Hello family!

And the word of the week: la oracion (prayer)

This week marked a huge turning point in my MTC experience; we taught our first lesson in the TRC completely in Spanish! Crazy! It was such a neat experience! With a lot of practice and MANY prayers (thus the word of the week), we taught the lesson with few hiccups! Our teacher hardly had anything to say to us after by way of improvement! I was so nervous all week and just felt like I needed to practice, practice, practice! But that's me for you--always wanting to be as prepared as possible! I'm so glad that I spent the time practicing with other missionaries and memorizing phrases and vocab because when I went to teach, I wasn't nervous and the words came. No, my grammer wasn't perfect and the transitions between ideas wasn't ideal, but our message was clear and simple. The best part was that my companion hasn't memorized the first vision in Spanish quite as fluently as I have, so I got to share that experience with the investigator. (Reciting the first vision is my absolute favorite thing to share because the spirit always fills the room and an added witness comes to me as I am the voice. Saying it in Spanish only makes it that much better.) The lesson went better than I could have imagined considering we only had a few minutes the day of the "appointment" to practice. It was actually quite a funny story. A new district came into our zone last week, which meant that the zone leaders (in our district) and the coordinating sister (also in our district) had sceduled meetings for the same time as our weekly TRC appointment. So our whole district had to reschedule the TRC appointment--We normally teach at 8pm on Thursday nights. Our teacher walked in at 1:45 or so as we were doing a little practice and said that our appointment had been moved to 2pm...yes...just 15 minutes later! Ekk! We all scrambled to review our notes/outlines as we walked to the other building. At this point, I know the time of preparation is past, so I try to relax and get excited to teach. I know the Lord blessed me and my companion that we were able to teach in Spanish, despite our weakness of fluency and vocab. I am still amazed at how the Lord strengthened me...I can hardly believe the things I've been able to accomplish here. Miracles are happening everyday!

In other Spanish news, I got evaluated very well by my teacher in regards to my speaking abilities. Woohoo! Another miracle!

Okay, jumping subjects like usual, Elder Cristofferson was the devotional speaker on Tuesday and gave a wonderful talk about the message missionaries have been commanded to share: Repentance. He demonstrated why we preach repentance (repentance=coming to Christ) and how we can effectively share that message to the world. It was really good! The 5 weeks I've been here, we've been taught by 3 apostles, with more to come. It's such a neat experience to be taught by these inspired men, all of which have different skills and abilities in conveying their message, but all have the same enveloping power. I love those meetings; I always come away renewed and reenergized to go forth with more courage and conviction to learn Spanish and prclaim the Gospel.

Other news, the new district that joined our zone this week has about 6 elders headed to the Washington Everett Mission (Spanish speaking of course)! Cool huh!??! I've told them all to look up the Pelton's if they are ever in the Bothell area. It was fun to answer their questions about Seattle and see the excitement they have to serve in Seattle! I hope you get to meet them...I told them I have a younger brother who'd go on splits with them (that would be so cool Andrew since I will have just been with them!!!) Anyway, I thought that was just a fun little tidbit!

On to another piece of random news: We had our fingerprints taken last week for our visas and we meet with the Argentine Consul Thursday. Apparently he will be signing visas later that day in Salt Lake. Keep your fingers crossed that all works out!

More randomness: I was asked to give the closing prayer at mission conference next sunday. My branch president kindly reminded me that I will be in front of 2,000 + missionaries...so make sure everything is tucked in, my hair is done nice, and I'm wearing my cute clothes :) I'm kinda worried...I haven't prayed in English for 5 weeks! :)

Back to prayer...this week truly has been a wonderful week where I've come closer to the Lord through simple prayer. Praying in Spanish has really helped me to focus more on the words that I'm saying and the meaning behind them. The Lord has poured out His spirit on me as I've prayed for my companion and other missionaries throught the MTC and the world. I've felt his approval as I've given a sincere and honest accounting of my days work. I love the simple truths of the Gospel. It's the simple and basic things like prayer that change our lives and bring us closer to our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.

I love this work!

Love to you all! xoxo--

Hermana Pelton