Let the Adventure Begin!

ESTA BIEN!!!

Tuesday- I got here around 9:30pm and I was starving!  I missed my connecting flight in Phoenix and got rerouted through Dallas and then to Mexico City. The airport was just super inconvenient but fun. I literally ran across the Phoenix airport like a mad person but “está bien”. I haven't eaten anything – I didn't get anything in the airport, so I when got here I went to the reception's office and they gave me a packet. It had my name on it, and it had my name tags in it, and like my schedule for the next six weeks, and just stuff like that. Then I had to watch a video, and that's when I emailed my family to let them know that I made it. The office worker said “OK, well now we're going to call your companions and they're going to come pick you up”.  So I was like thinking that I wasn't going to eat anything for that day and I was getting so sad because I was like “OK, I'm just going to go to bed hungry my first night in my mission”. But then as we were leaving he said “Oh – we have food for you! It’s cold but I'm sure you're hungry!” You know –  I literally started crying!!!

Then I met my hermanas – my companions! They had gotten there earlier that day but I was the last one to come to the CCM that day. They are so awesome! They are Sister Harvey and Sister Christiansen. Sister Harvey reminds me so much of Brooke Riley (my cousin). Sister Christiansen is probably the sassiest person I have ever met – ok, she doesn’t really mean to be sassy but she is so awesome. She also reminds me of Maggie Root!  They are super nice, super funny, and super awesome at Spanish. I am good at listening to them and we are going to “hablar mucho Español!” We are all super different but it works! They are both a little bit older than me so I feel like their child which is pretty normal for me! My companions came to pick me up and then when we walked out, the first person I saw was Kyle Rogers! I ran over to give him a hug but then I remembered that I can’t do that so we just hung out and talked for a few minutes.  We had to hurry and leave though because it was almost 10 pm and that is our bedtime.  They had already gotten settled in to our Casa so we just went back and went to bed… I have the top bunk by the way.  Poor Hermana Christiansen is going to have to smell my farts!

Wednesday – Today we met our district and had our first classes.  It was pretty fun to go from class to class. You just have to go with it and decide to have fun. Every class, I had stronger ambition to study, learn and serve in Spanish. Spanish is kind of hard for me and I am feeling a little overwhelmed but “está bien”. There are a lot of times that I wanted to answer a question or say something, but I didn’t know how to say it in Spanish!  I just need to train really hard because I know I was called to speak Spanish for a reason and it’s not about me, it’s about the people.  Today was pretty much just an orientation.  There are a lot of cool things here.  We saw the “tienda’ where you can buy cool things like candy, towels, and tank tops. It is awesome and it is soooo pretty here!  Also the weather is BEAUTIFUL. It’s kinda cold in the morning but I am getting muy tan ha-ha just kidding  It has been pretty cold – at least at night, but it warms up during the daytime and is super nice!

Thursday – Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! Today was super long.  Everyone that has been here awhile always says to just make it til Sunday. We just study all day long and I am starting to get seriously overwhelmed with Spanish.  I want to practice a lot but I don’t know where to start. Even though I am stressing myself out, I am having fun. We had to prepare our first lesson for tomorrow, it is on the Restoration. All in Spanish, so I am a little freaked out about that. It’s getting there. Today, I saw Tanner Emerson – Mom and Dad’s “trek son”. He’s here a couple more weeks and then he’s off to the real Mexico! So that’s cool.  The CCM is huge here. My comps and I haven’t even walked around the whole thing. Tonight we went to a big auditorium and had a devotional.  It was a broadcast in Provo by Neil A Anderson and I took a ton of notes – super cool!  His whole family came and spoke, his grandkids were so cute.  I also met an Elder whose dad went to Des Moines, Iowa.  He said that he loved it so much!  He admitted that when his dad saw all of his friends getting crazy cool mission calls that he was a little jealous but that he loved his mission so much. The Elder said that he had never met anyone who loved their mission as much as his dad, so that was really nice! The classes are super long but “está bien!” You just gotta do what ya gotta do!  I need to learn Spanish and long classes are the way that is going to happen! But it is all good!  Also, the food here is a little sketchy! My bowels are going a little crazy!  My pooping habits are in full swing!!  The food is all over the place, I don’t even know where to start – it’s pretty funny. I try my best to stay clear of the chicken, ha-ha, but honestly the food is not that bad it is just not as....certain? But “está bien”.

Friday – Today we taught our first investigator – Monica. I was super nervous and we didn’t really know how to prepare a lesson so we just kind of went with it. My companions did a really good job. It was really spiritual though. I bore my testimony in Spanish and we definitely had the Spirit with us. It was really, really fun. Come to find out, the investigator wasn’t even a real one –  she is a Sister who was pretending to be someone that she taught in her mission. But it really was awesome! That part of the day was great –  the first 12 hours of study was just looooong! But that is ok – “está bien”. This is what Jesus Christ wants us to do!

Saturday- We are pretty much in the swing of things now.  We did have our first Gym day! Hooray! The sister trainers invited us to play sand volleyball. We played with a bunch of Elders and it was a lot of fun even though “estoy muy rusty”. One of the trainers played in high school at Heber. The CCM is super fun and weird. One minute you are crying because you are feeling the Spirit super strong and the next minute you are crying because you are sad and overwhelmed and inadequate and then you hear a Mexican firework go off and you think, “está bien”! Elder Rogers leaves at 3 am on Monday –  I tried to take a photo with him and I tried to put my arm around him – oops. He kind of shrugged and I was like “sorry”.  So we just took a photo of us shaking hands. Apparently that was considered a “couples picture” and we got in trouble for that. We have to take pictures with multiple elders and sisters. My companions are super great. Also, I keep getting in trouble for drawing on myself.  I need to be more like a sister and less like a tattoo artist, so now I only write my ID number. I am trying to not write on myself.  We had another lesson with Monica today.  It did not go very well.  We prepared a lesson and just kind of read it for/at her. It did not go well! We all felt pretty crappy about it. But “está bien” !  We learned that you teach people not lessons – we will do better the next time we teach her!

Sunday – I made it to Sunday – which is muy bien.  Everyone says just make it to Sunday and they are right. It is so awesome.  We had sacrament meeting in a room with our branch.  Really good speakers!  The Hermana leader spoke about when she got on the bus going to the temple (we get to go the temple 3 times while we are here) and when the enclosed gate that surrounds the CCM opened, one of the elder’s yelled “freedom”.  She just kind of talked about how we as missionaries are sent around the world to set people free. We teach them about the gospel and share this awesome message of hope, set them free from grief and questions about what happens after this life… so many things that are heavy and deep – things that I have never had to worry about because I grew up in this awesome gospel and have known the truth my whole life. So I feel super blessed. My district is super fun. There are 9 Elders and 3 Hermanas. The Elders are all super funny and different. You have to like everyone because you are with them all the time. We are a big family.  Elder Hernbrough is our District leader, he is from Queen Creek, AZ. We had district meeting today and then we had Relief Society with all 7 girls in our district.  We watched a video by Elder Bednar about being “preach my gospel missionaries”.  He is super amazing!  He gave 5 characteristics/steps to being PMG missionaries:

• They understand that they serve and represent Jesus Christ
• They are worthy
• They treasure up the word of God
• They understand the Holy Ghost is the Ultimate teacher
• They understand teaching is more than talking and telling

Sunday is the best at the CCM. There is no set study time and you can just relax and enjoy feeling the Spirit.  I am not going to lie, I have been pretty emotional since I have been here. My companions are helping me a lot and I am doing my best.  We teach another lesson tomorrow and I hope it is going to go well.

Monday – Up at 6:30, get ready. Breakfast. Classroom, personal and comp study, Hermano Medina (our teacher) comes – He’s super cool, pretty funny, Spanish lessons…The life of a missionary!  We learned so much our first week – how to pray, bear our testimony, etc.  It’s all kind of hard but “está bien”! Today we did this coaching thing where Elder Medina took us one by one into a room and speaks to us in Spanish – super slow so that we can understand! He asked us to write down 3 goals that we wanted on our mission. I want to bring the truth to families so that they can be together forever, to acquire habits to help me forever and I can’t remember  the third, it was really awesome!  He told me Nikenna, I know that you are struggling with the language but you just need to practice and put your faith in God. I know that you will be a great missionary (of course, I am crying through all of this). He said to just talk to your companions and everyone in Spanish.  It was very motivating.

Sunday is the best at the CCM. There is no set study time and you can just relax and enjoy feeling the Spirit.  I am not going to lie, I have been pretty emotional since I have been here. My companions are helping me a lot and I am doing my best.  We teach another lesson tomorrow and I hope it is going to go well.

District A: Me, Harvey, Christiansen, De La Rosa, Smith, Jones, Hembrough, Goody, McGary, Crider, Hunter, Lloyd, and Wilson.

Tuesday – Officially my second week in the CCM. The newbies come tonight. We went to a Health meeting today.  It was pretty much for all the people staying in Mexico. Pretty much it was “don’t eat/drink this or you will get diarrhea, don’t put this in your room or you will get cucarachas, if you have blood in your poop, go see a doctor”… So that was cool. Every Sunday we prepare a talk, so you have 6 talks prepared in case you get called up at church. Today we pretty much just studied and practiced Spanish.  We played volleyball again too. Then we had a devotional about the Book of Mormon. There were a bunch of people and their stories of how they found the BOM and the struggles they had in finding the light that we all have had forever. One of the elders in our district has been sick for a while and today he got a blessing from some of the elders in our district. All of them stood around and gave him a blessing. It was awesome! It was so cool (and a little weird) to see these “boys” that seem like our little brothers come together and use the Lord’s power to heal someone.  That priesthood power is real and we are all authorized to work under that power.

Wednesday – First Pday Tomorrow!!! In Spanish class we studied Tener and Estar. We had another lesson with Monica and committed her to baptism. So now we are done with her and we get new people to teach tomorrow – It was great. Hermana Christiansen is a convert to the church and so she bore her testimony about the support that she got when she started going to church. Cool! Spanish is Hard – Pray for me!!!!  Love you – BYE!!