It's been another incredible week here at the CCM. So much learning and growing and laughing and teaching!
Subject line: Two weeks ago we moved classrooms (because they were going to start renovating the building our old one was in) and at first we were all pretty bummed because we loved that classroom and our new one is smaller and further away, BUT we have come to loooove the new classroom. It's right next to a big open field of grass, so now we study outside and for our language study each morning and night we get to play games and run around in the grass and it rocks. This new classroom is also right next to the border of the CCM and really close to a busy street. There isn't any AC in most of the buildings here so we always just open up the windows, and for about a week we would hear this street vendor day and night saying what we thought was "Tamales! Por los niños!" and we all wondered why the heck he was selling tamales just to kids, so one night we finally asked our teacher about it and she told us he was saying "Tamales! Calientitos!" (aka hot tamales). So we felt a little dumb..but now we always laugh when we hear him outside..which is often in the middle of district prayer..
Other funny things quickly since I'm running out of time:
-I asked Hna. Caldwell to braid my hair the other day, and my hair is super thick and fairly slick, which is way different than her hair, so she started braiding it and yells, "You're hair is slippery like a fish!" So now we always joke about my hair being fishy.
-Each week in the CCM, the branch presidency gives us three topics to choose from to write a talk on, and they just pick 3 or 4 people at the beginning of sacrament meeting to speak that day so this is actually old news, but on the second Sunday here, I spoke on charity and it was scary, but definitely a good experience!
-I have been studying and marking up my patriarchal blessing recently (like with "if, then" blessings and places where it says joy/love and things like that) and it is AWESOME. I encourage all of you who have your patriarchal blessings to read them, study them, and mark them up!
-My teacher told me earlier this week that I speak like a native, and a latina sister told me I didn't have a gringo accent so I'm feeling good about my Spanish this week! We'll see how good I feel about it once I get to the field though...haha.
-Our district has gotten really into playing assassin, so after meals we always try to shoot each other (it's mostly Hna. Caldwell and I with three of our elders) and it gets CRAZY. Because we made rules so you can only shoot someone and have it count if you sneak up on them or hide and shoot them, so the elders have been getting crazy and jumping out of bathroom windows and things to get us, and we've gotten our teachers to play with us and this is a really poor explanation, but it's just really fun.
-So one of my roommates sleep talks. It's pretty hilarious. A few times I've woken up from her talking this week and my favorite lines of hers have been "We'll teach better if we listen to the Spirit, I promise!" and her reciting Santiago 1:5. She's hilarious.
-My district is OBSESSED with ping pong. Like, obsessed. We play it every day after lunch, during all of gym time, and any other free moment we have (like last night when there were no new missionaries, so they told us we had an extra hour and a half for gym time). There are only 8 paddles and 10 people in our district, so we take turns playing Around the World and it's a blast. I will be a ping pong champion by the time I leave the CCM, guaranteed.
-We got two new investigators this week (missionaries in our district acting as an investigator using the life circumstances of someone they know) and it's been crazy to juggle 4 in a week, but apparently we should be looking at about 10 lessons a day in the field...we're getting there. But it's great and so cool to be able to have the Spirit guide us to know and address the needs of each different person.
-Last night we were doing a role play about an investigator who had committed to baptism but she was getting nervous about it. She didn't have any specific doubts, but didn't feel like she could say with a surety that the church was true. I was taught as the investigator by an elder in my district who shared Alma 5:45-46 with me. It was so powerful! The Holy Ghost witnesses of truth to us. Once we receive that witness, we need not second guess our answer. The Spirit is so essential in missionary work and is the best companion! I encourage you all to see what improvements you can make in your life to have the Spirit with you more constantly.
I love you all very much and am grateful for you!
Love,
Hermana Bird
mi casa!
from earlier today when Hna. Caldwell & I tried to be artsy with our nametags
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