Daddy's gonna kill Raplhie...‏

MOM AND DAD!!!!!!! HI!!!! Wow it is so crazy and so nice to be emailing! Okay let me just start off by saying that wednesday tuesday thursday friday saturday and sunday i have been so strong and not feeling homesick at all! But then..... Monday night came around... and I lost it. and i was rather embarrassed... then last night.... then today... but now that I got to read your emails and am now able to email you back, the homesickness is starting to go away :) so that is actually good! How are you guys doing? okay the yard looks beautiful like always and it sounds like the 5k went well too!! I love the Ross family. Tell them I say hello! Okay anyway back to me. The plane ride to Dallas was good and the plane ride to Mexico was good too. I only got scared a little bit, and besides that I was actually rather brave. My companions name is Hermana Levao and is she is from Spanish Fork. She is 23 and actually just so freaking amazing!! I have been blessed with such a great companion. We both are so easy going and we get a long really well. I am hoping things keep going the way that they are. At the CCM we live in casas (houses) and they are okay. In the casa there are 5 bedrooms with 4 people to a room. There is a bathroom in each room, so I only share with 3 other girls. 2 sets of bunkbeds, 2 tables, 4 chairs, and 4 closets in the rooms. It is actually a lot nicer than i thought but not really nice. The bathrooms are ehhhh gross. They just remind me of the bathrooms at like flaming gorge, so as you can tell, they aren't nice at all. I wear flip flops everywhere in my casa and never ever go barefoot. Well except for when i am in my bed haha. The food here is actually worse than i thought. its awful. really. but i am doing my best to get by. the first 3 meals i had at the ccm i probably only ate one thing... and then on thursday night they had corn dogs, and i don't even like corndogs and i almost cried because i was so happy. you just kinda gotta make way and do your own thing to eat what you can. The ccm campus is so beautiful. I love it. I actually feel really safe here. the whole campus is fenced in with like guards at all the entrances and barbed wire fences outside the fenced area. The only scary thing is, probably at night like you can hear all the sirens and cars and like gun shots... its only a little scary. Mom and dad you will be so proud of me. I have seriously been so brave here.

I finally understand how a mission is the hardest thing someone will ever do. I have never felt so down in the dumps and so happy at the same time. Its actually rather weird. My spanish is actually awful. i was feeling really discouraged on friday and saturday. I wasn't getting like any better at spanish and I just couldn't understand anything. we had to teach our first investigator on friday and it was okay because i legit just read a script the whole time, then on saturday it went even worse... I was so mad and upset and just frustrated. So to spare me the gross meals and to do my best i started a fast on saturday night and fasted all the way until sunday night. I did a full 24 hrs. I have never fasted that long, but IT HELPED SO MUCH. ITS SO AMAZING. Heavenly Father has blessed me and helped me so much. When i went to class on monday i could actually sorta understand what my teacher was saying! it was seriously so amazing. I have been praying so hard and it truly has been working. its actually amazing how your whole mind set and life changes once you become a missionary. I know The Lord has been watching over me and blessing me so much. 

Sunday was an amazing day. We had relief society, then district meeting, sacrament meeting, mtc orientation, interviews with the branch presidents, dinner, devotional, and then a movie. Sundays really are so amazing. I have a great district, an awesome zone, and amazing branch presidency. I really am so happy to be here. To be honest the hardest part has been the language. There has been so many times i just wished i was going english speaking. I feel like i am ready knowledge wise of the gospel and i think how easy it would be. but then i remember that i can do hard things and that the lord has called me to speak in spanish because that is the language i can teach the gospel in, successfully. I just have to remind myself that. I pray so hard to keep that in my head and in my heart. I know that i can do hard things and with pray, faith, and trust I can learn spanish and be successful. 

It is rain season here in mexico and currently it is POURING outside. I am so happy that we got that umbrella and rain jacket! So the senior missionaries are awesome! Hermana jones is a sweetheart and we plan on taking a picture every sunday and she will send to our parents. 

I love you both so much and i am so happy you are my parents. It hard sometimes because you are my best friends to be away but i know you guys are thinking about me. And you don't have to question if i am thinking about you because you know i am!! :) I don't know how else to tell you how much i love you but with just i love you! I am so blessed by heavenly father to have you two as parents. It sounds like you guys are keeping busy and that makes me feel better, you know i just want you guys to be okay.

also... I broke my glasses. bad :( i am so sorry. I totally laid on them and ugh it was just bad... talk about Big Liz.... i should be fine these next few weeks but once i get to tennessee i will probably need you to send me my other ones.. 

i actually have made a lot of friends here! I see courtland a lot and that really is great. i have seen a couple girls from school, including Kalinee, its so nice having her be here! I see christian greene (garrisons little brother) a lot same with some kids who went to my high school.

OH also today we got to go to the mexico city temple/visitor center. It was really cool!! I bought some cool things to send you guys but you will have to wait 5 more weeks... lo siento (im sorry) I will send you some pictures!!! I really am so happy here. I love the gospel and I love my father in heaven and I love my brother Jesus Christ. I have never been so happy and proud to wear his name on my chest. I love you!

Love always,

Hermana Brown

ps SWAG

pss I dont know how to attach files yet so i will just send another email with my pictures in it.

psss i am in need of a coke asap so if josh can talk to the velascos or something... that would be buena :)