The last CCM Hoorah!

Well, here it is, my last day at the CCM! I can't believe it is here. The feeling of excitement and sadness is a little surreal. My companion left me at 3am this morning and I was so sad to see her go. She is just one of those people who I know is a lifelong friend and we have already made made plans for getting together after we return in 17 months.

I have loved and hated my time here at the CCM, but most of all I am just thankful for all I have learned and super excited to have the opportunity to apply it in the field. 

I have included some pictures of my last night here with my zone! I hope you enjoy and the next time I write, it will be from Ecuador! 

Much Love to all!!

 

I AM THE MASTER COMMANDER

So, if you haven't seen the youtube video called "Ghost in the Stall" by Olan Rogers, I suggest you go watch it. I haven't seen it myself, but my companion quotes it to me daily and I feel as if I have watched the whole thing. It sounds like it is hilarious and I hope that all of you will watch it, even if it is only so I can live vicariously through you.

The reason I bring this up, is because this week, I felt like "THE MASTER COMMANDER;" which is a line from the video. Here is why:

On Monday of this last week, Hermana Miller and I went in for a lesson with our not-so-favorite "investigator." Our investigators here are really just our teachers acting as other people, so sometimes they purposely make it difficult for us. One of our teachers, Hermano Matias, has recently been playing the role of and investigator named Jorge. Jorge never remembers the things we teach him and we have taught him almost everything twice. Going into our lesson on Monday, I was feeling pretty discouraged because he hasn't been progressing at all. However, it turned out to be our best lesson yet. I don't know why or how, but the spirit in that room was beyond strong! For the first time in all of my time here, I understood every single word that was spoken in the room. I couldn't tel you the words five seconds after leaving the room, but in that room while we were teaching about the importance of repentance and partaking of the sacrament each week, I literally understood every single word of Spanish. It was a true miracle! Especially because Hermano Matias speaks really really fast when he acts as investigators. It was possibly the best part of the whole week. We walked out after the lesson and both of us looked at each other, lunged forward with one knee, threw double fists in the air and exclaimed, "I am the Master Commander!" It just fit the moment.

Other than that, this week has mostly been my companion and me running around talking about how much we are going to miss each other but how we are really excited to get to the field. Many songs have been re-composed by the two of us with different lyrics about our high and low points as we prepare to leave.

Oh, also, for those "Mean Girls" fans out there, our zone has instituted an "on Wednesdays, we wear pink rule" here at the CCM. The pictorial evidence is included below for your viewing pleasure.

Anyway, I will be leaving this coming Tuesday morning for Ecuador so the next post I make will not be from Mexico, but rather from the great land of the equator!

Until then, Hasta luego!

Hermana Eyre

A Dedication and Contradictions

This week was amazing, difficult, exciting, and boring all together! Surprise and welcome to the CCM where everything is a contradiction yet we all seem to love it and hate it anyway! 

I was lucky enough this last Sunday to be part of a historical moment in both the History of Mexico and the history of the Church. Elder Oaks came down here to beautiful Mexico City to officially dedicate the CCM. The entire campus was buzzing for 2 weeks straight in preparation for his arrival. All of the building exteriors were repainted. The lines on the pavement were redone. Almost every inch of the place was cleaned from top to bottom. And, by some miracle, the average food improved to quite good food for about a week. The whole 90 acre campus was transformed from an old oasis to a shiny new center of education. I swear even the look of some of the missionaries seemed to improve. It was fascinating to watch how giddy everyone was about the arrival of just one person.

In reality, we had 5 people come in honor of the dedication but most of them were from the area 70. Nevertheless, it was a pretty exciting event and for the most part, everything went off without a hitch. The devotional by Elder Oaks was truly awesome, plus it was nice to have a devotional in English for once instead of Spanish. He spoke to us about the importance of missionary work and how we are part of a truly blessed generation that is hastening the work of God. It was really a very good devotional, however, the best part of the whole week happened about an hour before the devotional was supposed to start.

Both my companion and one of the other girls in our district had to go over to the devotional early to practice for the choir. So we went on splits and Hermana Te'o and I became temporary companions. We were just wandering around the campus talking to some of the Elders in our zone while we waited for the devotional to start. It was sunny and delightful so we didn't think much of where we were walking. After a few minutes of walking, Te'o and I decided to pop into one of the classroom buildings to use the bathroom because we knew the bathrooms in the auditorium building were probably full of all the missionaries waiting to get in and find good seats for the devotional. So once we were done using the bathroom, we opened the door to go back outside and there was a giant mass of old people blocking the way on the sidewalk. As we stepped out, one of the old women turned to us and exclaimed "Oh Hermanas! How beautiful you look!"

She came over and gave each of us hugs and kisses on the cheeks. She then turned to one of the ladies behind her and asked the woman if she would take a picture with us. Te'o and I just smiled and went along with it because we had no idea who it was. But then another old lady came up behind us and asked if she could take a picture with us too. We said yes so she put her arms around us to pose. The woman taking the picture said, "Smile sister's, you too Sister Oaks!"

The camera flashed and five seconds later Elder Oaks walked out of the building we had just been in. He came and said hi to us and asked if we wanted a picture with him but Sister Oaks said, "Oh no, this is a Ladies' picture moment."

It was hilarious and all the old people laughed and then Sister Oaks said goodbye to us and they continued on with the tour they were taking of the campus. It was such a cool, quick unusual, yet perfect moment. Te'o was walking on clouds afterwards because she has never met an apostle before. It was pretty cute how ecstatic she was, but then again, that is probably how I was the first time I met an apostle too, I just don't remember. We found out later too that the first woman who got a picture with us was the wife of one of the area 70 representative, although I don't remember their names.

The contradictions started the next day though. During class on Monday morning, the power for the whole campus went out about 15 times, and then on Tuesday morning, the water in several of the casas-including mine- somehow stopped working. It seems contrary to expectation for so many things to go wrongs the day after something as important as the CCM is dedicated, but maybe God was trying to teach a lesson that even with blessings, not everything can be perfect. I am not sure what it all meant, but it certainly was a week to remember.

With only about a week and a half left here, I am feeling more than ever that I am ready to get out of here and get to Ecuador. Then again, I also still feel like I know next to no Spanish and that leaving the comforts of the CCM is going to be more of a shock than I expect. Like I said, this is a time full of contradictions. But I am excited and scared, ready and not even close to ready, and more than ever I am dreading the 13 hour long plane ride I will have to endure.

Here's to hoping the slope will be a steady downhill from here on out, at least until a new type of bump comes along.

Much love to all and I'll update you again in a week!

Love,

Hermana Eyre

Venturing into the Unknown

Hola people! Did everybody else hear the amazing news!? I am sure you actually watched it happen because you are not in a gospel bubble, but... THE SEAHAWKS WON THE SUPERBOWL!!!!! 

I found out at about 8:15 on Monday morning while eating breakfast in the comedor. My compañera and I were casually eating our breakfast when a kitchen worker named Noe came to tell us the good news. We have become friends with Noe and he is our source for news both good and bad from the outside world. He came up to me with a sign that said "Manning couldn't pull through!" I jumped up and started screaming! The whole comedor was staring at me but I didn't care because the SeaHawks had won! Neo was laughing and all the boys who are Manning fans were coming over trying to give me grief, but it was simply a perfect morning. I may have accidentally spilled some milk in all my excitement, but again, I was too happy to care. It was a total butt-whooping at 43- 8 and I am so proud of my Seattle boys! Go Hawks!

The rest of the week was more of the usual. Studying the gospel and language from dawn until dusk. Although I am nowhere near fluent yet, I think that my language skills are noticeably improving from day to day. Although it feels like an eternity, I have been here for three weeks, which means only three more weeks until I get to finally be in Ecuador!

The main even of this week was going to the Mexico City Temple. I was so excited to leave the CCM campus because despite all of the glorious space available on these 90 acres of beautiful Provo-like property, I have been starting to feel a little claustrophobic here. We left early this Thursday morning. We hoped on some of the CCM buses and settled in for the hour long ride to the temple. 

When the gates at the entrance of the CCM opened to release us, I swear the air somehow seemed more breathable. Of course, three second later we were almost T-boned by some of the crazy Mexico City drivers, but our driver was competent enough to get us out of the way in time and we continued on our very bumpy, scary, merry way to the temple.

We didn't get to do a session at the temple because it is currently being renovated, but we got a tour of the visitor's center and got to spend some time on the temple grounds. It is a very gorgeous temple and I would love to be able to go inside it one day. But, I think it is safe to say the visitor's center more than made up for it. The visitor center is very large and very beautiful. It has huge rooms dedicated to sharing and showing the history of the church in Mexico and it even has a room that is so elaborately created, that you actually feel like you have walked into a random street in Israel during the time of Jesus. It is such a peaceful and magnificent place. I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to visit there.

On the way home from the temple, I felt truly humbled to be here in Mexico City. I paid more attention to the surrounding streets and all the people who were out and about. As we passed by block after block of random street vendors and shops with garage doors wide open for business and hardly anyone in them, a feeling of love for each and everyone of of God's children came over me. 

I have always known that despite my hardships, I have lived a truly blessed life, but seeing the way that the 20 something million people who inhabit this city live everyday has made me even more grateful for everything I have. It is amazing to me that I can look at this city, with all of its color, vibrancy, music, and happy people, and in so many ways be glad that I don't actually live here. Despite the dirt, the heat, the pollution, and the lack of space, everyone I saw today looked genuinely happy. Nevertheless, I know that I am blessed to live in a place with clean water all the time and actual street gutters. I am lucky to live in a place where picking up trash off the street is considered important. I am so lucky to not have to know what it is like to go without a shower or clean clothes. I am lucky in so many ways to have things that the people here don't, and even still I am even more lucky to get to experience the way they live as well. I know that once I get to Ecuador I will be even more humbled, but I am so thankful for the opportunity to see life here in Mexico City first. 

This truly is a beautiful city. In many ways it is similar to Salt lake. It is nestled in between the mountains and has amazing natural features. However, much of the natural beauty gets hidden by the many cement houses that seem to climb half way up the side of every mountain in view. It is a type of beauty that I am not quite used to yet, but that I am learning to appreciate for its own unique qualities. I think I am starting to see the people around me the way that God sees them. All of the 20 million people in this city are children of God. He loves them just as he loves me and I think he is teaching me to love them too. I know that soon I will feel the same way about all of the people in Ecuador, and the more I love them, the more I love their language!

Now, to impart a little bit of Missionary wisdom: I challenge everyone to read Mosiah 4 this week. It is an amazing chapter; one that I have been using in lessons all week. I hope it will give you all as much inspiration as it did for me.

Anyway, that's all for now! Until next week!

Love,

Hermana Eyre