Hola mí familia! Gracies por le amor y le emails!!

Haha so I'm alive! Let me just get down to the basics for you: I made it here. And everyone is super nice! I love this place and it's a little more humid than home, but other than that, it's all pretty much the same. The people are super nice, even though I haven't actually been outside. The MTC or the C.C.M. as they call it, is within temple grounds. You go through the gate and the temple is on your right. Then you turn left into the parking lot and the C.C.M. is on your Right. It's pretty cool. We just went to the temple this morning and guess what?! I got to experience endowments as well as sealings with Spanish and French and english! It was sooo cool! In sealings, the guy took out a paper and did mine in english, then we had Haitian sisters in there with us (also in the C.C.M. with us) and he did theirs in French, then there was a Spanish couple and he did it in Spanish for them! It was AWESOME!! Ammon, Alliyah, and Alana, strive to go to the temple. not only is it cool and beautiful and whatnot, but I can testify that it is a place of peace, a place of happiness and a place where you can do family ordinances for yourselves, your family, and for other families. It's a type of service that I've come to love.

Okay, so every day is super busy. we wake up at 6:30 and go to bed at 10:30. Seriously, I'm exhausted every night, despite the fact that I'm still getting enough rest. but It's a good exhaustion. You think that you know everything about the gospel and stuff, and then you get here in my position and you just ... are super humbled. Especially spanish. Ohmygosh don't even get me started on learning the language. You guys all know how well my memory is. well, all I'm gonna say is that the Lord called me here not because he wanted to laugh at me struggle, but because he knew that i could do it. And he called me to the dominican republic and he called me to speak spanish. But I must say, I'm not doing too bad ... I've progressed a lot since day 1! We began teaching mock investigators on like day 2 ... my companera knows a lot of spanish already, so she did most of the work. Oh, my companera!

She is amazing!! Mom, remember the sister missionary that was coming from Alaska? Yeah, she's my companion! her name is Hermana Fife. the two furthest away. Haha she is sooo cool and we have just clicked, not only as friends, but also as companions, on a spiritual level. And honestly, it's amazing. That's the best type of relationships there are. We work pretty well together and are learning and growing a ton. We room with hermana Collins and heremana Beukers and they are all hilarious!! I love all of them. all these elders are amazing. I admire their testimonies and strong spirits. It hit me this past week in class on Sunday. There's us four sisters in our district, plus Elder Ence, Elder Smith, Elder Tenney, and Elder Davis, all fresh outta high school. We were talking about a very spiritual fireside that we just saw and discussing what we as a district could do better (the first four days were a little rough, learning in classes i mean). That's when stuff got serious. One sister, hermana beaukers, was impressed to ask for a blessing. so she did and the four elders got up. They were all a little nervous cause they were still new to it all. Elder Ence isn't a super talkative guy, but he's kinda like kepa; quiet sometimes, but the kinda person you wanna make laugh and talk. He's opened up a lot more since then though. Anyway, They all layed their hands on Hermana Beukers' head and Elder Ence gave the blessing. After about 3 words, the spirit just ... surged into my heart and I started to cry. It was the most powerful blessing ever and the fact that those four elders, fresh outta high school, were worthy, no temple worthy to hold the melkezidek priesthood and give a blessing was just ... amazing. I have a whole lot of respect for them, all of them. Most of these elders are fresh outta high school here at the C.C.M. I have toooooonns of respect for them and am blessed to serve here.

Thank you all for your letters!! Pdays are on Thursdays here and I email you guys at ... 1:30pm, so ... 7:30am ish your time. There are so many spiritual moments and even though I can't speak spanish fluently or well, our teachers have told us to listen to our hearts. And I have and found the spirit to be present in many places. When teaching our mock investigators, Hermana Fife and I feel the spirit the most when we teach together instead of her just speaking, so I at least try. and yes, Dominican's talk fast. Our motto in our district (they are awesome by the way, we have so much fun together) is "si se puede!" meaning, I can do it! So there you have it.

I miss you guys, but there really isn't much time to think about missing you guys (don't take that the wrong way). Alliyah, thank you for the Ipod. And honestly to answer your question, I'm not nervous about the mission ... just speaking spanish, but I know that the Lord will help me out if I do all my part. Ammon, I realized the importance of CTRing now as I'm away. You are the oldest in the familia at home right now and your younger sisters look up to you a lot. Set a good example for them as you are doing right now. You are amazing example to me and continue to be so for them. You always CTR so keep it up! Alana, remember the coins you gave me? Thank you!! I appreciate it, even though I can't use it. But I want you to save up for your mission, if you desire to go on one. Use those coinds for that. Mom and Dad, you guys have been amazing examples in my life and it's mostly you guys who have preped me for me being here. I hoipe you realize that. Grandma and Grandpa, thanks for your love and support.

I miss you all and I'm sorry for the grammatical stuff.I know that I didn't tell you all everything either. but Basicallly, this place is amazing. It feels like time is going so slow and fast at the same time. It's like "Today was long but good. aaahhhhh!!! I only have 17 months and 4 weeks left?! Nooooooooo!!! I wanna stay forever!!" hahaha anayways, love you guys! i'll try email a little less next time hahaha.

Love,

Kamalei