A Countdown Calendar of Multivitamin Gummies

 Bonjour! 

Shortly before entering the online MTC I bought a bottle of multivitamin gummies to make getting up at 6:30 more exciting. This week I looked at the number of servings, and if my math is correct, I should run out of gummies right around when I finish the MTC!
This week we started FRENCH IMMERSION. On Wednesday, I helped my mom at a primary activity in our ward. The elementary school right by our house does french immersion. (I was never a part of this but many of the primary kids in our ward are.) I mentioned to one group of kids that I am learning French.
"Oh yeah?!?" said one girl. "Can you even understand what I am saying? BonJOUR Comment ça VA." (capitals and italics added for emphasis). 
"Ça va BIEN" I responded. I love children. 
Back to French! I finally understand what the Tahitian accent is like because one of your teachers who served in French Polynesia has the most Tahitian accent. Every R is rolled. Nothing is guttural. I absolutely love it. 
"Bonjou~rrrr~ Sœu~rrrrrrrrr~ Mo~rrrrrr~ison." 

some quick Sœur Livu stories because she makes me laugh and smile so much. 
1. On Wednesday, in our companion study on zoom, her video froze. Sœur Staker and I said things like "oh no!" "she froze!" "What do we do?" 
All of a sudden, coming out of an image that is still frozen, we hear lots of giggles and "I can HEAR YOUUUUU!!!!"
2. On Friday we had to give our first lesson in French. It was very very scary and stressful. We had prepared a pretty detailed lesson plan to help us with the language, but it was still very hard when the friend asked questions. I left the zoom lesson feeling pretty discouraged, but all of a sudden I got some texts from Sr. Livu on our companion group chat: 
"Wooo holy cow I feel blessed." and
"Love you heaps." 

Love you heaps is now going to be a phrase I use daily. 

A district mate of mine, Sœur Day, is so funny in French. For one activity this week, we were asked to bring in a family member and introduce them in French to the class.
Sr Day brought her brother and said, "This is my brother. He is tall. He is not funny." I died. It was almost as funny as when she had danced the day before to describe what she had done during her break. 

Any advice for language learning would be greatly appreciated! I am mentally and emotionally and physically exhausted from this week in French, but I know that one day it will be all worth it when I am able to help someone who only speaks French. 

Lastly, a HUGE personal success from this week! If you know me at all, you know how much I struggle waking up to alarms. It is not that I snooze them but that I don't hear them. I will sleep through anything. I slept through the earthquake in Utah last year. Whether my alarm sound is a super loud siren or a sound that resembles chickens screaming, I JUST CANNOT GET UP. It is frustrating, and has led to lots of hurt feelings from others complaining about this upsetting weakness of mine. This week I decided that ENOUGH WAS ENOUGH. Change was going to happen. I completely changed my alarms and my morning and evening routines. Like the Brother of Jared in the Book of Mormon, I prepared a solution for my problem then came to God in prayer asking for lots and lots of help. 
AND IT WORKED. I have gotten up to my one alarm every single morning this week. On the first day that it happened, I almost didn't believe it. I thought I was still sleeping because I had never done anything like that before. Know that God can help with literally anything, even problems like mine that seem beneath His power. He will help you! No problem is too big or too small for God. 
 
Pictures!!! I make my family take pictures of me in flowers now. There are huge bushes of pink and purple flowers in our front yard and I matched on Sunday! 


This next one is a bit weird looking but if you have made it this far in the email you might as well see it.


That's all friends! Love you heaps! 
Have a wonderful week. As the Tahitians say, Nana!
Lot's of love, 
Fatiguée mais heureuse


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