The MTC is great!

Hello everyone…. Guess what?!? I am in SPAIN!! I am literally in another country right now!!!!! It is absolutely beautiful out here. The people are amazing and the language is beautiful, yes even with the heavy lisp accent. It is amazing. Well so much has happened in the last week and a half, I don’t even know where to begin. I should have written things down so that I could remember easier what to tell you guys. And to make matters worse I only have 20 minutes to try and cram a week and a half's worth of my life into that small period of time…. Well were to begin…. Let's start with my companion. To make it short, she is basically another me. We are almost the same person. We say the same things, we have the same clothes, we think alike… I am serious we are so in sync!!! She is amazing. She is so strong in the gospel and I am learning so much from her. She definitely keeps me on track because of how head strong and determined she is. We are the first ones up in the morning, we say comp prayer, and then get ready as fast as we can, head to breakfast, and are the first to leave so that we can get to the classroom and start studying. I LOVE MY COMP!!!!
Uhhh the language is totally kicking my butt…. We go and teach fake investigators in Spanish and I feel ridiculously impressed with myself when I understand and pick up like 15 words. I mostly sit there, listen to gibberish, smile, nod and occasionally say SI. Hahaha it really will take me quite a bit to pick up on this beautiful language. The food here is… interesting. Its either good or super nasty. But thanks to my comp Hermana McWhorter I at least try everything on my plate before spitting it out and chugging down a glass of water. My favorite meal so far has been Chicken nuggets and fries… AMERICAN FOOD!!!! I am sorry for not sending any pictures, we aren’t allowed to take pictures in the MTC, and we can only take pictures on Thursday, but we haven’t gone out yet today to take pictures. My MTC president is an incredible speaker, and is honestly so nice. His wife is my favorite though. She is just like my mom. I went in to her office the other night just to see how she was doing and I felt like I was back home sitting on my bed with my mom. But no worries mom, she will never replace you.

The MTC is great…. Except it feels like a jail. We are literally confined to only 3 floors, we need a key to get in or out of anything, there are bars on our windows, and even when we go to some of the soccer fields for gym times they are surrounded by fences and gates. BUT it is my home. My comp is my sister and my district is my family. We all depend on each other so much. Haha its funny to watch all the other sisters around me break down in tears about being homesick. I mean don’t get me wrong I miss my family more than anything, but I am not homesick. If you read in D&C 100 it says Your families are well; they are in mine hands, and I will do with them as seemeth me good; for in me there is all power. I do not need to worry about my family out here, the lord is taking care of them while I serve him.

Last night was one of the best moments of my life. On the floor where all the missionaries rooms are there is the forbidden door that separates the sisters from the elders and we me and a few girls from my district heard the elders singing let it go on the other side of the door, so we ran into our room pulled out my ipod grabbed my speakers and set it next to the door and basically had a sing along to a variety of Disney classics with the elders and sisters between a door. Hahaha not the most spiritual experience, but it was definitely a good way to feel like a normal human being again vs a broken robot trying to learn a language. It was great.

Really quick I need to make a shout out to my AMAZING missionary Elder Ryan Morgan and my very BEST friend Syd Spackman for the letters that they have sent me. I am the only one in my district who has gotten any mail and it really makes a world of difference hearing from home.
I am learning so much and my testimony is growing every day. It is amazing the things you can learn and accomplish with the spirit as a constant companion. I love this church and the amazing gospel that I have been blessed with. I can´t wait until I get to leave the prison walls of the MTC and go out and dedicate myself to searching for the lost souls of the world to bring them the happiness that the gospel brings each of us. I love you all and hope to hear from you all soon. I apologize for being brief and not explain more, I know I left a lot of things out like teaching in the park, singing on the temple steps and going to the temple, but I will explain more next week!!! OH BY THE WAY the MTC is cool in the fact that there are only 26 people here. 12 sister missionaries serving in Spain, 3 elders serving in Spain, 1 elder who is going to France, 3 Russian elders, 3 Russian sisters, and 4 elders from Africa. It's pretty cool to see the sisters dominating the mission field. I LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Hermana Stilson