No Visa....

Hello everyone! First off, still no word on my visa! I don't know when I will find out about it, but hopefully I will find out soon! we have been told that like much of Europe, Spain told nearly closes down in August because most people are on vacation, so since September is nearly here hopefully our visas will be arriving soon as well!

This past week has been great! My companion, Hermana Crowder, and I had an amazing lesson this week! One of our teachers, Hermano Nava has been acting as an individual named Raul for the past few weeks so that we can practice teaching. Raul has been very difficult to teach at times, but we have had some amazing experiences with him. We have learned so much about figuring out what peoples needs are, and teaching to those needs. Even though Raul is a "fake" person, we felt so much love for him and wanted him to experience the happiness that the gospel of Jesus Christ can bring. IN our last lesson with Raul he committed to be baptized--what a great moment that was. I am so excited to get to Spain so that I can teach the people there.

I have to cut this post short because it is time for me to go to bed! The fire alarm just went off, so I just spent the last 25 minutes outside instead of writing this---Life at the MTC is great!! :)

I hope you all are doing well!

Take Care,

Hermana Letendre

No Word on the Visa...Still in Provo, UT

Valerie is still in Provo, UT. She is studying and waiting for her Visa. She's busy so we didn't get a blog post yet, we hope to get one in the mail later in the week. For now, I'm going to share a story that she shared with us from her e-mail we received yesterday.

this week i heard a story that you all would like. a sister in the mtc told this story about a couple in her ward. this couple was a senior couple and they put in their mission papers...they received their call to ukraine, but they didn't want to learn a new language so they declined the all and decided that they would put their papers in again in a year...so they did just that. when they got their second call, that call was also to ukraine. the couple decided that they should probably go since the lord had called them twice to that same mission...when they got to ukraine, they were assigned to a very interesting area, which included a prision...one day, they were trying to teach some individuals in the prison, but they were having a very difficult time with the language. finally they spoke loudly and asked, "does anyone speak english" one man came forward and said that he did...this man ended up being their son who had been backpacking in europe and had been missing for 7 years. this man had somehow landed himself in jail, and his parents had no idea....but because they followed the call of the lord, they were able to find him...AMAZING!!

If you have a second, Val would LOVE to hear from you! You can send her a letter in the mail, or you can go to www.dearelder.com and send her a note there.

Her address is:

Sister Valerie Letendre

MTC Mailbox #282

SPA-MAL 0921

2005 N 900 E

Provo, UT 84604-1793

Yes, I'm Still at the MTC in Provo, Utah...

Hello everyone! Greetings from Provo, Utah. Yes, I am still in Provo...Not in Spain. Our training program is 9 weeks long. I was supposed to leave for Spain on August 9th, but I still have not received my Visa! I live with three other sisters who are also going to Spain--none of us have received Visas. If we get our Visas within the next 3 weeks, we will be sent to Spain as quickly as possible. If not, we will probably have to serve the first 6 weeks of our mission somewhere in the United States before going to Spain. Although I am anxious to get to Spain, I really like the Missionary Training Center in Provo and all of the missionaries I have met here! I especially love the beautiful mountains of Provo and the delicious Chocolate Milk from the BYU Creamery!!

My schedule here at the MTC is booked from 7am - 9:30pm. It is extremely tiring, but I love it! I LOVE my companion. We are starting to really enjoy teaching together! Right now we teach lessons about the gospel of Jesus Christ to our teachers who act as investigators. When we teach, we always teach only in Spanish!!!

I have learned so much since I have been here that it is difficult to express it all in one blog post. Also, I do not have much time to write. The biggest thing that I have learned is that the only way to truly teach others in a way that allows them to tryly learn is through love. I have realized that there is no difference between getting to know someone and teaching them. In order to teach effectively, you must teach through the questions that you ask to get to know them. I hope all of this makes some sense to you. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that in teaching others about something as personal and sacred as the gospel of Jesus Christ, it is so necessary to understand the needs of every individual that I teach.

I love this work! I love serving the Lord! I hope that the next update that I have for you will be that I am leaving for Spain!

Take care everyone! I will write again soon!

Hermana Letendre

Pictures from Provo, UT!

Valerie sent a few pictures home that she would like to share with everyone. Sorry for the poor quality. I will scan in better quality images soon!

This is Hermana Valerie Letendre and her companion Hermana Crowder studying.

It was confirmed to Valerie a few weeks ago that the world is indeed small. After talking with her companion, Hermana Crowder, she found out that her mother is from Oxford, Massachusetts. That is super crazy because growing up we lived in Massachusetts and was part of the Worcester, MA Ward, which later split and was the Oxford, MA Ward! Valerie told us her mother's maiden name because it seemed so familiar to her. Guess what?! We knew them! Hermana Crowder's grandfather, Bishop Holbrook, married Valerie's parents on December 3, 1976! What a small world!

This is Hermana Letendre, Hermana Smith, Hermana Crowder, and Hermana Walker.

The four of them are in the same district. This is our first day in their room!

District outside of Provo, UT Temple. They walk the grounds of the temple every Sunday.

This is the whole district! All of the Elders are heading to Texas---Spanish speaking.

I'm Still at the MTC in Provo, Utah...

There is still no word about our visas... we were supposed to leave for spain tomorrow... but its obviously not happening. i hope that i get to leave sometime next week... but there are people who have had to spend all 9 weeks here in utah because spain is so slow with the visas... so we'll see. i wouldnt mind staying here a bit longer because i really like my district and my teachers here... but i think going to the mtc in spain will really help me to get used to hearing native people speak, so i hope i get to go there!!!!

With Love,

Hermana Valerie Letendre

Stay tuned for pictures later in the week....

Hermana Valerie Letendre

On Monday, July 18th, Valerie was set apart as a Missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints by our Hartford Stake President, President Taylor. Attending this very special blessing was Mom (Kathy) , Dad (Don), Shaun, Christopher, Anneli, Bishop Johnson, Sister Johnson, Jacque Johnson, and I (Crystal).

Here are some pictures of that evening.

President Taylor, Hermana 'Valerie' Letendre, Bishop Johnson

Mom, Dad, Christopher, Hermana Valerie Letendre, Crystal, Anneli & Shaun

Valerie's friend Jacque and Valerie pointing to their missions on the Stake Center Missionary Map!

Jacque & Valerie

Jacque, Valerie & Sister Johnson

Bummer!

This week all of the Hermamas in my district who are going to Spain got a letter from the travel office saying that we have not gotten our visas yet so we will probably not be leaving the MTC on time... we will probably be here for longer... That is a little disappointing, but We really like it here and I would like to stay here a little longer. There are many great things about the MTC'... we really like the elders in our district, and we will be sad to leave them. They are like little brothers to us already. Theya ll get along so well, and they lighten up our day with their jokes and laughter... sometimes too many jokes, but it is really nice to have them around. Another thing that is great about the MTC in provo is that we get to have amanzing firesides on sunday and tuesday nights. We have great speakers come in.

With Love,

Hermana Valerie Letendre