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