One Direction, Hormigas, Panic Attacks, and Investigadores

Mi mamasita!!!!!!
Oh geez. It feels like forever since I've written you! 10 whole days! I only have an hour to write today, so this will be pretty hectic and scatterbrained as I figure out all the things that I want to tell you guys.

Okay. First thing is for Kayla. KAYLA. Imma make you real jealous right now. We were literally 5 blocks away from the One Direction Bogota concert. Did you hear about it???? We were outside at like 6 pm, and heard all of these screaming girls. During out silent Libro de Mormon study, all we could here was One Direction music and thousands of screaming girls. It was REALLY hard to focus. I wanted to write you and tell you! It was hilarious. Maestro Herrera kept saying THEY ARE FOR CHICAS!~Bahahahah So yeah, Im in Bogota, studying LDM and listening to One Direction live. I thought you would like to hear that. 

OH! And KAYLA! HAPPY FREAKING BIRTHDAY! I know its tomorrow, so youll have to forgive me. What are you going to do????? Eat lots of salted caramel icecream for me. I cannot believe you are going to be 16! Wow.

Speaking of birthdays. I AM TWENTY TWO YEARS old. Uhhhhhh what?

So yes, I have a funny story about my birthday. The previous day we listened to this talk about being more selfless, and so I thought that my birthday would be the perfect day. And it was even better because NO ONE remembered. It was a really cool experience because on the day that was dedicated to me, I wasnt thinking about myself. It is not my 18 months, it is the Lord's 18 months. I had to keep reminding myself that it was my birthday. It was a normal day... until right before dinner when my district and I were studying outside. Some guys in my district were singing Feeling 22, and I started laughing to myself. Then, Hma Morey jumps up and goes HERMANA! IT IS YOUR BIRTHDAY! Everyone freaked out. Pretty much I got sang Happy Birthday to for the rest of the night by EVERYONE. It was funny. They all wrote me a card. It was sweet. Hma Dyer came in with a letter for me, and I read that and the stuff in my package that you sent in my suitcase. Okay, I havent cried because I miss you guys until that moment. I was SO grateful that she let you guys email me and print them off. It made my WHOLE DAY. Seriously. I felt so loved. Thank you so much. Oh. Today is pday, and the entire CCM sang to me during lunch in THREE different languages. It was cool. I love this group of latinos just as much as I love the last one. We even had icecream cake! Not as good as the one that Keith and Rhiannon always get me, but still pretty dang good. It was definitely a different birthday, but I will never forget it. 

Hm..... OH! Dad. One night for dinner, they had these really giant croissant sandwiches with jelly inside. They were good EXCEPT...they left them out all day. So literally you would tear open this croissant, and there would be ants INSIDE. Sick nasty. However,everyone was yelling EAT IT! So yeah, I ate a croissant jelly hormiga sandwich. I ate a LIVE ant. How is that for some craziness. So now we always check for ants in our food. Definitely different than the MTC in Provo! 

OH! Hma Webb and I got our first REAL contact! We were walking around outside (inside the fence, mama) and said hi to a lady on the other side. She called us over and started talking (in really fast spanish). We were so excited and got to know her a little bit and even got her phone number! It made my whole life. I love sharing this gospel with the people of South America. We get to legitimately leave the CCM and go proselyting TOMORROW! Ah, its gonna be awesome. 

Elder Wadel of the 70 came and spoke to us one day this week! It was awesome. We got to listen in English, which was nice. Although I probably didnt need it. I am getting dang good at understanding what everyone says. Yeahh. Sweet. 

I am getting better at speaking, too. The different verb conjugations are finally starting to click in my head. It is awesome. It is still frustrating, but it is getting better.

The CCM is hard, and yet it is the MOST FUN ever. I LOVE everyone in my district. They are the coolest. 

When I say hard, I mean hard. I had my first panic attack in my life last week. It was a really hard day. Being a perfectionist is impossible on the mission. Your brain will explode. My brain exploded, and it was sad. But Heavenly Father blesses me even more. I just need to understand that I am not going to be perfect ever. Everything came so easy before, but now it is hard work to be translating spanish 24-7 and trying to do your best each minute. Dont worry, mom. I am fine now. It was a good learning experience for me. Plus, I am learning to talk about my feelings. Gross, but really good for me. I stink at talking about myself. 

Another thing that is being tried on my mission? MY BLADDER. Oh geez. Sweet mercy, it's hard. But I am getting better at the whole mind over body thing. If you wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, you have to take your companion. And I dont like to do that. Its all good. TODO BIEN! 

Did I tell you about the CUTEST group of little Colombian young women girls that Hma Webb and I talked to for about 30 minutes outside temple? Oh my lanta. I loved them so much. They talked SO FAST! But they were telling us about how they wanted to go on missions when they were old enough. They wanted to be facebook friends. So if you get random colombian friend requests from them on my facebook, add them. They were showing us Colombian pesos, and I showed them all the pictures on the quarters. They loved the Colorado quarter. So we traded. They were so stinking cute. I am so excited to meet the kids of Bolivia.

Hm... OH! Did I tell you that the ONLY bugs that they have here (other than ants) are BEASTS. Yup. My least favorite things on the planet. And they are EVERYWHERE. And they are bigger than the ones in Colorado. I'm learning to deal with them.

Hm.... I am forgetting all the things that I wanted to say.....

This gospel is so cool. I am learning so much, and I feel the Spirit constantly. It is amazing. My favorite days are temple days. I always have amazing experiences in the Celestial Room. Please remember how much Heavenly Father loves and cares for you. He answers my prayers every single day... even the littlest ones. Its fantastic. 

Mom! I got your package! It was amazing, because I got it on the day that has been the hardest one Ive had. I didnt get to tell you before you sent it that my camera is working fine now. SORRY! But I really appreciate the cord. I dont have to borrow one now. And my birthday package: I shared the chocolate with my district and EVERONE LOVED IT! Mmmmmm...... 

Mom! Did you freak out when you got my email about mother's day? You shouldve seen my district when they told us. We FREAKED OUT! I am so excited. By then, I will be with my new latin companion. It will be cool. Did you find out my skype email and password? I NEED IT! Please send it to my by this Tuesday (my next PDAY!) 

 

BIRTHDAYS! 

Happy Birthday to:

RHIANNON!
STEPHANIE FERWEDA!
KAY MAY!
EMILY NASH! 

Sorry if I forgot one.... I dont have my list with me. But I LOVE YOU ALL!

Okay, I'm gonna try to send more pictures now. I'll write once more before I get off. 

LOVE YOU MAMA
Hermana Routsong