Cucarachas and tarantula

So, since it's my last day in the CCM, I keep thinking of all the good times I had here.

 

Last night, I shocked one of my teachers--Hermano Palma. He said one of his friends who is on a mission Facebooked him and that is not good for missionaries. And I said, ''Este es el razón no tengo Facebook''' (This is the reason I don't have a Facebook) and his face was just shocked. Eyes wide open, he exclaimed, ''¡Yo no lo creo!'' (I don't believe it) and he just repeated it over and over and our other teacher, Hermano Polo, asked, ''Do you have..a life?'' I said, ''I'd like to think so.'' I thought it was funny.

 

Also, I remember teniendo divertido con cucarachas. :) Honestly, we've had so many cockroaches in our casa that..it's totally normal. Pretty much every day, we have found at least one cockroach, on its back, with different variations of twitching. The best memory is when Hermana Moleli and I worked together to get a live cockroach outside. Our other hermanas found it first, and they freaked out, so Hermana Pack grabs a bucket out of the closet and puts it over the cockroach so it wouldn't get away. Then, later, Hermana Moleli came and dealt with it. With brooms in our hands, I removed the bucket. It tried to scuttle away, but I flipped it on its back with my broom and Hermana Moleli swept it into the dustpan, still on its back. Then Hermana Moleli tossed it outside in the back. That was fun. I'm OK with not seeing cockroaches again, though..:)

 

I did, however, miss the baby tarantula incident, though, so this is from the other hermanas. It was late at night, and Hermana Pack moved the sheets that had been laying on the floor for a few days and Hermana Moleli sees a big spider scuttle away. She later showed me how big it was. It was almost the size of my palm. It was pretty big. Hermana Moleli killed it. May it rest in tarantula heaven..:)

 

Another fun memory...dashing through the rain to get to devotional. It was thundering and lighting flashed and it was a downpour, but we had two minutes to get to devotional, so we ran from one side of campus to the other in the rain, in the middle of the street so we wouldn't be hit by lightning (there were no cars, so don't worry). We did make it to devotional on time and we weren't that wet. For how much it was raining, I was surprised. 

The earthquake was kinda cool, actually

The earthquake was interesting. Honestly, I didn't even know we were having an earthquake until we were all outside and our teacher pointed at the lamp-post and I saw it shaking. Then I felt the earth rolling. That was...kinda cool, actually. :) Then, we had another little one within the last few days. That day, I thought I was just having balance issues, but my body felt fine. And then I heard the siren go off really quick and thought to myself, ''Oh, it's a little earthquake. I'm not having balancing issues.'' :) Yeah, there's a siren that goes off when an earthquake gets bad enough. We all go outside to stand in green circles and stay there until it's safe to go back inside. Earthquakes are divertido. Mas o menos. :)

I want to share a song with ya'll that I've had stuck in my head the last few days. We don't have it in the English hymnbook, but it's a good one.

Hymn #67 in the Spanish hymnbook, ''Si la vía es penosa'':

Si la vía es penosa en la lid,

si pesares nos abruman en la lid,

si la vida es armaga,

nuestra dicha no se tarda,

y el gozo se alarga en la lid. 

 

Chorus:

No te canses de luchar;sé firme en la lid.

Dios descanso mandara a los que luchan en la lid.

 

Si tristezas nos alcanzan en la lid,

más feliz será mañana en la lid;

hoy sufrimos vejaciones y enfrenctamos tantaciones,

mas tendremos bendiciones en la lid.

(chorus)

 

Si desdicha nos asecha en la lid,

Cristo nunca nos desecha en la lid,

Él jamás nos abandona,

nuestras faltas Él perdona,

hay que darle siempre honra en la lid.

(chorus)

This is the translation of it (near as I can make out)

If you see difficulties in the fight,

if you think they´re overwhelming in the fight,

if life is bitter, our happiness is not late,

and we claim joy in the fight. 

 

Chorus: 

Do not tire of the fighting. Stay firm in the fight.

God gives rest and the orders to those who fight in the fight.

 

If sadness reaches us in the fight,

more happiness is in the morning in the fight.

Today we suffer railings and frequent temptations,

but we lay down more blessings in the fight.

(chorus) 

 

If misfortune will find us in the fight,

Christ will never reject us in the fight.

He will never abandon us, our faults He will forgive us, 

He will always give honor in the fight.

(chorus)

Me gusta mucho. :)

 

Speaking of songs this last conference was the first conference I listened to Music and the Spoken Word all the way through and there was an EPIC organ piece that I want to learn when I get home! I think it's called ''Norwegian Rustic March'' or something like that. Anyway, it was awesome and I liked it. :)

 

So, guess who I ran into at dinner a few days ago...Elder Brock King! He's here in the CCM for the next little while, but I don't think I asked him where he was going...oops. His family lives in Idaho Falls, and he is still athletic as ever.

 

I bought a leather scripture case here in the CCM. I will attach a picture next week, hopefully. On the front, there is a picture of Christ descending from the clouds, though, when I first saw it, I thought he was walking on water, so I think of it as both. I got my name, my mission, and this quote on it: Vision without action is dreaming. Action without vision is drudgery. Action coupled with vision is inspiring destiny.'' I'm very happy with it. 

 

Also, the Hermanas in my district bought me a monthly Aztec calender. I really wanted to get it, and I was going to get it today with the last of my pesos, but they beat me to it and now I have money to buy them presents. (don't tell :))

 

Today, after we're done cleaning and such, we're getting together with the sisters in our new district. We got ''babies'' [new missionaries] this last week and today is their first P-day. So, carrying on a tradition in our zone, we're getting together with them and buying ice-cream (a popsicle, in my case) and then going to our casa and talking for a couple of hours to help with homesickness and share stories. It'll be good. I'm excited. 

 

So, on Sunday, I watched a devotional from Elder Bednar who told a story of a missionary who, because it was really expensive for him to go on his mission, he decided to make every moment count. So, he was up early every morning, earlier than the handbook said and before he left the apartment, he would look into the bathroom mirror, point at it, and say, ''I fear no man.'' And then he would go out and talk to everyone. Literally, everyone. One time, his companion tried to get him to slow down, and he looked his companion straight in the eye and said, ''Elder, I fear no man, and that includes you.'' Also, one night, his companion and he had been fighting a little bit and this elder said to his companion, ''Elder, there are two reasons why companions fight. One is because they are both want the wrong thing or one wants to do the right thing and the other one doesn't care. Do you want what is right?'' The mission this elder was in averaged 2-3 baptisms in 2 years. This elder had 100 baptisms in his 2-year mission. He was never an assistant to the president. He was never a zone leader. He just trained missionaries, and that was the best thing he could do.

 

Español is mucho mejor (much better), but I´m still working on it. Yesterday, we took a test to see how well our Spanish is and...I didn't do so well. I couldn't think of anything to say, so I wasted much of the recording time. I´ll never get to know the results of that test, but I know I still need to work on it. Honestly, I would welcome another week or two in the CCM just to make sure my Spanish is good enough, but I'll do what I can.

Gotta go! But remember I love you all

Li Hing powder and Mexican playdoh

Hola! 

Lots of stuff to talk about this week.

 

First, I discovered something absolutely nomilisous. It´s called Li Hing powder. It's Hawaiian candy (according to mi compañera, who is Samoan) and you eat it with fruit. Of the cantaloupe, apples, and pinapple I've had with li hing so far, my favorite is pineapple. Then apple. Cantaloupe and li hing don't really go well together, in my opinion. 

 

Second, I love Preach My Gospel. When I first read it in my mission prep class, I thought, "Why don't we teach the gospel this way? It's so simple!" Preach My Gospel is wonderful. Read all of it. Highlight it, take a pen and mark it up, write what all the scriptures refer to, read all the scriptures. But first of all, pray before you study it. You'll get a lot more out of it.

 

So, a miracle has occurred in the CCM. Hermana Aiona, one of the Polynesian hermanas here, tore her meniscus and a ligament in gym a couple weeks ago. She was in a wheelchair for two weeks, which is really hard for Polys to do, and then came the day she was going back to the hospital to see if she was going to stay or if she was going to go home. Hermana Moleli and I waited anxiously all day to hear the verdict. So, we see her in the hallway and ask, "So?" She said "I'm going home...in 17 months." Her meniscus and ligament had healed completely. Our district leader was shocked. He said, "When I tore my meniscus, I had to have knee surgery. That just doesn´t happen!" And so, like Helaman of old, I say "And we do justly ascribe it to the miraculous power of God"(Alma 57:26). It is amazing. She's now walking around like normal, and back to playing sports with vigor, like Polys like to.

 

We got to go see the temple today! We weren't able to go in it, but we did go in the visitor's center and have a tour of it, given to us by fellow missionaries. It was great. I will attach a picture. Or two. Or three. :) The temple was beautiful, and the road getting there was almost a little better than India, traffic-wise and about as fun as an Idahoan road that has not been redone in several years. I took over 200 pictures of the entire trip, and for being bumped and jostled around, going at x kph, they're pretty fantastic. 

 

 

 

I'm also attaching a picture of one of my night teachers. This is Hemano Polo and he is so funny. You'll hear all about him in the letter I sent a couple days ago. The green sculpted monkey was done by Hermana Pack, one of the sisters in my district, and an eagle made by Elder Perry, our district leader. They're made out of Mexican Play-dough that apparently never dries. We still have these sculptures and they were made a few weeks ago, and they're still not dried out. Wow. The power of Mexican play-dough. 

 

 

Thank you for your prayers. I appreciate them. If you could also pray for Hermana Moleli, my companion, I'd appreciate that, too. She found out today her uncle passed away. He was more like her mom's dad's brother, but they call him uncle because that's how close they are to each other. She's really heartbroken and needs support and love. Thank you!

Conference was AMAZING!

Conference was AMAZING! I definitely want the Ensign for this conference. This is the first time in my life I have gotten so much out of General Confrence. However, if I wasn´t looking at the screen, I got the urge to cross-stitch. That was interesting. And I did watch the General Women's broadcast. That Beehive did do an amazing job for the prayer and that violinist was good.

Our district elders did the haka on Sunday. I have a video of it, but I can't send it this week. Mi compañera is Samoan, and she told me about the origin of the haka. Way back when the world was younger, women were the warriors of the islands. Sometimes they rowed for days to get to battle. Each island (Fiji, Tonga, New Zealand, Hawaii, and Samoa) has a different haka. The haka in the video is the New Zealand  version. The haka was used to call down the light and power of the gods into you, so that you would be a better warrior. So these women warriors would perform this dance before they battled. So, imagine the haka, imagine seeing it being done by women tattooed from the waist to the knees and seeing that tattoo, and you will understand why our district leader said ´´if I saw a woman doing this, I would never want to see them again and I would want to be at least a mile away from them while they´re doing it.´´

 

My favorite parts of the day in the MTC is when I first get up in the morning and when I'm on TALL. In the morning, even if my dreams are weird (like the one last night where I was a monster and I was trying to help a guy get through the office without getting caught), I'll wake up, and a happy, cheerful song pops into my head (like this morning, it was ´´Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride´´ from Lilo and Stitch). It helps me to have a good attitude throughout the day. Also, TALL (Technology Assisted Language Learning). I love TALL because it has you doing so many things to help you learn the language faster. It has you listen, speak, type, identify. It's very visual, and I'm a visual learner, so it helps me a TON to learn español. When I learn from the books, the language doesn't stick like it does after I'm done with TALL. And the native speakers help too. We have 5 Mexican teachers for each day and they're always willing to help with your pronounciation, and they're always saying ''Speak up'' ''Fuerte, fuerte'' ''I can't hear you'' to get us to speak. The more we practice, the more we get better.

 

My favorite thing about the CCM is that I'm happy here. I know that this is where I'm supposed to be at this time. Before the mission, I was always missing something in my heart if I wasn't working towards a mission, but now I'm here, I love it. Sure, there's hard times--You find out the world isn't about you, for example-- but it's been a great experience overall. It's just like college, but we're learning about the Gospel and how to better serve the Lord.

Hermana Moleli is going the Washington D.C. South mission, just like me. They pair up those who are going on the same missions when they can. Our other hermanas in the district are going to Kansas. Our district leader and his comanion are going to Honduras, and the other two elders-one is going to El Salvador and the other is going to Twin Falls, ID. It's funny, because the elder that's going to Twin Falls is from Washington D.C. So, he's from Washington D.C. and going to Idaho. I'm from Idaho, and I'm going to Washington D.C. We basically switched places.

So, a few weeks ago we had a devotional and I think it was Elder Bednar, and he was telling us the story of the sons of Mosiah, particuarly the part where they baptize 5,000 Lamanites and he said, ´´That would be a number to call in to the mission president:´sorry, president, we only had 5,000 baptisms this week. We´ll try to do better next week.´´ I thought it was funny.

 

Our first week here, we did a service project and I learned how to fold a fitted sheet and actually have it look nice.

 

So much more I want to write, but I gotta go! Love you all. Hermana Brown

Sitting on a head

Hermana Brown sitting on a head

at the Mexico City MTC

I did feel like Frodo

I dressed up as Alice in Wonderland for a morning. I wore my white Peter pan blouse with the blue dress, white nylons, and black shoes. Hermana Moleli curled my hair and I put a twisted black hair tie in via bobby pin so it looked like a little bow. I got a picture of it, and then changed because I was too embarrassed, and because I would have been a distraction. Pero, Hermana Moleli wants me to dress up like Shirley Temple one of these days, in my red dress and she'll curl my hair, and she says "And you'll wear it all day long.'' ...We'll see. Yeah...muy embarrassed about that. It was fun, but the idea of going out in public like that horrified me.

We haven't seen the women's session of General Confrence, yet. They're going to show it to us while the men are in their priesthood session this weekend. It'll be good. Last night, we watched a devotional from Elder Bednar, and I got this urge to cross-stitch. Instead, I'll be listening intently to what the prophets have to say.

Last Thursday, I was playing kickball with my zone, and my shoes have 0 grip on the dirt, and I didn't bring tennis shoes. So I kicked the ball, went to run, and went down. My shoe had slipped, and I landed on the ground. My knee was scratched up for a while--it's loads better now. I also hit my face, but I just lost some skin cells, didn't bleed. However, I hit my shoulder, and when I went to look at it, there was a big dirt spot on my garment, but just a few little bruises. It was like my garment was saying with that big dirt spot, "Hey, I took the hit for ya." I though that was amazing. Next morning, I did feel like Frodo, how he felt after being nearly speared by a javelin, but saved my the mithril shirt--"caught between an anvil and hammer." I was sore, but I've recovered beautifully since then. 

 

We got two new investigators this week. We're done with Enrique, pero now we have Miguel y Juan. We taught Miguel on Lunes. He is a tough nut to crack. He's very serious, 'course he doesn't speak any ingles, and...well, the lesson went bad, that's all there is to it. 

 

I keep getting the feeling that I need to learn more Spanish, more Spanish. They say it takes 600-1000 hours of practice before one is even functional in the language. Here at the CCM, we have over 600 waking hours, which means that if we talked as much Spanish as we could every waking minute, we could become functional in Espanol, and yet, how much time have we already wasted. This is the beginning of our third week in the CCM....It just means I have to apply myself more, is all. 

 

The picture of trees are jacamaraca or jacamerangue..jaca-something trees. They flower first and then sprout leaves. When I was flying into Mexico, I saw them and said to myself, "What are those purple trees?" Turns out they're flowers. This picture is from my second day here. The trees have lost nearly all their blossoms now and are beginning to sprout leaves.

Learning espanol en Mexico is interesting. This is the first time in my life that I have had all male teachers for my classes. They teach two by two (Mostly because one will be the investigator and the other keeps the rest of us in line). ;) and I love listening to them speak together. They speak muy rapido, like I do with my ingles, but I can almost understand them. My biggest trouble is learning what all the little words mean. Only two days ago did I learn to put an a in front of people you're talking about. It's called the personal A. Por ejemplo--Yo hablo a los misionaros. (I talk to the missionaries). Note the a before "the missionaries". Yup, learned about that two days ago. Also, I'm having trouble with using all the tenses, but that's because I haven't learned them yet. :) However, I am definately learning. I can understand the native speakers, but I still need to practice responding to them. Necesito practicar más. We had some native speakers in our casa who helped us learn español, pero they left Lunes mañana. Mi companera  fue muy  riste, y me tamibien. We made good memories with them, and we will miss them. 

 

I need to go, pero don't forget I love you and thanks for being awesome!

Hermana Brown