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.