¡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.
Learning Lots - and Some Spanish Too!
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.
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