I'm a little salty you didn't write me this week... like what if it was the worst week of my life and all I wanted was to talk to my mom but she said nothing???? I bet you'd feel real bad then. But its fine. I know you're busy having a fun time with your family. How is the Oregon coast? Hows fourth of July? I cant wait to hear all about it!
Here's the rundown. This week the Spanish has gotten better, as expected. Like I feel like it flows more naturally and I can understand better. And I'm at the point where sometimes I'm not translating what is being said back into English, and I'm just understanding the Spanish and rolling with it so that's super exciting. But also I feel like ccm Spanish is gonna be a lot different from real world Spanish... cause like everyone talks slow for us and uses small words, which I appreciate. But it's getting better. On Saturday we had families from the church nearby come and we got to talk to them, and that was way cool! I was sad that we didn't get a family with little kids, but it was still good. But that was way awesome. Like we had a 30 minute conversation in Spanish and I don't feel like I looked like a complete idiot, which is always good. But that experience made me really excited for when I get to actually go to CA and be with people there. Also, on Sunday we played this one game where we all spoke only Spanish, and it was basically last man standing. That was super fun. We made it like 3 hours all of us and we did it all through dinner and some free time, and it was awesome. I love the Spanish language. It also just makes so much more sense than English. And I've also found that I love to read el Libro de Mormón (the Book of Mormon) in Spanish! Like I get so much out of it cause it's scriptures, but honestly reading it in Spanish makes it better. I don't understand everything, but I learn more about the language and how everything works together while also studying the word of God. It takes like 20 minutes to read a chapter, but I'm getting better at it.
Along with language, there are some Haitians that came to the ccm and they are in my branch! It's the first time ever they've had Haitians come to the Mexico ccm and it's way cool! They're all super nice and super cute and their teachers are super funny. But since they're from Haiti and are going back there, they speak in French/Creole which is way cool. So all our church meetings are translated into French which is cool. So we're a bunch of Americans speaking Spanish and having it be translated into French. It's pretty crazy, but also awesome. I'm jealous of the translators. It would be so cool to speak 4 languages fluently. But since the Haitians only speak French, our district is trying to learn some French so we can talk to them a bit. So basically by the end of this I'll be fluent in 3 languages (not really...) but its hard to talk to them cause my natural instinct in the ccm is Spanish, but they understand English better and so basically I'm a mess, but whats new.
Also Sunday, in the morning before church hermana Jensen and I went back to our casa to grab something we forgot, and when we got back the hallway was all flooded. Like standing water. Luckily it wasn't coming from our room, and none of our stuff got damaged, but the other hermanas had a pipe burst in their casa, so all their stuff that was on the floor was soaked and they had a ton of water in their room. We ran back to get them so they could try to save some stuff, but it was crazy. And we were talking to them later, and the one hermana said that if the water had gotten any higher it would've reached her alarm clock that was plugged into the wall and electrocuted anyone who touched the water. So we were really lucky to have gone back when we did. It was a crazy way to start the Sunday morning... Also during Sunday (apparently a lot happened on Sunday...), we had our district meeting where we talk about how we have progressed over the past week and our goals and then have a devotional. But it was kinda scary cause the president and his wife of the ccm sat in with us. But it went really well, and the devotional one of the elders gave was awesome. And the president said something about it that I really liked. It was about how there are opposing forces in the world, those of good, which come from God, and those of evil, which are from Satan. But he said that the whole purpose of the bad forces were to try to bring us down and to not have us progress forward in doing good. However, in the process of their doings, they are actually helping the good forces. We need to have those bad things happen in order for us to get stronger, and eventually be able to return to live with our Heavenly Father. So the "bad" forces aren't actually all that bad. In the moment they can be, but with an eternal perspective we can see there is a lot of good that comes from them.
Also, every Tuesday night we have a devotional, and they're the best. They start out with some musical numbers, and they really bring the spirit and set the tone. I love it every time. But yeah devotionals are just awesome, and they're always something to look forward too. But this one was especially exciting cause we got to watch like 10 minutes of the lion king during it. It related to the message they were sharing, but it was just fun to watch a movie a bit. Like I was smiling the whole time like a 4 year old. It's the only movie/TV I've watched in the past 3 weeks, and that's kinda weird to think... But honestly it's been nice not to have to worry about having my phone or being distracted by it.
And now for my random things :)
So first of all, this is the first week where in our branch we are the oldest district, in terms of time at the ccm. So for one activity we went over to another district in our branch and we both practiced teaching each other in Spanish. Ans then after our teachers told us to give them advice and stuff. That was kinda strange, cause like we were here for literally a week longer than them, so that was funny. But they said that our district was all so close and that they thought we knew what we were doing. So it was fun to get to know them. Also, for the Haitian district in our branch, we put together a fourth of July surprise for them. We all went to the tienda and bought them a bunch of snacks and wrote them notes, cause they wont get much during their missions. So that was also super fun. Also, since today was forth of July, we had burgers for lunch!!! Honestly, I forgot how much I missed them until I had one again. And we also had fries and root beer and chocolate chip cookies and man it was all so good. You really don't know what you're missing out on till you don't have it anymore. Also along the lines of fourth if July, our teacher for the afternoon, hermano Gayosso, came and visited us at Lunch! It was his day off but he came to hang out with us anyways. And he made us little flags cause he knew how much we all loved fourth of July. He couldn't find any in Mexico tho, so he cut out little flags and glued them on sticks. It was great. But hermano Gayosso is the best. He makes class fun and he eats dinner with us sometimes too and his laugh is the best. He's also like hard on us, but still helps us to learn and it's great.
I got to play the violin this week!!! I'm borrowing one from the ccm music director, cause I'm gonna play a song with some people in my district for a devotional sometime. But man I really missed playing the violin... again, you don't know what you miss out on until you don't have it. But I was playing some hymns, and it was super fun. But since it had been a while, my fingers were hurting after cause my finger tips have gotten little soft. But that's been super fun to have. We also.had an earthquake warning this week, or so we thought. A big alarm went off while we were all changing in our casa after gym time. So we all had to run outside and go to the safe place. It wasn't an actual earthquake, but I was low-key hoping it was. But right after it started pouring, so luckily we made it inside without getting too wet. Me and my compañera have been sitting in the sun as much as we can, so we can try to become Latinas. It's not working too well, but I'm definitely tan, which I am proud of. I'll have a killer watch tan by the end of the summer. I also found out last week that I am awful at laundry. First of all, my first week I lost a sock, which is annoying but not too bad. But last week I shrunk 2 of my skirts... I even read the tags and they said everything was fine, but I guess not... one shrunk like 4 inches, so I can't even wear it anymore cause it's too short. The other one isn't as bad though. But hermana Jensen has been getting a kick out of me not being able to do laundry. It's pretty sad... but this week I managed not to mess anything up, so that's good.
And finally, about basketball. So the elders en mi districto know that I'm a Sixers fan, so they're always throwing in stuff like "trust the process" and it's great. But then they started hating on Ben Simmons as the rookie of the Year. But don't worry, I stood up for him. And then also there was the big question of LeBron, and so yesterday when the new missionaries arrived, we hunted down the new elders to see if any knew about where LeBron went. We found of it was the Lakers, and not the Sixers. It would've been cool if he was on the Sixers, but also I kinda want them to win without LeBron. But it's not gonna happen till I get back, so don't get your hopes up. But it's been good here! The weeks are going by a lot fast. It's weird to think I'm already halfway done here... *que Bon Jovie* woooooooah we're halfway there, woooooaaaaah! Livin on a prayer! (Literally cause we pray like all the time here) but it's been good! My life before the mission though already feels like a lifetime ago, even though it wasn't even a month which is kinda weird. love you and miss you so much! until next week!
Kiley Hermana Atkinson
Here's the rundown. This week the Spanish has gotten better, as expected. Like I feel like it flows more naturally and I can understand better. And I'm at the point where sometimes I'm not translating what is being said back into English, and I'm just understanding the Spanish and rolling with it so that's super exciting. But also I feel like ccm Spanish is gonna be a lot different from real world Spanish... cause like everyone talks slow for us and uses small words, which I appreciate. But it's getting better. On Saturday we had families from the church nearby come and we got to talk to them, and that was way cool! I was sad that we didn't get a family with little kids, but it was still good. But that was way awesome. Like we had a 30 minute conversation in Spanish and I don't feel like I looked like a complete idiot, which is always good. But that experience made me really excited for when I get to actually go to CA and be with people there. Also, on Sunday we played this one game where we all spoke only Spanish, and it was basically last man standing. That was super fun. We made it like 3 hours all of us and we did it all through dinner and some free time, and it was awesome. I love the Spanish language. It also just makes so much more sense than English. And I've also found that I love to read el Libro de Mormón (the Book of Mormon) in Spanish! Like I get so much out of it cause it's scriptures, but honestly reading it in Spanish makes it better. I don't understand everything, but I learn more about the language and how everything works together while also studying the word of God. It takes like 20 minutes to read a chapter, but I'm getting better at it.
Along with language, there are some Haitians that came to the ccm and they are in my branch! It's the first time ever they've had Haitians come to the Mexico ccm and it's way cool! They're all super nice and super cute and their teachers are super funny. But since they're from Haiti and are going back there, they speak in French/Creole which is way cool. So all our church meetings are translated into French which is cool. So we're a bunch of Americans speaking Spanish and having it be translated into French. It's pretty crazy, but also awesome. I'm jealous of the translators. It would be so cool to speak 4 languages fluently. But since the Haitians only speak French, our district is trying to learn some French so we can talk to them a bit. So basically by the end of this I'll be fluent in 3 languages (not really...) but its hard to talk to them cause my natural instinct in the ccm is Spanish, but they understand English better and so basically I'm a mess, but whats new.
Also Sunday, in the morning before church hermana Jensen and I went back to our casa to grab something we forgot, and when we got back the hallway was all flooded. Like standing water. Luckily it wasn't coming from our room, and none of our stuff got damaged, but the other hermanas had a pipe burst in their casa, so all their stuff that was on the floor was soaked and they had a ton of water in their room. We ran back to get them so they could try to save some stuff, but it was crazy. And we were talking to them later, and the one hermana said that if the water had gotten any higher it would've reached her alarm clock that was plugged into the wall and electrocuted anyone who touched the water. So we were really lucky to have gone back when we did. It was a crazy way to start the Sunday morning... Also during Sunday (apparently a lot happened on Sunday...), we had our district meeting where we talk about how we have progressed over the past week and our goals and then have a devotional. But it was kinda scary cause the president and his wife of the ccm sat in with us. But it went really well, and the devotional one of the elders gave was awesome. And the president said something about it that I really liked. It was about how there are opposing forces in the world, those of good, which come from God, and those of evil, which are from Satan. But he said that the whole purpose of the bad forces were to try to bring us down and to not have us progress forward in doing good. However, in the process of their doings, they are actually helping the good forces. We need to have those bad things happen in order for us to get stronger, and eventually be able to return to live with our Heavenly Father. So the "bad" forces aren't actually all that bad. In the moment they can be, but with an eternal perspective we can see there is a lot of good that comes from them.
Also, every Tuesday night we have a devotional, and they're the best. They start out with some musical numbers, and they really bring the spirit and set the tone. I love it every time. But yeah devotionals are just awesome, and they're always something to look forward too. But this one was especially exciting cause we got to watch like 10 minutes of the lion king during it. It related to the message they were sharing, but it was just fun to watch a movie a bit. Like I was smiling the whole time like a 4 year old. It's the only movie/TV I've watched in the past 3 weeks, and that's kinda weird to think... But honestly it's been nice not to have to worry about having my phone or being distracted by it.
And now for my random things :)
So first of all, this is the first week where in our branch we are the oldest district, in terms of time at the ccm. So for one activity we went over to another district in our branch and we both practiced teaching each other in Spanish. Ans then after our teachers told us to give them advice and stuff. That was kinda strange, cause like we were here for literally a week longer than them, so that was funny. But they said that our district was all so close and that they thought we knew what we were doing. So it was fun to get to know them. Also, for the Haitian district in our branch, we put together a fourth of July surprise for them. We all went to the tienda and bought them a bunch of snacks and wrote them notes, cause they wont get much during their missions. So that was also super fun. Also, since today was forth of July, we had burgers for lunch!!! Honestly, I forgot how much I missed them until I had one again. And we also had fries and root beer and chocolate chip cookies and man it was all so good. You really don't know what you're missing out on till you don't have it anymore. Also along the lines of fourth if July, our teacher for the afternoon, hermano Gayosso, came and visited us at Lunch! It was his day off but he came to hang out with us anyways. And he made us little flags cause he knew how much we all loved fourth of July. He couldn't find any in Mexico tho, so he cut out little flags and glued them on sticks. It was great. But hermano Gayosso is the best. He makes class fun and he eats dinner with us sometimes too and his laugh is the best. He's also like hard on us, but still helps us to learn and it's great.
I got to play the violin this week!!! I'm borrowing one from the ccm music director, cause I'm gonna play a song with some people in my district for a devotional sometime. But man I really missed playing the violin... again, you don't know what you miss out on until you don't have it. But I was playing some hymns, and it was super fun. But since it had been a while, my fingers were hurting after cause my finger tips have gotten little soft. But that's been super fun to have. We also.had an earthquake warning this week, or so we thought. A big alarm went off while we were all changing in our casa after gym time. So we all had to run outside and go to the safe place. It wasn't an actual earthquake, but I was low-key hoping it was. But right after it started pouring, so luckily we made it inside without getting too wet. Me and my compañera have been sitting in the sun as much as we can, so we can try to become Latinas. It's not working too well, but I'm definitely tan, which I am proud of. I'll have a killer watch tan by the end of the summer. I also found out last week that I am awful at laundry. First of all, my first week I lost a sock, which is annoying but not too bad. But last week I shrunk 2 of my skirts... I even read the tags and they said everything was fine, but I guess not... one shrunk like 4 inches, so I can't even wear it anymore cause it's too short. The other one isn't as bad though. But hermana Jensen has been getting a kick out of me not being able to do laundry. It's pretty sad... but this week I managed not to mess anything up, so that's good.
And finally, about basketball. So the elders en mi districto know that I'm a Sixers fan, so they're always throwing in stuff like "trust the process" and it's great. But then they started hating on Ben Simmons as the rookie of the Year. But don't worry, I stood up for him. And then also there was the big question of LeBron, and so yesterday when the new missionaries arrived, we hunted down the new elders to see if any knew about where LeBron went. We found of it was the Lakers, and not the Sixers. It would've been cool if he was on the Sixers, but also I kinda want them to win without LeBron. But it's not gonna happen till I get back, so don't get your hopes up. But it's been good here! The weeks are going by a lot fast. It's weird to think I'm already halfway done here... *que Bon Jovie* woooooooah we're halfway there, woooooaaaaah! Livin on a prayer! (Literally cause we pray like all the time here) but it's been good! My life before the mission though already feels like a lifetime ago, even though it wasn't even a month which is kinda weird. love you and miss you so much! until next week!
Kiley Hermana Atkinson
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