After a lay over in Phoenix, she made it to New Mexico safe and sound. Once they got their, the mission president and his wife took all of the new missionaries to the temple, did some tracting and training, and then they spent the night in the mission home before heading to transfers the next day.
She loves her companion, Sister Pratt. She says they have long blonde hair and they could be sisters. The area she's in uses a lot of spanglish, so it's a good area for a new missionary learning spanish, because a lot of the members in the branch don't speak spanish at all, or the speak a little english so they can help you find the words you're looking for. They had a stake conference her first Sunday there. When her companion heard her sing, she got really excited because apparently no one in the spanish branch really sings, but they love music. Her companion called the branch president and told him that Danielle is going to sing this next Sunday. Her companion said the members will all love her if she sings her first week there!
They live in a little apartment above a member's garage. Neither she or her companion have met the members, but she says they must be nice because they let the missionaries use their washer and dryer, AND their laundry detergent!
At one of her first appointments, her companion had her invite the guy they were teaching to be baptized, and he accepted, so they're pretty excited about that!
One sad story from her time in the MTC....some of the elders in her district left a fake cockroach on her chair in class one day. She recognized it as a fake, picked it up, and put it in some kid's package of kneaders cinnamon rolls that his mom had sent him (via DearElder.com, I'm sure). That poor kid didn't recognize that it was a fake (even though he's from either Salt Lake or Provo and should have realized we really don't have cockroaches here). He panicked and started smashing his cinnamon rolls, and then threw them away. Then, some other elders took the cockroach out, ripped a whole in the bag, and told the poor missionary that the cockroach chewed through the bag and escaped. That poor missionary. I think he went to puerto rico or somewhere like that. I'm sure he recognizes a real cockroach now.
And one more really sad story...there was an outbreak of norovirus in the MTC while she was there. She got it, and was pretty sick for a few days! We're glad that she recovered without any major complications.
Let us know if you would like her mailing address!
- Kristi
