Wow, I cannot believe that you're on another continent right now! [I travelled to Spain for 10 days] Funny thing is, you don't seem farther away at all! I'm amazed with technology, especially the Hangouts app, because it definitely makes you seem closer. It sounds like you're having a blast though. Send pictures of the castles! Those are very hyped up with the European missionaries here. I will definitely spend my p-day exploring and going to castles and immersing myself in the culture! I cannot even believe I have this opportunity, I've been so blessed. Live it up, that is a once in a lifetime opportunity (Not too much though, because I don't want you wanting to move there or something)! That's very nice you got to watch movies on the plane to pass the time!
Learning German is addicting! That's probably because I'm not wonderful at it and my personality is to give it all I've got to perfect it. Man, I just love learning it. I may use that to my advantage in future schooling. I'm amazed by the amount of words in my vocabulary, and my grammar is improving. That's the hardest part though, because the sentence structure in German is very different than English. I call it Yoda talk. Like a perfectly normal sentence would be like "I have to breakfast gone". Haha I love it.
Sidenote: I don't think I could ever possibly say this enough, I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. I LOVE IT. I LOVE IT. I LOVE IT. THIS HAS BEEN THE HAPPIEST 3 WEEKS OF MY LIFE. I may refuse to come off of my mission. Sorry, I''m just giving you warning because I will most likely kick and scream when they try to release me. There are too many blessings and tender mercies from God, I don't even know how I functioned without them (disclaimer: I didn't. I just recognize them a lot more as a missionary).
We started doing TRC (Teaching Resource Center) on Friday. That was awesome. We've been teaching our teachers for a few weeks now, but there are German members in the area! So it was like sharing a message at a members house, like Family Home Evening type of thing. Man, it was so cool. We had the sweetest old lady and she told us all about her life behind the wall in East Berlin when she was growing up. She'd gone through a lot, and testified to us that the knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His Atonement helped her through it all. It was awesome, she definitely taught us. Oh, and she told me to send as much chocolate home as I can, so sounds like I'm going to set up the family! ;-)
We had Donny Osmond give the devotional on Sunday! I just kept thinking, "Woah, I wish mom could see this! She loves Donny Osmond!" He even sang "Let's get down to business!" for the people that didn't know him and everybody freaked out. It was hilarious. So yes, my Disney prince crush of my childhood sang for me at an MTC devotional. He did say some good things too, though. He actually ended his devotional by singing a song that he wrote for his son. Something about always being there, I don't remember. I actually recorded it as a voice memo on my tab, it was gorgeous. It just made me think about my awesome parents, and I'm so glad to know that you'll always be there for me when I need you. Love you.
Tuesdays devotional was AWESOME. We had the President of the Seventy, Elder Hallstrom, and his wife speak to us. Man, everything they said was exactly what I needed to hear. I'm happy and loving missionary life, but I'd be lying if I said every moment is happy. It's frustrating and exhausting, too! Not to mention, I was sick with a nasty cold this entire week. Let me tell you, it is not fun to be sick on your mission. It's not like you can just lay in bed and have a mom to bring you soup (I wish! That would be the best!) But he asked a rhetorical question, "Have you decided yet what kind of missionary you're going to be?" It pierced me to the CORE, mom. I know I'm going to have hard days, and yeah, being sick is terrible, but I want nothing more then when I "die" (the end of my mission. Missionaries say they die when their time is up, and I relate.) to be able to tell God that I gave EVERYTHING I could to help His children learn of Him and desire to return to Him. I love being a missionary.
Also, I realize that I never told you that I sing in the MTC choir every week! It's the best, and not just because we get to eat dinner early (that was my motivation the first week, though!). Yesterday, we sang 'Jesus Once of Humble Birth'. We have a crazy amount of missionaries here right now, so choir is packed. There were 800 missionaries singing! Goosebumps on goosebumps, it sounded like the heavens opened and angels were singing.
This is totally random, but I thought I was eating healthy here. I didn't realize HOW healthy I was eating haha! I weighed myself at the doctor on Monday (we kind of live there with all of the appts. poor Sis. Thorpe has) and I've lost like 4 pounds! So that's cool! I feel really good and healthy. It's probably a very good thing that you haven't sent me snacks or treats because I've barely eaten any here and feel great.
Okay, I need to keep these a bit shorter because I'm actually taking way too much time to email. I love you a million Donny Osmond live songs (seriously, it was gorgeous)! Have a good rest of your trip in Spain!
Love, Sister Macey Ingalls
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