More CCM Life

	Sep 23

Hey hey hey.

Just another week in the fantastic life of a sister missionary. I`m totally living the dream. #blessed.

So, now we have not one pretend investigador, but DOS pretend investigadores! Ahh! Crazy! Their "names" are Erika and Davíd. Theyre pretty cool. Basically, we use these fake investigadores to practice teaching skills and spanish. its low pressure and fun, but I doubt that first day where I teach real investigators will be very fun, because I speak baby spanish. This week I was walking down the hall and one hermana was telling me about how her maestros will teach a concept and then get all confused when they struggle and say "¿que? es muy facíl." mi maestros do that too. And let me tell ya, español es NO muy facíl. Es muy dificíl. I feel like ive hit a plateau this week with my spanish and its driving me nuts. Hopefully next week I get another spanish growth spurt. But hey, I did accomplish a few things this week. Like, I can teach lessons without an outline and just wing it. thats pretty sweet. And I can talk in progressive tense. Ooooo. Fancy. Mi nombre es Hermana Haws. Estoy viviendo en Cuidad de México en el CCM. Soy sirviendo un misíon para la Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Últimos Días. forget what I said before, Im pretty much fluent.

So everyday we have gym time. And pretty much everyday except Lunes (on Lunes I run the track because we have morning gym) we "jugar some volleyball" as the elderes would say. So we go and make our teams and start playing and this group of probably 10 latinos comes over and wants to join us. It was hilarious because we speak spanish equivalent to a 2 year old and they speak almost no english. And our team is horrendous at volleyball...we kick the ball and throw it and we pretty much just play hot potato but with a net. The latinos were super confused and kept telling us "you....dont kick in volleyball." But it was still way fun and they ended up just laughing at us white kids because they are actually super good at volleyball. Like, one of their hermanas was probably not even five feet tall and she spiked the ball. What the what. Crazy. Hna Powell and I actually ended up befriending them and we chat with each other in spanglish.

So our teachers are way awesome. awesome enough that theyve earned their own paragraph. Hermano Villalobos is our morning teacher, from breakfast time until around lunch. Hes 23 and shy and takes english lessons when hes not teaching us because he wants to get good at english and move to Utah and go to BYU. Hes super chill and has only been back from his mission for about 9 months. The elderes are always trying to get him to go on dates because hes a "slayer" (aka, total babe) and totally available. So the other day he comes into class and is acting weird. The elderes do their typical lets-bug-Hermano-Villalobos-about-girls routine and then he told us hes going to ask a girl on a date for the first time since he got home. We all freaked out and made him show us a picture of her. We are like his kids. Or cool brothers and sisters. We told him he has to bring her to us first so we can approve. 

Our other maestra is Hermana Velazquez. Shes so cool. Shes 28 and has a degree and is teaching here because she is a return missionary and loves working with the missionaries. She claims to only understand english and not speak it, but we have figure out that thats pretty much not true and her english rocks, shes just solamente español for our benefit or something. Lame. She has adopted us as her own querida hijitos and its the best. She calls us her kids and she takes super good care of us. Like, the other day in the cafeteria, she was eating dinner with us and she noticed Elder Olsen was wandering off somewhere. Being the good attentive missionary momma that she is, she looked around and saw him talking to an hermana that he thinks is pretty. Hermana Velazquez watched him with her hands on her hips and a scowl and when he got to the table she said, in sassy latina fashion, "USTED ES UN MISIONERO. NO CHICAS." I just about died. It was hilariously adorable. Shes the coolest. 

We got a new distrito in our zona this week. Theyre way chill, and theyve decided we are their favorite district. Awesome. I dont blame them, we ARE the best. Like, the other day we were on our way to TALL,a  computer program that helps us learn spanish (which is super boring (but beneficial (im not ungrateful I promise))) and we passed the piano room, and Elder Jensen was like "im going to go tocar that piano" and he played "Come Sail Away" and "Dont Stop Believing" and it was one of those chill, rainy, peaceful afternoons where you wish you could take a picture that accurately summed up how chill and peaceful it was. I definitely needed that. Hearing real music felt good. Ive missed it and I still do (TSwifts new song is perpetually stuck in my head and I am pretty sure itll never get out. Save me. SOS.)

In other music news, I really miss my stupid cello. I thought I wouldnt miss it but I wish I could play everyday. Oh well....sacrifices bring blessings....right? RIGHT??!?!?! Pray for me so I dont lose it.

Oh, so guess what? WE LEFT THE CCM AND WENT ON UN FIELD TRIP. YEE HAW. It was great. We drove 45 minutes through crazy Cuidad de Mexico to el temple and got to do a tour of the visitors center and the grounds because the temple itself is closed for construction. I am so grateful I got to go. I also got cases for mi escrituras en español and a sweet authentic mexican embroidered blouse, all for around 60 dollars. Inflation is nice sometimes. haha

So I really am living the dream. I get discouraged, but overall I am so so so so happy. I love you all, and I pray for almost all of you by name every night. 

Heres my testimonio. Its sort of better. I guess. Maybe next week itll be more coherent:

Yo sé que el evangelio es verdadero. El Libro de Mormón es la palabras de Díos, y es un otro testimonio de Jesucristo. La escrituras son muy importante y dan conocimiento, guía, consuelo, y respuestas a preguntas tengo sobre mi vida y mi problemas. Tengo testimonio de la importance de misions. Mi mision cambío mi vida, y estoy muy agradecido por la oportunidad estar aquí en el CCM de México aprender español. Estoy agradecido para el elderes en mi distrito y en el CCM porque ellos son ejemplos buenos a yo a pesar de estan muy joven. Yo sé que el don de Lenguas es réal. No aprendo español sin ayunda de Padre Celestial y Jesucristo. Yo sé que Padre Celestial nos ama y quiere nos estar felíz con nuestro familas con vida eterna. En el nombre de Jesucristo, Amen.