Sydney In Bogota, Columbia in the MTC (Missionary Training Center)

I am in the MTC now! It was not too bad getting to Colombia. The Lord sent  some tender mercies my way. One of them was Elder Calderon, who flew out of Atlanta with us. He already can speak Spanish, so he was able to help us out a lot!

It´s kind of weird here. It´s like being at a camp or something. We had scripture study this morning, then breakfast, then we were given all of our Spanish study materials.

Oh! We didn´t get here until like midnight, and still had to wake up at 6:30. Pretty cool. I don't feel as tired as I thought I would though. There are 3 other sisters in my district and only 2 elders. All except for one elder flew into Colombia together. I guess a ton of missionaries left yesterday for their missions, so there are only a few people here. 2 other sisters who have been here for 2 weeks, and like 6 elders, I think. From North America. There is one sister from Brazil who has been here for 4 weeks, but she is the only person I have seen from her district. I spoke to her a little in Spanish. I was surprised how much just conversational Spanish I remember.

There are a TON of missionaries coming today who are actually from Latin America.

They took all of our candy and electronics, so I do not have a camera right now. I am not sure why.

We are having a meeting later to get our missionary tags and be assigned companions. I will have an English-speaking companion for 4 weeks, and the last 2 weeks here I will have a native Spanish-speaking companion! Two of the sisters and I have pretty similar personalities.   They are all nice girls, and we´ll probably all be together most of the time anyway. 

The MTC president and my mission president have the same name, President Dyer. And he said they were actually companions on their missions in Argentine 46 years ago! I´m trying to think of more to tell you... I was not expecting to have this long to write. Haha. They said the water in Colombia is safe to drink, but we don´t drink it. Not even when we brush our teeth. There are water-coolers in the halls, and we just got these water bottles that have filters in them. They said we can use them for our whole mission! So, that´s pretty sweet.

I miss you guys already! But I´m like the only one. Everyone else claims not to be homesick already,,, I don´t buy it.

The Dairy Queen

Tonight was my last night working at Dairy Queen, after almost two years. (I started February 25, 2012, and I leave for my mission the exact same day, two years later.) It is a pretty bitter-sweet moment. I've had my ups and downs with the DQ, but I couldn't have asked for a better first job experience.

I love my co-workers. I love the rush in the summers. I love the slow winters. And I LOVE ICE CREAM.

I'm not going to miss the ice cream machines not working, lines out the door, people telling me we need a bigger parking lot, 3 little league teams coming in at the same time with free cone coupons, people demanding the whip cream be removed from their shakes, blizzard sales, coming home covered in ice cream/chocolate/caramel/Lord knows what, or scrubbing the chili bucket.

But, I am going to miss the calm after the storm of closing on a summer night, people who offer a kind smile and patience when they can see how busy we are, medium chocolate cone guy, the Friday night bowling team (who happen to be my pal Becky's parents!), recognizing my mom in the drive thru because she orders "blizzarts", everyone together on half-off days, Christmas parties, and all of the great friends I have made while working at Dairy Queen.

I am so grateful for my co-workers who are as excited for my mission as I am, but are sad to see me leave. I love them all so much. Working at Dairy Queen was not just a job, it was a family.

And my last night was one for the books.

Someone randomly set off a few fireworks in my honor.

No one from Dairy Queen though.

That would be reckless.

And illegal.