El Dia del Pavo!

Hope you guys had a great thanksgiving! 

We got to listen to a live devotional where David A. Bednar spoke and it was mostly a Q&A where people were given phones and they texted their questions to his iPad. He and his wife are so cute. And I felt so thankful to be in the CCM during thanksgiving and other devotionals because it is especially for us. As far as I know, they are rarely recorded and we aren´t allowed to record them personally and send them home. Which is a shame because all they things they say are so amazing. I also feel like they can be more real with us because they aren´t as worried about hurting people's feelings. 

We actually had a pretty good thanksgiving lunch, the turkey was a little pink but the mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie were on point. 

I really missed my momma's cooking though, it's been two years in a row now!  

The rest of the day we just tried to play volleyball but there are too many people here and it was really frustrating because we had to sub in and play for the court a couple of times and we switched courts like four times looking for a good game. Over the course of the day I got some good kills and some good serves so it was okay and I got to play with Elder Stephens before he leaves to Ecuador on Monday.

I'm auditioning to sing during the last sunday devotional so pray for me! I think I´m singing Jesus Once of Humble birth in Spanish with Elder Ngungtau and Elder Ames so hopefully it'll be good. 

We only have one more full week in the CCM and I don´t feel ready for Honduras at all but it's whatever because I got Jesus and I'll have a trainer and I'll probably buy a machete.

Besos!

Hermana Nelson

The Coin of Shame

So our 4 day english fast only lasted like 2 full days and then after that it was half days. It's not that it's too entirely difficult, it just got really reaaallly boring. We missed our Elders, they were so silent because they hardly know enough spanish to have conversations. But I definitely think it was a good exercise. I don't know if I told you but for every time we spoke english, we added a minute to the time at the end of the day holding a peso against the wall with our nose. I did not like the coin of shame. 

Saturday, my comp and I taught our first real live person! She was just baptized 2 months ago and we were told she would have lots of questions, but she ended up just talking to us for a really long time about her testimony and how she thought it was great that we give up a year and a half of our youth to teach others. I seriously loved her so much even though I had just met her, I almost started crying at the end of the lesson just because I'm so excited to teach really people who need Jesus in their lives even though it sounds cheesy, I am so excited. And I really want to get better at spanish so that I can understand every word they say. I was surprised at how much i could understand from a native speaker talking at a normal speed, but there is still a lot I don't know. 

Sunday was the first day of our English fast, so only spanish all day except companionship study and gym time. And there's no gym time on Sunday so basically it was the longest Sunday OF MY LIFE. And during said eternal Sunday, my comp and I were pulled aside by the branch presidency and taken into a room where they asked us if we were 100 percent obedient because they said we might be in trouble but that they weren't sure. So we were freaking out thinking back in our heads if there was any time that we had broken the rules or done something wrong. I finally said, Pres Suaste, we aren't perfect, but when we do mess up, we talk about it with each other, we repent, and we strive to be better. And then sneaky Suaste was like good that's what we thought, we want you two to be the new sister training leaders! Which is like the female equivalent to zone leader apparently. So basically we were like well dang. But it's really easy, we just have to go to leadership meetings some times and pick out the hymns for sunday and assign people to sing. I don't think we will be getting a new district to train until next week because they don't want missionaries to try to travel to their missions so close to Christmas. 

On Monday my companion and I taught our first lesson without writing it out, and I thought it went well. It's important to be flexible during lessons and able to change the topic to fit the needs of the person you're teaching. Our instructors always remind us that we're here to teach people, not lessons. I get along okay with my spanish, sometimes I say the wrong thing. You gotta be careful ya know. One time I said that through Jesus Christ we can be free from our fishes because in spanish sins are pecados and fishes are pescados. So basically I'm killin it with the spanish game. 

Oh and as a district, we are getting crazy good at volleyball, it's probably because we play it every day and today we played for like two hours straight. It's great except my district calls me out when i "baby giraffe" it because apparently there's a verb now for my awkward volleyball playing. 

Yesterday I had tamales for breakfast and dinner and I'm not complaining. My companion and I assigned the Elders to sing Soy un Hijo de Dios in sacrament but I think I'm going to need to get on them to practice because they're nervous the poor things. We had really great devotionals this week, one from David A. Bednar was amazing and he told the missionaries, "when you don't think you can do this, you're right" and at first I'm like aww man but if you think about it, sure Ive been called to serve and do all this stuff, but I'm not alone, people forget that ALL of your strength can include that of the Lord's, and he wants you to succeed, not fail. We just have to come follow Jesus until you can walk with him I guess. Love you have a good week!

Hot Tamale Train!

I love my district so so so so much, we are a family. I´ve only known these kids for 14 days and I can sincerely say that I love every single one of them. We spend all day together in class struggling with Español and then choose to sit together at meals just because we enjoy each other´s company. Everyone comments on how close we are and how much we´ve improved together. There´s also been comments on how loud we get though, but to be fair, we get a lot of studying done between bouts of highly competitive pictionary and hacky sack.

       Last week, right after I finished emailing, I was talking to Elder Mckee from my district (there´s only ocho of us total) and he asked me what kind of car I had at home. I told him I had an old Volkswagen and I told me he had a ´73 bug. I was like alright sweet that´s cool we´re both bug lovers. But he´s from Vegas and I usually don´t usually play that ¨Do you know....?¨ game but I was like what the heck so I told him my uncle owns a Volkswagen shop in kind of Northern Las Vegas and it used to be owned by my grandpa. So Mckee asked what it was called, I said the BeetleBarn and he was like DOES YOUR GRANDPA LIVE JUST DOWN THE STREET? AND I WAS LIKE YES HE TOTALLY DOES. And that´s when he asks me if my grandpa MAKES BUCKETS and I just about died. So apparently little Elder Mckee has been going down to the Beetle Barn for years and he´s met Uncle Justin and he´s actually been inside and around my grandparents house like six times and he has been in grandpas bucket room in all its glory. So the plan is that he´s going to pick me up from my grandparent´s house in December and we´re going to drive up to Elder Gline´s wedding in St. George together because I´m pretty sure that as a district, we´re going to be besties forever. 

     This morning at 8 we got to go to the Mexico City Temple, which was gorgeous and in the middle of craziness so it kind of reminded me of LA. The temple is closed right now, but we got to go to the visitor center and take pictures so it was a good morning. Also I´ve had two different types of tamales here in Mexico and my favorite wasn´t wrapped in a corn husk, it looked like it was wrapped in banana leaves or something, but it was absolutely delicious. Life in the CCM is fantastic, it´s a little monotonous, but I love it and we all kind of dread going to Honduras because it´s so nice in our little mexican embassy. We play volleyball almost every day so most of the time I´m in heaven. My district has gotten really good, and the one person who isn´t too hot is so nice she agrees to play every time we ask. Which is awesome because her Companion played club and she always sets me. I hope we can play today but I think our Elders have committed to a game of cage soccer so we´ll see if we have time between that and doing laundry. Oh and this week I got to hear spanish in a Maori accent because one of the elders leaving the CCM was from New Zealand #voiceofanangel. Sorry I didn´t take 

The Tie

notes with me to the computer lab so that I could remember what to write! I´m pretty sure I´m giving a talk next sunday since every other Hermana in my district gave one last sunday. I´m excited though, I love speaking in Spanish. Also, our branch presidency is so nice, even though we get a little crazy sometimes. Like the other day, they walked into the room and the Hermanas were all studying but the Elders were off running around the campus pointing at things and saying the spanish word, which they call ¨studying,´ so the branch president wasn´t too happy. He checked on us again later and the Elders were actually in the classroom, but they were looking at all the ties they brought to trade for tie day friday (all the elders get together and trade ties exciting I know) and I learned how to tie my first tie! And then Elder Mckee taught me how to tie this really cool knot. Don´t worry, I took a picture! Other than that, pretty normal week, study study study until my brain feels like pudding. I love it though, I love learning spanish and I love this gospel! I was studying yesterday in TALL, which is a program we use to help us learn spanish that's relevant to our lessons, and I listened to the Halo reach soundtrack the whole time, most epic studying of my life. I think I´m going to try and steal some of the music of that computer, there was some Vocal Point songs that were on point. Anyway, until next thursday, lots of amor and kisses from your fav Hermana! 

I'm here!

I made it to Mexico safely even though I sat next to a crying baby the entire time! Everything was fine as soon as I found some fellow missionaries. If they can do it, I can too. (Typing with a spanish keyboard is weird.) 

It´s also weird to think that more than a week ago I boarded a plane from Bakersfield and promptly fell asleep on the stranger next to me. I definitely didn´t like walking around the Phoenix airport with no phone but I did feel better once I met up with a group of missionaries. I just had to look for a bunch of baby faces in suits. I probably shouldn´t add this but it was a wake up call to missionary mode when the very first Elder I talked to was a six foot gorgeous volleyball player from LA. Are you kidding me... Anyway I met an Hermana (sister missionary) going to Honduras that was sitting next to me on the flight. Different missions of course. Driving through Mexico City on the way to the CCM (Centro De Capacitacion Misional) was so interesting. The city looks so cluttered and run down but at the same time it´s so colorful and full of life. 
At the end of the day I met my companion and we compared gollum impersonations so I think we're going to get along okay. But seriously, I have the best district and the best companion so I'm not even homesick, I dont miss you guys at all. I joke. 

I think my Spanish is coming along okay, I've been told that my accent is good. Its just difficult to make things stick. I love love LOVE singing hymns in Spanish, however. And on Sunday, I was so proud because my whole district got up and talked about their testimony in Spanish. It was a really good feeling even though I brought a note card up with me to help. My companion has more years of Spanish under her belt and so she is definitely better at the language than I am. I am not gonna lie - we're awesome! She is super patient in helping me learn. 

It´s definitely not easy, it´s exhausting. But I´ve learned that the work isn´t easy because salvation isn´t easy. Early morning to late at night it´s just awesome being here in the CCM with people that have the same beliefs that I do. Even church schools aren´t like this, we´re like special ops over here. I wasn´t sure if I could do this until I saw the huddle of missionaries in the airport, and when I got to know my district a little better. We keep saying that we´re a familia but it´s actually true, we rely on each other and help each other, laugh with each other and cried with each other. (our Elders are softies to be sure)

On November first, Dia de los Muertos, we got to see niños trick or treating from our window as we were getting ready to teach our investigator. We taught five lessons total. The spirit that we felt in that room every day during our lesson was real. It was definitely intimidating teaching a native Spanish speaker though. That's when I really relied on my companion to find the right words to say.