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

Lo Siento, No Lo Siento

You know that commonly used and somewhat stupid hashtag comment that way too many people use on Instagram and Facebook? You know the one... #sorrynotsorry, well that seems to be applicable to my entire life here at the CCM, even if it is only because my compañera uses it on a daily basis. Thus, the theme of my second week in the CCM is: lo siento, no lo siento.

This week was interesting because we went from being a baby district to a father district. Our district leader was made our new zone leader and we got a new district leader who couldn't be better fit for the role. We have progressed in our Spanish language skills- by small but seemingly large amounts- and we have all become even better friends than we imagined was possible. My district is my family here and I am so very grateful for them! Although, I was really sad to see our father district leave, I think the higher responsibility of being leaders has made us a better district and has made all of us as individuals better missionaries. A new district came in for our zone yesterday and we are so excited to start showing them the ropes here.

Sunday morning was rough this week though and here is why. THE BUGS IN MEXICO THINK I AM CANDY!!!! I woke up Sunday morning with a giant bug bite on my neck. It was actually huge! It looked like I had been whacked in the neck with a baseball. It got really swollen and had puss come out of it. Maybe that is too much information for all of you, but I just had to share. It was gross!! People here told me that it was just a mosquito bite, but I have never had that reaction to a mosquito bite before so who knows. Maybe the mosquitoes here are just really intense. I also got a bug bit on my leg while laying on the grass and another on my hand while sleeping last night. The second two were not as bad, but either way, apparently the bugs here think I am some kind of delicacy.

I have come to learn that P Days are some kind of wonderful! Getting the time to get ready as slow as I want, play tennis, volleyball, or lay in the sun all day is just a feeling that can't be beat. Plus, the food tends to be better on P Days. In our district, P Day is something worth writing songs for... which we did. Needless to say, my district fits my personality well.

One of my goals while I am here is to re-read the Book of Mormon from start to finish. I am about 200 pages in and it is amazing! I have read it before and I have always loved it, but there is something to be said for reading it through in a setting like this. I feel like I am getting so much insight out of it and noticing things I have never noticed or thought about before. It truly is an amazing work of literature and the fact that it contains so many gospel truths just makes it that much more amazing.

I am shorter on time this week than last week though, so I hope you enjoy the pictures below and you will be hearing from me again next week.

Much Love to ALL!!!!

Hasta luego!

Bienvenidos a el CCM

Hola everybody! I have safely arrived at the CCM (aka. the Mexico City MTC). I have successfully survived my first week of missionary boot camp and am currently up to my ears in Spanish language study and gospel doctrine study. 

Life here, south of the border, is not what I expected, but in many ways it is better. The food is better than expected...for instance, today we had some insanely good enchiladas, the weather is warm ans sunny and I occasionally get to study outside, and the people here are all incredibly happy to be here. I have yet to decide if I am weird for not being as ecstatic as they are, or if I just have better self control because I am at least two and a half years older than everyone else.

My companion is a cute sister from Kansas City who understands almost all of my pop-culture references and is perfectly willing to bust out into song with me while walking down the streets of the CCM. The CCM, by the way, is a huge campus with lots of room to move around and lots of air to breathe. I think being here is much better for me than being in the Provo MTC could ever be. It is like a little bubble protected oasis of well dressed excited teenagers from the United States smack dab in the middle of Mexico City; (Okay maybe not actually in the middle), but it is interesting to hear all of the sounds of Mexico happening outside the protected security gate perimeter of this mini-Provo-like place. 

Anyway, my companion's name is Hermana Miller and she is very sweet. Our room companions are Hermana Te'o from Hawaii (her brother is kind of a big deal in case you are a football fan), and Hermana Welch fro Mesa Arizona. We all get along quite well although i wish one of them was more willing to run or go to the gym with me. However, they prefer to spend their time laying in the sun and watching the guys in our district play Ultimate Frisbee of Beach volleyball. I am grateful that we get along though and as for the other Hermanas in my Zone, they are much more willing to jump in on the games of Frisbee and Volleyball and do ab workouts and such during our daily gym time.

Spanish is an interesting language. It is very similar to French in a lot of ways (although I still think I like French a whole lot better) so I feel like I am learning at a decent pace, although not at quite the rapid pace I had hoped for and expected. I have been making flashcards like crazy though and am looking forward to a few weeks from now when I look back and think about how silly I was for thinking it is impossible.

The funny part though, which I didn't at all expect, is that they don't really teach you the language. They re-teach you the gospel and expect the language to come with it. It is weird because in some ways it really does work, but, let's just say I now understand why so many missionaries have terrible grammar when it comes to the language they learn for their missions. 

I am in District C in zone 10 and I think I definitely got placed in the best zone here. All of the people in my zone are incredibly lively, fun, and funny. We are known as the rule breakers because everything our zone does that isn't technically against the rules gets outlawed every time a new district comes in and an old one leaves. Our zone is notorious for: causing nosebleeds and other injuries when playing sports, tie-trades, extra tienda time (the tienda is the small store on the MTC campus), for yelling CASTIDAD! to each other in the hallways (castidad is the spanish word for chastity), and for always taking all the Nutella out of the comedor after meal times. Needles to say, I got put in a zone with a bunch of hooligans just like me, except that they are even worse than me because they are all between 18 and 20 years old.

It is such a weird feeling to be learning from people younger than me, but in a lot of ways I am learning that young people have a lot to teach. Most of the people here have never even been away from home though which is crazy to think about having lived away from home for four years myself. There are some girls in my casa who didn't know how to work the washing machine and dryer. I was baffled! How can someone be graduated from high school and not know how to do their own laundry!? It was crazy! But some of them are incredibly smart and have some awesome views on life and the world and I am excited to get to know them better.

In other news, I got to speak in my branch in Sacrament meeting on Sunday. My talk had to be completely in Spanish though so it was terrifying. The Elders and Hermanas in my father district helped me figure out the best ways to find what I want to say though so I was grateful for that, but still, it was incredibly intimidating.

All the Hermanas in my father district have told me that the first week is the hardest though, so hopefully next week will just be a huge improvement. I guess I will let you know then!

I love you all immensely and hope that nothing too exciting has happened while I have been away. I was informed that the Seahawks made it to the SuperBowl though so I am pumped about that-although I am admittedly pissed that I won't be able to watch the game- but I guess of all the sacrifices I have had to make, watching my favorite NFL team is one of the least of my worries.

Anyway, GO HAWKS!!!

Love you all!

Adios,

Love Hermana Eyre