Familia,
I´m not sure if ¨casi verde¨ is the correct way to say it... but what I wanted to convey was that I am ¨almost green¨... since I leave el CCM on Tuesday (I should be able to email again on Monday just FYI).
This week has been pretty good for me as far as Spanish goes. I still struggle, but my teachers assure me that I´m getting much better and I can tell that something must be better because I haven´t gotten nearly as frustrated with myself lately as I have the previous weeks... maybe I´m just mellowing out a bit... or becoming more patient (oh, I hope so!), or maybe I really am getting better. Whatever the reason, it´s been good.
I´ve been trying to use the remainder of my time here to the fullest. I love my teachers and I love President Hill and Hermana Hill. There is so much that I can learn from every person. I love the time to study and I love all of the friends I´ve made here. It´s amazing to know so many great people who have such strong testimonies and desire to serve our Heavenly Father. I´m going to miss those missionaries who aren´t going to Barcelona with me. Es mi familia aqui! (It is my family here) I feel like all of the Elders are my little brothers, and since I´ve never had a little brother before, it´s been fun. Kori advised me to be friends with the Elders even when they sometimes drive me crazy, and I think I´ll be able to do it (that added measure of patience probably helps a lot :-)
That´s so awesome that Mom, Dad, Kori, and Spencer got to go to Eliza´s blessing. I hear you did a good job Cody, and I´m not surprised. You´re a good papa! I still don´t know exactly how I´m supposed to be pronouncing her name... nobody ever filled me in so I´ve been calling her ´Liza mostly.
¡Gracias por la carta en Español Kori! Estoy agradecido por la oportunidad practicar mi idioma nueva. (Thanks for the letter in Spanish Kori ! I am grateful for the opportunity to practice my new language). Yo entiendo más de la carta, las palabras que no intiendo puedo averiguar (is there a verb for ´to figure out´?) en contexto de los frases. (I understand more of the letter, the words that I don't understand I can figure out in the context of the phrases). Le da bebé un ´poke´ por mi y Spencer un grandismo beso (we learned how to add -isimo and -isima onto words this week... not hard, but fun). (Give the baby a 'poke' for me and Spencer a great big kiss.) Te amo, mi hermana. (I love you, my sister.) Oh, by the way, did you ever figure out if there was any special country specific phone number on the packagaing from that phone card you sent me? I wrote you about it a while back... GraTHias por su ayuda! (Thanks (spain prounciation) for the help!)
I have a phrase to teach you all in Portuguese (maybe Emilee knows it because I learned it from my Brazilian friends): ¨Nao faz mal¨ (there should be a sqiggly line over the a, but I can´t figure out how to do it.) It basically means ¨It´s okay¨. You can pronounce it like ¨Now Foz Mal¨ I say it a lot... but perhaps I shouldn´t because it might be slang. You´ll have to let me know, Em... It´s more fun to say things in different languages sometimes. I know how to say ¨tie¨ in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, and Russian. I can tell so many peope that I like their tie! I also have learned how to say ¨good morning¨ and ¨good night¨ in 5 or 6 languages (if you don´t pronounce the word for ¨night¨ correctly in German, you can accidentally say ¨Good naked¨ apparently... kinda awkward). Anyway, es muy divertido. (Anyway, it is very fun.) I have a teacher who fluently speaks at least 5 languages and understands 2 or 3 more when she hears them. She was born in Spain and spent several years in Switzerland while she was growing up where she learned German (she was taught by the missionaries in Switzerland in the German language when she converted). She said she learned Italian as a child by watching Italian cartoons. No joke. She also learned French... somehow... and speaks a language that only exists in Galicia (which is Northern Spain) where she was born. She inspires me. I´d really like to learn Italian after the mission because it´s pretty easy to understand once you know Spanish (even I can understand the Italian Anziani quite a bit when they speak). Portuguese would be fun to learn too.
I loved reading about the snow in Georgia and seeing the pictures of those little sweeties playing! I´m glad Lia had the time of her life. She cracks me up. Your kids look great, Alyn, and I´m glad to see that you got out in the snow too! It sounds like it was a rather messy and slightly destrucive way to get your trees pruned! I hope Nathan´s garden makes it through.
I was glad to hear about your new calling Dad! You told me weeks ago that you were getting a new calling and I wasn´t to ask about it yet... so I didn´t say anything. You´ll do great. Get those young men to start studying Preach My Gospel and their scriptures in preparation for serving missions! It is definately an inspired book and I´ve learned so much from it. I know that if the Young Men will prepare to go on missions now it will be the biggest blessing for them and their future families. I´m so grateful that I am able to be a missionary and spend this time serving the Lord. I know that YOU can learn a lot as well, my papa, from studying Preach My Gospel along with your scriptures that will help you feel more confident and prepared to give all of the talks you´ll be doing around the stake. I read a good portion of Preach My Gospel the last few months before I left, and I wish I would have used it more effectively by marking those things that stood out to me and looking up more scriptures and writing down the thoughts and connections that I made while studying it. When you read it may seem like it´s totally aimed for missionaries to use, but if you focus on how you can apply the same teachings in your own life it will take on a lot more meaning. I would suggest starting with the Book of Mormon chapter (chapter 5, I think) and then maybe the chapter that contains all of the lessons (chapter 3). All of it is good of course, but those chapters will help you learn more about how the Book of Mormon is a huge blessing for every person (I love the section on how the Book of Mormon answers questions of the soul) and also to help your testimony of the basic principles of the gospel to grow.
Madre, por favor send a picture of little ´Liza´s quilt when you finish it.
Les amo mucho. Quiero mas fotos, por favor. Den besos a mis sobrinos otra vez. (I love you all alot. I want more photos, please. Give kisses to my neices and nephews again.)
Hermana Diehl
1 comment:
Who is this visiting from Germany?
Heiligen, Thuringen
Does anyone know?
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