Another Week 3

no hablo español.... haha

hola hola hola,

lucky you. I get to email twice this week. Once from Provo, and now............. from Peru! huzzah. So ya by the way i am not dead. I have had the craziest 36 hours. So I had the frantically pack and do laundry and attempt to get to bed on time.... i may have been a little late, but i was really close to 1030. the other hermanas were up til 1230 and they got in trouble by the security guard. wowww. so we woke up at 320 in the hackin morning and packed everything, and attempted to drag it across the mtc at 430 in the morning. we drove on the bus and i waved to murray as i passed by. the airplane ride was really fun. minus the part where we were trying not to watch the movies on all of screens in the airplane. ugh. so i tried to sleep and we told embarrassing stories for four hours. o ya. the hermanas have definitely bonded. we got some hackin sweet food on the seven hour flight from georgia to lima. wow.

by the time we got through customs and waited for elders that never showed up after us.... their flights were rescheduled. we didnt get to the mtc until 330. i didnt get to bed til 4 and we woke up at six to shower and get ready.... but then they told us to sleep for two more hours... p´hew. so ya i am running on not a lot of sleep... i think that makes me even more confused than usual...... o ya and the small detail that everyone speaks spanish here. ughh. we have no idea what is goin on cuz we dont understand the announcements.

i know you are wondering what lima is like... it is beautiful. it is a little humid, but the tempurature is perfect. the mtc here... is wow! amazing. it really does look like we are on temple grounds. i think that you can look at pictures of the mtc online. I havent gotten attacked by any bugs yet so that makes me happy. they also have volleyball courts here, so i am hoping that some of these south americans have got game. it also helps that i have at least six inches on everyone here. o by the way. we are like the only other americans here, at least as far as i know. we have new elders traveling with us to bolivia... elders murdock, gilbert, and herndon. yes... i cant believe i remembered their names. so ya i think it is really chaotic today because they are getting a lot of newcomers. i havent met my real companion yet. but i am pretty sure she wont speak english.

okay so i dont have any really funny stories... sorry. i just wanted to write to you before next wednesday. so have fun this week! i am sure it will be pretty interesting for me also. love you guys

Hermana Milne

p.s. sorry if this email is lacking punctuation... spanish keyboards are hard! i worked really hard to find that exclamation point!!!

Week 3

Hello everyone,

So guess what?! I am totally leaving tomorrow morning at 4:45 am... which means I get to wake up at 3:20 in the morning.... o joy. They only gave me three hours to pack and do laundry. ahhh and clean the room. it has been a little crazy. But I thought I would write one last time before I leave the country. so ya. here it goes.... I can't believe how close my district has gotten. It is going to be so sad to leave them. They just gave all the hermanas blessings. wow, I can really feel the power of the priesthood when those young men give blessings. It was the the first blessing that some of these elders have ever given, and I know that the spirit was there to guide their words. because it was exactly what we needed to hear. So here is my random thoughts for this week. I apologize if they are not cohesive at all....

Okay so ya. we do weekly service for 70 minutes every friday morning at 6 am.... ugh. and guess what we had to do?? we had to scrub walls... and clean the gym bathrooms. (can I just say that boys bathrooms are gross) so ya we are pretty much cleaning zombies every friday.... it is not much fun, but it is good that we are serving the MTC.

So we learned a really good lesson in class. You can either say (in spanish) "you can be cleansed of your sins" OR!! "you can be cleansed of your fish." A couple of us made that mistake in our practice. hahaa so we had to make sure you say pecado and not! pescado. ahahaha i guess you had to be there.

I had my first humiliating moment!! yaya. just kidding... it was probably the most humbling experience I have ever had. So we were in a lesson and the investigator was talking really fast in spanish. she said that she didn't have much time. she said that she thought God loves us because we are good people, but god doesnt love her.... I just didn't catch thtat last part, so I thoguht she was telling us to get going. So I just went on with the lesson and asked to end with a prayer. my companio stopped and told me what she said.... uggggghhhh humiliation. I totally shattered the spirit's presence... o hackin. We then had CRT, right after. Which is we have to go talk to a real person about the church and teach a lesson. so naturally, i still felt so dumb, that i totally froze up in that one too. This is the reason that I have two companions instead of one. They can pick up my slack when I have no idea what the investigator is saying! hahaha. well, I have been sufficiantly humbled this week. And i am sure that it will be even more humbling when I am trying to teach on the streets of peru next saturday night...

The most exciting part of the MTC: 4 Square. ya thats right. this is what the entire zone looks forward too. I have never heard such excitement over an elementary school game. I never got into it, but the rest of my district is addicted. they spend their entire gym time playing four square... (and the other 14 hours of the day talking about 4 square.) haha so all you future missionaries... you bettter practice your four square skills before you come here.

Newest movie we are quoting and i am DYING to watch:..... Mulan. you know thats right. "come on cricket pack the bags"

The part about learning a new language is that my english skills seem to be getting worse..... I wish i could draw a diagram... my english skills are plummeting.... and my spanish skills are barely raising... so.. I pretty much can't speak in any language right now. it is a miracle that I am able to write this email. ;)

My mom sent me scripture stickers to put in my new scriptures... I have never done anything more addicting. I just can't stop putting all of these stickers in my scriptures. It is truly my daily stress relief routine. My companions are totally jealous too. muahahaha.

Funniest part ofthe week: one of the hermanas in my district had a really loud alarm clock. it would tick tick tick tick all night long. so she took the batteries out. We started listening to all of the watches and clocks in the room to see which ones ticked really loud. (missionaries ahve a lot of clocks and watches) She had the most serious face when she listened to her digital watch.... concerned she asked why it wasn't ticking?....... hermana, that is a digital watch. so our lack of sleep pushed over the edge and we laughed for at least five minutes straight.

So in lifeguarding we sometimes had surprise tests to make sure that we were paying attention to the patrons in the pool. One of the tests was the head guard would throw a purple and red nerf ball into the pool. We had to treat it like it was a drowning person. and jump in and save it as soon as we noticed it. this test would cost us a suspension if we failed it. so needless to say, all lifeguards are afraid of the red and purple nerf ball. So ya, we were having a planning session and I was literally half asleep. and then an elder walked past with a nerf ball. I jolted awake and screamed a little. I then had to explain myself to my companions and my teacher. My heart was racing for like five minutes afterwards. Wow I really have been conditioned to react to the nerf ball.... ugh

Well I am out of time. Hopefully I will find a computer in Peru!! pray for us!!

Hermana Milne

Week 2

Hello! Greetings from the Provo MTC.... yay!

So ya we finally fixed the mailbox and I got all my mail finally! yesssss.. So what do I do at the MTC.... I wake up eat, study,eat, run/play volleyball, eat, study, drift off to sleep in class, study, study, study.... 16 hour days... wow. It is A LOT of hard work. My spanish is coming okay. needless to say, I have a long way to go. So I have a few funny things that happened this week... here it goes. I am typing as fast as I can because I only have a few minutes.

- The elders of our district put up with us.... the crazy sisters.... I feel bad for them sometimes. They will totally miss us when we all head to the Peru MTC next week

- by the way! I got my plane ticket to head to Peru next tuesday at five in the morning.... yessssss. So unfortunately I will not have access to a computer next week... sorry! and you might as well write me a letter before next monday, so you don't have to pay international postage rates.... just saying

-I am quite certain that missionary mtc inside jokes are NOT at all funny to normal people on the outside... so if you don't think this is funny... too bad for you because we are usually laughing hysterically.

-Our room of girls has taken a SEVERE liking to quoting Nacho Libre. Like that is all that we say. We even came up with our own mtc lyrics for the song that Nacho sings.. Funny quote: "how did you get here so fast?? Secret tunnels... shhhhh" I totally want to watch it right now! ahhhhh Needless to say, I may be a little stir crazy.

-I am reminded how young the elders are when: 1. Overhear them planning out what they would do if their was a zombie apocalypse (although I think that guys of all ages do this) 2. Discuss that Satan is probably a pretty good looking guy..... what? 3. Discuss who would win in a fight to the death.... Harry Potter vs. Luke Skywalker

-Everytime an elder looks like he might be flirting with a sister (or vice versa)... everyone yells "slippery slope" It is quite a common phrase.

- We had accent Friday, when we all talk in ridiculous accents for some of the day.... (I was sid the sloth, and Nacho Libre)

- I have the song from youtube, "harry potter in 99 seconds" stuck in my head this ENTIRE week. My companions are going crazy. You should watch it if you haven't already. hahaha

- Getting ready on time is SO much harder than I thought.... We are late to everything. ugh!

-The newest thing at the MTC.... Bouncy balls. Every elder has one, and they bounce them constantly. We ask the elders where they got them, and they said that there is a MTC Black Market located in the Elders residence halls where they can get any toys that they want. THey have been passed down from generation to generation.... (that is the difference between elders and sisters) Elders have nerf gun and lightsaber wars in the halls. Sisters are running around just trying to frantically get ready on time. hmmmmm interesting.

-The one time that I almost started crying: When all two thousand missionaries at the MTC sang the army of Helaman song together. wow. (o just kidding, I choked in the district testimony meeting.... ugh i hate crying)

-The scripture that hit me hard this week: Alma 26:16 and 27.

So ya. this is my mtc experience so far. I can't believe that I only have one more week here, and then I am leaving the country!! My companions are doing well. and we are having a good time. pray for us!

Hermana Milne

Week 1

Hola!

How is everything going? I bet that a million exciting things have happened since I left last Wednesday. So I am only allowed to write on Tuesdays here at the MTC. It is my P day, yaaaaaay! O my goodness I can't believe that I have been gone for seven days! One of my companeras had a quote that is so applicable to the MTC... "A week feels like a day, and a day feels like a week." It is so TRUE! The MTC is always busy and you don't have time to catch your breath. Okay maybe I should start from the beginning... I am in a trio companionship. It has some difficulties. I have never had to wait for two other girls, before I could start going anywhere.... It is an adjustment that I am beginning to get the hang of ,...... ish. The funny thing is after a few days... I totally get seperation anxiety if I can't see them. ahaha!

My companions names are Hermana Jury and Hermana Boyce. H.Jury is from California and H.Boyce is from Indiana. We are all going to the Bolivia Cochabamba mission. I am so excited. We are rooming with another companionship also. and the five of us are never seperate. It hasnt been since high school sports that I have had to travel in a huge pack of girls...

My first day... My parents just dropped me off on the curb and they whisked me away to a classroom, where I met the rest of my district. 6 Elders and 5 sisters... pretty even. But all of us sisters are leaving in three weeks to the Peru MTC. Except visas for Peru might be delayed so I might be in Provo for longer than I was expecting. So a maestro came in and talked to us in spanish for like two hours!! WHat is he even saying.... i dont know. The first day was very humbling... But we learned how to bear our testimony and pray.. (Which I still haven't gotten the hang of yet) ugh... patience patience

So they ask us to cut out slang and sarcasm out of our everyday language. and it is so hackin hard!!! ahhhh hackin IS a slang word.... NOOOOO! Needless to say, I am still working on that one. The food is pretty good. I can definitely see how people can gain weight here. I have accidentally drank too much chocolate milk and ate too much food a couple times and felt horrible afterwards. But! I have avoided the orange juice. (the orange banana passionfruit juice is way better anyways) We totally get fifty minutes in the gym five days a week. I love it! I have been playing some of the best volleyball here ever since high school.

Hardest thing: We had to teach an investigator on our third day here. IN SPANISH Her name is Briana and we have attempted to teach her three times now..... ugh the first time was a trainwreck but we are getting better. it is like they throw us into the deep end of a pool and tell that we better learn how to swim (speak espanol) fast or else we will drown... (make fools of ourselves ALL the time)

So our mailbox isn't set up yet or something... because none of our district has gotten any mail yet. I feel bad for some of the guys. They really want mail. hah. If I do have any ...... HEY I just realized !!! HAPPY VALENTINES DAY! yayaya. Dates and time is kinda morphed and unimportant in the MTC. weird.... So ya I haven't gotten any mail yet... anyways... I dont have much time on the computer so this email is all over the place.

Most crazy thing so far. A sister collapsed in Relief society meeting!! wow! Needless to say the meeting ended early when the ambulance arrived. She had a heart condition and passed out. but she is totally fine.

Goal: Mi companeras really like to stay up late and wake up late. That is where I am learning my patience. We have been late to almost everything this week... ahhh. I didn't realize I was a punctual person until now. I get really tense when we are late. So ya they talked until midnight last night and we had to get up at six thirty. and then we were late.

Well I have like one minute left so good luck with everything at home!!

I love you guys!

Hermana Milne

Thanksgiving, Birthday, Finals, Christmas, Cruise, Farewell, Mission

Holy Crap I haven't written since October. And unfortunately, this will be the last post for awhile... 18 months to be exact. I also have to cover a few major things that I haven't talked about yet.

Thanksgiving. I got to drive home and see the family. It was a lot of fun. The bad part was that I had to finish three huge projects before thanksgiving. (because we all know how productive I am during the holidays... not) I wrote a 22 page psychology paper on post traumatic stress disorder. and I made an exercise program for my sisterinlaw. So ya... that is when I started to panic about finals. After Thanksgiving, I headed back to Cedar City for the last three weeks.

Birthday. My birthday was pretty awesome!! I had school, but I planned a dessert party. I went over to Kjersti's house for some dinner and then we came to my apartment for dessert. It was totally awesome and delicious. The neighbor boys decided that Ineeded to learn how to play poker. We played with cheerios, and I totally won!! so cool. It was a good bday.

Finals. ugh. They were the worst! I had five finals... bleh. I studied like crazy, and I was also cleaning my apartment like crazy. But I finally finished, and I moved home from school. And guess what!!!??? I got a 4.0! I graduated with my Bachelor's Degree with a 4.0 gpa. awesome. I am so glad that school is over for now. I only have four more years left!! and then I am done for good.

Christmas. Christmas was really nice. I got to see all of my family and i got a new camera... yes! I mostly just got mission stuff. Christmas was on a Sunday. so we had to wake up early!! Because (I admit) that would be bad to miss church on christmas. It was really great. I can't really remember anything super amazing, so I will just leave it at that.

Cruise. The cruise was amazing! We were on the Carnival Freedom. It was a beautiful ship. I think that it was the best that I have been on so far. We had funny waiters and all I did was eat, sleep, eat. It was fun to have the entire family with us. It is a rare time period where there are no young children in the family, so we took advantage of it. and called it my birthday/graduation/mission/christmas trip... My family went offroad with jeeps on Cozumel. I didn't want to do because we did that the last time we went there. So naturally, they left me on the rocky beach with no money or food. haha, but I did get some sun i guess. I wish I was certified in scuba diving, because Cozumel has some beautiful reefs. We went to the beach on Costa Rica. The waves were huge! so I didn't get in the ocean. Aubrey had to be saved by a local boy, because she drifted over to the rocky part. The driver told us on the way home that lots of people drown at that beach... That isn't comforting. It was sunny all day, and supposedly that is rare for Costa Rica. We also visited the Panama Canal. I thought that it was really interesting. We got to watch a boat go through one of the locks. We had a blast, and the food was amazing. The weather was really great. I tried to pick up some spanish, but it really didn't work. The flight home wasn't fun, but o well. The trip was worth it.

Farewell. I am finally done with my farewell! People ask me if I am nervous to leave... but honestly I was more nervous for my talk than actually taking off. hmmm. I need to get over this anxiety. So ya, I prepared the night before because I went to a movie on Friday. And then my parents decided to take me to Texas Roadhouse at like eight o clock... I was about half way done with my talk, so I decided to go. I was still gonna give a talk whether or not i prepared it now or late at night. So I went and ate some pulled pork instead of finishing my talk. I finished it eventually... And i went to church bright and early the next morning. I kind of freaked out because I tested my joke out on my little sister and..... nothing. she didn't even laugh!!! (cue Panic mode) But I gave the talk, and I think that I was accidentally funny at some parts. I may have gone overboard when I pretended to high five James E. Talmage, because he had such an awesome quote. hmmm o ya and I described my professor as built like a fire hydrant. (It really is true, that man is hackin solid) My talk was on my missionary scripture. Nahum 1:7. I got my entire talk from my dad, and an institute lesson that brother Gudmunsun taught at SUU. yesss. Pretty sure that most of that talk was not original at all... (Thank you institute!) All I know is that I went long enough. The bishop told me that he never knows what is going to come from me.... what is that supposed to mean? People told me that my personality shined through.. considering my personality...... I am still trying to decide if that is a good thing or a bad thing. haha! O well, it is over. We went to the house and ate some delicious crepes that my wonderful mother had made the night before. It was really nice. I was able to talk to some old friends and my family. I think that I am going to count this as mostly successful... yay!

Mission. So the mission preparation is going well. I have most of my shopping done now. I just have to pick up a few more things. I just don't really know what I am supposed to bring... ugh. so frustrating. I have to get some hackin random things for the mission. Do not worry, I have enough bug repellant to poison several cats. Now I just need to wait a week and a half. I will stay busy. I plan on eating more crepes and tearing off a roof or two, lifeguarding, teaching swim lessons... awesome. So ya, that is my life right now.. gotta love it. Have a nice year and a half!

Sister Janessa Milne has been called to serve...

I totally know what I am going to be doing for the next 18 months!! that is so good. I am so hackin excited. I should start from the beginning.

Last week was fall break, and I had to go back to cedar city on tuesday. So naturally, my mission call came in the mail on wednesday. Unfortunately I was 260 miles away from my mailbox. I planned to make the drive home on Friday(again,... third time this month. marathon, fallbreak, misson call... wow) I took off on Friday after the Grad Fair (which made me ridiculously excited for grad school) I just need to focus on the mission first, and then grad school. I drove until (of course) I hit traffic in provo. Everyone was waiting at home for me to get through this traffic.... except I wasn't moving too fast.. and then I wasn't moving at all. I was stopped in front of the provo mall for an hour and a half. Needless to say, I was a little anxious. I REALLY wanted to be at home. I finally made it home and all of the family was waiting. They had all guessed where I would go. I grabbed the envelope, and tried to open it. ... it took me awhile to open it with a razor (you would not believe that I was the daughter of a roofer if you looked at my lack of skill with a razor that can cut through tar, and I couldn't even cut the paper efficiently) I opened it up and read it out loud. I was called to serve as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Bolivia Cochabamba Mission. Awesome!!! I will be speaking the Spanish language, and I will depart for the MTC on Feburary 8th, 2012. I admit that I didn't expect to go to South America. But when I read it, I knew that this is where I am supposed to go.

Cochabamba Bolivia is pronounced just how it is spelled. It is high up in the Andes Mountains. 8400 feet above sea level. (salt lake city is at 4200 ft.) Bolivia is above Argentina and to the left of Brazil. And! Cochabamba has a temple! yes!! The church has a pretty strong base in Bolivia. Cochabamba is known for its mild climate because it is so close to the equator. One website said the winter low is 61 degrees and the summer high is 78 degrees. also known as the "City of Eternal Spring" I can't even wait. I will be in the Provo MTC for three weeks, and then I will go to the Lima, Peru MTC for six weeks to help with the transition. I really should have taken more than two years of jr. high spanish... crap. Hopefully, I will pick it up quickly. I am just excited to go!! I hope that I will do well. So ya, I am headed back to SUU to finish this semester, and then I will only have a brief wait until I start the best part of my life!!

I ran a Marathon.

I totally did it. I am so glad that the marathon is over. Believe it or not, but the marathon was only a portion of my crazy weekend. Maybe I should start from the beginning...

I took off for home after my friday classes. The traffic and construction was horrible in Utah Valley (as usual). I get home and I am able to talk with my mom for awhile. I just can't wait to run this race. I realize that it is still raining and it is freakin cold outside... wait... what if it doesn't warm up before five a.m. tomorrow morning? ... crap. So I frantically try to find something warm to wear for tomorrow. My mother and I also have to drive up to Layton to get my information packet the night before the race. So by the time I am done with all of the driving it is time to go to bed.
You know how you really try to sleep, but you are so worried you are going to sleep in?! I could not sleep well that whole night. I had to wake up at three in the morning in order to catch the bus to the starting line. I bolted awake every time anyone made any noise during the night. (longest night of my life) I finally woke up and started to get ready. My mom woke up to see me off to Layton. She was the only one who was going to be waiting at the finish line.
I am driving to Layton and jamming to sweet music at four in the morning. It is raining and really really cold. I go through my mental checklist to make sure that I have all of my warm clothes, and then I realize something...... where is my ipod? where is my ipod? Where IS my HACKIN Ipod???!!!! noooooooooooo. I had left it at home, but I didn't have time to turn around and go get it... Needless to say, I had a mini breakdown in the car. How could I be so dumb? I had been training for four months with the ipod. crap.
I got there, and wow! it was still beyond cold. I immediately started to shiver uncontrollably. I hop on this bus, and drive to the starting line. The bus driver got lost on antelope island so we had to turn around a couple of times, so the ride seemed to go on forever!! (the long bus ride did not do my self confidence any good.) I had some doubts on what the heck was I doing on this bus, with open windows blowing in freezing wind, about to run a marathon. We get to the starting line and there is one heater for all of the people to share... ugh. Someone gave me a foil space blanket because I looked so pathetically cold. We waited for 45 minutes... I finally started running at six thirty. (still cold) I felt great for the first 13 miles. My pace was good, but then my hamstrings started to tighten up. I pushed through it though. Those gel packets are disgusting by the way, ew. So I hit my wall around mile 21. I had no idea how I was going to run another five miles. my hamstrings were starting to give out, and I was still cold enough that I didn't take off any of my layers. I only ever slowed down at the drink stations in order to get some gatorade. yes! I ran through the finish line at exactly 5 hours! I had just run in silence for five hours... wow. They gave me a medal and a fat boy ice cream... ICE cream? ugh, but i ate it anyways. It was cold, I was cold, I truly didn't care anymore... about anything but breathing. I pretty much crawled to my car and had to drive myself back to murray.

I got home and took a fantastic hot bath... best part of my weekend. I started packing up because my mom wanted to drive down to St. George to watch my dad play volleyball in the Huntsman Sr. Games. So we take off for St. George. (mental note: do not sit in a car for four hours after running a marathon) O man I died in the car. Longest drive of my life. We got to Cedar City to grab some sunday clothes. We were in a hurry, because we were goin to be late for my dad's last game. I realize that my room smells.... like mildew? and my toilet is broken. But we didn't have time to wonder, and so we just took off. I sped all the way to st. george and got there for the last half of the last game. As we sit down my dad comes over to talk to us... He says that they just changed the lineup... my dad was not going to play this last game... ... I sat in a car for four hours after running a marathon just to see my dad sit bench!! arghhhh. The old man sitting next to me witnessed my second mini breakdown.

We went out to eat. and went back to the hotel to sleep. The next morning I ask my roommate to check out the downstairs. She says that the basement is flooded and she called the maintainence people... what??! My room is in the basement!! crap. So apparently, the sump pump broke and spilled toilet water into my room and bathroom... gross. I came home to find everything wet and torn up, with fans blowing cold air around the apartment. My parents lingered for awhile, but it was cold, uncomfortable and awkward. They soon left me alone in my stinky apartment. I had to sleep on the couch for the next few days. That was when my third mini breakdown occurred. By this time, all that I could do was laugh though. I wasn't mad or frustrated... just hysterical about the ridiculous weekend that had just happened. wow! I think I handled it quite well.

The following week I had to study for an abnormal psychology test... it was on depression, mood disorders, law for the mentally ill, schizophrenia, and suicide. That was an Exhausting test to study for.... wow. I am pretty sure I was depressed after the first few days of studying. But, now I came home for fall break, and I am just waiting for the anticipated mission call to show up in the mail... I will tell you about it when it comes! Ciao.