“I’M HERE & I LOVE IT!” The title of Natalie’s first email pretty much sums it up.  She made it fine and is diving right in.

We received our first letters about last Monday, and the first email on Thursday. Natalie mentioned that her P-Days are on Thursday, (P-Day is preparation day for missionaries, the day of the week when they take care of personal business like writing letters, shopping and laundry), and also that she LOVES receiving mail through www.Dearelder.com .  Apparently, letters sent that way are delivered twice a day, lunch and dinner, so she does not have to wait until P-Day to get them like she does for email.  (I thought she would appreciate me mentioning that at the start of the blog.  For all of you who are interested in sending her a message this way, her mission right now is MTC,Provo and her unit is 185,  AZ-MESA, and 7-16 is the date she is expected to leave the MTC.)

Wednesday, June 5^th, the day Natalie entered the MTC set a record for the number of new missionaries checking in at 950!  

Below are some excerpts from her first letter:

Hola familia!!!!!!!

How are you all? We only have an hour to write emails, so I am going to cram as much in as I can in that time. Okay where to start? How do I explain an entire life-changing week in just one short email? First of all, it is just great here.

 I have the best companion ever. Her name is Hermana Wright and she is from Highland, Utah.

We get along so well and work really well together too. 

The first few days here were pretty hard, but not too bad. They just put you right into the swing of things and you just jump right in. Those first few days were the longest days I have ever experienced, but they also just flew right by. There's a saying here that goes during you're first week, just make it to Sunday, and you will be fine. That's so true! At first you are just like holy cow how in the world am I supposed to be able to do this? It's just go-go-go, and super overwhelming. But Sundays here are absolutely wonderful. You have a lot more time to study, meetings with your district & zone, normal church meetings, choir practice, and devotionals.

Speaking of Devotionals, I guess on the 23rd, there is this world-wide leadership training about missionary work where prophet and all of the apostles will be. The MTC choir is singing for it (which I am in) - so watch it! Because I might be on TV!!!

I just absolutely know without any doubts that this is where I am supposed to be. I know that this the plan that Heavenly Father had in store for me. Although we are always working, and it is hard, I am just so so happy here. And that's because of the Spirit that is so strong here. This is truly the Lord's work, and it is such a privilege to be a part of it. I am learning so much everyday, and I just feel overwhelmed by how blessed I am. I am surrounded by wonderful people who make me so happy! 

   The sisters in my district are already like my best friends. but we also learn from each other and help each other. 

The thing that has really stuck out to me the most this week is the sacredness of my calling.  I have been called by A PROPHET OF GOD to go to Mesa, Arizona and to speak Spanish.  How huge is that????

We watched a movie called "The Character of Christ" by Elder Bednar (which you all NEED to see by the way), and that has really changed my perspective. It was all about how Christ always focused outwards, and never on himself. That just really got me thinking about how this time is not my own. I have covenanted to dedicate all my time and attention to this work, and I know that if I do that I will be able to see miracles. I am here to help other people, and I am on his errand. Sometimes I start thinking about how tired I am, or how a little break would be nice, or how I would just love to speak in English instead of Spanish, and I try to remind myself that my calling is sacred and it is such an honor to be a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

I wish I could describe how it makes me feel. There is absolutely nothing better in the world. I have never felt like this before. I have never spent my days so focused and dedicated before. We really are moving from 6:30 am to 10:30 pm. But that's how it should be.  I know I have so much learning to do and I have a long road ahead of me, but I am learning and growing everyday.

Our district is absolutely the best. We all just clicked with each other right away and have sooooo much fun (sometimes too much!).

Okay so some more about I guess just the day to day things: Spanish.... I love it, but I also hate it. We try to speak it as much as possible, but it's hard to do that. I can pretty much understand everything that people say to me. But it's hard to know how to express myself back to them. I can pretty much say what I need to, but not really how I want to say it. But holy cow it is crazy to see how much I have improved. Especially my companion, her Spanish is already like 80 million times better. 

Thank you soooo much for all the love, prayers, letter and support! I love you all so much and I hope all is going well! Seriously your letters just absolutely make my day. It is so nice to have a little pick me up during the day. Oh and for all of you who do want to write me - please use dearelder.com. We get mail from them twice a day, at lunch and dinner (around 11:30 and 4:30), and it also has people's addresses so I can write back hand letters if I need to. Oh and then I don't have to wait til P-Day to read them!