"I am having ZERO problems living with a companion...my only problem is the language..."

Gosh Mom I love your long emails so much but I´m realizing it's so hard to answer everything you say AND send pics and everything! Haha ok so my mailing adress is:

Calle 70 #521-A x 65 y 67

Col Centro

Merida, Yucatan Mexico CP 97000

But tell everyone they don't need to send anything! I think it's kinda expensive to send stuff here and Mimi [ her grandma ] was threatening to send a pillow because of my last email but I'm really fine, found one, it's all good!

Send pics of the cookie swap! Wish I could be there!

Hermana Garcia is SO FUNNY! I have lots of stories that I wrote about in my journal and if I have time I'll send them but at this rate I don't think I will.. so you can hear them in 17 months when I come home:) 

I am having ZERO problems with living with a companion or loving the people or dealing with their problems or even the weather (which is ridiculous as I'm sure you know) but my only problem is the language. And it's a big problem, but I'm grateful that it's the only one. Actually I'm homesick too. but not as bad as last week.

Thanks for the quote! I've started a journal of scriptures and quotes and hymn lyrics (LOTS of hymn lyrics..) that I like. It's pretty fun.

 Hermana Garcia's got Swagg! 

 Hermana Smith and Hermana Garcia (at least they have air conditioning!)

Samantha's first baptism!

OK my Christmas call is on the 25, probably around 5 or so. But really it could be any time from 4 to 6. I will go to a member's house and the plan is to Skype, but who knows. What is your Skype thing? And can you try to figure out mine? 

 

I have like no time to email all my adventures of this week but I´ll tell you on the Christmas call! I Love you!

I'm so tall here...everyone is shorter than me.

I didn’t even realize Thanksgiving had come and gone, but it sounds like you guys had fun! Thanks for everyone’s nice emails, I know even the darkest night will pass and the sun will rise! (Les Miserables) This morning I was having a really rough time with just everything and I didn't even know why until HG [her companion, Hermana Garcia] was like: "Do you miss your family?" and then I just started crying. But she made me read D&C 31[“Lift up your heart and rejoice, for the hour of your mission is come; and your tongue shall be loosed, and you shall declare glad tidings of great joy unto this generation… there is a lot more but that’s a sample] which didn't stop the tears but I guess I felt a little better. Gosh what's the matter with me crying all the time??? It sucks. These kids next to me in this little internet cafe playing computer games probably think I'm super weird. Oh well. I'm actually not sure what Tanlum is, but it's either in or near Merida. If that helps. 

Sam and her companion, Hermana Garcia

Day 2- So I'm teaching HG sign language cause she's teaching me Spanish and it’s kinda fun. We'll both be tri-lingual. So there are probably a million Volkswagon bugs in Merida. I swear everyone has one. Not sure why. I love my hammock, but I wish I had a pillow too.

Day 3- We’re eating oreos for breakfast but I have had no appetite since I got here. Well actually yesterday we had lunch with this one lady Hermana Esther (its pronounced Astaire. like Fred Astaire.) Anyway she made the best chicken I've ever had! We have this one investigator Oscar that we visited yesterday but he was drunk and kept trying to hug HG even though he knows that he can't and asking my first name... Weird. (Actually today- day 8- we saw him again and I didn't even recognize him sober.. but he's actually a really nice guy!) 

Day 4- So everyone kisses each other here. Even people you've never met before! They hug you and kiss your cheek as a greeting. Every time. It’s kinda cool. We taught this guy Pedro today and he lives in this place I couldn't even call a house. No roof or real floor, front wall is a chain link fence thing... anyway I actually talked kinda a lot and I don't think he will remember anything ( he's REALLY old...) but it was cool and I actually remembered why I'm here on a mission in the first place. 

I'm so tall here. Everyone is shorter than me. So HA to everyone who ever called me short. I probably have close to 6000 mosquito bites on my legs and it’s terrible!  I still don't know what anyone is saying during lessons and my companion informed me that the other day this one guy was telling us about his suffering and sorrow and whatnot and I was sitting there smiling and nodding like some clueless gringo cause that’s all I ever do! So he probably thinks I'm heartless or something. Oh well. 

AH there’s so much more I want to write but once again, time:/ sorry. But I love you all dearly!

HS

Well Hola! I´m in Mexico now.

Well Hola! I´m in Mexico now.

My p-days [ note- p day is short for preparation day.  That is the day the missionaries use to do laundry, grocery shop, run errands and get some exercise ]  aren´t Wednesdays anymore, but the mission president wants all of us new missionaries to write home today to let our families know we´re alive. So here I am. Alive.

Also this is the most unreal thing of my life and I´m not going to lie, it’s super hard. I don´t know how I´ll be able to do this for 17 more months... However I´m super lucky cause I got the ONLY companion available in the mission who speaks English. For the Hermanas anyway. We´re the FIRST batch of not native Hermanas in this mission. A lot of the elders speak English but only one Hermana- my companion Hermana Garcia. She´s from the Dominican Republic. She´s super sweet and she looks just like my friend Arianna from work. HW and I parted ways. I would put a frowny face here but I don´t know how to on this computer.  But her companion knows zero English and of the five of us Hermanas who came from Provo, we´re the only 2 who are completely new at Spanish. The other 3 Hermanas were in the intermediate Spanish course at the MTC.

I sleep in a hammock.  It’s actually pretty cool ‘cause the bedrooms are just empty rooms with hooks on the wall and at night you hang up your bed! I feel like a caterpillar in a cocoon.

So I ate a chipotle pepper yesterday at breakfast and I almost died.  Then everyone proceeded to tell me (In Spanish) how mild those peppers are and just wait ‘til I try a habanero and liuspanishdfgyudsspanishvghniuspanishiuhnvspanish. Great. I thought I like spicy food but I don´t know how well I can handle this whole pepper thing. Anywho the mission president and his wife are really nice but pretty strict, which is fine with me.  I already had my disobedience week.

Sam with mission pres and his wife- her new "parents" for the next 17  months

Yesterday HG and I taught some people in our area and as we were walking to the first house it randomly started pouring so when we got to his house we were soaked. But his kids were cute and the conversation seemed like it was going well! Of course I wouldn´t know. It was in Spanish. I said like one thing about families and I hope it made sense. My companion and this guy we were teaching (Jose) were nodding and "mmhmm"ing but they were probably just trying to make me feel better. We´re in this little area called Tanlum and all the houses are tiny and cute and close together and old looking and brightly colored and very... Mexico. But the city is bonita [pretty]! It’s like New York! But its soo scary ‘cause the people drive so fast and crazy and the roads are so narrow and there’s always people walking everywhere and I´m so surprised I haven´t seen an accident or anything! Sorry this letter is so pessimistic. I didn’t even know I was going to email you guys until like 20 minutes ago so I don´t have my journal or my camera for pictures.. Sorry.

The weather is so bipolar here. When we got off the plane at like 11 at night, I immediately started sweating. It was like a pot of soup. at 11pm. in November. Help. Pero [But] , it rains A LOT and today it’s been actually kinda coldish. I just wish I could talk to people already. :( I figured out how to do a frowny face. Ok well I guess I´m checking out now. I promise to be happier next week. Hopefully.

Ciao!

-Hermana Smith