The highlight of my week was definitely going to the Mexico City Temple! It was beautiful, and listening to a session in Spanish was very cool. They didn't give us headphones, which was fine with me, but I think my poor companion had trouble following.
I had several "firsts" this week. While I was in the temple, surrounded by Latina women, I felt TALL for the first time in my life. Not even just average height, but TALL! That was weird. A couple Latino elderes challenged me to a weight lifting contest, and I beat one of them! (They were shorter than me, but it was still very satisfying). I tried horchata for the first time, and it was delicious. I also tried several types of Mexican candy; some of it was good and some of it was awful. I got to see Meet the Mormons for the first time, and I absolutely loved it! I especially enjoyed the story about the engineer. Of course, when they showed a missionary leaving his family at the airport, every hermana in the CCM was in tears. Too soon. And, after much practice, I can finally do that snappy thing that all the Latinos can do. It's cooler than snapping, but I don't know how to explain it. I've been doing it so much that my wrist hurts now.
All the hermanas in my district sang "Grande Eres Tú" (How great thou art) in sacrament meeting this week, which was really cool. My companion and I also joined the CCM choir. Apparently my companion really hates bugs... so I have killed a lot of bugs this week.
We started teaching two new investigators this week, that aren't quite as golden as our first one was. I am now teaching entirely without notes, and I'm learning so much. I think it is really cool that, even though our "investigators" are just teachers playing a role, I am still able to receive revelation about how I can teach them most effectively.
This has been a great week, and I'm finally starting to get into the rhythm of the CCM. As much time as I spend studying the Language, though, I feel like Spanish is the least of what I have been learning. I have been learning how to get along with the same person literally 24/7 (my companion is wonderful, but it's still hard not being the only one making my decisions now - I guess this is great marriage prep!) I've been trying new things and getting outside my comfort zone. I've been learning how to listen and teach, and developing better study habits. A lot of people don't seem to be enjoying their CCM experience, but I, for one, am loving it. I'll be glad to get to the field in a month, but I'm definitely going to miss Mexico.
I almost forgot one of my favorite parts of this week! I was talking to some of the Latinos, and one of them said: "Repeat after me: erre con erre..." So I said "Erre con erre cigarro, erre con erre barril. Rapidan corren los carros, cargados de asucar del ferrocarril!" This just happened to be the one Spanish tongue twister I learned before I came to the CCM, but they all lost it! It was sooo funny. After that they gave me another one to learn: "El puente de parangaricutirimicuaro lo quieren desparangaricutirimizar, es que lo desparangaricutiremece, será un buen despanangaricutirimizador!" And I finally have that one down too.
