On Saturday we're not having any classes in the afternoon, cause Neil L. Anderson is coming to the CCM! But we've been strictly forbidden for asking for a photo or giving him a hug, and President Pratt said that if we ask him if he wants to trade ties with us, we will be shot. DANGIT!
So a ton happened this week, but it's hard to remember it all, cause it really seems like I sent my last email just yesterday. But here it goes.
We started making friends with some of the Latino missionaries here. It's really good to talk to them, cause it makes us use the Spanish we know, and improves our listening. But I still can't understand most of what they say. They just talk so fast! But one of the missionaries, I can't even remember his name and he left already, spoke almost perfect English! And when Elder Powell asked him if he took English in High School or something like that, the Elder told him that he learned English by watching videos on Youtube! Apparently Americans are really funny, so he learned English by watching and because he wanted to watch more! I wish Latinos were funny enough to teach me Spanish on Youtube!
During our class on Monday, we decided that we were going to study the Book of Mormon outside, on the grass in the middle of a whole bunch of palm trees. So we go out there, and Hermana Lampreicht starts saying the opening prayer, right? So when I folded my arms, I decided to scratch my left shoulder, and guess what I found there? Some parrot decided that my shirt was a good place to relieve himself! And I had to wait until after the prayer to see what it was! So nasty! But it came out pretty well, I just had to scrub pretty hard in the bathroom.
Also, Monday was Elder Cannel's birthday. His mom sent him a HUGE care package, full of beef jerky, chips and dip, sodas, and pretty much everything else that could make a missionary happy. And on the same day, Elder Thayne's mom sent him 1.5 dozen doughnuts. So we skipped lunch. Sounded like a good idea at the time, but then we kinda all felt pretty sick in the afternoon. Still, it tasted really good. But never again. Unless someone sends someone else another huge care package. :)
One of the missionaries in my Casa taught me how to make a tie skinnier. Like, if your tie is just a little too fat (or a lot) and you just want to change that, you can cut it open to the point where it starts to taper, measure and cut off from the inside of the tie, iron the creases back into the right places, then sew the whole thing back up again. I got a new tie at La Tienda (the store here) and practiced on it. Worked pretty well. But look up how to do it before you try, cause it can be kinda tricky. Also, be careful if you do it to polyester, cause that can melt when you iron it.
But a little bit more on the serious side of things right now. On Friday, we were talking to Fernando (our progressing investigator) and he said that he couldn't meet with us anymore cause his mom was super hardcore Catholic, and would kick him and his family out of the house if he kept talking to us. But then he said that the scripture that we'd given him to read the previous visit actually answered his question with that! We had asked him to read 2 Nephi 2, and in one of the verses Lehi tells whichever of his sons he's talking to that he'll live in safety with his brother Nephi. So Fernando took that to mean that he should ask his brother if he could move in with him! We definitely didn't see that chapter helping him out that way (We wanted him to read more about the Plan of Salvation), but you know, whatever works! But then, we asked him if it would be OK if we talked to his mom, so on Tuesday, he actually brought her! And we had an AMAZING lesson! We didn't think she'd actually come, so we were prepared to talk about the gift of the Holy Ghost, so we just kinda went with it and used all our scriptures about the Holy Ghost to talk about the Restoration! I just love how every part of the gospel ties in with everything else! We talked a lot about personal revelation, and introduced her to the Book of Mormon, and she just about freaked out (in a good way) when we told her that Christ had been to the Americas. I keep being reminded that so many of the amazing stories and blessings we know about in this church I've been taking for granted my whole life! When we told her about the first vision and Christ's appearance to the people in Bountiful, she just kept asking "Why haven't I heard about this before?" In Spanish, of course, but it was amazing!
After our lesson, we realized that we'd scheduled our next meeting with her for Monday at 9 in the morning. And we'd be on a plane then! That was probably the first time I've actually been mad here. But we talked to Hermano Hernandez about it, and he said that we could teach the two of them during study time on Saturday!
By the way, for whoever doesn't know this yet, Hermano Hernandez is our teacher, and Fernando is our investigator, but they're really the same person. Hermano Hernandez just pretends to be an investigator so we have the chance to learn how to teach a real progressing investigator in Spanish. So Fernando and his mom, Lucy, are really members, so it's not really as cool as it sounds to have taught them that well. But it still felt really good!
Also, random fact about Hermano Hernandez: We're his first class that he's ever taught here at the CCM! And you wouldn't know it either, cause he's always so happy! I'll try to send a picture next week, but I don't have any of him right now. I'll make sure to get one before I leave.
We had our last lesson with Carolina (Hermana Gutierez) yesterday. Pretty sad to think that we won't see her or Hermano Hernandez again in this life after the CCM. But the next time we do, we'll be able to understand each other perfectly!
Again, crazy to think that I'll be leaving here in just a little less than 4 days! Happy and sad at the same time. And pretty nervous. Cause as real as everything seems here, we've been living in our own little Utopia for the past six weeks, and we're about to be thrust back into the real world. Who knows what the next 22.5 months will bring? I'm so glad the Lord does. And I'm glad to be about his errand. So, until next week! I love you! And I hope to hear lots from all you guys when I get to Texas!
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