Week 1 MTC

* I apologize now for all grammar and spelling errors. I have MINUTES to write this out so here it goes..........

FIRST OFF! Dearelder.com! Use it to write me! I get the letters that same day! All you need is my name: Kaylee Baca and my mission: Montevideo, Uruguay WEST mission (URU-MONW) Unit #934. Getting those letters seriously make or break my day. Even if it's just a silly joke you heard, SEND IT TO ME! Best part is It's FREE! Any questions write me on Facebook and my mom will write you back.

    I've been in the MTC ( Missionary Training Center) for a week now and it feels like I've been here for months! The days are so long. In my district there is me and my companion Hermana Reed who is from St. George.....or at least I think it depends on who she talks to because she's from all over Utah and where she is from changes depending on who she talks to. EVERYONE here is from Utah. Then there are the other Sisters we live with. Hermana Paris from Wyoming and Hermana Sorenson from Layton, Utah. Hermana Sorenson and I could be twins. We have a trio of Elders. Elder Dietrich ( Idaho), Elder Finlay (Pocetello), and Elder Mckean (St. George). We call them the Tres Bebes OR Tres Ninos ( Three babies or Three Children) cause they are all just barely 18 and out of High School and they seem so young! The started calling us Abuelitas( abuelitas) because we're so old. They are HILARIOUS!

    The language is coming along! When I was set apart as a missionary in my blessing I was blessed with the gift of tongues. I testify that the Gift of Tongues, is REAL. My teachers Hermano Lundy Hermano Bullock are awesome! Hermano Bullock also, served in Uruguay and found out two days before we entered the MTC that he was getting 7 of us going there. HE WAS STOKED! Hermano Lund ONLY speaks to us en Espanol. ( Get's a little frustrating at times) and Hermano Bullock holds us to what he knows we know. They balance each other out and they are the best! We got here Wednesday afternoon and they told us we would be teaching an investigator in SPANISH on FRIDAY who is from Argentina. We have taught him 5 lessons ALL in Spanish ( mostly not using notes surprisingly) and he has committed to baptism.......THE GIFT OF TONGUES IS REAL YO! There have been some rocky times when teaching him though! I told him he once " Martin, Usted arepentimiento por pescados" TRANSLATION " Martin, you repent for fishes" HAHAHAHA I ment to say " Martin, you repent for sins" Woops! He understands little english and knows I started learning spanish this week! I am so glad to be helping him come unto Christ. I am so concerned about him that one night my companion woke up to me sleep talking saying: " Martin I can't find the scripture for you! I know it's here in D&C! I can't find it! I can't find it!" The next day I tried to express to Martin that I wanted to help him learn this message so much that I stressed about him even when I was sleeping. It came off as......" Martin, I dream about you." THE LOOK ON HIS FACE!!! hahaha Awkward.... At least I know my head is in the work. My spanglish is the really good though! AND I can speak the 4th hardest language in the world.....English. ( I think it's the 4th that's what I was told by an elder so I'm just going to go with it.)

   I got to listen to Elder Oaks speak to me FEET in front of me at the devotional on Tuesday. This is an APOSTLE OF GOD I'm talking about. He walked in the room and everyone stood up so I didn't see who it was then I was standing on my tippy toes and looking in between heads to see who it was and then I saw him! I gasped out loud! So awesome! And such an awesome talk! One thing that really struck me when listening to him was we refer to him as ELDER Oaks not brother Oaks, president Oaks, or his first name. ELDER is the same name missionaries are referred to as when they are set apart to be missionaries to teach in place of Jesus Christ. I am SET APART as a missionary just like Elder Oaks is set apart as a disciple of Christ. Not only me but all the OTHER missionaries you see. If you have questions...ASK THE MISSIONARIES! These are people set apart to proclaim the truth and help others come unto Christ.

   Lastly, the MTC is so hard! Heavenly Father is trying to teach me SOOOOOOOOO many lessons! I thought I would be just fine, not miss home, adjust well, and the MTC would be a breeze! LIES!!! What helps though, is that EVEYONE here also left all those comforts at home to also adjust to learning a new language, spend all day studying the gospel, and serve others. It's hard. I don't know why I thought it would be easy to do this and why I thought I wouldn't be bursting into tears daily, but there is no doubt in my mind that this is where I'm suppose to be and I have no desire to take the easy way out and return to not having to wake up at 6, study for 60% of my day, be in a place where I'm ACTUALLY comfortable, and eat good food. Teaching others the message I have is the most important work I can be doing though! You would think if I would just stop putting myself through these things and go home but THERE IS NO WAY I'M COMING HOME! It's hard but I'll be blessed. 

   In front of our house there are rose bushes. I remember seeing the dead roses there and thinking they still looked good and soon they would grow back without us needing to trim them. When my mom cut them I thought she was crazy! Roses are pretty even when they're dead right!?!?!? And I thought they would grow back without completely trimming the bushes of any flowers. A few weeks later the roses grew back and were even prettier than the dead roses! I liked trimming the rose bushes when I would go to pull weeds, because I knew that they would grow back and I would enjoy the fresh color they would bring. Heavenly Father cuts us down to teach us lessons. He KNOWS it's the best thing he can do for us and in the end we will be better than we were before ( In my case, a better missionary). I feel like I'm being cut down and it's hard. I know my Heavenly Father LOVES me. I love this church more and more as I study it day in and day out. I promise the way to truly feel joy in your life is through this gospel. Heavenly Father knows all of you and he has called over 80,000 missionaries who give up their lives to bring forth this message. It doesn't get much truer than that. He loves all of his children and is just waiting for you to come unto him or for you to teach this message to those around you. 

  I KNOW this church is Jesus Christ Church restored in the latter days. This is one of the hardest things I have ever loved to do! I miss you all!