Hola!
So the letters and emails have all slowed down considerably. What's with that?! Happy Thanksgiving!
Mom - Thank you so so so so sooooooooooooo much for that awesome package. I was bouncing up and down when i got it it was perfect. I absolutely loved the turkey with all the notes! It's on my wall right now. I love notes. The Reeses were so good and the socks were perfect. So keep the packages coming! My companions especially loved that Luke loves that I love "Hores play" :)
Family - PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE be close to the home phone or dad's cell tomorrow. And answer it wherever you are please! I can't remember anybody elses phone numbers so please answer those two.
Dad - could you use whitepages and find me Tammy and Glade Young's address in Bozeman and my Grandpa Garn Christensen in Boise. I've done it before and it should be pretty simple. Thank you!
Also I need my box for Washington sent up within the next week and the bike ordered. You should have instructions on all of that but because I'm leaving a week earlier than I thought it needs to be sent earlier. Also in the package if I could include a scarf and my pillow. I forgot to put my pillow in the box when I left. And Tons of letters! I carry them with me and read them when I'm discouraged so they're the best!
So we got twice as many missionaries last week and so the cafeteria is constantly packed! Who would have known. We got two new rommates who are going to Virginia. Sis. Martina from Salt Lake and Sis. Clark from Ashton, ID (I know someone who actually lives there who doesn't work at the gas station). They're way awesome and make it fun because they have the same sense of humor as I do. Sis. Martina is way homesick, but I think she'll be okay.
Funny stories: So We were in the residence hall and I heard Sis. Clark trying to unlock the door so I rip open the door to surprise her. What I ddn't realize was that her key was attached to a lanyard that was still around her neck. Basically all I saw was her face come flying towards me and a loud squaking noise! It was so funny I couldn't stop laughing! Her first day here and I almost rip her head off, oops.
So I told my district about one of my most horrible awkward dates that involved zombies. Now it is their favorite thing to quote and they even wrote me a pretend letter from this former date. I will have to forward a copy to my roommates as they will appreciate it the most.
Another story: So Hermana Z has "sporadic, chronic hiccups." They are very high pitched and loud. During Sunday's fireside she set a new record and had 85 in one hour. Afterwards a member of the mission presidency came and asked if she was faking. The next day we find out that our mission president, President Brown, had set up a doctor's appointment for her. Oops. I was dying of laughter. The doctor set up another appointment for her to see a neurologist in Orem next week and she had to interview with Pres. Brown. It was pretty funny and awesome because we got to meet him too. He's awesome!
So this last week has been awesome! I have been so hyper it's ridiculous. My Spanish is coming along great! All my teachers are quite surprised by how much I can understand. They say my main problem is that I lack courage in speaking. I need to open my mouth more and just trust in the Lord to fill it. Sorry about all the typeos my keyboard is horrible.
I'm so excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I wasn't really homesick about it until one Elder started talking about home and then it made me really homesick. Oops.
Okay now from the ridiculous to the sublime:
Elder D. Todd Christofferson gave our devotional talk last night. It was so absolutely incredible! First he thanked us for being Christ's companion in the work and the Quorum of the 12 and asked us to forgive them if the 12 let us down in the work. He told us that now is the time to serve our Lord with everything we have. He had regrets from his mission and we should live so we have none. He told us that when we return home we should not expect any blessings or rewards for our service. The Lord owes us nothing and He is giving us even more than we had by allowing us to represent Him and enjoy the enormous blessing of serving Him. Elder Christofferson said so much, but he ended by giving us a promise and blessing. He blessed us that anything we suffer, any challenge we have, any discouragement, frustration or anything we endure while on our mission will be swallowed up in the joy of Christ and will be as nothing to us. He said we have no reason to fear or be discouraged because we are companions with our Savior Jesus Christ. If we but yield our heart to Him we can be in His presence and enjoy His blessing.
My heart is so full. I have no reason for doubt or to complain. I finally feel like the joy and love I feel inside is being used in the way it is supposed to and to it's fullest capacity. I know that my Savior, Lord, Redeemer saved me from my sins. He made it possible for me to return to live with my Father in heaven. What joy this brings I cannot even describe. I feel so overwhelmed by the Spririt I cannot put into words how I feel. This is the true Gospel of Jesus Christ and I love it with all my heart. I am so in-debt to Him to be priveleged to bear His name and preach His word.
I love you all so very much! Please keep the letters coming because we think a lot about home during this holiday season and it's nice to know we're thought of too!

LoveHermana Probst

Hola to the world!

I am in week 4! That means on Sunday I am half way there! Who would have thought. So today we finally get two new roommates. There are going to be almost 1,000 missionaries brought in today because they're not bringing any in during Thanksgiving. This means that all the rooms are going to be packed! We almost found out why they're doing so much construction on campus which means that our power is always going out and the security is super intense. Right now there are about 52,000 missionaries in the world. In Januray of 2012 there will be 56,000 missionaries! That is 4,000 more than they originally anticipated! Isn't that incredible! I'm so excited! The Lord's servants are about to conquer the earth. Because of this they are trying to make as much room on MTC campus as possible so they can cram in as many missionaries as possible. I forget the exact numbers but the statistics for the increase of missionaries in just one year is astounding! I feel pretty popular now being in the in-crowd because everybodies doing it ;)

I kind of enjoy being from Utah because several times a week I run into people I know. It's pretty exciting. Yes, I do eat a ton of ice-cream here. Amazingly I haven't gained any weight which I can't really figure out how that works out because I love BYU ice cream. Everyone tells me that Latinos love to feed us and get offended if we don't eat a ton so we're supposed to be prepared to gain like 20 pounds! I'm going to die or make up some kind of stomach condition so that I can not eat so much. Actually I don't have a gall bladder so it's okay (Alexis I hope you noticed this).

My back is doing so much better. Apparently getting several massages a week helps it out. Who would have known? Just kidding, they do help, but there is a ton other painful stuff that i have to do that helps out too.

I get very exhausted every day and we often fall asleep while studying, but it's the best. It helps us know that we truly are doing everything we can to learn the language and learn how to teach. If we are working the hardest we can then the Lord will make up the rest and He does in so many ways.

I love this work with all my heart. I know that it truly is the work of the Lord. It is so amazing to be surrounded every day by people who feel so passionate about this Gospel like I do. Yo se que La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Dias es verdadero. Yo se que Jose Smith y Thomas S. Monson es une profetas. Yo se que nuestro Padre Celestial mucho amor por mi.

My Spanish is very broken. I do not conjugate or put the words in the right tense in order. But the Lord has blessed me to be able to speak enough that I can convey my message and He does the rest. It is the most incredible experience not being able to properly speak a language and watching the power of the Lord take over and testify to our investigators the truthfulness of what we say. I love being a missionary!

I love you all!

Hermana Probst

Hello Family!

Thank you so much for the letters and package! There is nothing better than getting letters. They can make a horrible week or day turn out amazing just because I can read of what you're doing and feel your love. Last Thursday I was having a particularly horrible day. My back hurt so bad I could barely get out of bed, our lesson to Noemi went absolutely horrible, I was frustrated with not knowing Spanish and Hermana Z was driving me crazy. There were many tears shed that day not just by me. The next day made everything better though because I got a letter from my beloved ASHLEY! She got her mission call and she's going to the West Indies mission English speaking and leaving in March! It's amazing how just that one letter of encouragement and love made everything better. It seems like everytime I get letters it's always when I have the worst days and it's perfect timing because it makes everything so much better. I have also learned to rely on the Lord so much more. He is truly teaching me that I cannot do anything as a missionary without help from him. It's a very humbling lesson.

This whole week has been pretty rough, but there have been silver linings. On Sunday I saw Dr. Seamons! He's a branch president here on the floor right below me. We did brake a mission rule though because he automatically gave me a hug, oops. We had to shake hands after that. It was so good to see him. I also heard Zac Kroff from Bozeman play his cello for the fireside (I thought the Bozemanites reading this would appreciate that). And on my temple walk that afternoon I saw Brittany and Seth! She's having a baby! It was way exciting.

So I went to the Doctor's on Friday for my back. It hasn't been this bad in years. He sent me to Dr. Brent Butler at the Utah clinic the physical therapist I got ASTYM from. I saw him on Monday and it was a real run-around. The driver dropped us off at the hospital even though I told him it was the wrong place. It was weird to be there and not be able to go see Grandpa Dinsdale. When we finally got to the clinic they didn't have us scheduled. Luckily Dr. Butler just loves me so he helped me out ;) (Actually I think he cares more about dad because he kept asking about him the entire time). Apparently my back is a lot worse than I thought. They did a ton of procedures on me and want to see me at least twice a week. I have tons of exercises and stretches I'm supposed to do in between. He wants to get me all better before I leave in December. I think it will actually happen so I'm excited. I just feel bad that I have to waste my companions time.

I had the most incredible experience yesterday. We were in the TRC and just interviewing random people. Our objective was to try and feel the love that our Heavenly Father had for them. None of the people I met with were LDS and two spoke Spanish so fast I couldn't understand. Even though I couldn't understand their Spanish I knew what they were saying. I knew that God loved them so much and that He was trying to reach out to them. I could feel so strongly what they were saying even though I couldn't hear it. All of us were crying by the time we were done. It was such an indescribable feeling and experience because I knew what God wanted and felt toward these people.

My branch president is now aware of our struggle with Hermana Z. He's trying to work with her and help us. It's good to be heard.\

I love you all so much and I absolutely love getting your letters. And I miss you all so much!

Love

Hermana Probst

Dad! Mom! Eli! Noah! Aaron! Luke!

How's it going?! I'm so excited to write you all! The MTC is awesome! I spend pretty much all day in a classroom with 8 other missionaries studying. I wake up at 6 and go to bed at 10:30 with no breaks in between because we have so much we have to do and need to do that we really don't have any time to ourselves. P-day is on WEd and I'm only allowed 1/2 an hour to write. We get an hour of gym time almost every day and it is easily everyone's favorite time because we get to get out of our desks and run! Meal time is short but there is so much food that nobody could complain. Pretty much I can eat and drink whatever I want at whatever meal. It's all very heavy and rich though so mi companeros and I have come up with a system of how to eat healthy so we don't gaina ton of weight. The first few days were crazy because they only spoke to us in Spanish. I am the only person in my district that has never had any Spanish, but luckily I'm learning fast. It's only been one week and I can already do so much.

My companions are Hermana Collins from Kansas and Hermana Ziegler from Illinois. I definitely click more with Hermana Collins, but i'm getting to know and love Hermana Ziegler more. There are 6 elders in my District and us 3 Hermanas. All the Elders are awesome and definitely feel like little brothers because they act like it. They're a lot more mature than a lot of Elders here though so I'm grateful for that. With all the time we have to spend in the classroom together we have a lot of bonding time and all of them are great. There are 38 missionaries in my branch and my companionship are the only sisters. All 3 of us are going to Spokane and one of the Elders is. The others are going to Peru, Arizona and Boise. One elder has a break down Saturday night and ended up in the hospital but he's doing great now.

Thank you so much for the Haloween package! It was so exciting! Letters are like gold here and it's the most exciting time of the day! Packages are priceless and so exciting to get. If you create an account on dearelder.com you can send an email to me for free while I'm in the MTC and I get it the same day so that you can write me everyday for free. This also gives me more time to think about what I'm going to write back to you since I only have a half an hour. Please do this!

Apparently MTC time is different. According to the MTC I've already been here for a week and half because they start over on Sundays. Because of this I will actually leave the MTC December 19. I will need my backpack because I have a ton of books and backpacks are so expensive here. I don't need it right now so I'll write later with more details.

How is dad's eye? How's Grandpa Dinsdale? How's Alyssa?

I've already taught 4 lessons with our progressing investigator Noemi. Everything is in Spanish, but our lesson yesterday went for 30 minutes! There have definitely been many hard times here, but the Lord is so receptive to missionaries that the highs are incredible. I have learned so much about faith, prayers, and how to be humble. I love my heavenly father so much and know that he answers my prayers.

I apologize if I don't make much sense,but I'm startying to think in Spanish so it's hard to write in English. Everytime we complain about learning Spanish our teacher always tells us we can go up a floor and try Chinese. Nobody wants to learn Chinese because it's so hard. (i thought Dad would enjoy that fact). We all think the English missionaries have it so easy, but we're learning alot.

Got to go! Ashley is the winner in sending me the most letters so far so you should all keep up!

I love you all so much and think of you any time I can!

Love forever

Hermana Probst

P.s. Eli should be working on letters of recommendation now