Universal Languages

HELLO! Every week I jot down a few things to say in my e-mail because
I can never remember what happened during the last week! The days are
super long here but the weeks are short.
I find ways to amuse myself since we are learning Spanish so many
hours during the day. I like to look out the window because every time
I hear sirens, there is a police truck speeding down the street. There
are men just sitting in the bed of the truck with guns and legs
hanging out, I don't think seatbelts are very important here.
I got dearelders from Austin, Andrew Bowns, Elizabeth Lugo, Jan
Jensen, Alexa DiAnna, Joseph Magoffin and Paige Hixson. Thank you so
much! We receive letters once a week so I will be getting more
tomorrow :) And I got e-mails from Mom, Dad, Becca and Andrew. Andrew,
thanks for sending me the lyrics to "Come Thou Fount". It was nice to
be able to remember them. Also, Happy Birthday Grandma! It's a couple
days early but I hope you have a good birthday!
There is some crazy food here. They have this salsa called "Diablo"
and it is ten pounds of habañero consentrated into one small bottle.
We always talk to the cooks and my friend and I told them how much we
loved their salsa, they asked if we wanted to try their "special
salsa" (the Diablo salsa). Being naive and adventurous, we tried it.
And just one drop literally made us sweat and almost cry. We drank a
bottle of water and limeade and ice cream but the flavor stayed for
minutes on end.
Learning Spanish is hard but I've learned so much, and more than just
vocab words. I've learned that there are universal things that are the
same in different languages. For example, a smile and a laugh mean the
same thing and I don't need to speak Spanish for my Latina friends to
understand that I'm happy. And more importantly, the gospel of Jesus
Christ is the same in all languages. It is amazing to make friends
miles away from my home and see that they have the same love for
Christ and he has the same love for them. Spanish is hard to
understand, but the love that God has for all of us is not. The church
is true. People can change and the gospel gives them an incentive to
do it. God has a plan for all of us and he has given us so many ways
to find out why we are here. Sorry this e-mail wasn't funny or that
long, but I love you guys and I will write a better one on Tuesday
(it's the next transfer day). Also, the girls at the CCM took a
picture and it is attached in the other e-mail. See ya!