CCM continued!

Shoutouts:

-the parents for making it to Africa alive :)

-Nick for giving what I'm sure was a killer farewell talk!

-Happy Birthday this week to my wonderful father and Elder Weight who in fact share the same birthday

-All the kiddos who participated in that wonderful world wide broadcast last night. I had so much fun looking for anyone I knew

-Letters from Miss Claire, Drew (my home teacher from Hawaii), and Dear Elder's from Momma Anderson (Justin, from Hawaii's momma) and Mr. Tynan.

Thanks so much everyone! The mail system seems to be pretty reliant... its the CCM that isn't. We don't have any mail boxes here, so they just randomly deliver your mail when they have enough. Which can be fun because then you aren't disappointed and they're like little surprises. ANYWAY now that I've officially been out a month (crazy huh?) it's time to start mailing to the mission home. Some letters I've gotten 8 days after they were sent, but 2 weeks is a pretty good rule of thumb. If I haven't said anything 2 weeks after you sent it, then you can start getting worried. Dear Elders are also fabulous! They are great because I get a hard copy and can re-read them. We aren't allowed to print anything out here.

Moving on!

Random factoids:

My CCM is in fact the 4th largest in the world, which is crazy to think about since there's only about 150 of us here. I love it though. Where else do you have a personal relationship with the President?

Funny story:

I had my first hilarious spanish mess up the other day. We were with the tutor and were practicing conjugating verbs. So it was my turn and I said "I repented of all my sins" to which my teacher replied "porque?" I was confused, so then I realized I had in fact said that I REPEATED of my sins... not repented. We had a good laugh the rest of the time, mostly my teacher asking after anything, "Are you going to repeat that?" So... yeah, the language, is coming. :)

Questions:

 Have you met the 10 sisters going to TEG? Yep! The CCM is so small (only 70 sisters) we all live on the same floor so we see each other all the time)

How many are native vs US? going to TEG or just in the CCM? this group of Latinos is super small- only about 15 sisters. Last group had about... 30? 40? Going to TEG, those 10 sisters are all from the US And they are great!

How's the language, etc?  Language is so good! I'm a wizard at praying, bearing testimony and teaching gets better and better. The only thing I'm worried about is navigating in the feild.... Haha. We'll see how that's gonna go. But you know, whatevs, I'll  have a companion and the Lord,as long as I can say "I believe in Christ!" I should be fine.

Another interesting fact: It's easier to learn spanish through the hymns! You sing "soy un hijo de dios" so much, that when you are bearing testimony it comes out that much easier. It's my goal to be able to have some of the hymns memorized.

Otro factoid: In the engilsh hymn book, we only have 2 verses of called to serve, in spanish we have four. (What is it in porugeuse?) in the chorus, it says "listos, siempre listos" which means, ready, always ready. I LOVE that. For so many of us who are serving right now, we didn't have to make any major life changes, we were ready, always ready. We just had to wait for the right time, and heed the call.

Have you been to the temple yet? How was that? We go to the temple every week! The officiators are Senior couples who work at the CCM, and the session is entirely in english because "going through the temple should be in the language you feel the most comfortable with" so that is always a nice english break. Last week the officiators were President Nicholyasen and his wife, so it was really cool because I have never known the officiator personally before.

Any more excursions? We head to the mercado tomorrow! None of the girls have haggled before so I'm the expert who gives tips (Thanks Tiajuana!) We are pretty excited and Hermana Butler and I are on the prowl for woven things, like the shirt that mom called my "mexican shirt". We are really excited!

 

I say this all the time, but really thanks for all the support. You never know it when you first look at someone here, but some of them virtually have no one supporting them- they are paying for it themselves and the only people writing them are friends from the ward. How grateful I am for my parents example, for the love I feel each week in e mail and through the letters I get, and for all those who keep me in their prayers.There has been a huge emphasis on less active members and how we can help fellowship them. I am so grateful that that would never for a moment ever happen to me because of all the friends and family in my life.

I love you all! Sorry If I can't respond to your e mails... one day. :)

TE AMO!