WEEK SIX!! For Giggles and Kicks!!

Olá minha família e meus amigos!! Wow it has been a wonderful week, there truly is no room for it to be a bad week here at the MTC. It's getting so strange because we're supposed to leave NEXT MONDAY AHHHH, so things are coming to a close here and I'm honestly pretty sad. I've made a lot of wonderful friends here, I have THE SWEETEST COMPANION EVER!! And my district is the goat. The best. The one and only. Ahh such great people!! Fun Fact: Our district alone covers 4 different continents: Africa, Europe, South America, and North America. COOL BEANS!! The Gathering of Israel is SOOO HAPPENING!! And it's so great, whatever you can do to further the work, the Lord will magnify it!!

Ok so a couple of blast-and-a-half things:

1. I was having a really hard time sleeping last week. I would sleep for about 2 hours every night and it was terrible. I had a really hard time staying awake in classes, I would randomly fall asleep during study time, (and if you know me, I have a really hard time sleeping practically anywhere but my own bed, I do not have the talent that I can sleep anywhere, that'd be a blast though!) and I was just in plain old bad shape. Luckily, we had an extra bunk bed in our room, so I decided to switch over to the bottom bunk of that bed and it worked some much-needed miracles. It's amazing what sleep can do for your cute little body.

2. Sister Anderson's dad sent the district a package and inside was a little ziploc bag for each missionary. We were randomly given a bag, "according to the spirit", and in each bag was a very random item and a life lesson. Mine was a bandaid (I know, perfectly timed right?) and a note that was nothing less than brutal: "So you know the Heimlich Maneuver and can give life-saving chest compressions, eh? How about a simple bandage and a kind word? Quit being so smug. Put some love in your heart." At first, I was like, "They didn't give this to the right person, I love everyone!" Turns out, I actually really did need it. I was having some problems with someone in my district and just didn't have the best feelings towards them. So, I took the very wise advice and it really helped me get over myself and to just love this person. If you're ever having a hard time loving someone, take the brutal advice, quit being so smug, and honestly what helped me the most was praying for help to know HOW to love this person. The Lord will show you how because He truly does love all His children, and He loves the effort you put in to love those around you.

3. Haha this one is funny. Also totally not. But here goes. On Monday, mine and Sister Anderson's dark load of laundry went MISSING! We checked every single washer and dryer (there are NOT a few), we checked all the lost and founds, and NOTHING. It was super unfortunate and we were only super peeved. Sister Anderson handled it much better than I did. Anyway, so for three days, we looked everywhere for our laundry, checking the lost and founds and the laundry room 3 or 4 times a day and nothing. BUT THEN, on Wednesday night, we went to the lost and found again, still not there, then we were walking back to our residence hall when I had the feeling to look in the laundry room one more time. So we went and checked the lost and found bins there, nothing, and then Sister Anderson had a feeling to look in the washers and dryers one more time. Quick reminder: THERE ARE NOT A FEW, nevertheless, we did look and we did find!! WOOT WOOT!! Our guess is someone accidentally took it, thought it was theirs, realized it wasn't, decided, "Ehh, we'll take it later," and then decided to stick it in a random dryer, (not the lost and found bins where you would normally put lost clothes), because they knew that the Holy Ghost would lead us to that exact dryer. They were simply putting our faith to the test. We truly have a lot to thank them for hahahaha.

4. An Elder in our district really wanted to do a musical number for Church, so he asked if I could accompany him. I said yes. Oh, how very little I knew what was about to go down. Also, this happened my first week in the MTC. Also, I learned two songs for him, which isn't the easiest since I'm very much out of practice. And another also, he loved telling me how to play the song. He's never taken a music class in his life. My music mind was going a little berserk, but patience is real and I got some reeeeaaaallly good practice with that one. And we did the special musical number for church and it was actually a really spiritual experience. So it all payed off! And he is very talented, so really it's a win-win. Bless his heart.

5. WE GOT TO WATCH THE MOON RISE YESTERDAY!! It was a full moon and and our way back to our residencies last night, we saw this bright light behind the mountain and (beware: nerd moment) I knew that it was going to be a full moon because the nights before, the moon was definitely waxing (or growing, whatever works for you), so our district stayed and watched the moon rise. Wow, it was so gorgeous, nature is SO AWESOME!!

6. I'm so sorry, this is my last thing!! Sheri Dew came and gave our Sunday Devotional yesterday and oh my heavens to betsy, she is one of the most incredible people ever. She gave an awesome talk, here are some highlights: "Don't be BITTER, be BETTER!" If you're in a rough situation, choose to become better from it instead of being bitter about it. One of these actions halts your progress, one of them invites progress, I'll let you decide which is which. She also talked a lot about LIGHT. What a beautiful thing, light. It's more powerful than darkness in every sense of its character, metaphorical, literal, spiritual, you name it. "Immerse yourself in the things that are LIGHT." If you need a scripture for it, D&C 50:24-25 should do it.

That's all folks! Love you with all my heart!! Thanks for your sweet emails and everything else! Have a lovely day and an ever lovelier week! Over and out!!

Your pal,

Sister Melo

PICS!!

My sweet fam sent a cute package, comic strips and a Halloween picture book included!