Letter #9: Three weeks next Transfer

HOLA FAMILIA Y AMIGOS!!!! the mision life here is WONDERFUL!!! the leaves are falling and everything is so beautiful. Hermana Hileman is the designated driver and she gets lost literally every ten seconds. so twice this week we accidentally crossed the bridge into boston cause she took a wrong exit on the freeway. but that meant i got to see downtown boston and i LOVED IT!!! so beautiful i want to live there someday please! 

Mom: sister packard told me the other day that she met my yw president from home! but i didnt know if she was talking about the president when i was in yws or the one serving currently. could you find out who was in boston this week?? thanks!!

Michael: OH MY GOODNESS YOURE A MINION!!! seriously thats the coolest thing i have ever seen you look like a real minoin!! how did you do that? ahh youre the luckiest little boy ever im super jealous. thanks for sending me pictures!! also guess what? hahah i got in trouble for being a yankees fan at dinner last night. we were at a dinner appointment and this family had red sox stuff all over their house. they're serious super fans! and so then they ask us about where we're from and the baseball teams from our hometowns and if we root for them. and my companions ratted me out and told them i was a yankees fan! i almost got kicked out of their house right then and there! jk they just teased me about it but it was a close one! haha okay LOVE YOU MINION GOOBER!!
Katie: i love you so stinking much you beautiful girl. i hope youre having fun at FLC!!! i cant wait to hear all about it! no worries though i know you're busy busy busy so dont feel bad i can be patient for your next letter :) 

Emily: my companion had the UP soundtrack on her ipod and it came on in the car and i legitimately started bawling and they were like uhhh what is wrong with you??? hahah and i was like SORRY I LOVE UP! not sorry. and i thought of you and i love you. also thats awesome that you got to be home and i hope you gave my family GIANT hugs from me!!

Rachel: i hope you had fun at home!!! you're being spoiled mom tells me so enjoy that while you can :) haha also tell tanner thanks for his email and for loving me more than my own sister! not really i know you love me. i miss provotown! take tanner to susiya for me k? 

Dad: i head a lot of good stories about you at my dinner with the siebers! he told me about the time that the two of you worked at that restaurant all day hahah. and about trading the his suit for your scripture case. guess what? he said he's going to send it to me! passing on the legacy of the scirupture case i guess! so thats really nice of him. i told him he didnt have to cause i know it means a lot to him. he's had it for over 20 years after all! but its also cool cause now i get to have the scripture case my dad used on his mission! anyways they were SUPER nice and my companions LOVED them. we took them to Tu Metapan so that they could have the type of food that we're eating here. also he told me that he's gald im learning spanish so that i can be a spanem just like you two. haha

So this week we got to meet with one of our eternagators Ada! she's a spanish teacher so we asked her if she would give me lessons once a week to help me learn! so we went for our first time on tuesday and she went through some basic stuff with me. it was good to talk to her and that me and hermana brown got to meet her. we're going back tomorrow and hopefully we'll be able to work in a spiritual thought this time and build up from there :) also this week i wrote a blog post! this mission is launching a Digital Mission blog that answers questions of the soul. Hermana Brown has worked with it a lot actually and its really cool cause its all been started right here in Boston. its full of just short stories and testimonies about people's experiences. it reminds me a lot of mormon messages but its a blog instead of videos.

This week i discovered pupusas. the most amazing food on this planet! they're tortillas stuffed with cheese and meat! thats partially why we took the siebers to tumetapan haha cause they have them there! but i also learned how to make them at Hermana Bonilla's house! we had a dinner appointment with her and she taught us! dinner appointments are always fun. at another one this week the family had a pet parrot that we got to hold. he pooped on my shoe. also hermana hileman is terrified of birds but the little boy put it on her shoulder hahah and so it was funny to watch her try to stay calm through that. 

I was talking to elder sousa (the elder from brazil) and he was telling me that in brazil ill have a lot of trouble getting people to come to church on sunday and they'll use excuses like i cant cause its raining! and so he taught me how to say "you're not made of sugar!!" hahah "voce nao e feito de acucar!!) so thatll come in handy

For district meeting the district leaders made us mancakes. as in the manly version of pancakes. theyr'e HUGE like the size of a frying pan and five inches thick. he put peanut butter and chocolate chips in the batter. and then cooked into is bacon and eggs. and it was delicious. hermana hileman is gunna send you a picture i think! 

We had stake conference this week! there was an adult session saturday night and we went with hermana mendoza who is a recent convert. and then we took the T over on sunday afternoon with the elders. im in the cambridge stake by the way i dont think i ever told you that. also whenever we go to english church hermana hileman calls it "white people church" because she likes to pretend like she's Hispanic and not a skinny little white gringa. confrence was awesome though! theres such an incredible push for missionary work right now. the entire conference was about it! our mission president and his wife spoke and he said that the Lord is hastening His work. its going to move forward with or without you so decide NOW where you stand with the Lord. super powerful. and he talked about the chosen generation and how the Lord is sending out his mission force NOW. 

Anyways fam. the spanish is going well! ish. haha. i can pray in spanish now! and i bore my testimony about christ in spanish during a lesson this week and taught a third of the first lesson in an appointment last night. so its coming along. im understanding most of it but speaking is a whole different thing. also half the things i say are usually in portuguese still hahah i prayed at an appointment with the relief society president and afterwards she was like "you learned portgueuse didnt you?" she knew from my prayer!! hahaah apparently i speak spanish with a portuguese accent? i dont know. but its funny and the ward loves having a greeny the says silly things and doesnt make sense half the time. so is all good :) 

Im glad that nan got to go see the bruggemans harry potter house!! ahh that place is magical :) i love it! sister bruggeman told me about the updates they had made this year in teh package she sent me. they sound awesome! i hope you all have a wonderful halloween! we'll be red dotted that night after six. meaning we're not allowed to leave the apartment. but the elders in salem are actually being relocated for three days because its not safe for them to be in the city. i guess they take halloween seriously there. but we're fine here in revere so no worries!! you'll have to send me pictures of your halloween! 

I love you all SO MUCH!! 

"Believe your beliefs. Doubt your doubts." 

HAVE A GOOD WEEK!

Con Amor,

Hermana Tantillo