Dear Familia 1-23-09
Last Friday was possibly the best day of my life so far and the proceeding week was so fast and so amazing. The first few days in the MTC seemed agonizingly slow, but it seems like things are making up for that now.
Because of this I feel like I don't have nearly as much to tell you about! It seems like just yesterday I looked at the list of 20 or so things I wanted to include in my letter and wondered if I had enough stamps! But time is passing me by so quickly and I'm so busy that it's pretty weird to think that I've only been here for two weeks--or that I've been here for two weeks already--I can't decide which is more correct.

I feel so loved!!! I can't believe how many letters I got this week, there was hardly a single meal that passed without Elder Stirling (our D.C.) coming over to give me a letter! It's been so wonderful to hear from everyone about life back home and how everything has been going--and I so appreciate the help and advice everyone has been offering me. The "Letters at mealtime" thing has been compared to Hogwarts by the older sister of Hermana Thomas and I think she's got it spot on.
Can I just gush about my two adorable conpaneras for a minute here?! These girls are AMAZING, I'm so lucky to have them with me during this time at the MTC. Whenever one of us has to leave for an interview or something--I feel like I'm missing a limb, and when I am alone for some reason, I just don't know what to do! I can already tell it's going to be really strange to come home in 17 1/2 months and not have a companion with me all the time. Is that why missionary's get married so fast? I always just thought they were kind of weird, but as I write this, I'm sitting on a bench and my companeras are about fifty feet away on other benches and I feel weird even being a tiny bit isolated.

Anyway...tell Grandma THANK YOU!!!! so much for the cookies...or just show her this letter (that's easier). That was really such a wonderful treat, and thank you for the lovely card too--I was so excited to hear from you and of course I ALWAYS love cookies! I can't bake here (obviously) which is a bit rough, I've missed grabbing cookies whenever I want, so it's been great to have a little stash in my room.
Laney's letters are always so wonderful to read--she's a great little writer, I'm happy she's writing little letters for me--I LOVE YOU PENNY LANE! I'm going to be a real good missionary for you, but I still secretly adore bunnies and snuggling--just like you implied in your lovely picture.

Seriously-the "NO TOUCHING" thing here is a little bit intense. I completely understand why it has to be that way, but it's still silly sometimes--like during gym when we want to high-five--we can't! They actually get after us! So--instead, we lift up our hands like we're about to high-five the Elder in question, then drop our hands into an awkward handshake instead.
Also--there was this wonderful moment when I tripped and nearly fell over, an Elder flinched as if to catch me, then immediately shrank back with his hand up--not daring to touch me. I managed to get my balance--then glared at him and said; "You were going to let me fall!" It was hilarious--in fact, we all had a good laugh about the strict regulations on physical contact.
I'll just have to be less clumsy. (Err...Yeah right.)
It was so cool to run into Lauren on Sunday--and it got me thinking how cool it would be to accidentally run into my family at the temple--but of course I'd never ASK to set that up. That would be wrong.

I told you a little bit about my teachers, and also about being cut off from the world, I've just got this funny feeling that they're not giving us all this information!
I mean--really, they wouldn't even tell us who was going to the superbowl (thanks for that info by the way, Mommy!) and they're all going to BYU for school, so everyday I wonder if any of them have classes with Jensen. Probably. That would be so typical of my life.
Anyway, I mentioned in my letter how Hermano Anthony really likes to stress the importance of working with the pretend investigators whenever we get the chance; we decided to take his advice and sign up for a "progressive investigator". We didn't really know what to expect. Our P.I is called Beatrice Ponce, and she is one of the smartest, most intimidating women I've ever met. She NEVER breaks character. Maybe the others don't either--I don't know! So far, she's the only person we've pretended to teach who makes it 100% realistic, she pretends her office is her home--we have to knock and then she opens the door and does a very convincing job of having NOT expected us, to the point that I was a bit worried we had gotten lost and somehow accidentally wandered into the home of a real Catholic woman from Spain.
Whenever one of us would slip out of character or ask her a question as a teacher and NOT as an investigator, she just pretended not to hear us, or said "excuse me?". She's got her office dressed up to be a pretend home, like with photographs taped to the blackboard with chalk-drawn frames and nails.
It's VERY surreal. She really manages to make it feel completely real. There's an Elder in my District whose totally convinced that she's a real investigator. She's not though--she's just a genius. And scary. I think I want to grow up to be just like her.
I've been debating about whether it's too soon to say something...I don't think it is, since my Hermana's made this connection before I did. I wasn't ever considering it, but the other day while studying, Hermana Thomas looked up at me and said "you should teach here when we get back." I honestly hadn't even thought of this until then.
It's REALLY hard to get a job here. But I might want to think about it--at least about trying to. I'd have to be a Spanish Genius of course--but I've got some control over that. And it would mean doing school at BYU probably, but I was probably going to do that anyway.
Anyway--I thought I'd share that!

One lesson I learned this week that I really loved was about the Brother of Jared. Sometimes, this work seems so much bigger than I could ever handle, and it's hard, because you want to do your best and be the best missionary you can be--but sometimes it feels like the Lord has asked me to do something so incredible and then I go out to perform the task for him and come back and say... "Err...Well. I've got some rocks...can you do anything with that?" but the wonderful thing is that the Lord can work with the meager offering that we present to him. As long as it represents our very best effort--he can turn our pathetic little rocks into a great source of light for people in darkness.
I love you all more than I can possibly express! And I miss you all--I wish they would let us have more time to write these letters. I hope everything is going well and that you're all healthy and happy. Jensen, don't stress about school--you are brilliant, remember? I'm completely confident you'll know exactly what to do. Mommy, thank you so much for the scriptures and for being such an incredible influence in my life. Dad, at ward conference, tell everyone that Jesus is the Christ, this is his true church and God loves us and says "Everything, is going to be okay, someday. I know it's rough now, but you're strong. We're all going to be okay, together".
Le Evangelio de Jesucristo es verdad. If it wasn't, I wouldn't be here.
As a missionary, I've been blessed with authority from God, but it's my duty to build and maintain the power that comes with that authority. I can feel God making me and the other missionaries strong. There is no way these 19 year old punks I play basketball with could be so effective without the power of God on their side.
Laney-babe, be a good girl like I know you are. Keep colouring and telling stories. It's your job to make sure mommy and daddy are always smiling.
Until next week, Hermana Lirioblanco

The P.S. Page!
Gloria Irion--I saw her on Sunday during "Music and the spoken word" one of the only things we're allowed to watch, they did "my favorite things" and the camera was right on her!
Choir is amazing, so far we've sung; "Lead Kindly light" and "Jesus once of Humble birth". I really love it.
I got your letter about my IPod right after I sent my MTCE-mail! I'm sorry it's being lame.
The 3 Apocalyptica songs I had on there were "one" which is a metalica cover, "Rusha" which might just be called "track 11" on the album titled "Beyond Time".
Also there is a song called "faraway" on the reflections album. There's two versions--I want the one without words--just music.
I'm not sure what the deal with my Ipod is, I'm so sorry, I should have just stayed up late the night before I left and done all this myself..But I can't now, so I need your help. Are you having trouble putting them on Attunes or the Oped itself?
Other songs I thought of:
Lopez (on the way down I think you said "no Lopez" just wanly know "really?" and "why not"? or just put it one there.
Gregorian chant CD scarburough fair
Gregorian chant CD Nothing else matters
The string quartet cover of Oafish Girls not grey, nightdress, the sleeping sun, Rasputina, Dig Ophelia,and Rusty the skatemaker--might be on there already. I don't remember.