders DO NOT like to sing. Second, our district sounds terrible at singing. Anyways, I was dying with laughter because they were all freaking out that we had to sing!! They picked the hymn Praise To The Man and started practicing it. So they practiced it a lot Saturday and Sunday so we started to sound not to bad. Well the prank kinda backfired on me. I was going to tell our Bishop that the Elders in our district had prepared a song to sing in sacrament so me and my comp didn't have to sing. Well Elder Najarian was talking to the Bishop and somehow he found out we were preparing a song. I don't really know what happened next because I was in another room but suddenly I had everyone around me sooo confused what was going on. Our Bishop thought we wanted to sing, our elders found out we didn't have to sing, and it just got messy. So we did end up singing in sacrament! IT WAS SO FUNNY! All of the elders thought it was a pretty good prank other than two. Two elders were ticked but whatever they got over it. So I must say it was a pretty good one. Well once you play a prank on a elder, they just have to prank you hard core back. So later during Sunday we were all studying, which is a first, in class. Elder Christensen walked in the classroom and told Elder Najarain that Elder Gibb needed to talk to him. So Elder Najarain leaves and comes back in looking very sad and disturbed. Elder Gibbs walks in the classroom crying and announces to everyone that he has something he needs to tell us. He said he just finished talking with President Pratt and because he didn't resolve some things at home, he was being sent home. My stomach and jaw just dropped. Like I was in complete shock. My eyes started to water and I just wanted to give Elder Gibb a big hug! He then said he had to go back and pack. He left the room and looked at Elder Najarian who looked like he was going to cry. All of a sudden Elder Gibb runs back in to the room yelling GOTCHA! AHHHH ARE YOU KIDDING!?! you can not mess with my emotions like that. I wanted to hit him but remembered I cant touch boys so I threw my scriptures at him, don't think that was a good thing either, but he caught them so its all good. hahahah they totally got us back so good! it took me about an hour though to calm my emotions down though. I guess it is not a good thing being that gullible! I love my district!

So now back to spiritual stuff because that is what missionaries do. On Sunday night we watched the church movie about Christ, To This End Was I Born. Wow what an incredible movie. My heart ached as I watched my savior suffer for everyones sins and then sacrifice his life in order for all of us to return to live with our Father in Heaven again. For the past couple of months, I have wanted more than ever to become closer to Christ. And can I say I am already starting to grow so close to him. I never really understood how to utilize the Atonement but I have definitely started to gain a deeper understanding. The Atonement is simple amazing. We can become clean of all of our sins if we just humbly go before God and ask for forgiveness and then strive to follow his commandments. I am forever indebted to my Savior. He has strengthened me so much since I have been here. I have become to understand the love he has for me and everyone else. I challenge you all that if your relationship is not close with Christ, STRENGTHEN IT!! He knows exactly how you are feeling because he has experienced it. I have never felt so much love and peace from anyone as much as I have from Christ. I know that as your pray, read the book of mormon, and follow Christ's footsteps, you will come to know Christ more.

As much as Christ loves you all, I DO TOO!! I feel so grateful to have such a wonderful family who supports me, loves me, taught me correct principles, and who is close like a family should be! I couldn't express how much I am thankful for all the letters and emails. I pray for each and every one of you daily. Keep being amazing people! I love you all SO SO SO MUCH!!! have a wonderful week and I am already looking forward to hearing from you next week!! LOVE YOU!!!

Con MUCHO amor,

Hermana Howell

Favorite quote of the week: "Live in such a way that people who know you but don't know Christ will want to know Christ because they know you." David Burton

P.S. Update me on your lives pleaseeee. Also don't judge if I start to look fat in my pictures I send, I have lost all desire to exercise and my stomach is now an endless pit. I am trying to keep strong! anyways, love you!!

Mexicans know how to party!!

Hola Familia!!

 

Como esta? It is soo weird to think that this is my third week here at the CCM. I cant tell if it has gone by fast or slow haha. Thanks for all the wonderful emails! I love hearing what everyone is doing at home! Sorry I don't have enough time to individually email everyone back but hearing what is going on in the real world helps keep me sane! haha the other day my district and I were saying how we don't know what is happening in the world and one of the elders said the US attacked Syria. Well we all believed him and were freaking out! haha but that actually didn't happen so its all good. 

 

So mom, you were asking what my typical day is like here so here it is! Wake up at 6:30, get ready till 7, breakfast till 7:30, class till 12, lunch, class from 1 to 5:30, dinner, class from 6:15 to 9:30, go back to our casa for personal study and to get ready for bed, lights out at 10 30. Yeah its a lot of studying which is kinda killing me but whatever. Its chill. Our district has fun! I would take this schedule over sitting at home doing nothing. So this week nothing to exciting has happened. Its just another day here like it would be at home! This week we got two new investigators: Juana and Juan. What are the odds that both of the investigators have similar names! haha we finished teaching Carol and committed her to baptism! So that was cool. Well Carol, who is really Hermana Wilson, is now our night teacher and I love her! It is slightly awkward because I have had many awkward times with teaching her as she pretends to be investigators. Anyways, the two new investigators are acted by Hermana Wilson and Hermano Gutierezz who are both my teachers. So it is weird teaching them and then turning around and having them teach me! On Monday, me and Hermana Rogers taught Juana that night...yeah it didn't go too well. We kinda had a laugh attack all day and were struggling focusing. We didn't really plan which made it impossible for the spirit to be there when we were teaching her. We asked her to be baptized and we got shut down. It was frustrating because we weren't working together as a companionship but from that experience it helped us learn what we need to do to teach Juan the next morning. The lesson with Juan went so good! It was one of our best lessons yet. Hermana Rogers and I spoke equally the same amount, we had the spirit, the conversation just flowed like how a normal person would talk, and we committed him to baptism and to coming to church this Sunday on the FIRST lesson! So that was exciting! Except we taught for 35 minutes and we got a little in trouble because we were only suppose to teach for 20...oops. But it felt nice to finally have a good lesson!

 

I CAN NOT BELIEVE Hermana Rogers grandpa is in our ward! What a small world. Her dad actually emailed her today too and told her! So awesome! I absolutely love my companion! Its scary how similar we are. I really was blessed with such an awesome companion. She likes vintage stuff like I do! haha. We get along great. We have had so much fun this week! I don't think I have laughed so hard over the dumbest stuff then I have this week. 

 

Anyways, last weekend was Mexico´s independence day and it was CRAZY! We had a cultural event on Saturday night and watched a Mexican cultural video, there were dancers and singers, and we sang the national anthem like 10 times. But the Latinos here were going crazy! I am pretty sure they were screaming the whole hour and a half we were there. I don't know why Americans aren't that excited for the fourth of July. I wanted to join them! Bombs, fireworks, and gunshots were going off all night but luckily I some how feel asleep! Haha President Pratt told us after the cultural event was over to hurry back to our casas because bullets could fall inside the huge compound wall surrounding the CCM and someone could get hit. We definitely all RAN home. My district always pulls pranks on me and my comp because we are sooo gullible so we decided to get them back. The next morning, we told the elders that Hermana Rogers got hit by a bullet and we were at the hospital all night. They didn't believe us. It was worth a try though! haha we will have to get them next time. Throughout the week, in the comedor we were given Mexican candy which is Gross. It straight up tastes like Styrofoam and chalk. And they just chili pepper powder in most of the candy too.

 

So Spanish is coming i guess.....I feel like I am just slaughtering the language when I try to speak to someone. Like today I was sitting next to a Latina at lunch and I am talking to her in SPANISH and she replies, Lo siento no hablo ingles. I AM FREAKING SPEAKING SPANISH!!!! ugh. It was annoying. I cant really understand what half of the investigators we teach say so I just straight up rely on the spirit to guide me what to say because i have NO idea what they are trying to say. For ejemplo, Juana says that her dad died three years ago. I reply with a smile "bien". Yeah not exactly good! haha but I am just keeping on trying. It will eventually come! I have to keep reminding myself that Spanish wont just come in three weeks!  

 

So, Sundays here are probably the best thing ever! I LOVE THEM! Well here at the CCM, our branch president announces after the sacrament who is going to speak in the sacrament meeting. Which is so TERRIFYING!!! Everyone prepares a talk during the week so everyone is somewhat prepared. Oh and they encourage you to give the whole talk in the lovely idioma de espanol. So I am just chilling there in sacrament when I heard Hermana Howell will be speaking. UM WHAT. hahaha surprisingly I actually kinda expected it. I guess I was being prepared by the Spirit! Anyways, it went pretty well! I wasn't nervous at all and went up there and had a good time! It was actually kinda fun! My topic was on the Holy ghost. My talk was Spanglish! ya know..Spanish and English. But everyone said I did a good job and didn't even look nervous so that was great!

 

AHHH YAY I AM GETTING A PACKAGE!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!  Seriously, packages are like christmas here! SO THANK YOU!!! So how has everyone' week been? I hope everyone is doing well!! I am going to try to write you all a personal lettter this week!! I love you all so much! Thanks for all the love and support! I couldnt do it without all of you!! Have a great week!! LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!

 

Con much amor,

 

Hermana Howell

 

Scripture of the week: Galations 2:20. I just love this scripture!! It just makes you think. And i guess I like it because I am an englihs major haha

I feel like I am on a roller coaster!

Hola Familia!

 

Wow let me just start out with THANK YOU for everyones sweet emails! and letters. Oh and I got the meds with the note so thank you for that. I haven't received any dear elders so just a heads up to everyone that whatever you are doing is not working. Okay SO much happened this week! First off, we can get packages here! So if you are feeling generous I would LOVE some more mints and a long raincoat that is preferably cute. No one told me it was going to be freezing here! It rains every day and all I have are clothes for hot weather! But luckily today and yesterday it has been warmer. And we finally saw the sun!! It was so nice to see that haha.

 

So Mexico. Is. Crazy. The driving here should not be legal. But it is so gorgeous! All of the buildings are so colorful I love it! The people are all friendly. So the three sounds of Mexico are car horns, sirens, and bombs. Everyday some sort of bomb or something goes off and freaks everyone out haha. I guess it helps us stay alert during all of the studying! The CCM is right by this gorgeous lush mountain with these colorful houses and I get to see that view every morning. I love it! The CCM is so nice. The casas are pretty nice other than the bathrooms and floors are disgusting. Like our shower is so clogged with hair that it floods the whole bathroom every time one of us shower. Don't worry mom, I wear my flip flops all the time! I am so excited for this Friday because it is Mexico independence day! Which means all the missionaries are going to get zero sleep. The parties here are crazy. There was one last week; people were screaming and playing drums which i guess are the things to play here! yeah none of us got sleep.

 

My companion is Whitney Rogers who was the girl I told you to look up on facebook! We have gotten along great! We are actually pretty similar. She is a health freak as you all call too so we help each other eat somewhat healthy here and exercise! She is more reserved than I am which sometimes is hard because i just want to be a little crazy at times but we get along which i am so grateful for! So guess what. You know how I was telling you about Hermana Hall last week? We are roommates! How cool is that?! Her comp is Hermana Lesher who is going to Nicaragua too! So we have fun in our room. We have different schedules so I don't really see them that much but I love them! My district is just awesome. There are 8 elders and just the 2 hermanas. I wish we had more sisters but it whatever. We have fun! The 8 elders are seriously awesome! Elder Najaraian is our district leader and he is just the coolest! The first day I met the other Nicaragua sisters and can I just say I am so lucky! They are AWESOME. Hermana Cara Behan and Hermana Natalee Hawkins are hilarious. Seriously I laugh so hard when I am with them. I am friends with them on fb too so go stalk them haha. I am just blessed with all these amazing people! I also see Annie here and there, and also Maddy Collier. Three girls from my byu hall in Taylor are here and SO many oly kids are here. I feel famous because I am always saying hi to people haha:) Like me and Arecenio, Sammy Watchman, Will Christensen, Aaaron Toro, Nate Meyer, and some others are all friends! 

 

The food is..well I thought it was great until yesterday! I have so much fruit here that it is messing with my digestive system if you know what I mean haha. There is tons of rice, potatoes, meat, carbs and this kinda french like pastries. I have avoided the beans! So that has been so nice. So i am eating pretty great! Pretty sure I am going to pack on the pounds though because of all the carbs. Mom you know me, bread is my weakness;) SO about yesterday. I ate lunch which was this meat thing which i I thought was good, BROCCOLI (there is like no veggies here so I loved it) and some fruit. Well I find out last night that the meat I liked was COW TONGUE: AHHHHHHH hahahah my face was priceless when this hermana told me that. I guess it was in the shape of a tongue. Gross. But the best quote ever was from Hermana Hawkins: "Hermanas, we just french kissed a dead cow." we were all DYING of laughter. Basically anything that happens is funny to missionaries. So dad you are right, i am pretty sure that spaghetti sauce game is so fun!

 

So moving on to a more spiritual note. Wow this week has been a roller coaster of different emotions. Honestly it has felt like I have been gone for a year. Not 8 days. The first day of class was pretty awful. The teachers just started talking in Spanish which just made me overwhelmed because I had no idea what they were saying. By the way, my teachers are awesome! I was praying for the gift of tongues and nothing was happening. I learned that you have to put EFFORT into learning the language. It just doesn't come. Surprise huh? HA. Well the gift of tongues is so real! I have been studying and learning so much! I am understanding a lot and learning how to speak the language. When my comp and I are teaching our investigator, words spill out of my mouth and I know it is not me saying them. Its so amazing. AH there has been so much spiritual things that happened this week I don't know which ones to tell you! The spirit here is just amazing. I have never felt the spirit so much in my life. I love it. I guess I will just focus on two experiences that happened this week. (Lo siento I am running out of time. Stupid timer)

 

So first, teaching my investigator. I definitely didn't know three days after you get here you have to teach your investigator in Spanish. Me and my comp taught out first lesson to Carol, our investigator, and it went fine. We didn't feel the spirit really strong and Carol wasn't progressing any where. The second lesson was quite something though! So me and hermana rogers were teaching Carol about the first vision. Carol read the first vision in JS words and I ask her if she feels the spirit. Every missionaries worst nightmare, she says NO. Um what in the world do you do when that happens? haha I am sure the look of our faces was great, wide eyed and opened mouths! I wanted to have carol feel the spirit so bad so I prayed that I would know what to do. All of a sudden out comes from my mouth, "Carol can we sing you a hymn?" HAHAHA my comps face! She doesn't like to sing and her face was priceless! She was a good sport and went with it though. Well problem. We don't know any hymns in Spanish so we decided to sing families can be together forever. We start singing and then realize we are singing the chorus! hahah my comp starts laughing, then carol starts laughing, then I start laughing! Hahah it was bad. I got my comp to focus and we decided to sing I am a child of god. That really brought the spirit. My and my comp were really frustrated because we felt like we didn't have the spirit while teaching Carol. So we asked our elders in our district to give us a blessing and then we prayed so hard to be guided by the spirit to know what to say. Our third lesson was awesome. WE taught by the spirit and not by Spanish! Carol said she felt the spirit! AH it made me so happy. I cant wait have so many more experiences like that in Nicaragua.

 

Yesterday was a day that really brought my district together. We had a devotional and at the end of the devotional President Pratt told Elder Christensen, who is in my district, to come up after. Uh yeah that is not good. The rest of the district went back to the class to wait for him and his comp to return. I just didn't have a good feeling and felt like something happened to his family. I told my district my feelings and Elder najarian suggested we say a prayer which we did. Elder Christensen walked in and told us his grandma passed away. It just broke my heart. Yes i cried. He shared some amazing insights that the Lord had given him that day and he bore his testimony. There was such a sweet spirit in the room that no one wanted to break. We all gave him encouragement and became like a family. We all kinda bore our testimonies about the plan of salvation. you know how grandpa told me there were other people on the veil helping me on my mission? I told Elder Christensen that and how his grandma was with him. Ah the spirit was so strong. Elders were crying, my comp was crying, I was crying. It was such an amazing experience. So keep Elder Christensen and his family in your prayers! It sounds like his family needs them.

 

I have learned so much here already its crazy! Sundays here are seriously the best day every! You are just so spiritually fed. This week I have relied so much on our Savior to get through this. Most every morning I wake up wondering how I can do this for 18 months. But before I know it, it is the end of the day! He has given me so much strength and comfort. I know this will be hard. That is why it is called missionary WORK. I love the quote, a mission isn't easy because salvation isn't easy. SO TRUE. I love it here! It is hard and I think about you all a lot but I know it is what I am suppose to be doing. I love you all SO much! I am so grateful to have a loving family who supports me and has taught me correct gospel principles.

 

LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! Try to write me because I have no time to email everyone! AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GRANDMA!!!! I HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT BIRTHDAY!!!! Have a wonderful week and I cant wait to hear from you all next week!! love you love you love you!

 

Con mucho amor,

 

Hermana Howell

 

Oh and my p days are Wednesday so you should get an email every Wednesday but not at the same time each week! I went to the temple today, it is so gorgeous! I thought of you aunt steph with decorating the temples! I loved it!

I made it!!!!

HOLA FAMILIA!!!!!

I made it safely to Mexico with all of my luggage! Woohoo! Oh my goodness this day feels like a year. I went to my terminal and there were TONS of missionaries. I joined three other sisters. There were like 20 elders there too. Sister Hall, who was the girl this morning in front of us at check in, and Sister Scott, and Sister Dawn were all on the same flight. Hermana Hall and I just clicked! haha its like we are already best friends. Don't even really know her but she is the sweetest girl and we just get along great so that is good! We met up with more missionaries at the Arizona airport and then hopped on our way to Mexico. Okay Mexico is crazy! It was raining when I got here. It is so pretty here. I love the colors, they are so fun! It still doesn't feel real that I am not coming home for 18 months, I cant really think about it or I get emoitonal so moving on....THANK YOU ALL For your sweet letter! I loved them so so much! I met Cara, Natalee, and Whitney who are all in my mission! They are all so sweet! Cara told me that my companion is Whitney Rogers. She seems like a sweet girl. Oh, and everyone speaks spanish here. Well obvi cause it is Mexico but I feel so dumb. I just nod and smile. Whatever it will come! I already had an embarrasing moment with my insane luggage. DAD you are right. I should have only taken 2 suitcases. I literally cannot walk with all my luggage. Anyways, I hopped on this ramp, which was moving, didn't know that, almost fell over, my luggage is pulling me back, everyone is laughing at me but its okay! hahaha it was funny. Okay well I am starving so i am going to go eat but I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! I couldn't do this without all of your love and support. GUYS I am a missionary! This is crazy! Okay much love! Keep smiling!

Con MUCHO amor,

Hermana Howell

The Call

I had looked forward to the first weekend of October since the first day of school started. Having started my freshman year at college, I missed by friends from high school and I looked forward with anticpation for October fifth; the Utah State vs. BYU football game. All of my high school friends planned on coming down to BYU for the game and then staying the night. What even brought more excitement was what would happen the next morning on October sixth; General Conference would begin and the first mission call of my friends would be opened.


The morning of October sixth eventually came and we all gathered at my friend's house. After making guesses on where he would be called to serve, the envelope was opened and the call was read; he would be serving in the Moscow Russia mission. Only minutes later, one of my friend's mom made the announcement that in the General Conference session that morning, President Monson had changed the mission age. Boys could now go on a mission at eighteen and girls would be able to go at nineteen. It was interesting to feel the atmosphere in the room change so rapidly. A still quietness settled into the room for just a moment. Soon phones were taken out, quickly dialing Bishops about starting mission papers, and not before long all of my guy friends had started their mission papers within a couple of days. In that moment the thought impacted me: I could serve a mission.
For the next six months I pondered about whether I should serve a mission or not. I felt in my heart I knew I was going to serve a mission but my mind kept on questioning the idea. I constantly prayed to know if I needed to serve a mission. Over time, the answer slowly came little by little. I would have small impressions that guided me towards deciding to serve a mission. I had many experiences where I would open the Book of Mormon and I would turn to a scripture that was about missionary work. I came to a point where I realized it was ultimately my choice; serving a mission or continuing my education would be equally good choices. One evening while I was reading my scriptures, I read a passage that impacted me; "where much is given, much is required." That passage helped me realize how blessed I am to have the Gospel in my life. I wanted to share the Gospel with others because of the happiness and peace the Gospel brings into my life. It was in that moment when I decided to serve a mission and I began the process of submitting my mission papers.
On April seventeenth, 2013,  I received the call to serve in the Nicaragua Managua North Mission. I could not be more grateful and excited for the opportunity I have to serve a mission. I am so excited to share the knowledge with the people of Nicaragua that Heavenly Father loves them and has a wonderful plan for each and every one of them. Though there are moments when I am terrified at the thought of stepping onto a plane and going to a foreign county for eighteen months, Heavenly Father strengthens me and helps remember why I decided to serve a mission. I feel so blessed to be apart of this marvelous work and look forward to the wonderful experiences Nicaragua has waiting for me.