Pre-Mission Language prep

*This was originally posted 6/23/13 but I removed my mission blog since I was never able to use it.

This post is long, but worth it.

Today was rough. I'll just put that right out there. Though I've lived and visited other countries I have always been able to express myself very well despite language barriers. Somehow between broken english with other natives I've survived. Living in Latin America has been a whole new challenge for me though. Very few people here know English.  Last week at church I was expecting to be lost in translation (literally), but it didn't happen. I actually understood a good amount and the other members were very supportive. This week though, was an entirely different story.

Walking into church I already felt kinda peeved, little things in the morning had got poorly and heaven forbid, I had forgotten to put on lotion so my hands were dry and felt scratchy (the air is very dry in Quito). As church started it seemed like the speakers were subsequently trying to out-do each other and set world records for the most words said in a minute. By the time the last speaker got up, I was already feeling all Spanished out but he was speaking so fast I wasn't even sure if it was Spanish. At the end of the meeting I was already tearing up thinking: "I'm going to be here for 3 more months, unable to comunicate or understand, what did I get myself into!?"

Sunday school (2nd hour) wasn't any better. The other young adults around me were all conversing, joking around and laughing with one another. I sat there, subdued, frustrated that I couldn't be the friendly Mina  I've always been. I couldn't joke with them, I couldn't make friends. When the lesson started the teacher asked me to pray. It took me a few seconds to even realize what he'd asked. I gave it in my broken spanish, feeling inadequate the entire time, knowing I was making mistakes. As the lesson progressed the teacher called on me a few times to answer whatever question it was that he'd asked. After one or two times he realized that my blank stare expression was the only answer he was going to get. I didn't even know what he'd asked, let alone how to answer it....

By the end of the second hour, I was totally ready to curl up into a ball and just bawl for a bit (ball/bawl see what I did there?) My dad saw that I was frustrated and he just said "It'll come, I've been there too, it'll come". In relief society (3rd hour) there was certainly no relief... by that point I stopped trying to even listen. I tuned out. When it ended I'm fairly sure that I was the first one out of the room. A women grabbed me on the way out and asked me if I spoke spanish. I just laughed and said "un poquito" which means "a bit" and then she asked a few other questions like how much did I understand and I was just honest with her. I said "Hoy? Nada" (Today, none). Then she let me go.

I was waiting outside the chapel for my dad, ready to go. Thoughts were pouring through my head about how hard I'm going to have to work here. A sweet looking woman with a baby came walking up to me just then. She started speaking to me in spanish and I began freaking out, knowing that the conversation would soon escalate and I'd end up once again with a blank stare on my face, unable to communicate. Amazingly though, words started flowing. She was speaking slow enough that I could understand her. Even though I didn't catch every word, I understood what she was saying. I answered her questions with surprising ease. Granted, they were relatively simple questions, but still. My dad came out then and she said (in spanish) something along the lines of, "I'm impressed with your spanish. Most foreigners just want to talk in English because they are too afraid". I was shocked. I HAD PULLED IT OFF! I told her that somehow all day long my spanish had just been shut off, and I understood hardly anything but at that moment I could talk.

When I got home I was less frustrated but I opened my scriptures for some comfort. I opened randomly to Doctrine and Covenants 64:32-33 which reads-

32 But all things must come to pass in their time.

 33 Wherefore, be not ^aweary in ^bwell-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of ^csmall things proceedeth that which is great.

 34 Behold, the Lord ^arequireth the ^bheart and a ^cwilling mind; and the willing and ^dobedient shall ^eeat the good of the land of Zion in these last days.

I was willing to put in the work and am going to do some rigorous study while I'm here. I have the willing mind. I just need to remember that "small things" preceede great things. Loved reading that ^

The story continues- later that night my Dad informed me that he had said a prayer at the start of the 3rd hour for me. That I'd be more comfortable or at least be able to communicate a bit and have a good experience that day. Ladies and gents, that prayer was definitely answered. The woman I was able to speak with answered it.

In the coming months I've put together a rigorous language study schedule that I'm going to stick to as best as I can. I refuse to forever be blank faced deer girl. If I can pull it off on my second week here, even for a 5 minute conversation, I can definitely do better by the time I leave. Let the studying, praying for help, and practicing begin.

(Oh and as a side note, I realize that this is going to happen in Ukraine all the time, so at least I'm learning these lessons early).

Pre-Mission thoughts

*This was originally posted 5/26/13 but I deleted my missionary blog because I was never able to use it and moved it to here.


I've spent the past month in Virginia with my family. If you know me, you'll know that I am the type of person who always likes to have something going on. I enjoy working, studying, serving- I like to know that I am needed and making a difference, somewhere. Since being here in Virginia I haven't had any of that. I'm done with schooling until after my mission, I don't have a job since we are only here for a month, the service opportunities I contacted never responded, and best of all, I do not have a driver's license because I have never lived anywhere long enough yet to get one. So needless to say, I have been feeling useless. Much of my time has been spent lounging around watching TV or on my laptop which makes me feel like an utter blob. I've tried to motivate myself to learn some Ukrainian but that is hard since I still have 4 months before I leave. Long story short, I have been wasting SO much time doing basically nothing.

Today I decided to read something that two of my friends sent me. It is called "The Fourth Misionary" by Lawrence E. Corbridge. It is all about how you can become the best missionary you possibly can. Something really struck me as I was reading it though:

There are two ways of evolving: deliberately and accidentally. You can either decide who you want to become and deliberately work toward that end, or you can just go with the flow and become whatever life makes of you. If you go with the flow, you will become whatever the fickle circumstances and forces of life and society will make of you, whatever is currently considered to be popular or “in”, whatever is easiest. But whatever you become accidentally, it will not be the full measure of your potential. Not nearly. You will become just someone, somewhere in the middle. 

I'm done with just "going with the flow" every day and staring at a screen. It's time for me to put on my big girl pants and start doing things that are meaningful and worth my time. A few days of vegging can be great but 5 months worth is simply a crime. I was given this time for a reason: to make myself better.

I named my missionary blog "The Fourth Missionary" because that is what I want to become. The article describes 4 types of missionaries ranging from totally useless to the best someone can be. I hope that when I'm serving I'll work hard enough to change myself for the better and hopefully touch the lives of some other people too. If you want to read it here's the link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/34660140/The-Fourth-Missionary

Blessed Lessons

This summer has been crazy for me. Lots of "in limbo" time, lots of "just me" time and a lot of adventure. I've decided to do a post about what I have learned since in the past 4 months. It's more for me to just process it all, but I figured someone might be able to get something out of it too so I'm posting it online :) Here begins the list of my lesson and then how I learned it.

1. Flourish when you are given opportunity:
This summer I was given a job at the Community Laison office in the US Embassy in Quito. They coordinate fun activities for all Embassy employees and family and assist them with a transition over seas. Little did I realize how much I would grow with this opportunity. At first I just was sort of doing it to pass the time till September when I leave for Ukraine, but let me tell you, I have learned a TON not only about work related things, but about myself. I have visited many places all over Ecuador due to the opportunities with this job. Never turn down an opportunity. Even if you don't think you'll learn much.

2. It is OKAY to not follow the same path as everyone else:
Taking essentially 2 years off to live in Ecuador and serve a mission in Ukraine is big. I've realized just how big it really is. That is a LOT of time- nearly over 10% of my life so far. Everyone else is continuing with school and getting jobs that will better serve their careers and I'm not. For a while I thought that school/work was what the world expected of me. In the LDS church it is pretty common for young adults to serve a mission, but it is not an expectation for the girls, like it is the guys. So it's kind of rare that someone just drops life for a while and does something else like a mission but I think it's okay. It's better than okay- it's GREAT. I have learned more in 4 months than I think I ever have and I don't know that I would have had I been staying on that school/work path. It is OKAY to not do what the world expects of you.

3. This world is incredibly beautiful:
After having the opportunity to travel to Shanendoah national park and see a 360 panorama view of the Appalacian mountains; after traveling to the Amazon and ziplining over 400 foot gorges; after traveling to the coast of Ecuador and seeing blue footed birds and humpback whales from 20 feet away... I have determined that this world is so incredibly beautiful. For me, there is just no way it was created from an explosion in space or random occurance- it's just too magical. I want to see so much more of it.

4. It is OKAY to make friends even if you are leaving/they are leaving:
I have had quite a few transitions in my life. Moves (mine or theirs) are hard to deal with sometimes. Usually I coped by not getting too close to people if it was right before a move. This summer I got over that. I have met some AMAZING people in DC and here in Quito. It is OKAY to feel sad about transitions, but don't let that stop you from developing friendships that may last a lifetime. Shoutout to Nghia Tong, Kate Jefferson, Rachel Banen, Jeffrey Dahlby, the Richardson family, and the Lusters. There are great people all around the world! :)
This is one of my favorite quotes for now from Whinnie the Pooh: "How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard." Perfection.

5. Learning a language takes patience, courage, and hard work.
One of my goals for 2013 was to be fluent enough in a language to hold a reasonable conversation. I HAVE DONE IT! Learning Spanish has been stressful, wonderful, rewarding, and tiring. Sundays are the hardest because church is in all spanish and I end up tuning out after a while. But, I can say that I have had many "reasonable" conversations since being here. I'm not as fluent as I would like to be, but I'll have another 4 months after my mission to continue learning. Many people have told me my Spanish is great, many more have said that they are happy that a foreigner would take the time to learn Spanish and talk with them. These are all great lessons for me before I ship of to Ukraine and start a much more difficult language. But I can do it!

The other lessons I have learned are hard to formulate into words, others are personal, and others I still have yet to learn. But for now, I'm so grateful for this "limbo" phase this year and can't wait for the next chapter.

Ecuador #9 An attempt at a waterfall walk

Sunday Afternoon, the Richardsons (once again, two of my favorite people in Ecuador) brought us home after church (we still don't have our car) and offered to take us on a little excursion to go on a walk to a waterfall about 45 minutes away. Since I had not yet spent more than 5 hours with them this weekend I readily agreed (I've seen them every weekend for a month so far). Funnily enough, the drive there took about an hour and fifteen, more than we had been told. The people who kept telling us directions were all misleading and we flipped quite a few U-turns before finding the destination: Molinuco resort.

What we arrived at, having high hopes!

Not bad :) 

  Upon arrival we were quite hopeful because it looked rather nice. We started the supposed 10 minute walk to the waterfall and after about 15, we asked someone on the trail who said we had gone the wrong way. We turned around and walked for another 15 and asked someone. They said the waterfall was another hour away..... By this time it was already 5:45 or so and it gets dark pretty timely at 6 or 6:30 here in Ecuador. So most of us went back to the car. Stephen wanted to see it, so he ran to the waterfall and back in about a half hour. Still a fun trip because the Richardson's are fun but now we know never to listen to ANYONE's advice.

This ended up being about as much of a waterfall as we saw and this was back at the resort. Ha. :)

Ecuador #8 Guayaquil (Temple Trip)

This past weekend I spent Friday/Saturday in Guayaquil with my mom and dad at the temple. We managed to find Lindsey and Jared who were in a 200 kid group doing other things at the temple. They had it pretty rough... 8 hour bus ride there, 8 back, little food, not water given to them.... Not unlike a prison (hah). So we took pity on them and crammed them in our hotel room Friday night. But it was such a wonderful experience to do 2 sessions at the temple with my parents. Especially before I go serve my mission in less than 2 weeks. It's getting down to the wire and my nerves were pretty bad last week, but going to the temple brought me a lot of comfort. It made me remember why I'm doing what I'm doing and willing to serve for so long. Here are a few pictures of the temple!

This is from the night session. So gorgeous. 

Iphone pics... they seriously are pretty dang good

My siblings are outside there somewhere...

I get creative sometimes

Love this building

Day 2: 

Saturday we got out of the temple around 11 or so and had the rest of the day to do things before our flight at 7 pm so we took a taxi around the city. Here are a few snaps I took. Guayaquil doesn't really have much to offer besides our 3 hour taxi ride though, so don't spend your money here- Quito is waaay more worth your time! 

Old church near Iguana Park

While walking on the boardwalk, this uber old looking boat passed by. 

Clock tower of awesomeness

No idea who this guy is, but his mustache was too rad not to snap a photo of. This pic doesn't do it justice, but it curls at the end and comes off his face. 

Las Peynas hill- pretty pastel houses under a lighthouse
(really the only thing worth seeing in Guayaquil besides the temple)

Side note- at the airport on Friday, there was a Johnny Rockets and I got an oreo shake and fries.
Best decision ever made. 

Love my parents and loved this weekend with them :)

Ecuador #7: Manta/Puerto Lopez Whale Watching with CLO

Mid August I took a trip with some people from the embassy and went to Puerto Lopez on the coast of Ecuador near Manta. We went whale watching/beach lounging/and sulfur lake swimming. It was a wonderful time with some great people. This post is a little long (mostly pictures) but, if you've made it all the way to Ecuador number 7, you're a champ who loves traveling (or you're madly in love with me... in which case feel free to tell me!)

Day 1: Driving in to Puerto Lopez and the Sulfur lake

When first pulling in, this is what the fishing beach looked like from above

Full body sulfur mud mask with my boss (left), another woman from the embassy Maggie (middle) and me :) 

The pretty sulfur lake. There were loads of frog/toads and huge spiders roaming around the edge. 

Day 2: The Whale Watching trip to Isla de La Plata and snorkling.
I was in the boat with the Richardsons (two of my fav people here in Ecuador) and we loved the day, despite the lack of adequate food from the tour company (cheese+butter sandwich and some fruit.... yum-ee)

On the way out of the docks. I think these are all fishing boats.

Two pelicans were eager to greet us upon arrival at the island. 

The island from the boat.

Blue footed boobies littered the island, this is probably my favorite pic of one that I took.
 His glaring stare is just too perfect. 

Mating season, need I say more?

Such pretty feet. 

We finally started seeing whales! This one was doing turns in the water. 

Another of my favorite pictures I took. 

Some got really close. 

Day 3: Beach in the morning/flight home

The group was supposed to go to another nice beach nearby but due to time constraints I decided to stay at the hotel's beach with Kate and Kaia and it was the perfect decision for us. We didn't want to do anymore transporting and the sun came out for us. We walked the beach for pretty stones and had a wonderful time!

                                      

Not too shabby. 

Reminded me a lot of Oregon

Skipping stones across ocean waves

Cute Kaia and I :)

In addition to the wonderful experience, I learned a lot about myself on this trip. It was an odd age bracket for me because the kids were 10 and below and the adults were 30ish or above. Being 19 I was stuck in the middle and chose to chill with the adults but I still had fun. I learned a lot of personal lessons about how I deal best, setting limits, and being okay with not doing what everyone else is.

Overall- I had a wonderful time seeing some of the greatest things this Earth has to offer. 

Ecuador #6: Otavalo and Lake Quicocha

Two of my favorite people here in Ecuador took my family up to Otavalo (Ecuador's largest market) and we also went to Lake Quicocha and the leather market nearby. It was a fun day with great company browsing the colorful streets of the market. I didn't take too many pics at the market simply because I don't find it awe-shocking anymore after living in Thailand for 3 years, sorry for the lack of them. But I got plenty of the gorgeous crater lake! Here they are: 

These pictures just don't quite do it justice but they're the best I got. 

We took one of these boats around the islands in the center of the crater.

Kind of reminds me of Thailand's beaches with green cliffs

Interesting tidbit- the water in the crater was about 5-10 degrees warmer than it should be because it is still an active volcano underneath. There are little bubbles that pop along side the boat when you dock (probably from small vents in the volcano).

On the way back we caught this amaaazing view of Cayambe mountain/volcano? (not sure which)

Just sooo GORGEOUS. 

Another wonderful day! With wonderful people!