HEY EVERYONE!!!!

Attached is a group photo, one of the Hermanas, and one of the Elders. (Obviously) Im pretty much in the very middle, lookin freaky, and my companion (Hermana Mathews) is on the top right in the purple shirt with short blonde hair. Shes great, but I definitely think shes my companion because I need to learn and practice patience. She is constantly asking me if I think its ok to drink her water after her finger touched the lid, and if she touches the floor if she'll get a disease. Its a little taxing on my well being, bless her heart. Shes pretty intense and we dont have a ton in common, but I'm doing my best to love her, encourage her, and work well with her.

Our district is great though! There are four sets of hermanas and 2 sets of Elders. All the girls are going to my mission besides one. (Hermana Ross) We love her anyway! She is so funny! Her and I are going to see if we can go the whole 6 weeks at the MTC without shaving our legs. So far, so good. HA! Theres not time anyway. We really all get along pretty well though. So thats good. I can already see each of us growing spiritually and learning the language. I'm getting the hang of Spanish a little more. I feel like I can understand it pretty well, but speaking it is a whole other story. It'll come though. Thats what they all keep promising us around here. Spanish will come! So I put my main focus in studying the scriptures. Our teachers name is Hermano Lopez. Hes a return missionary and served in Puerto Rico. Hes so great and knows the scriptures SO WELL! I cant wait to be like that. Our MTC president, Pres. Nycolayson told us we need to be our first convert, and I know I still have a lot to learn.

We taught our first real investigator though! The second day we were here!!! IN SPANISH. Well, spanglish, but we're getting there. His name is Albin and he is kindof interning here while going to school. One of the deals with the nonmembers who work here is that they have to take the lessons. The great thing about Albin though is that he WANTS to. He has already come so far in just a few days. He has prayed with us and on his own, read parts of the book of mormon, and wants to continue taking the lessons from the "real missionaries" since today is our last day with him. The best part is that while we are teaching him, he is teaching us so much in return. SO cool. We also went to La Casa de Cray today. I dont know what the Cray means, but anyway, its this house by the MTC where will be meeting with more real investigators. Today, we just practiced with some of the teachers that work here. But wow. It was amazing to see how much Spanish I knew without really knowing I knew that much! I dont know if that even makes sense.

Yesterday was PDay, which was so amazing. Something to definitely look forward to. And then email is Wednesdays from 1;30 to 2:30. But PDAY... we went to the Temple in the morning and did an english session. It was so great just to go there and feel calm for once. The temple is so beautiful and so so small. There isnt a chapel, you just go wait in the session room until it starts, and it fit like 20 people. Then we just had time to clean, do laundry and write hand written letters and NAP. Thank goodness for that nap!!!! Then, last night, we had a devotional by James B Martino of the 70. Such a powerhouse! He is amazing! He taught us so much! Go forth and serve, be obedient and open your mouth! His wife, Hermana Martino talked a lot about obedience. She said " obedience brings blessings, but perfect obedience brings miracles. (Like learning spanish in basically 5 minutes!)

The first day was so hard, and so long. The plane ride from SLC to LA was rough and I almost puked because I forgot to take that motion sickness pill. But I held it together. There were probably like 30 of us on that flight and then like 50 maybe from LA to Guatemala. We got here about 6am and just hit the ground running from there. It was intense and long and emotionally taxing, but I made it through. The girls here said "make it through the first day, and then the first week, and you'll be fine.) I am fine!!! Its still hard, and I'm still adjusting, but its coming.

The Gospel is True. I'm here for a reason. The Lord loves each of us. The spanish will come!

WOO!

Hermana Ludlow

PS we dont have our cameras because the missonaries before us were using them innapropriately I guess. But we get them when we go to the Marketpace in two weeks.

LOVE YOU ALL: