MY FIRST WEEK

Hola, 

Oh my goodness. I can´t even describe my first week. It was so amazing!! I pulled an all-nighter when flying over here to Mexico since my flight was so early and the first day I was here was all meetings so it was kind of hard to stay awake throughout it all. The next day was a lot better after a solid 8 hours of sleep. All the newbies who just came in to the CCM were blessed because the first full day we were here we had a special devotional with a few of the members of the general missionary council for the whole church. One of them, Brother Allen, was one of the main writers and editors for Preach My Gospel. It was amazingggg. I can´t even describe it. The spirit is always so strong here. I think one of the reasons is because we have to rely on it. I don´t know Spanish, but I know the Spirit and through the Holy Ghost I can understand and even teach in Spanish. It´s such a beautiful language and I can´t believe how fast we learn it here. Honestly in six days my Spanish is better than it was in three years of high school Spanish classes. 

My companions name is Hermana Hellewell, and she is from Montana. She´s super awesome and I love having her as my comp. We are extremely different, but it´s good. It helps me look at things differently and make sure that I´m compromising so we don´t always do what I want haha. She´s great though. SOO funny. She always has something funny to say. I think she really mellows me out from being too uptight and getting too hard on myself, but then when I´m goofing around she keeps me on track. I share a room with her and two other Hermana. Hermana Lindsey and Bjork. They are both awesome and I will include pictures for you to see! 

My favorite day here so far has definitely been Sunday. I´m so blessed that my first Sunday was a fast and testimony Sunday so that I was able to hear all the testimonies from people in my branch in Spanish. I even shared my own testimony IN SPANISH. It was amazing and definitely a moment of faith. I said some things that I didn´t even know I could in Spanish, but I know it´s because I was relying on the Spirit and because I trusted everyone I was sharing with. After church we had a devotional where we watched a Provo MTC address from Elder Bednar about the character of Christ. He said that the character of Christ is that He will always turn out to others when we as people of the flesh will want to turn inward. I love that. I have really been striving to "turn out" since listening to that message. Then, on Sunday night we were able to watch Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration. I would definitely recommend that everyone watch it and really study it´s message. Look for ways that Joseph interacts with others and how he has trust and faith in the Lord. Also look for all the times that it quotes scripture. You´ll be surprised! I had seen it a few times and I was amazed at how much more I got out of it this time as I was earnestly seeking for those messages. Just watching it in the presence of hundreds of missionaries who have literally been called of God to preach His restored gospel to the Earth brought such a power. It was something I had never felt before, but I count myself as so incredibly blessed to have been set apart to do this work. There was a quote from the movie that really stuck out to me (and I forgot my quote book in mi casa, so I´m sorry if it´s not a perfect quote) "Be still. Your afflictionss are but a small moment, and if you endure them well God will exalt you on high". I love that. 

I´m sorry I don´t have much time to write, but I love you all. Thank you so much for all your support and love and kind words. Thank you for all the emails! I was told I put my email on facebook wrong- oppps (shout out to Zack for letting me know, you´re the best). It should be: laura.rutherford@myldsmail.net, I will not be able to check my gmail account for a year and a half, so don´t send anything on there haha. 

I know this is where I am supposed to be. I have felt such strength and love in this past week, and although I miss home and you guys (and American food), this is the place for me. I love being a missionary and the Spirit that it bring to my life. I want all of you to know that I know and have found out for myself that this gospel is true. The Book of Mormon really is the word of God and it is given to us in these latter days to strengthen us and guide us in our paths. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God and that he and his 12 apostles will be speaking to us next weekend. I urge you to study their words. I know I will be! 

Con Amor, 
Hermana Rutherford