Hey team! How is it already my last P Day in the CCM? Whaaaat?! I am beyond jealous that you guys are hitting Lake Powell this weekend. Soak up the sun for me! Thanks for sending the pics too. I love seeing you guys. I printed off some of them and put them on my wall. We just got back from the temple. Last time going for the rest of my mission! But it was really great as usual and I understood a lot of the Spanish which made me happy.
So this week has been great, as usual. I am excited and nervous to be heading to Chile so soon. I feel like I just got the hang of the CCM. But that is how life works. Once you get used to something and get comfortable with it, it is usually time to move on to the next. If not we would never improve or grow. There are no Hermanas going to Concepcion Sur so it is going to be just me and the Elders heading out and we are all talking a bunch about what it will be like over there which is exciting.
We have been teaching a lot this week and I feel like Hermana Cefalo and I have improved a lot. On Saturday we were all sitting in class studying language, and one of our teachers, Hermano Sanchez, ran in and asked us who wanted to teach real investigators! We were all freaking out a little. He has friends that he has been trying to get to come to TRC (we practice teaching members, teachers, or volunteers but there are RARELY no members) and they agreed to come. Our TRC wasn't until Thursday but he wanted us to teach them since we were his students and he loves us. He said not all of us could come because there were only two or three of them so Hermana Cefalo and I, Hermana Fox and Rust and two other elders in our district went. I was so nervous and excited to teach a real investigator, but it turned out we didn't get to teach them because they ran out of time doing other TRCs with the latinos. But we still might be able to later this week! But since we didn't get to teach them they let us teach this member. Her name is Alma, shes 23 and she is preparing to go on a mission. She is the only member in her family and has such strong faith. It was so cool to talk to her and even though I couldn't express myself that well it was still great.
We taught both our investigators La Ley de Castidad, and they both cracked us up. When we were teaching Mia we asked her if she knew what chastity was and she just made the motions of putting on a metal chastity belt. We have gotten so close with all of our teachers and I swear they are secretly trying to make us laugh everytime. I am going to miss them all a lot but Hermana Martinez is going to BYU this winter to learn English and then stay to go to school so I can come home and show her (hopefully) my Spanish improvement.
On Sunday I spoke in sacrament about "Perseverando hasta el fin" and our district sang Conmigo Quédate Señor. We all coordinated and wore blue like a bunch of squares but it was funny anyways. That night we watched a devotional given a couple months ago at the Provo MTC by Elder Cristofferson. I really liked some things he said like, "Don´t worry, the joy of Christ will swallow up any tribulation"and ¨This is the work of Jesus Christ and we do not have to do it alone."
Also, there are a BILLION mosquitos here and I am getting eaten alive now the we teach outside at night. I feel like I am back in Alaska and I am NOT HAPPY BOB. We had french fries today at lunch so today has been really great, of course. Yesterday for our service activity we really didn't want to mop in the kitchen again so we folded sheets and blankets and it turned out that everyone that worked in the kitchen that day got to help fry tortillas and they had Coldplay playing so they listened to it all through service hour. I was preeettty disappointed because we almost always work in the kitchen. I guess it just wasn´t mean to be. Charlie Brown and I will reunite again in a matter of months.
Just some interesting things at the CCM-
1. the birds are SO LOUD and obnoxious always. and they are not afraid of humans at all.
2. there are always bombs going off which apparently are fireworks since Mexico City is one big party. but sounds like a huge bomb. You can always tell which missionaries are new because they jump when they go off.
3. The weather is 100% unpredicatable. Mornings will be perfect and then after dinner it is pouring rain.
4. They put fruit in everything. There is always a surprise pineapple or guava in my meals.
5. They also throw hotdogs in everything. Chopped up, in a salad. Whats up?
In the pics from today, some casa 21 Hermanas are wearing jeans for the first time since leaving and it felt so weird so we took a pic of course. And a picture of Mexico City on the way to the temple. I love just watching out the bus window on the way there. There are so many cool sights and people to watch and we dont see any of that in the walls of the CCM.
¡Les amo!
Love always,
Hermana Chalmers
Chile, here she comes. We had to do TRCs in the MTC too, but not in Spanish! But the spirit was always there, even when you knew the people were members. Many times we shared tears. I meet people from all over the world every day and talk to them. We don't proselyte in the PCC at all, just create good will. It's a great experience!
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