¡ULTIMA SEMANA!
Last week during gym time my basketball got stuck up on the bleachers, so I climbed up to get it down, but when I jumped back down I must have landed on my foot funny, because I was limping for the rest of the day. The next day it was still swollen and in pain, so I had the doctor look at it, and it was bad enough that he sent me to have it x-rayed that day. Luckily, it was not broken (which actually just annoyed me at the time because it meant that I had wasted 2 hours of study time) but it was a nice change of routine I suppose. It was cool to practice talking to the doctors. I ended up just wrapping my foot, and by the next day I was running around on it again. My whole district was very upset that I didn't request a wheelchair. Every time they see someone else in a wheelchair they point and say "That could have been you!"
One of my teachers said that I sound like a Mexican. One of the Hermanas in the district is actually half mexican, so I think she was a little miffed that I got the complement haha but she doesn't say her y's like j's... It is interesting how much I know about different accents now. Some accents are definitely easier to understand than others!
We get to go to the temple again later today, which is so exciting. This will only be our second time since there are so many missionaries here now. I'm looking forward to it, it will be a great way to spend my last P-day in Mexico!
This week has been so powerful to me, because I have started praying for each of my investigators individually each night. Now when I teach (even pretend investigators) I can feel the love that our father in heaven has for each one of his children so much more powerfully. I even teared up during a couple lessons this week, and I never cry!
I am so thankful for this opportunity I have to serve. I can't wait to get out in the field and start applying everything I have learned!1 Month
This week in the choir we sang the EFY medley in Spanish, which was soooo amazing! Apparently my companion has been pronouncing my name wrong this whole time (Nelson in stead of Nielsen) but I didn't even notice! I didn't even know until someone else in my district pointed it out. I think it's funny that it bothers them more than me! The volunteer that we taught this week was an 18 year old woman who is a member and she wants to serve a mission! She was so sweet, I'm glad that I got to teach her. My companion was very excited to have matching sunglasses with one of the elders in the district (see picture)
The Language is coming along really well for me. I am at the point where I can understand most of the hymns we sing as we sing them. I am having trouble pronouncing people's names because I always want to read them like Spanish words. Though, I'm far from perfect. My favorite mistake of the week: I went to the store and tried to tell the cashier that I had 12 sheets of paper to buy, but I accidentally said 12 children! (hijos rather than hojas...)
This week I gave my first talk in sacrament meeting (in Spanish of course!) The way that talks work in the CCM, everyone has to prepare a 5 minute talk each week on the given topic, because we don't know whether or not we are speaking until it is announced from the pulpit! Even better, I was the very first speaker, so I had about 30 seconds to mentally prepare myself before I was addressing the branch. Whew. The topic was repentance, and I didn't want to read my whole talk, so the only notes I brought were a list of scripture references about repentance. I'm sure my grammar was far from perfect, but I successfully spoke without any other notes! It was such a cool experience to know enough that I was able to teach by the spirit in another language. It really helped me to see how much I have improved, because I'm sure that I could never have done that a month ago.
One month in and going strong.
Today we took a picture with Gabriel, the Janitor in our building. He is so nice, we talk to him every day.
Halfway There, Livin' on (lots of) Prayer
I can hardly believe that I'm already halfway done with my CCM experience!
We had tacos al pastor for dinner one night here, which is probably one of the highlights of my week. Our Latino friends left this week, so my district has been hanging out together a lot more now.
This was probably actually one of my favorite 4th of July's ever! I think being in Mexico on independence day made us really appreciate America. We all wore red white and blue, and we sand the national anthem (in English) for our opening hymn! For lunch we had hamburgers, corn on the cob, root beer, and apple pie! (It was delicious, but in all honesty I think I actually prefer the Mexican food haha) The whole comedor was decorated with red, white, and blue table cloths, and all the American missionaries were so excited.
We had our first "TRC" teaching this week, so we got to teach actual volunteers in stead of teachers acting as investigators. Both of the people I taught were already members though, so it was a little weird, but it was a great experience and I really enjoyed it. I really need to work on reading people so that I can be better about teaching to the needs of the investigator. That is something that my companion is SO good at. I am continually amazed, because even thought she had no Spanish before coming and she still doesn't understand the language well, several times she has told me what someone else said. She is such a great example of just loving the people, listening and empathizing. No amount of Spanish knowledge will allow me to pick up on some of the cues she does. Hermana Sandstrom has shown me what the gift of tongues really is.
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