Four(ish) Down, Two Weeks to Go

Hey family!

It is crazy how times flies here; it seems like I've only been here for a week but it has already been almost four! Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to SAM! I hope you have a wonderful day. :) Everyone in my district should get their travel plans this next week, so hopefully I'll be able to tell you next week when I am heading out to the DR. Two of the hermanas (sisters) in my district left for the Columbia CCM this week. It was sad to see them go; I didn't realize how close my district would all get but that is what makes being at the MTC so great.  The MTC has been getting so many new missionaries, I think this past week 800 new missionaries came. It has been really crowded, but I see a lot of people I know from BYU and even from our stake, which is exciting. Also, Esme emailed me and said that Mark McGregor got his mission call to the Africa, Ghana mission! Congrats Mark! I know that he will love it and will do great things. Grandma and Grandpa will be able to say that they've had missionaries on almost every continent. :) 

I haven't heard to much about everyone's Fourth of July, but hopefully I'll hear more about it this week. :)  In the MTC we had a Saturday devotional about religious freedom and watched the fireworks from the Stadium of Fire show from our classroom. Tuesday we had a normal schedule during the day so the hermanas in my district decided to have our own 4th of July in our apartment at night. We just played games, ate cookies, and sang patriotic hymns with other hermanas in our zone. Nothing too crazy, but it helped it feel a little more like the 4th of July. We also all wore red, white, and blue and so did the rest of the MTC so it looked like the American flag threw up on the MTC. We also started a tradition on bowling on Friday nights with the hermanas in our zone so yesterday we had 11 hermanas bowling with us. I think I told you that we made a bowling set out of plastic bottles and a bowling ball out of tin foil and packing tape. I'll see if I can send pictures of it. 

I feel like I make it sound like we are always doing crazy things, but in reality we are studying for nine hours a day and are working hard. I have a great district and great teachers-I definitely lucked out. One of my teachers, Hermana Peacock, went to the DR for her mission so sometimes she will tell me weird phrases that the Dominicans use that other places don't. I also found out that she is in the same major program as Anndi Stark and that Anndi was her TA. We even figured out that I was babysitting Cyrus during a TA session when she was there. Kind of crazy. My other teacher is Hermano Draut, who is super funny. During one of our classes he taught us quotes he learned in Spanish from the Incredibles and other Pixar movies. I think that was as close as I'll get to watching a movie out here on the mission. It was great. It sounds like this has been overall a good week for everyone, and I'm glad to hear it. 

Today my district all went to the missionary field and played four square (for some reason our whole zone LOVES four square and we play it almost every day) and kickball. I think we'll study and then go to class. I don't have much more to say, but I hope that you all have a great week and that everything goes smoothly for you. ;) I love you all so much!

-Hermana Schriever