Emily is so cool.

 Buenos Días todos! I am doing great in my mission. These last two weeks I have hit my stride. I am adjusting to the schedule and don't feel tired anymore. Spanish is going great, through the Spirit of course. Honestly they don't know what to do with us intermediate level Spanish speakers, they haven't actually taught me anything new. But the gift of tongues is real and amazing. My compañera and I work so well together and with the Spirit, especially during lessons. We always know when we need to teach something different right before we enter a lesson or most of the time once we are actually in a lesson we totally change the game plan without a second though. The definite highlight of my week- WE COMMITTED BOTH OF OUR INVESTIGATORS TO BAUTISMO! It was the most amazing experience and honestly the happiest I have ever been. The Lord´s work is amazing. Fetching amazing. The most fulfilling thing in the world. Our teacher, Hermana Haws is amazing and she left yesterday to go back to Provo. Also one of the districts in our ward left yesterday. It was so sad, to start saying goodbyes already. I cannot believe that will be us in two weeks. Going out into the field. I am so excited and so ready to go, but it will truly be so hard to leave these people. This district is straight up amazing, I could not love these people more.

Anyways, something interesting Hermana Haws talked to us about before she left was marriage which was super interesting. So everyone knows the stereotype about Returned Missionaries, that they always come home and get married right away because they are like on the hunt or something. She said its because after the mission,you cant stand going back and learning about math or law because you are like this stuff doesn't matter. I could be saving souls. And that's when you realize that the only thing that is going to be as meaningful as your mission is marriage. Like literally your spiritual progression is damned until you get married. And marriage is the only thing fulfilling enough to make you feel like your doing something real with your life. That's intense business right there. So I will no longer judge those people. Crazy huh?

Another cool thing is that we performed a musical number in Sacrament this week and we are going to perform it for the whole MTC on Sunday at Devotional. You know I love music so much, so I am the self-appointed assistant choir director haha. The best part is when I informed Elder Barrio that I was gonna be the assistant choir director he was so nice and now he consults me on every decision with the number and he is just great at humoring me. It is an amazing arrangement that he composed himself that is a mix of Where can I turn for Peace and Abide with me in Spanish. It is awesome.

Well I am outta time again!

Love you all!

Hermana Hurley

Third Week's the Charm!

Hola todos! I have just completed my third week at the MTC which is crazy because I feel like I got here yesterday but I also feel like I was born here.

This week was the absolute best week so far. Last Tuesday evening we watched a Broadcast from the Provo MTC from Elder Holland. Elder Holland is my favorite because he is so straight forward and blunt. But this was unlike anything I had ever heard. He really emphasized the fact that as a missionary I am representing the Church and Jesus Christ. He was extremely direct in letting us know that in no way would it ever be acceptable to forget that and come short of the expectations that the Church leaders and Lord has for us. He said- People of the Church look to you. The Lord depends on you. Don't you dare let them down.

This was super intense, and although of course I have been truly making an effort I realized it wasn't good enough. He referenced another talk he had given and let us know that we have to be our own first covert. If I want my investigators to pray harder, the Lord wants me to pray harder. If I want others to gain a firm testimony of the Book of Mormon, the Lord wants me to strengthen my testimony of the Book of Mormon. So I really took this advice to heart and it resulted in my best week in the MTC so far. Throughout the day we practice teaching each other and take turns being the investigators and the missionaries. Some of my most powerful experiences this week have been from pretending to be an investigator and truly trying to feel how that person would feel. So as I imagined feeling alone, or imagining not having the Light of the Gospel in my life, it is really evident how powerful the Spirit can be when the missionaries teach. I have had so many experiences this week of people saying exactly what my companion or I needed to hear to help us with something that had been on our minds. several times a day the Lord sends me someone to tell me His will. It is incredible to hear these missionaries so in tune with the Spirit that they communicate with me what the Lord needs me to hear. I had a really special experience as well where I got to be that person for another Elder, as the Spirit let me know that there was something that he needed to hear, I tried to talk with him. What amazing power we have as missionaries to be the Lords messengers. I know that I am called of God for His great purpose, I could not be more grateful to be here, with the people I am blessed to share this experience with. Through more exact obedience and through diligently struggling through the long hours of study, I have been able to receive more personal revelation from the Scriptures than I have ever experienced before. I have felt the Spirit stronger and stronger until it is truly a burning feeling within me, just like the Scriptures talk about. I cannot keep this message to myself, I cannot keep my testimony inside of me. I am halfway through my stay at the MTC and although I am enjoying it so much, I am dying to get out in the field and start contacting every person possible to let them know of this Gospel.

I love you all. Please support me in sharing the Lords message to His children. Go out with the missionaries. Talk to everyone you meet. Members are much more effective missionaries than us full-timers because your example and friendship is what will connect them to the Church and your testimony will impact them more than ours ever could.

Until next week,

Hermana Hurley

Week 2!

What up my admirers! I am having a great week at the CCM. Did you see the world report in between conference about it? If you didn't check it out and see what my life is like every day! [You can find it here] The second week at the CCM was so much better than the first! I am not sick anymore and we are teaching investigators (slash our teachers pretending to be investigators) and spanish is coming along great! We have a new teacher for the afternoons and that's a lot better than just unstructured study time, but he is Mexican and does't speak English so sometimes its a struggle but it is suuucch good practice. For all of you that were worried about me and my so-called "boy crazy problem," I would like to report that our teacher is very attractive but although I struggled the first day I have overcome any sort of boy crazy behavior and I wouldn't know the difference if he was an attractive latino or a crazy weird person haha. So just so you know. I am great at being a missionary haha.

I love my district more and more each day. We played volleyball together for 2.5 hours today and it was so fun, which is something I just never say about sports but it is awesome because they cheer when I touch the ball and then today I hit it OVER THE NET and they went crazy and the hermanas all ran and jumped on me and hugged me because it was a huge accomplishment. I spiked it a couple more times actually and anyways I rock at volleyball now... as long as I have Elder Lund to run for it every time I hit it the wrong way. He has my back.

General Conference in the CCM was amaaazzziing. We were all in a  huge auditorium and it was such a great atmosphere. People got excited when popular hymns got sung and you should have heard the cheers and enthusiasm during Called to Serve. So cool. Also people would fist pump and get so excited for favorite speakers. Everyone was just so excited to hear the words of God through our Prophet, Apostle and other Church leaders. My favorite was probably D Todd Christofferson and not that he just said women are awesome, though as an hermana I really feel like we get treated like we are amazing every day by the Elders, but because he said somethings that really touched me about the importance of divine qualities that are different between men and women, and how that makes us a complementary pair as men and women.

We also have just way too much fun here, which is something we have just come to accept. My companion is crazy and our roommates are Hilarious too. There is Hermana Lees who is just so beautiful and hilarious and then there is Hermana Flamm who we call Grandma and she is just a running stream of talking all the time and at least 5 times a day we are crying laughing from her super long and dramatic stories that aren't that funny but she is just so adorable and crazy in the way she tells them that we just die laughing. She told us a joke she made us about a talking camel and it was so stupid but we were rolling on the grass laughing... the guys were in Priesthood session, so we decided to act it out. I was the talking ant... it was quite a ridiculous sight to see. But then when the guys came out we totally pulled it together and had a super amazing district conference review/ testimony meeting. that's how we roll.

Well Mexico weather is crazy because it's been nicely cool in the mornings and warm during the day until yesterday it was coat weather and today is the hottest it has been so far.

Well I am out of time! I love you all and I love the Lord!

Hermana Hurley.... formerly known as Emily <3

Us with our teacher 

 Me with my companion

 Other girls in the district

 Us playing volleyball

Week 1!

Hola todos! So I'm one week in at the MTC (CCM en español) and it kind feels like it's been a year! I love my compañera, Hermana Zollinger. She and I are just way too much a like for anybody's good. Haha you should pity our district, which consists of another set of sisters and two more sets of elders. Can you imagine if you had to deal with two of me? She's hilarious and just the best, and we share a room with the other two hermanas in our district, Hermana Flamm and Hermana Lees who are both amazing as well. We spend a good amount of time laughing, probably too much since we have been read several scriptures about the sin of excessive laughter.

So these crazy Mexicans here set off fireworks and cannons all hours of the day and night. It was so hard to get used to at first but now I am so used to it. Funny how that is right?

The food here is pretty good actually! Totally mexican, so it's good practice. One day they had carne asada and almost everyday they have homemade corn tortillas. So bien! Also rice and beans with every meal so that's pretty mexican too haha.

The days are super long and exhausting and the first couple were especially difficult! We had an amazing day on Sunday though and our spirits were totally lifted and we really bonded as a district. The key to success here is that we are here for a gran purposito, or a great purpose. We have to remind each other everyday why we are here and that we are in the Lord's hands or this would be impossible. We have one investigator named Josuae and he's great. We are all so excited to get out in the field and get to meet those people who's hearts are prepared by the Lord for us to invite them to Christ! My Spanish experience has been really helpful and probably the only reason that this experience has not been entirely too overwhelming.

So our days are basically just 16 hours of studying the scriptures and Spanish, with a couple of gym time or meal breaks. That's pretty intense slash impossible to focus for that long so we have to do some things to break it up-

One of my favorites is that we all really like to sing in our district, so Elder Ward will usually say ok guys if we focus on finishing this task then we can take a break and sing.

Another thing that I apparently like now is Volleyball. If you know me well you know how I feel about sports--not so great. But it's a highlight of the day cuz we get in comfy clothes and we get to joke around and be outside in the beautiful weather and it's great. We are getting better to, I actually hit the ball over the net yesterday! So that's awesome. The first time we did it was rough and no one could hit it over more than once or twice but Hermana Lees said: Guys we are gonna get so much better by the end of six weeks, this is just the before shot!

I really loved that and that's my new motto for the CCM, anytime I am feeling down or discouraged I just remember that I am gonna keep getting better at studying and teaching and Spanish and that this is just the before shot.

Well I have like no time to write about everything but I'm doing great and I love you all and thanks for reading and for the positive thoughts and prayers you are sending my way!

Love

Hermana Hurley