Buenos Dias mi familia!!

We just got back from the Temple this morning and it was so amazing. I love the temple so much and it's one of the highlights of my week, I look forward to going every week.

Alrighty this week was good! We got a new investigator. He is.... Difficult. I have such love for him already. We taught him on Monday and Tuesday this week. He comes to our church because he has friends that go and he likes the people. However, he doesn’t believe in God or really anything we teach him. His big question is If God is so loving then why does he let bad things happen like natural disasters, divorce, death, etc. We taught him a lesson on Faith and tried to answer his question the best we could (because It's a tough question that we don't know all the answers to) and the lesson went really well except for at the very end he said I don't believe. That killed me. I almost started crying right there because the spirit was strong throughout the lesson and I don't know how to reach him. It just made me so sad that he doesn't understand God's love for us as His children. He said he would read the Book of Mormon which is good. I've been praying a lot about him and how to reach him during the lessons. One problem is that he is adopted and doesn't like his family, so he has a lot of struggles in life. It's really heartbreaking. On the upside though, we teach our investigator Rocio tonight. She had such an amazing lesson last week and the spirit was so strong. We taught last week about baptism and the Holy Ghost, she said that she is stuck at where to go in life right now. She doesn't know if our church is true or if she needs to stay with the Baptist Church. So we committed her to pray if our church is the true church and she said she would. We have been so excited about teaching her again because she is so prepared and we are going to commit her to be baptized tonight!! I'm so excited!! We told her our main purpose was to invite others to come closer to Christ and she really wants that in her life. I know that she has been prepared and I'm so excited. I'll have to let you know how it goes next week.

Well something really cool happened this week! We have been told we are running out of room for missionaries! Our rooms fit 4 people in each room (2 bunk beds) and now in the next couple days they are going to be bringing in another bunk bed!!! We have NO idea how this is going to work with the little room we have, not to mention there isn't anymore closet/drawer or desk space left. But I'm excited to see how this is all going to work out. The Lord is really hastening the work!!  Another cool thing as well. Our teacher Sister Pacheco told us that there is a place in Mexico that is like a boarding school for LDS high school students. Starting in July of this year they will be changing that into an MTC!!!  I'm so excited to be a part of this great work. The world is really going to be changing a lot in these next few years I can feel it.

On Sunday for Relief Society we had the General Relief Society President come and talk to us!! It was so amazing. She talked to us about what the Relief Society is and what our purpose is. She really stressed the importance of being a visiting teacher. She stressed that visiting teaching doesn't always have to be a message from the Ensign, it can be any act of service that the women we are visiting needs at that time. I thought that was really neat she said that. Mom, I'm so thankful for you. I'm so thankful I was able to be your companion for a while and although I didn't like going, I learned so much by just watching how you loved the sisters you visited. You were more than just a visiting teacher to those women, you were a friend to them which is what we are all supposed to be. It's obviously hard to get yourself to go sometimes and visit teach, but I'm so thankful to have such an amazing example in my life of what visiting teaching should be like :)

Dad, I think you would be proud to know that I have now given myself a calling while being at the MTC. Any guesses? YEP! CHOIR!! :)  I thought I was done with ward choir back at home, but I decided one day to go to a choir practice (we sing every tuesday night) and I'm hooked. I love it!  I've decided I'm going to be involved in the Choir the rest of the time I'm at the MTC.  I just keep thinking about what you would always say to us, that since we have been given the gift of singing we need to use it, it's our calling. Haha who knew you guys had all the answers? 

I don't remember if I told you guys this last week, but I think being here is probably one of the happiest times of my life. I've never been this happy in my whole life. My whole district thinks something is wrong with me because I'm always smiling and laughing (sometimes at nothing) Yesterday we were talking about medication after getting our wisdom teeth out and everyone was saying what they were put on. And I said "The most drugged I've ever been is on laughing gas" and someone said "I think they gave you too much because it obviously hasn't worn off yet". We all started laughing so hard.  I'm just so happy here, the work is definitely hard but so rewarding. I feel the spirit with me all the time.

  

Mom and Lissa, thanks for the sunshine package!!! I couldn't stop smiling the rest of the day!! :)  I'm so thankful for this gospel in my life. I'm so thankful for my Savior and the Atonement in my life. I feel such peace when I think about the Atonement. I learn so much everyday. At a choir practice our director started reading something to us from Jesus the Christ. I would highly recommend reading that if you have the time!! I learned some really cool things when he read out of there about the Atonement. Wow so powerful! I've now memorized the first vision in spanish and we are working on D&C 4. 

I love you all, I'm out of time sadly. I have loved hearing from you all this week. Thanks for all the updates about the weather dad :) it's been snowing here a ton too. We have to be careful when walking around outside.

I'm working hard, and studying hard. 3 more weeks and I'll be off to Chile!! I'm so incredibly excited!! :) Love you all!! Until next week.

Con amor,

Hermana Tycksen 

 Picture with me and Hermana Agle in our pj's.  We were getting ready for bed and at 9:30 the fire alarm went off because some sister's in our dorm burned some popcorn. It still smells like it in the hall but we didn't get back into the room until about 10:15.

MOM!!!

Wow! I LOVE IT HERE!!  My companion's name is Hermana Agle. She is from Pennsylvania and just turned 19 the Tuesday before we entered the MTC.  I have so many friends here that I see everyday so that has been really really nice to have them here with me. I haven't been homesick once yet (probably because i'm still in Utah) but I am sure that will change when I'm leaving the country. My district is amazing! I love them all so much. We are all going to the same mission and leaving the same day. There are 6 sisters and then there are 6 Elders coming as well. Our zone is also amazing. I love everyone here, they are all so nice and friendly and I've had some really good laughs which is really nice. My district is HILARIOUS. I feel like I've known these Elder's and Sister's all my life. We all get along so well.  Elder Alonzo is our district leader. He is like my father I feel like. haha.  Although these Elders are all my age it feels like some of them are older. Anyway, Elder Alonzo is like a really big guy. He is very tall and stands up for me if someone says something to make fun or whatever. I love it. There are two elders in our district that are 18, me and Hermana Agle are the only ones that are 19 out of the sisters. Ashley Stott is in my district as well. it's been really nice to have a familiar face, she sits right next to me in class and her room is just down the hall from mine.

Oh my roommates left yesterday. :( we loved them.  They are going to the Guatemala MTC. We were only with them for a week but they were amazing. Hermana Miller got sick Tuesday morning and stayed the whole day in the room, we were really worried about her because if she couldn't get better she wouldn't be flying out the next day. They luckily left yesterday night around 5:30 and she was well enough to go. I was so excited for them. They were supposed to leave about 2 weeks ago but their visa's hadn't come in yet so they were still here, and it would have killed them to have to cancel again because they were sick. Since they left at 5:30 it's just me and Hermana Agle for the next week in our room. 

The first 4-5 days of being here we didn't have any time to exercise.  On Monday we received a set schedule for the rest of the time here and we have specific times set at 4 times a week for exercise. Me and Hermana Agle are going to go to a early morning class at 6 that they have just for sister's. It's going to be really nice. I've had her doing my back exercises with me and she loves them. She loves how hard they work her.  

I LOVE study time. I want to share something with you I found this morning while I was studying.  I liked the beginning of the verse. It's in D&C 128:22 it says (I'm changing a few words) "Sisters shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, sisters, and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. Let the earth break forth into singing." I loved that! doesn't that just give you such motivation?! It did for me this morning. It really hit me about missionary work for sisters. We are able to go on missions now with the age change and I just feel like it's such an amazing time to be here and we need to have courage and move on to the victory! The end is so close and we need to give every last effort we can in this life. I just loved that. 

Sunday was AMAZING! we had Relief Society after listening to Music and the Spoken Word and Sister Wixom, the General Primary President spoke to us.  I loved her talk. I don't have my notes on me right now but I will tell you more next week about that. I just wish you guys could hear everything that people talk on here. It's so amazing! By the way mom, thanks for Elder Hollands talk!!  We have all been so jealous about not being able to hear what he said and it was really nice to get a little bit from his talk he gave last week :) 

We went to the temple today which was so amazing. I love beginning my day with that kind of spirit.  The second day we were here, we were thrown into teaching an investigator in spanish. Neither me or Hermana Agle knew what we were doing and we basically took in notes and read off of them. It completely bombed. It was awful. We went into the next lesson with only our scriptures and it was so amazing how different the spirit was. Last night we taught again for the 4th time and we taught about the Atonement. Our investigator (Rocio) knew a little bit about the Atonement and we went into the lesson just wanting her to feel of God's love for her and just to really feel the spirit. It was seriously the most amazing thing ever. I almost started crying because the spirit was just so incredible and strong. When we were leaving she talked to us about the lesson in English.  She basically went over how that lesson was different than all the others she had been taught and how she felt the spirit so strong.  It was great to talk to her about it because she is the one hearing the lessons, you know? So we got some really great feedback on how the lesson went.

Spanish has been coming back pretty fast. I can teach a lesson in spanish, pray and bear my testimony in spanish as well. Understanding takes longer but i'm getting most of what people say to me. My Branch President is President Sanchez, he is awesome. He has us write talks in spanish every week and we don't know who is going to have to give theirs until it's time for the "youth speaker's" to talk. He just calls us right out of the meeting. It's pretty scary but it's a great experience, I think.

I was walking into the Gym on Sunday for Music and the Spoken Word and I saw this lady that looked familiar to me. All of the sudden she realizes she knows me and is like Sister Tycksen!!!! How are you? I finally realize it's Tayler's Grandma!! His grandparents are Branch Presidents and I had totally forgot. She said, I've been looking everywhere for you for the past 4 days and we just started talking. She got a picture of me and sent it to Jen that night. She said she would have Jen send you the picture. 

I really am so happy here and I feel like I'm being mothered all the time by my district and others. The food is good and I have been trying to eat really heathly (it's hard with what they serve everyday, sometimes its like a good meal and other times its like a fried sandwich). I eat a salad and fruits everyday along with my meal.

We had a lesson on Tuesday night about Exact Obedience. I'm trying to do that. The member of the Seventy that talked said that if we are Exactly Obedient we will have blessings come to our families as well as miracles. I want to give my family those blessings and miracles and so I just want you all to know that I'm living exactly obedient to the rules in the white handbook. I'm trying to live everyday like a missionary should and I'm trying everyday to be not a perfect missionary but being perfect at being a missionary. 

I love you my family. I love this gospel with all my heart. I know that it is true. (I'll give you a little espanol). Yo se que mi Padre Celestial es muy armoroso. Yo se que Jose Smith estaba una profeta verdadera. Yo soy muy agredisada por la Expiacion y mi salvador Jesucristo. El es mi Salvador y mi hermano. Yo soy muy agredisada por las Escrituras y las palabras las profetas decir. 

Obviously my spanish isn't perfect and neither is the spelling but I wanted you to be able to hear a bit of what I'm learning. I love you all so much. I'll talk to you in a week!!

Amor,

Hermana Tycksen