Week Three In Paradise

I feel like a GIANT in Mexico...

My companions are just short and so are the Mexicans!

Hola!

Everything is pretty much the same but guess what? This week is our half-way point for the CCM!! It is crazy! I am going to miss this place and especially the people. The CCM had its one year anniversary on June 24th and I can’t believe that it has only been open for one year. They had cake in order to celebrate - but of course - it was chocolate. My companions said that it was really good!

There is a virus going around the CCM and people are dropping like flies! There is an Elder in our district, who got super sick, but he is a trooper and he is doing a lot better now. Thanks momma for the medicine you gave me - mothers know best! My companions and I have been lucky and are pretty healthy, so life is good!

Our devotionals are usually broadcasted, because we are so small. But tonight we are having our first big live devotional; he is a member of the 70’s from here in Mexico. He only speaks Spanish, so we get to wear headphones and have it translated.

This Friday is the 4th of July, I am so jealous! I am going to miss that - but here in Mexico - there is a Catholic church or something right outside the walls that has a fiesta every night and they set off cannons and stuff so we will get a little feel of it down here. I hope everyone enjoys barbecuing, fireworks, and the parade!

This morning we were getting ready and apparently you can’t have a blow dryer and a straightener plugged in at the same time or else it will blow a fuse - welcome to Mexico! So Hermana Ballard went to go try and turn it on and somehow managed to turn ALL of our electricity off, it was hilarious! So we basically got ready in the dark with a little light from the window. Luckily another Hermana from the other room was a little smarter than us and figured it out.

Another crazy thing that happened today...
We were playing basketball and the MTC President´s wife came over and asked if her granddaughter Maria could play with us (she turned 10 yesterday) and of course we said, “Yes!” So we played with her and she is a baller, she was on my team and we won! It was all her, because I have no basketball skills. But then Hermana Pratt (President´s wife) invited us over for pumpkin pancakes in their casa. It was so good!! They were delicious and how often can you say that you ate food that his wife prepared over at the President’s casa? Yeah not very much, but they are such a sweet family, we had a lot of fun!

Misionera Amor
Siempre Una Aventura
Hermana Adams

Week Two In Paradise

Kansas Wichita Mission Logo

Hola!

We are in the rainy season here in Mexico so it basically rains every night, I love it! It usually doesn't rain during the day, so that is good. At night we are usually soaked by the time we run from our building to our casa. Not going to lie it it pretty humorous watching a bunch of missionaries running in skirts and ties.

I love being in a trio, and I love my companions! I have been so blessed, because some other missionaries are really struggling in their companionships. Every morning I always have to remind my companions to put on deodorant and their name tag, those are our two mandatory things before we walk out of the door. With having three of us, especially three girls, we spend a lot of time in the bathroom. One of us always has to go, so it gives us a little study break.

I was studying from my English scriptures and I found Bear hair in them. Most people would think this is gross, but it reminded me of my boy and how much I miss him.

My mission scripture is now Proverbs 28:25 (...he that putteth his trust in the Lord shall be made fat.). Gracias tortillas! My testimony has grown so much over the past two weeks and because of this scripture, so has my body.

I love the native missionaries and talking to them! They all want to learn English and so they love talking to the other missionaries with their broken Spanish. They only stay here about a week, so a lot of them that I was close to just left, it was so sad. One of them convinced my companions and I to eat a lime plain, skin and all. We put salt on it so it wasn't too bad, but the skin was disgusting.

We got new missionaries in our branch so we aren't too small anymore, but they are all in the intermediate Spanish group and so their Spanish is a lot better than ours. We all felt really dumb, but I think it will be a great motivator for us.

I sang in a choir!! It was for our devotional on Sunday and I was the person in charge of making everyone stand up, it was sweet. The song was in Spanish, but it really was a neat experience.

We eat some random stuff here. One morning they had chicken fingers on salad for breakfast, random. Another morning they had pink tamales! They looked pretty sweet, they had jelly in the middle.

My companion Hermana Ballard has been sick and so we went to the doctor this week and I am not going to lie, it was a little old fashioned. They still took her temperature with Mercury in her armpit, so I was just glad that the thermometer did not break. She is feeling a lot better now, so that is good.

There are only four missionaries here going to Kansas, my companion and I and a companionship of Elders. We have been practicing our country-Spanish accent and it is turning out pretty well. An Elder said that I almost convinced him that I was from the south, best compliment yet.

Our methane gas alarm went off this morning in our casa and it was pretty scary. We did not know what it was, so we were just running around looking for a fire. But luckily we had the spirit with us and realized that we should probably open the door and windows so we wouldn't die. We are all still alive, so life is good!

Misionera amor

Week One In Paradise

Hola!

Mexico is beautiful!! I thought that the temperature down here would be ridiculously hot and humid. But it is 70 degrees all the time and the humidity is perfect, it is just enough to not make your skin dry. The CCM is just like a temple, the grounds are always perfect, I swear that they cut the grass every day because it never gets longer than an inch. We have palm trees and blue and green parrots! I have not seen any dogs because we are inside an 8 foot tall fence with barbwire. But at night we can hear dogs barking, sirens going off, and people here party like every night with music and yelling. It is always a fiesta!

Happy Father's Day! I miss my dad so much and I love him, so Happy late Father's day from down here in Mexico. :) Also, Happy Birthday TJ! I never know what day it is anymore because it feels like Sunday everyday. But when I went to write in my missionary planner on Friday night it hit me when I wrote 14 Junio 2014. I tried to stay focused, but I had a long chat with him that night in my prayer. I know that he is here with me on my mission, he is there to slap me when I start to zone out during study or class. I serve for two!

As everyone else who has served a mission has said, a mission is the hardest thing that I have ever done before. I thought I had a testimony before I came, and I thought I knew a lot more about the gospel than I do. But my testimony has grown tremendously in the couple of days that I have been here. I also became humbled when I realized how little I know about the gospel, and that I don't even know the basics. I wish that I would have better prepared before. Now throwing Spanish on top of that just makes my brain explode!! I don't sound as white anymore when I try and speak, but I still can hardly form a full sentence in a conversation. I use a lot of Spanglish and sign language. Yesterday, I was talking to a native in the bathroom and it was hilarious because she was trying to use all of the English that she knew and I was trying to use all the Spanish that I knew, but it worked for us. I found out that she would love to come to Utah and she was so excited when I told her that that is where I am from. I told her that after her mission she could come up and stay at our house, my mom and dad would be more than happy to let her stay. She could even have her own room!

The food down here is pretty good, the meat is a little sketchy, but you just don't think about it too much and you are fine. The mangos are the best!! I have at least one everyday and we basically just eat them like apples down here, so it gets all over your hands and all over your face, it's great. I am used to eating every 2 hours, so only having 3 meals a day is kind of killing me. So, I basically overeat every meal. That is probably not good, because I am already starting out my mission packing on the pounds. Mexicans eat a lot of tortillas and bread!!!!

Last Friday one of my companions, Hermana Ballard, was really struggling with homesickness, hormones, the studying, and especially Spanish. I got the impression that night that we should have a companion fast the next day, but then that thought quickly left my head when I realized that I was already hungry. Well, the next morning at breakfast we realized that Hermana Ballard wasn't eating, and me and Hermana Shumway had already gotten our food. As soon as we finished blessing our food, Hermana Shumway said "we are going to fast with you Hermana Ballard." I felt like an idiot because I got that impression the night before and just pushed it out of my head, but I knew that we should. We had such a great day and I knew that our attitudes changed and that we were more receptive to the Spirit. I can testify that fasting truly does help.

We are the only Hermanas in our district, and we have 8 Elders. I sometimes feel like the Elders are our little brothers because most of them just got out of high school and they are a little lost at times. But everyone in our district is super inspiring and they are all going to be awesome missionaries. We only have our one district in our branch, so we only have 11 people. So I had to give a talk on Sunday IN SPANISH! Well, I basically just read exactly what I wrote, which mainly came from Preach my Gospel and the scriptures.

We have our investigator that we teach everyday - and the good news is - that we committed him to baptism on the second visit. Now, we have to teach him the first 4 lessons before he can "get baptized on the 28th."

I keep having deja vu here, in the comedor (dining room), gym, everywhere! That is yet another confirmation that I know that I am where I am supposed to be. I love being a missionary!

Our theme of the week is: "You have what it takes, but it is going to take all you've got!" I don't remember who said that.

A scripture that I read this week in my study was Alma 36:21. I love this scripture and I am so thankful for my Savior and I know that he loves each and every one of us. Yo se que el evangelio es verdadero!

Love you all!
Don't worry, I finally got my luggage on Thursday night.

First Day - Travel to the CCM

Hola!

I made it! It has been a super long day and I am exhausted, but it has been awesome! I have met so many wonderful missionaries, we were all lost and confused all together, so I didn't feel as dumb.

Now I can say that I have been to Texas! We weren't able to go outside or anything, but there was like an Asian festival going on at the airport so that was exciting. There was a flight going out to Hong Kong and so they were having a big celebration with food, dancing, and music. Well the dancing was actually the lizard-looking costumes like in Mulan. So we went and checked it out.

I had my first missionary opportunity on my way to Mexico! My seat was right by an Elder and we were talking to one of the flight attendants and he was asking us all about why we were all dressed up. He sounded so shocked when we told him what we were doing. He seemed really interested and the Elder and I were so sad that we didn't have a Book of Mormon to give him, but now we learned our lesson. When he came by to give us drinks he let us choose a snack from a container full of food, so you get blessed when you do missionary work. Thank goodness we got food though, because we were all starving! We haven't really had a real meal yet, so boy am I excited for tacos tonight!

Well lucky me, I don't have to shower tonight. One of my bags is still in Utah and it happens to be the one with my toiletry stuff in it. Of all the 18 missionaries, mine was the only one that got lost. It was funny because when I was trying to find my bag a guy working at the airport came up and asked me what my last name was and told me that they forgot to put my bag on the plane and I thought he was joking, but he wasn't. So, hopefully I will have my bag tomorrow about noon he said.

The CCM (Mexico MTC) is beautiful!! I had to get a shot as soon as I got here, but it was okay because they gave me a sucker afterwards. I have had so much fun down here already and I really haven't done much. But, I am now officially wearing my badge - "Hermana Adams" is my name and missionary work is my game.

My companions just got here to the CCM, so I get extra time on the computer. I am in a trio! One of my companion's name is Hermana Ballard and she is from Idaho (going to LA), and the other one is Hermana Shumway and she is from Arizona (Kansas, whew!). They both seem like pretty awesome girls and they sound like a lot of fun. I have been with Hermana Ballard for 15 minutes and she has already convinced me to go into the guys bathroom (on accident). The door didn't say whether it was a guy or girls room, so she just told me to go in. It was definitely a guys room, but thank goodness there was nobody in there. But some other missionaries saw me walk out.

We also had our first meal, I had no idea what kind of meat it was, but I was too hungry to care. I also managed to get through customs with food in my bag, so I won't be starving in between meals. I'm just glad that I wasn't the random bag they checked, the sister in front of me got checked. Phew!

My P-day is on Tuesdays, so the next time you will hear from me will be then!

PS. I might need a bigger everyday bag...

Siempre Una Aventura - Hermana Adams

Day Before Mission

IT'S OFFICIAL - I'M A MISSIONARY!  I got set apart as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints tonight at 8:30 pm.