Week One!

Okay, the first thing I want to tell you, the most important thing this email will contain is...

MEXICAN KEYBOARDS ARE THE WEIRDEST DANG THINGS AND I HAVE SUCH A HARD TIME WITH THEM I CAN'T EVEN. 

I'm glad everything is well at home. I miss everyone so much, but am definitely not letting it distract me from my work. So that's super great. 

I absolutely LOVE being here en la CCM (the México MTC.) It is so amazing. I love everyone here so, so much. My heart is so, so full and I just keep finding more room to love these people more and more every day. My companion is THE BEST! I love her so, so much! Her name is Hermana Chandler. She is from O'ahu, and she speaks dang Hawaiian, and if that's not the coolest thing you've ever heard, you better check yoself. She is really great though, she sings with me all day, and we like the same TV shows, and we like similar movies, and basically we're very, very similar people. She didn't take ANY Spanish before she got here, so she's having a pretty hard time with the language. But I can see her improvements every day, and she is such an inspiration to me to keep striving to study harder and be better. (Below is a picture of Hermana Chandler!)

I am gonna tell you about my District, because they are literally the best. Hna Chandler and I are the only hermanas in our district. But we have THE BEST Elders. There are 10 of them, and I love all of them so, so much. They are perfect. They love us, too. They call me the queen, because I know some things about Spanish and can help them. But it's hilarious, because they would all rather ask me than our District Leader, Elder Mask, even though he knows just as much, if not more Spanish than I do. But, E. Mask is great, because the two of us can get up in front of the class and write on the board to explain some of the Spanish to our fellow missionaries during our language study. We have this one elder, Elder Heiner, and this week, he is my favorite. He told us this story of how he asked his girlfriend to prom and it's just perfect. And I am gonna tell it to you right now. So, his girlfriend is afraid of heights, so he said Let's get you over that fear of heights, and she thought it was just a joke. But he had connections to this guy who is a pilot and can just fly around little four-seater planes. SO they got like 300 feet of Christmas lights and wrote PROM in a big field with them and flew over it. IS THAT NOT THE MOST PERFECT AND ADORABLE THING YOU HAVE EVER HEARD?! People like that actually do exist. He also likes to sing with Hna Chandler and I. And he's perfect -- he sounds exactly like Hercules (think I CAN GO THE DISTANCE.) So wonderful. 

I do get to see Hermana Brooks, like, all the time. Well...not all the time. But, quite a bit. I see her at every meal, we generally sit together. It makes me happy, and Hna Chandler and Hna Brooks get along really well. I love it so much. (Hermana Brooks is in the picture below!)

Spanish...man, it is HARD. I am working the hardest I have ever worked in my life, and studying the most I have ever studied in my entire life, and being the absolute most frustrated I have ever been. BUT, it is all okay. Because even though it is hard, and sometimes I get so frustrated, I am also the happiest I have ever been.

I love being here so much. I love all of the people here so much. My district is like my immediate family, and my zone is like my extended family. (our zone gets together every night to sing a hymn and pray together, and on Monday nights we have FHE where we just play a giant game of signs and it is perfect.) I don't ever want any of these people to leave me, and I never want to leave them. But, as my man Enjolras says, "We strive towards a larger goal, our little lives don't count at all." That last part may have been a bit intense, but it does get my point across. We are all going to be doing some of the most amazing work, and we are going to be some dang
amazing missionaries. I don't mean to sound boastful, but we all have specific talents and personalities and REASONS we have been called to our assigned missions. I know that even though I will be sad to see them leave and eventually leave myself, it is going to be so, so worth it. Because we have literally the most amazing callings ever to exist. 

I love you all so much, and am so, so grateful for your support. Thank you all for being there for me. You are all great, and in my prayers continually. 

HERMANA SHERILYN HARPER