Missing Visa Clearances and Gray Hairs!

 Tess's email and pictures home from the Provo, Utah MTC on March 15, 2013

Me with the BIG map!

Big news... Everyone in my district got notifications yesterday that said the following: "We have not received your visa clearance and you will be unable to travel to Argentina on your scheduled departure date. Your name will be turned in for a temporary reassignment. We will have that reassignment Thursday." So it's official now. We haven't heard anything about the consulate yet so hopefully he comes before Thursday so we're not stuck in Utah, but I guess we'll find out soon. I think I might get to call you when I get my reassignment, so be ready for that too! Don't worry about me though, I really don't care that I'll have to be in the States for a little while- it's not the end of the world.

Anyways, so that's probably the most eventful thing that happened this week. It was just another week of studying and teaching. Our "investigator" is doing pretty well, she accepted the invite to be baptized but we still have a lot to teach her. Thanks for your letters! I'm really excited that Kendal and Caleb are here and I've been looking for them but so far I haven't had any luck :/ It's fun to hear about your adventures in Cali/Texas though too! It's too bad that it was a little chilly at the beach though. Here in Provo we finally got some sun and it was pretty much the best thing ever. We're usually locked up inside pretty much all day but the past couple of days "el sol" has been out and we did all of our studying at the tables outside so we could soak it all in. Some got sunburned (not me, of course), but I think it was something we all needed because it made us feel alive again in a way.

Something else that's kind of funny- but also not funny- that happened was that while we were sitting down at the devotional this week Herm. Hales found two literally WHITE hairs on my head. She pulled them out and showed me and they really were grayish white, not blond. Haha I think that demonstrates how much work we do at the MTC and as missionaries more than anything. It's worth it though. Also, don't be too surprised if I come back as gray as madre is.

One final thing that I wanted to tell you about that's kind of a cool thing we get to do here is the TRC. Once a week we get to go and give two 20 min. "lessons" to volunteers who speak Spanish. They don't role play or anything, they're just themselves (usually members who are RM's living in Provo/Orem) and we just get to know them and give a spiritual thought kind of thing. It's awesome because it's a lot less stressful than our other lessons and they give us feedback afterwards. We also hear some pretty amazing stories when we're in there.

Anyways that's about all I can think of to write about at the moment. I'm excited to get my 2nd "mission call"/reassignment and hopefully I'll be able to talk to you guys a little bit! Have fun in Cali. and be safe! I love you all!

Studying in the sun

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Adios!