PUEDO LEER EN ESPANOL--MAS O MENOS

I'm trying to learn Spanish. I studied it for a couple of years in high school, but that was oh so many moons ago. I would really like to be at least semi-fluent in a second language. I'm good at English. So surely I could be at least so-so at Spanish, wouldn't you think?

To that end, last year I read the Book of Mormon (El Libro de Mormon) in Spanish. For the first 100 pages or so, I had to read with both the Spanish and English translations open in my lap. But then I got to a point where I could read it in Spanish without constantly checking the translation and actually understand it pretty well. And finally, towards the end of the book, I could read and understand enough to even feel the Spirit at times.

I bought some "Learn Spanish" books, too, and tried to be disciplined about studying every day. That didn't work too well too long, though I did retain a vague recollection of verb conjugations. I also took a community education class for a term. We met in a classroom at Washougal High School and the best part about the class was the opportunity it afforded to speak and listen in Spanish. Then, when we were in Guatemala last April, I had 2 weeks of one-on-one instruction--four hours every day. That intense studyincreased my vocabulary and improved my listening comprehension quite a bit and my speaking ability a little bit.

Now I am reading Doctrine and Covenants (Doctrina y Convenios) in Spanish and writing Gabrielle each week in Spanish, which I'm sure is pretty laughable on her end in Santiago, Chile, but it's good practice for me, anyway. I also bought "Eclipse" by Stephenie Meyer in Spanish, but that's going to be slow going. I started it one day last week and realized I'm going to have to start this the same way I did the Book of Mormon, with both texts in front of me. I heard the movie is being released next June, so that's my goal, to finish before the movie comes out.

I'm telling you so you can keep me accountable. And if you speak Spanish, por favor, me ayuda!