A Spoonful of El Fuego Purificador: Guatemala Mission Week 3- Feb 10, 2012

Or the refiner's fire. Which is sometimes what the MTC feels like. The teachers want us to have the most successful mission possible, which apparently means feeling like you're not doing anything right. I exaggerate of course, me and my companions are seen some great success, but we definitely have a long ways to go. I have enjoyed learning more about teaching as well as more about the gospel essentials so that I can be more converted to Christ and His Gospel.

One thing that I am continually impressed with is the power of the Book of Mormon. I've read it myself several times and know it is the word of God, but when you read it in the context of missionary work, everything is new and incredibly powerful to help our investigators come to Christ. I think that's what makes the Book of Mormon such a dynamic book. No matter how many times you read it, it can be new and more significant depending on the lens you read it in.

This last week has been like a roller-coaster, but by the end of each day I always come to the conclusion that this is where I'm supposed to be. I appreciate hearing from those who have written and sent things my way and I promise I've responded to everything so if you haven't received a reply let me know. We're preparing to leave for Guatemala next week and we're all getting really excited. Some of the sisters in our group have never left the United States, but all are a little nervous about going to a place where they only speak Spanish. I welcome the opportunity to speak in Spanish all the time.

Thank you everyone for your support and love and the next time you'll here from me, I'll be in the land of the Lamanites!

Love,

Hermana Cappuccio

A Spoonful of Yo se que... : Guatemala Mission Week 2- Feb. 3, 2012

.el Evangelio de JesuCristo y su iglesia fuen restaurados para el profeta Jose Smith. I can speak Spanish everyone! Haha, well it's still pretty rough, and obviously not fluent, but I've taken some serious strides. I can bear my testimony to anyone without notes and I do so about 3 times everyday because we count them as "contacts".

All the classes and devotionals have been incredibly spiritual and uplifting. This last tuesday we had a devotional with Elder Holland and Elder Nelson. Yes, you read right, (end of first email- added next email below)

.So the computers here at the MTC are really stupid. And apparently you can send a document by simply pressing the Caps lock button. The email continues below.

TWO GENERAL AUTHORITIES! At once. There were a lot of rumors that it would be the whole First Presidency, because we were celebrating the 50th anniversary of the MTC, but the two Apostles was just as good. I got to sing in the choir which was a really neat experience that I'm glad I did since I only have one more week to do so.

We got our travel plans yesterday and I will be flying out the 14th of February at night. I should be able to call during my layover in LAX. I'm excited to get to Guatemala, but I'm actually finding myself sad to go at the same time. I love my teachers here at the MTC and I love the feeling here.

We had an interesting experience this last week as we were thrown into teaching our first investigator the first Friday. We taught him everyday after that except for Sunday I think and then we found out yesterday he was our other teacher. Fun stuff. I accidentally asked him if he was married in the lesson and that lead to a pretty great reaction. Ha.

So, it's kind of hard to see all the other hermanas and elders get letters and packages every day when I've only gotten two letters, but they're families and friends sends them enough treats for the rest of us. And it's important to focus on the work. I really want to learn this language so that I can be the best instrument of the Lord as possible.

I hope you all are doing well!

Love,

Hermana Cappuccio

A Spoonful of Me llamo Hermana Cappuccio: Guatemala Mission: Week 1- Jan 28th 2012

Soy de Arizona. Hay 5 hermanos y hermanas en mi familia. I'd need more hands in order to count the number of times I've had to use these 3 phrases in the last 3 days. Everybody has a fun time with my last name, so I'll have to remember to thank my Italian ancestors when I meet them someday. So the MTC...I wish I could say the Spirit warms our physical bodies as much as it does our souls, but it's still incredibly cold outside.

I'm loving Spanish, maybe not as much as French, but my feelings of animosity towards Spanish really just stem from my unfamiliarity with it and I remember feeling the same way about French once upon a time. But seriously, since when is it okay to not say the subject of the sentence?

I love my district. We have 5 sisters and 5 elders which is probably one of the only districts with such even proportions. All the sisters are going to the CCM (MTC) in Guatemala and all the elders are staying. I'm one of the lucky ones that has 2 companions, Hmas Henderson y Schroeder. Hma Schroeder is from here in Orem and is going to my same mission and Hma Henderson is from Bakersfield, CA and going to Nicaragua.

Oh, so I have a quote to share. "The best preparation for a mission is learning how to change." -yours truly.  I feel like all the classes I took, books I read, people I talked to mean very little next to my willingness and ability to change who I am to be a better missionary. It takes a lot of humility, which I've discovered is quite painful in large doses. But I'm finding myself wanting to be a better companion, a better example, and a better disciple because that's what it takes to be the best missionary and I didn't come here for anything less than that.

I want to thank every and all of you that have helped me get to this point, you might not know what it is you've done to make an impression on me, but I promise you all have, and good ones. I pray God is watching over all of you and that each day you are getting to know him better. And if you have time, think of your favorite missionary and find time to write them a letter! (I can acccept if that favorite isn't me, but letters make every missionary happy--and that's a fact.)

With lots of love,

Hermana Cappuccio

A Spoonful of Photos from the Summer

Hey friends!

#1- Eiffel Tower from the Freeway 

I recently received an email about a photo contest for those who went on study abroad. Now, I'm not a professional photographer, but I want to give it a try. Who knows, maybe I could win runner-up or something. I can submit 3, but I have way more than 3, so of the photos that follow, if you could choose your 3 favorite and post their number in the comments, I would appreciate it! Thanks and I'll keep you updated!

#2- Park in the center of Brussels

#3- Same Park in Brussels

#4- Best Macaron I Ever Ate

#5- Dog in the Air

#6- Eiffel Tower at night

#7- French Flag under l'arc de triomphe

#8- Hotel des Invalides on a clear day

#9- National Treasure Lady Liberty

#10- A variety of Macarons just waiting to be eaten

#11- Mario is conquering the streets of Paris

#12- Random metro concert

#13- Pond at a park in Brussels

#14- Sacre Coeur on a beautiful day

#15- Sunset on the Seine

#16- Sunset on the Seine 2

#17- I found the Eiffel Tower again

#18- Perspective from a wall in Montmartre

#19- More French nationality!

#20- The Heart of the Paris Skyline

Hope you enjoyed my photos and please share your opinions! Thanks!

A Spoonful of Two Things You Should Know

I put up a new background. Check it out. Make sure you have this window full screen and voila! You see my amazing shot of the Eiffel Tower taken from the top of the Arc de Triomphe. There was this awesome storm that night that gave the sky this cool blue color. It's kind of the perfect picture and my computer desktop so I decided it should grace the walls of my blog as well!

Secondly, I started my mission papers yesterday. Nbd. I should have them done by next Sunday. That's the goal at least. >.< I'm pretty excited, people. I also have a problem keeping things on the DL that probably should be. So though I know this is a public blog, don't go tell the world. There's a reason I'm posting this on my blog and not my facebook or google +. I hope you're having a wonderful end of summer!

A Spoonful of "You Don't Always Get What You Want, But Sometimes You Find Out You Don't Want What You Thought You Wanted" and the Problems That Follow That Realization

When I got back from Paris I was set on having a boyfriend. It was just going to happen for me. I even joked about having a one-month plan and then was serious about it. I've always been pretty sociable, but never very flirty with loads of guys, but I figured it was time for that to change.

See, I like where I'm at in my life. I have my major figured out with what I want to do for Grad school and I'm living the way I should be, making changes every day, and I felt ready for a relationship to happen. Particularly, I thought I wanted a relationship with a certain guy. Heck, I had a crush on him forever ago and so when things started to look different, I figured it was time to go for it.

Your own tenacity in a relationship can get you a lot of things. As examples, more physical proximity, more face-time, admittance of feelings/attraction, but it doesn't give you a blank check for what you want. That's why the fact that he doesn't want a serious relationship isn't life-crushing, it's just life. Sometimes you get to make the mistakes before you have the realization, and sometimes you don't.

So to set the record straight, I am single. And I wish I didn't have to explain myself to this boy or to other people, because I'm not sure how to do so. Life situations (dilemma's?) always seem to come at the busiest times in my life. Can anybody say finals week? Luckily I only have two finals and one essay to write, but that's pretty intense considering my work and social life. I love how crazy life is and how you find out you don't really know nothing every day.

A Spoonful of Catching Up or Falling Behind

It depends on how you look at it, I guess. You see, I fell way behind in blogging about my experience in France. I guess I just assumed I would have ready access to the internet and blogging would be easy, but it turned out not to be. Then when I got back there was no adjustment period. It was just work, school, family visit, church, social life, harry potter, class reading, and more. Everyday more. I was catching up with my school work, with my family and friends, with my life in Provo, but I was still falling behind.

So blogosphere, I am still alive. I do still know that I have a blog and that I have a responsibility to it. Which is why I'm here to tell you that over the course of this week I will be posting more posts. Back-blogging as it were, but also blogging about my present life and about all the exciting things that are happening after Paris. I might submit that they are almost as exciting as Paris...maybe more. I encourage you to be my friends and to read my blog because I like sharing. I hope your summer is...summery.

Disclaimer: I do have quite a few things due tomorrow, so don't actually expect me to start the updating process until tuesday. Or at least know that if I do update tomorrow it is at the expense of my good grades. :)