Ich Sprechen Deutsch!

Truth is, I am horrible at speaking Spanish! In High School I was one of those students that took 2 years of German, not Spanish...And when I was putting my Papers in for my mission, I really wanted to speak a foreign language. Any Foreign Language but Spanish that is.

Yes, I see the Irony of me being called to Mexico! Haha, so funny...but to get to the point of my post, how do you prepare to speak a language you don't know? Do you just wait until the MTC to start?

For me, I feel like it would be a really good idea to start learning Spanish (or I guess any language) before I have to report to the MTC so I am not totally overwhelmed with it. Here are a few things I have been doing to help me learn Spanish (feel free to use with any other language):

1. Dictionary- I bought a Spanish-English Dictionary and I have been picking one word out of it each day. I look up how to pronounce it (google it, there are plenty of places that will show you how to sound it out), I say it and write it throughout the day. And when I feel like I have it down, I cross it out in my dictionary. This really helps build vocabulary, although people may look at you funny when you randomly say Spanish words out loud to yourself ;)

2. Duolingo- Okay, this App is pretty awesome and unlike other language apps its free and not that boring. I try using Duolingo at least three times a week for about an hour. It helps so much with learning the basics of a language (that's right its not just spanish!). If your trying to learn another language, I would definetly check it out!

3. A,B,C- Just like we learned in Daycare, learn the ABC's! Different languages have different sounds, once you get the sounds down (especially your vowels) pronouncing words becomes aloooooooooooot easier.

4.Sit in on a Class- So the college started last month, meaning all the language classes started! And it hit me, two weeks into the semester, Duh! I can sit in on the Beginning Spanish class! Truth be told, the college does not care if you sit in on their classes (as long as your not causing trouble!). I've been sitting in on a Spanish beginning class for three weeks now. I let the professor know that I wasn't an enrolled student and that I was learning for my mission, and they were actually happy about it! And the professor has also helped me out quite a bit and lets me take some of the quizzes just for practice (not tests though...). So if you have a local university, talk with one of the Professors about just sitting in on their class, it can really benefit you! :)

So far these are all the things I have tried for learning Spanish and they have all helped me tremendously! I would definitely try them! :)

My "farewell"

Yesterday I gave my Farewell talk. Yes, I gave my farewell talk a month early given that the next four Sundays are: Ogden Temple Dedication, Primary Program, General Conference, and Fast Sunday...yeah the Church is really partying for the next month. But that's fine at least I don't have to stress about my Farewell anymore :)

I would post my talk for people to read, but I don't exactly write down my talk...yeah I put a few points down on a paper then just let it come to me when I get up to talk...so sorry to all those who wanted to read it ^_^""

But after my talk everyone came to my house and partied it up! My family threw the best Farewell party ever! It was great! :) We Had awesome Decorations! and lots of Fun! :D

     We had a Sign in table (mainly so I could just get everyone's contact info)

And we hung up my mission pictures and the Old map we used for when I was opening up my call :)

Yes! A Pinata!! This is Hermana Dora! You have no Idea how awkward it was to walk around all of Walmart with her (I think I became one of those weird Walmart people that amuse everybody else...wasn't quite on my bucket list...) but she's growing on me :)

And then I had many of my amazing friends come over! It was the best! Love them all! :)

Tips for Studying Preach My Gospel

I know Preach My Gospel looks like a really tiny book and should be easy to finish...haha WRONG!! you think you could read through it all in one day (And maybe you could if you took nothing from it...) but you have to study the verses and references along with the lessons to make it more meaningful (and yes longer). I'll admit I struggled a lot reading Chapter 3, I kept getting bored with it because I was just reading it and not using it. I would zone out while reading it and end up reading the same paragraph 5 times before I realized I was going no where with it. So, asking a few missionary buddies of mine for some study tips, I finally came up with a new way to study it that keeps my mind focused.

I thought I would share with other Pre-missionaries some things I do to study it:

1. Pray!- Always pray for a focused mind and inspiration before starting to study (and this is the first step to studying anything...even Textbooks! It sounds weird but it does help, I promise!)

2. Highlight- I read through the lesson and highlight (Using a color code) and underline all the key points of the lesson and the things I feel will be useful to me when in the field (promises, actions, commandments, warnings, Blessings, etc.)So I can always turn back to that lesson real quick and pick out the topic I need by looking for that color. And well coloring always helps me keep focused on something too :D

3. Notes- While highlighting and reading I like to write down notes of the things that come to my mind that I feel are important or inspirational. I also like writing quotes or the title of talks that go hand in hand with the topic I am reading. I love how PMG has the lined columns on the sides of the pages to write down all my notes, its definitely a hint that you should be writing things down ;)

4. Mark them Scriptures UP!- PMG lists many scriptures references for each lesson and chapter, Read Them!! And then highlight them! I also use a color code for this and I use those nifty "Holy Tabbs" which you have probably heard of. Using Holy Tabbs may seem like a lot of work but It is really helpful when I need to quickly find a scripture under a certain topic :)

You stick this on the front of your scriptures.

Then you draw lines down the side of your scriptures so that they coincide with the cover page (first picture)

And then you put stickers matching with that color of topic and you line it up with its column. Now as you can see with my scriptures above that I have many of the same colors of stickers and markings on the same page, to keep me from getting to confused I write the verse numbers by the Sticker so I know which verse belongs to which topic (I know it sounds a little complicated to some people, but once you buy them its easy to figure out.)

I really love Holy Tabbs mainly because it goes right along with PMG. The colors Holy Tabbs uses are the same colors as the lessons in PMG, so you can use them side by side. I definitely recommend buying them! You can find them here. (Oh and if you are one of those people who love using electronic scriptures, they have Holy Tabbs you can download for that too :D )

5. Object lessons- One thing that has helped me become more confident in learning the lessons and knowing how to teach them is finding object lessons that go with them. As a primary teacher (ahhh, yes I got that oh so fun calling right now) the only way I can teach kids about the scriptures is through object lessons and funny scenarios (especially the Old Testament!) so it has become something I like to use to teach people.

I found this amazing Book called "The Missionary's Little Book Of Teaching Tools" which also goes along with the topics of PMG. It lists a ton of simple object lessons you can use on your mission (or primary lessons) to teach the Gospel. I like to write them down on sticky notes (along with the page number) and stick them into my PMG so it will remind me of the things I can do to teach the lesson.

6. Pretend-I think the best piece of advice I've been given for studying PMG is to pretend I am going to teach an investigator about a certain topic. It helps me focus on the points I would want them to know and what they would find interesting. And it helps me prepare for when I'm really going to study it for real investigators.

That's all I have right now for studying PMG, good luck studying! If you have any other ways or tips for studying PMG, comment below, I'd love to hear them! :)