Hello Family!
First, I thought that I should tell you two very important things: My P-Day is Thursday, so I can only receive and respond to all of my mail in 30 minutes (sometimes they are nice and give us an hour, like today). Also, I get to skype for mother´s day! My time is at 4:00 here, 8:00 am in Utah. I set up this time before hearing about Mike, so I am not sure how that is going to work out. I will talk to the President and ask if I can have special permission to Skype my family in Utah and call Mom in California. I am sure that he will let me do that.
Second, I am finally in Spain! I apologize for my last letter. It was so short. They only gave us 5 minutes and told us that we would be able to write more the next day, but then they changed their minds. I know that you are in the dark about a lot of things, and I feel like I have been here an eternity, so I will try to point out some of the most important things to talk about.
My trip to Spain was, to say the least, exhausting. I was on an airplane for 14 hours, 11 of it from Atlanta to Madrid. I sat next to my future companion from SLC to Atlanta (although we didn´t know it yet), and by a nice couple from...guess!...Boston. We shared our mutual love for the city, and they were awed at the number of missionaries on the plane. They didn´t know who the ¨Mormon kids¨ were, but they were so impressed that we would choose to leave our families to go to a foreign country without knowing the language to preach the Gospel. Did I convert them? No. But I planted a seed. Success!
When we got to the airport in Madrid, we could tell that we were somewhere different. We were all exhausted (there were about 30 of us), but somehow not tired enough to sleep on the airplane. We couldn´t find the MTC President for the LONGEST time, and for a moment, we were really afraid that we wouldn´t be able to even get to the MTC. Imagine 30 20 year old American gringos walking around in suits and dresses in a foreign airport. It was definitely a sight. We exchanged our money and headed for the MTC.
The MTC is quite a short distance from the airport and about 10 steps from the temple. It´s VERY small. Although the building is big, the MTC part of the building includes just 3 hallways: one for dorms, one for classrooms, and one for the cafeteria. There are 6 main languages spoken here (Spanish, English, French, Portuguese, and Russian) and many people from all over the world who speak other languages. I´ll give you the breakdown:
7 Cape Verdian Elders and Sister (going to Portugal)
2 Tahitian Elders (going to Leon, France)
1 Swedish Sister (going to Paris)
1 Polish Sister (going to Leon, France)
1 Austrian Elder (going to Barcelona)
1 Finnish Elder (going to Madrid)
1 German Elder (going to Portugal)
1 Scottish Elder (going to Barcelona)
1 Canadian Sister (going to Malaga)
1 Russian Sister (going to Russia)
1 Arizonian
1 Washingtonian
1 West Virginian
2 Californians
1 Wyomingian (ok...these are just getting weirder...)
1 Idahoan (from Moscow, ID going to Moscow, Russia...somebody has a sense of humor)
12 Utah Sisters
6 Utah Elders
All of the Elders and Hermanas from the U.S. are going to various Spain missions, but only 6 are going to Madrid (we have the lowest number). I have met so many new people here, and I am grateful for that. Although we speak so many languages, you can feel the spirit EVERY TIME anyone speaks. I know that Heavenly Father understands all of us and that we are meant to be here together. The people that I have met here are my best friends ever. I love each of them so much and will miss them dearly when most of them leave next week. I know that Heavenly Father is blessing me with such great friends!
The second day, we had the opportunity to go to the Madrid temple, some of us for the first time. It was beautiful. I can see why President Hinckley loves this celestial room. It´s the most beautiful that I have ever seen. I felt the spirit so strongly, and it was in the celestial room when I realized how lucky I am to be here and how it was meant to be. I am thankful for that, because this week has not been easy.
On the first day, I realized that I forgot my English scriptures. Holy moly. That was a MAJOR challenge. BUT, I was so blessed. I understand so much of the scriptures now from studying them in Spanish every day, so, even though I am grateful that Mom sent them (yes, they got here in 6 days), I am grateful that I forgot them, because that really helped me.
Our life here is pretty much the same everyday. Wake up at 6, eat breakfast (usually cereal, bread, Nutella, fruit or a pastry), go to class, lunch (yes, it´s a huge meal consisting of rice mixtures, chicken, fish, potatoes, potato chips, and LOTS and LOTS of creama (soup)), more class, physical activity (I treasure this time. Getting out for one hour a day is not enough), dinner (smaller, but still the same concept), more class, snack at 9:10 (always Nutella), and bed at 10:30. I have put vegetables into my body twice this week. Yes, I have been severely constipated for a couple of days. However, we had lentil soup yesterday and I feel so much better. They say that it´s just the food in the MTC that is so unhealthy. Nobody understands it. We´ve been eating so much Nutella that the cook had to hide it from us. I´m not ashamed. I have been sleeping SO WELL. They wouldn´t let us go to bed until 10:00 on the first day, which was the most difficult thing that I´ve ever had to do in my life. I´ve never had jet lag and, thanks to some Tylenol PM, have been sleeping through the night.
Our teachers are the best in the world. They all speak so many languages, are RM´s, and have so much knowledge about the gospel. I am so thankful for them. They are EXTREMELY patient with us, especially because we don´t speak the language. However, they do not speak any English to us. It doesn´t even make me frustrated. I am grateful for their Spanish. It´s helping all of us so much.
My companion´s name is Hermana Coburn. She´s from West Jordan, Utah. She and I are so different and have definitely struggled to find a balance, but we love each other and are working hard to make a lot of progress with our investigators. We get to teach them everyday about the gospel, which is much harder than you think. We have to do it mostly in Spanish. However, the Spanish isn´t the hardest part. Bringing the Spirit into the room is the hardest part for me. But I am learning, and the times that I have shared personal experiences or my testimony are the best.
My mission is a lot different than I thought it would be. It´s much, much, much harder than I thought. I struggle everyday to have a positive attitude, and it´s simply because I am so hard on myself. I wasn't to be perfect, but, over the past couple of days, I have realized that you cannot start out being perfect! Life is a progression, and I have been progressing. I am grateful to be here. I know that it´s where I am supposed to be. I have struggled with that since learning about Mike, however, when we were in the temple today, I had a strong impression that the Lord wants me here, and the Mike wants me to be here too. I am so grateful for him and the example that he set for me. I will miss him dearly.
I miss you guys! I hope you are all doing well. I read all of your e-mails and loved them.
Hasta luego!
Hermana Endicott
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| Headed to the MTC after a long day and night of flying |
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| The distance between the MTC and the temple |
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| I think these are the Madrid Missionaries (from Lauren's mom) |
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