Week 2: July 10, 2014

Hey Jessica,

I feel like I just told everything to Mom, so I won't give you the day by day play of my week and talk to you about other stuff. That's more fun anyway, right?

I've learned that my Spanish sucks. I got to talk to a member from here this week. We had a hard time communicating. Ya. That was a blow to my ego. Which was good. It's better to get that now rather than the second I get into the mission field.

I'm finding it kind of hard to be exactly obedient. It's not like I'm rebellious or anything, it's just that sometimes I want to study in my own way, but they tell me to learn these things this way, or whatever. But I'm working hard on changing that. I want to be exactly obedient; I don't know everything and the Lord does, and if he inspired people to have us study in a certain way, I need to study that way. Sometimes it's hard, but I'm working on it.

I'm so glad you are enjoying school again. One funny thing, Hermana J (my companion) is a Recreational Therapy major at BYU, she's one semester away from graduating, so she takes a lot of psychology classes. It's cool to be paired with her, we know and are interested in a lot of the same stuff. I can't wait until I can go back and learn more! However, now is the time for learning Spanish, and how to use a Spanish keyboard, and how to teach the gospel (knowing the stuff is not quite enough), and  how to talk to people, and how to get along with people, and so many other social skills which I do not possess. It's just different. A good different, but different.

It's amazing to see everyone progress in their Spanish. A lot of these missionaries never spoke a lick of Spanish before they came here, and now, after two weeks, they are bearing their testimonies and teaching lessons in Spanish. No, their Spanish is not perfect, for some people, not even close, but they can still do it. It's really amazing. Everyday I am astounded by what everyone can do. I hope they notice it too.

In order to save me time, here is an excerpt from my letter to Mom:

"Fourth of July was definitely a highlight. I swear, I have never seen so many people wearing red, white, and blue as I did that day. It was ridiculous. The kitchen staff was so nice too! For lunch we had BBQ sandwiches, corn on the cob, apple pie, and french fries! One hermana wanted to sing the national anthem, so they let her. We all sang along. I was really touched at the effort that they went to to make us feel at home. They even put red, white, and blue table clothes on all the tables! It was pretty amazing."

Anyway, I'm not sure what else to say. I hope all is well.

Love you!

Hermana Leete

**To see more of Melissa's letters click on the link in the side bar to Called to Serve: Las Vegas Nevada.**