Katelyn's first email...Nov. 21

Hi everyone! I'm so glad it's finally p-day so that I can write you! (And finish moving into my room.) I'm on the main campus of the MTC. I share a room with my companion, Sister Erlandsson, in one of the "residence" buildings. My companion is an awesome T1. She's a cutie, and she reminds me of Sariah a lot, partly because she has dark skin and curly hair. Although she actually is part Mexican. :P hahaha. We are the only sisters in our district, and there are six elders. Two of them are international. One is from Germany (Heilein Elder) and one from Austria (Hoferl Elder). they are really awesome for learning Hungarian from English teachers. We all love them because they have accents and they are so funny. Actually, everyone in my district is really funny which is not always a good thing since we end up spending a lot of time laughing our heads off instead of learning Hungarian. I think we might be getting a bad reputation for being the loudest district. :) but we are learning a lot. The very first day our teacher had us learn to bear a short testimony in Hungarian. We spend almost all day in our classroom being taught or having personal study or language study, so we've spent a ton of time together and have gotten to be friends. We are all bummed right now because one of the elders flew home this morning because of a worthiness issue. We miss him but his goal is to come back in six months so we're all praying for him and looking forward to serving with him in the field. 

I am lucky because I haven't struggled with homesickness. Some of the missionaries here have a really hard time the first week. I saw Ashlyn again though, and I totally cried a little. We were so excited and I was trying to find everyone in my district so they could meet her. They all think that we look exactly alike. What!? 

Anyway, the food here is totally fine. I was worried before I came but there are always fairly healthy options and I'm pretty sure I've lost weight. We get to work out for an hour each day so I always try to make it count. And I'm buff!! I've been trying to learn how to do the machines. And on one of them (a leg press, I think?) you can only go up to 400 lbs and since that's what the elders were going for i decided to see how high I could get and I got to 380. Super proud of myself. 

One miracle I've had is that I haven't had any problems with low blood sugar, which is amazing. There isn't really time to eat a snack in between meals but I haven't had a problem. I have a testimony that when you follow the rules, the Lord blesses you to be able to do everything. I am learning Hungarian, but it definitely takes faith every time we have to teach a lesson in Hungarian. I was feeling pretty bad about how I was doing during lessons so I finally talked to my teacher about it and she made me feel a lot better. I'm a lot more motivated now to learn everything I can.

I love being a missionary. I am already so sad that I only have 18 months. I love learning and the spirit comes so quickly here whenever you invite it. Personal study is one of my favorite things. I have had more insights into the scriptures in the last week than I have had in months! The Gospel is real. None of us would be able to do this if we didn't have a testimony. I can feel Heavenly Father helping me through every step of every day. I love you and I hope you are having a wonderful time getting ready for the holidays. Hope to hear from you soon! 

Much Love, 

Sister Naegle

P.S. Tell the YW thank you for the package. It was SO fun to get it. Everyone was jealous. :)