Thank you to all who have written me! I am sorry If I couldn´t reply but my time is so limited! It makes my day so much better! My district leader handed me a stack of 9 letters today and my compañera about fainted with jealousy! Anyway, the days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like months. Also the keyboard here is in Spanish so it says I am spelling everything wrong so sorry if I have typos! THe CMM is beautiful and the food is great! There are Jacaranda trees lining the streets and palm trees and rainbow colored casas which makes it feel like a bit of a paradise. But it is so hard!!! Traveling was fine, I couldn´t find the guy who was supposed to pick me up in Mexico so I was freaking out attempting to use a pay phone but I couldn´t understand the directions so it was a mess and it wouldn´t work. A random Good Samaritan took pity on me and let me use his cell phone. My compañera, Hermana Nelson, is also going to Tuxtla Gutierrez. We get along pretty well. The 2 other Hermanas in my district are going to Merida and the 4 Elders are also going to Tuxtla. So it´s a party. This is for sure the hardest thing I have ever done though. I had a bit of a break down my first few days. There was crying for sure. Everyone says it’s hard, but I didn´t expect it to be this hard! The second (full day) day Hermana Nelson and I had to teach our investigator, Juan, the first lesson. ¡EN ESPAÑOL! Which neither of us know! It was very hard and we have taught him 5 lessons since. It got easier and easier each time and my Spanish is definitely getting better, I study vocab alll thhee tiimmmeee. Some random thoughts I´d like to share:
La comida en el comedor es muy delicioso.
It’s hard to fall asleep and hard to wake up.
The best part of my day is putting on my nametag. It means something! I am putting on His name and that is a mantle!
Spark is the only thing that keeps me awake with 16 hour days and only 30 min breaks for desayuno, almuerzo y cena.
I am trying to learn Spanish as fast as possible. We are encouraged to speak it as much as possible and our teachers always speak to us in Spanish.
The purple trees are amazing and there are flowers EVERYWHERE.
It is so hard to be with a compañera ALL THE TIME. She´s great, but alone time is really nice. We can´t ever be alone except for when we are in a one stall bathroom or in an interview. It’s hard, but I´m adjusting.
There´s not enough time in the day for all the things we do! We have to study language so much and prep for teaching investigators that I actually wish there was more time for scripture study! Without a phone or breaks, we don´t really have a way to decompress... except for gym time and scripture study!
I am so tired of wearing skirts all the time!
Pray for me to have the Gift of Tongues and for me to have motivation to study!
We never stop working, but it is great work!
In the beginning my knees had bruises because we pray so many times a day on the hard floor!
I have 2 morning teachers and 2 in the afternoon. One of them served in Tuxtla so she tells us all about it! I can´t wait! Also apparently they speak faster Spanish down there than other part of Mexico so I am in for a treat!
A normal day: Up at 6:30, in class at 7 for personal study. 7:30 breakfast. Classes from 8-12:30 in spanish, the Book of Mormon, ect. lunch, gym time, then teaching investigator Juan. More class. Dinner at 6, then more study time after dinner. Classes, study, practice, go home at 9:30 and get ready for bed, write in journal, lights out at 10:30. It´s a very long day every day. A roller coaster of emotions some days.
Despite all the hardships though, I really do love it here! It is so amazing to be learning things that aren´t for me but rather so I can teach people the gospel.
Quick spiritual thought:
Hermano Cates was teaching us about el don de lenguas- the gift of tongues. He said, "Al que cree todo le es posible." Its in the Bible somewhere, but when he said it, I started crying from the power behind it! It (roughly) means, For him that believes, anything is possible. I HAVE to believe that I can learn Spanish and that I can make it out of here alive! It´s going to be a struggle every day, but only through struggle and pressure can there be a catalyst for change and a chance to grow. I miss everyone from home SO MUCH but they keep us busy enough that my mind is usually focused on Spanish and conjugations and learning preterit and imperfect and irregular tenses and all that jazz.
LOVE YOU ALL! I wish I had more time to write everything else but this will have to do. Never underestimate the power of prayer and I thank you all for yours!
Con Amor, Hermana Dangl
You can send an email to:
letter at mtcmexicocarepackage.com then they print it out and put it in her box everyday. She can see these everyday. She can only check her email (katelynne.dangl at myldsmail.net) every Thursday. So take advantage of this free service for the next 5 weeks while she is in the Missionary Training Center. Let’s fill her box with good wishes, kudos, prayers, scriptures, uplifting thoughts, etc. This time in the MTC to learn the language is intense and a complete immersion into the language. She needs our prayers right now to help her learn all she can to prepare her to communicate with the people in Tuxtla Gutierrez.
(This is my companion, Hermana Nelson)
(My first P-Day... Yea!)
