Week Two Complete!

New letter from our hermana!

Como estan! So Im a third of the way done with the mtc.  Tots cray.  Im learning a lot! My spanish is struggling a little becuase  Ifeel like I{m not learning enough but that just means i need to work harder in my personal study.  I am forgettting how to speak proper english because all i hear all day is spanish or broken english from my teachers.  One of my teachers is Fez from thats 70 show.  I think he seriously is haha. its funny.  I am gettting a little better at teaching, well just more comfortable with it.  Its hard when you know what you want to say but you don{t know how to in spanish.  On Monday my companion and I taught a senor missinoary couple.  It was a little more intimidating than our teachers, but they were nice and helpful adn gave us some no bake cookies!  Oh speaking of food.. You will never believe the nasty they tried to feed me.  So i go get the plate of food and it was rice and beans and meat and it looked like noodles with the meat.  NOpe not noodles.  Bones.  Like a plate of bones shaped like little noodles with meat sauce.  So apparently people here enjhoy sucking on the bones and sucking out all the marrow.  I about died.  The grosse4st.  And no i did not try it nor will i ever.  After that i think the mtc presidents wife talked to the cook to make it a little more American because the next night we had hamburgers.  and our food has been good lately.

So friday we didn{t go to the university we are going tomorrow.  Im nervous but apparently everyone is super nice and they like talking to us.  Sunday was a really good day.  we have church adn then doctrine class and we watch a church movie.  This week we watched Joseph Smith and teh Restoration.  Ive seen it a few times before, but this time I waws much more intune to the sotry and am so amazed by all that was sacrificed for us today,  So we could preach the gospel with religous freedom. At the end it says Joseph Smith lived and died for the cuase of truth.  Shall we not go on in such great a cause.  It really hit me how important my calling is.  Every sacrifice was preparing the world for our time, the greatest generation of missionary work.  Where our generations and generations to come will not fail!  

So anyways Monday we went to the store, kind of like a kmart.  we only get to go once while we are here.  i got all this stuff to organized my scripture study so Im excited about that.  Oh also they had a yogurtland! Different than our haha but soo good I will try to send some pictures today.  OH andf I had my first experience as a missionary at the store.  BOMBED it!! I was with one of the girls in our group and we were walking back to our companions and this sweet old guy stopped us and was like are you guys mormons_ and we were like in shock.  IDk why haha we just werent expecting it.  And we were like yes.  and he said his grandparents and parents were mormon.  So the girl i was with who doesnt know very much spanish w3as like quieres ser momon haha it was supppp awk.  he just laughed and said no.  I tried to save it with the little spanish i know but he just kept saying when his arm healed from surgry he would have the missionaries then said God bless you and left haha.  So obviously we have lots to learn about how to be a missionary. But the sto4re was fun the only time i will ever get out of the temple gated area.  The drivers are craZy here so im glad i dont have to drive.  Tuesday morning all of the Dominicans in the mtc left for the field so after we had to clean the mtc and stuff and prepare for the next group of missionaries.  we have 17 new north americans and they are all girls.  so we are two thirds girls.  so we had to switch rooms with all the elders because there are more elder rooms than girl rooms.  and let me tell you boys stink!! we cant walk in our room without gagging from the smell lingering in the bathroom and we cant get rid of it!! we also have 13 new Haitian missionaries.  They got here last nighty.  They dont really know spanish or English so its hard to communicate.  So i just say bonjour and resort to grandmas hand motions!! Theyre a lot older and have given up so much to be here.  Its was awesome.  The mtc presient said they all have amazing conversion stories so i need to figure out a better way to communicate to hear them. They are all going to Haiti only haitains can go there because its so dangerous.  all the north americans got in super late last night so i havent really met them yet but i went to chiapas mexico with one so thats fun. 

I think this mtc is probably nicer in some ways but the provo mtc is more structures do most of our learning here is dependent on your personal study.  which is good and bad.  I hasv ent seen any bugs yet, knock on wood im justy not going to look.  

I miss everyone and hope you guys are all well.  Give the puppies kisseys for me.  I sleep with them every night.  oh also just forget about sending letters and packages here.  I dont think they will ever come just use dear elder adn email.  and then a week before i leave you can send stuff to the puerto rico mission home.  dont forget to.  thanks for all the love and support.  Have a great Easter weekend!  I will be thinking of you all and how much Christ sacrificed for us.  He lived and died for our salvation adn we will one day live with Him again!! Happy Easter!! 

Love

Hermana Cole

PS the keyboard is different and i dont{ have time to worry about it so sorry for all the crappy typing and stuff.

 Loves i will try to send pics   

(In case you were missing her pig face snap chats...)

First Week

Below are bits from Hermana Cole's letter recapping her first week out on the mission!

It has officially been a week since i've been gone.  The most crazy, spiritual, harderst, LONGEST week ever! haha P day is like christmas. i get just as excited on p day eve as i do on christmas eve. So first day we got in super late and stuff so we just went to bed.  Then thursday we had orientation and that lasted foreves.  Friday was like the first real day. We wake up sup early at like 6 and shower and what not.  Go to breakfast at 7.  They usually have something good but i just eat raisin bran and bananas because we eats lots of carbs here.  After breakfast we have personal study for an hour and then companion study.

After comp study we have spanish class.  They only one spanish level so i usually am sup bored because i already know it.  Its frustrating.  I wish i could skip like two weeks and only be here for 4.  Our gospel study is kind of incorporated with the spanish so i don't really know just class until lunch.  Our class is just with our district of 8 people so its pretty intimate.  Our teachers are rm dominicans.  They are cool and love baseball.  Everything has to do with baseball.  Two nights ago was some huge baseball tourny and the dominicans won like the whole thing and were having parties on the beach so i kept waking up in the middle of the night becuase i could hear the screaming.  Its funny.  Lunch is their big meal.  They like rice and beans.  And i feel like im going to get fat.  but there is always tons of bananas and pinneaple which is my fav.  After lunch is class and we do more language stuff and plan our lesson for our investigator "Secundino" in spanish.  After a few hours of that we get an hour of exercise.  Everyone likes to play volleyball but coed volleyball is my least favorite thing in the world.  So for the first few days i just sat there.  But i found some people to run with me.  So we do that.  Around the temple.  We like live right on temple grounds.

OH and i just went to the temple this morning.  Its really pretty and cool.  It was in english if you were wondering.  After exerciese we plan more for our lesson and then we teach it.  Its really kind of fun actually.  I like speaking in spanish and the gift of tongues is for sure real becasue i don't know where half the stuff i say comes from.  LIke we teach 45 minute lessons completely in spanish about hard stuff so im proud of myself.  after that we plan for te next day and have prayer with everyone there is like 50 people here half dominicans and half americans.  Some haitans are coming in a week i think.  That will be interesting to have 3 languages here.  Apparently they don't have any clothes and stuff so i might give up an outfit if they need some.

Oh something funny. but sad.  A guy in my district apparently didn't chew his meat and then it got stuck in his throat so he had to go to like 3 hospitials finding someone who could shove it down to his stomach.  Moral of the story chew you meat.  we can only take pictures on p day so i don't have any yet but i will send some next week.  its really pretty and warm here. Also tell everyone thank you for writing me i dont' have much time to write back but i will get to it.  i have to go now.  we only have a half hour. boo but i love you all very much ! thanks for your support and love.  Remember to pray always and ponder what you study!

Con amor,

hermana cole

First Letter!

Day 2

Hermana Cole's first letter came! We were so excited to hear from Christina this morning. She didn't have much time to write, but I'm so glad she let us know she got there safely.

Hola familia!  So I don't have much time to write, just gotta tell you I'm here up!  We got here at like 1:00 am because we missed our flight to miami and had to catch the later flights.  I haven't had much time to get settled in yet, but I love it here.  I think I'm really going to learn a lot and have lots of fun.  We had banana pancakes this morning.  They put bananas in every thing so I think i will be ok!  The people are so nice and my companion seem really nice to her name is Sister Colton.  She's from salt lake.  I am really excited to start speaking spanish.  A lot is already coming back.  So I can email once a week but you can also mail me through dearelder or regular mail but you can't use an envelope just fold up the piecce of paper and write the address on the front.  You only need one stamp because it will go that through salt lake.  Its a different address though than the one I gave you.  So i will have to give it to you later.  Well I have to go!  I will email you probably  next thursday, i think thats our pday.  Love you all!  Adios!

Hermana Cole

And She's Off!

Our little missionary Hermana Cole left today to serve her 18 month mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She asked her sisters to keep a blog for her in order to keep you all updated on how she is doing. Hopefully she will have some pictures and stories to send soon, but until then, you get my version of whats been going on the last little while.

This post is going to be a longer one (sorry!) with lots of pictures of Christina's journey to day #1 of her mission.

PRE-MISSION

Christina, opps I mean, Hermana Cole, has always wanted to go on a mission. She has hated having to wait until she turns 21 to go. So when the First Presidency lowered the age for sister missionaries to 19, she was estatic. She, along with so many other 19 year old girls, quickly submitted her mission paperwork and waited for her call. When her call finally came, her friends and family gathered at the Cole house to watch her open it. I think we can all agree Puerto Rico is the perfect mission for Christina. She knows a good amount of Spanish and loves the latin culture, now with a little island flair.

It was special to have the family at her endowment. My mom, grandma, Lauren, and I were able to be with her the whole time.

The last couple of weeks, my family has been cramming in lots of classic Cole Family activities; dinner, skiing, dollar theater, cleaning the house, shopping, fro yo, pizza party, Hang Time tumbling gym, Chuck A Rama, Camp Cole sleepovers, Dairy Keen, drill performances, temple trips, poster making, and of course last minute packing for Christina. We have been so blessed to have such a close family that enjoys spending every second together ;)

On Sunday, Hermana Cole gave an amazing farewell talk in our home ward. She was given the topic of the Pearl of Great Price. She based her talk off of Moses 1:39, which is the grand and glorious mission of our Father in Heaven and His Son; "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." She spoke about the importance of the threefold mission of the church in order to achieve this mission; to proclaim the gospel, perfect the Saints by preparing to receive the ordinances, and redeeming the dead. She tied it all together wonderfully to the importance of serving a mission herself and how excited she is to bring the gospel to those in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Following her talk, we had a brunch at our house. Thanks to everyone who contributed and came to the brunch, we truly appreciate your help and support. 

Following the brunch, my immediate family went on to assign each person a character from The Office. Some personalities fit better than others...

Mike=David Wallace, Shelley=Michael Scott, Michelle=Angela, Lauren=Andy, Christina=Jim, Allison=Stanley, Alyssa Jo=Kelly, Chito=Darryl, Spencer=Dwight

On Monday, Hermana Cole moved out and cleaned her apartment at BYU (let's hope the mission helps reduce her procrastination with some things..) That night we went with our family, including aunts, uncles, and cousins, to Hang Time. We had a fun time jumping on the tramps there, and Christina had another chance to show off her tumbling skills. We then had the classic Cole Family dinner at Chuck A Rama. 

Tuesday was full of last minute errands and dinner. Christina became an official missionary at 7:20 that evening. There were many family members present to share the special moment with her.  Zack and Christina had their official handshake. We then all pitched in and helped her finish packing. We successfully managed to leave 4 lbs to spare in each suitcase! We had a little family pow wow and gave Christina a journal we had all written in, as well as puzzle piece necklaces with a family photo on it that Lauren had Spencer's mom make.

MISSION

Day #1

Let me be honest, today has been a LONG day. We went to bed around 12:30 and woke up at 3:30 (I'm sure Christina got even less sleep than that). Because Christina is going to the Dominican Republic MTC, we were able to take her to the airport instead of dropping her off at the Provo MTC. After checking her in, we took lots of pictures and said our goodbyes. It was hard. Fortunately, there were a bazillion other missionaries in the airport at the time. Most came from the MTC shuttles, but there were a few being dropped off by his or her family. Christina was lucky to have previously met a girl going to her same mission and they found each other in the security line at the airport. It's comforting to know she has been traveling with her all day and not alone.

Hopefully the first day is the hardest to be apart, because it has been pretty emotional for my family. We are so excited for her though and know she will be an amazing missionary. It will be such a wonderful experience for her and I know she will bless many people because of her choice to serve the Lord.

Check back here for updates from Hermana Cole. We are anxiously waiting her first email. If you would like to write to Hermana Cole, please email her at christina.cole@myldsmail.net