Its basically a fact of life that every day here is a roller coaster. But there is usually one day a week that is worse than others. This was Thursday for me this last week. For one, because I had emailed all of you the day before and I just really miss the water. The separation anxiety is real. From all of you too, of course. Haha. But also, Thursday was just a rough language day for me and our lesson didn't go super great so its just one of those things....but the hard days make you better and they make you appreciate the good ones even more! Oh, I'm excited to get to Florida and meet Grandma and Grandpas friends! That is so cool!
Alright. So for those of you who talked to me pre-mish, you know my whole goal in life was to not lose my amazing sense of sarcasm when I was speaking Spanish. So lets tell a little story... Our group was walking back from TALL (online language software) and I was telling Hermano Sanchez about how shoes are tearing up my feet and he asks me if I want a band-aid. I say nah, I'm good cause ya know...that is just what you say. Well he goes off on this rant about how that is why there are no more gentlemen in the world...because girls shut down every act of chivalry...so we were just laughing and then we go into our classroom building and another teacher, Hermano Santiago, his name tag has broken and he was pretty torn up about it. He asks me what to do and I say (ask Hermano Sanchez for a bandaid cause he's a gentleman. )This whole conversation was in Spánish. I didn't lose my sarcasm guys, its all good. The world can keep spinning. Haha.
We started TRC on Saturday. This is where people from around Mexico City that don't speak English come and volunteer time for us to teach them. Most of them are members, but there are also quite a few that are just curious about the huge compound with a bunch of white kids in the middle of Mexico City. It was a way cool experience! I understood basically everything they were saying, even though responding to them was a different story...I tried to tell a little boy about the story of the stripling warriors (one of my favorites...its still a very viable back up plan) and realized....yep. I have zero vocabulary about fighting and swords in my bank of gospel Spanish. So that was a fun time. I gave up we just read him a scripture instead.
Random side note. Anderson and I needed hairspray pretty desperately so we went to the tienda. We had two options. We could smell like fake pomegranates (aka....super old lady moth smell) or men. We choose men. So now me and Anderson smell like guys all the time...because we also have the same sport deodorant that also smells like men. Should I have told all of you that? Probably not, but whatever. I'm an awkward missionary now. Its okay.
Also, David Archuletta came to the CCM on Friday....talk about deprived sister missionaries. They went insane. Luckily I got the best comp known to mankind and we just...kept eating. haha. No, it was pretty cool to see him there for a bit. I thought about CC the whole time and what she would do.
To explain my subject line, basically everyone here gets the 24 hour flu at one point or another...my time was yesterday. You know how last year I got certified to certify instructors and I was deathly ill and still had to do three days of getting in and out of the water and then just came home and slept all weekend...that was me yesterday. I just slept all day. Which was kinda nice, but I'm definitely glad I'm better today.
Speaking of which, the elders in our district are my absolute favorite. They all sing really well so they just have jam sessions of R and B music and tons of other songs. They are super funny and help us all stay relaxed and have fun. I just thought about that though because they asked me yesterday if I wanted a blessing. I said no, cause I was recovering and I don't want to abuse the priesthood, but its just super cool to be surrounded by people that are working towards the same goals as me. I'm really happy that >>>> and >>>>> will be in Ft Lauderdale with us. I'm upset >>>>> is going to Tallahassee, but we will still be able to talk to him through email which is awesome.
So once upon a time, my first week here, our investigator lost my brand new Spanish triple (Book of Mormon) and I was really upset because it was going to cost me 30 american dollars to replace it. You know how much I hate spending money.....so I was dragging my feet on it, but I was finally going to do it when he found it and I got it back! That was super exciting for me.
Also, I have to tell y'all about the food line here. So there is a rule that Hermanas have to go first, before the elders, and so its super beyond awkward because you walk up to the food line and someone yells "Hermanas!" and all the guys jump back against the wall and watch you get your food....so I'm just like "Lo siento, sorry I'm a girl, sorry you have to wait for me, sorry..." like the whole time I get food.
So it was a cool experience because on Friday, after I had spent all day Thursday beating myself up and just having a rough day, we read 2nd Nephi chapter 4 in class and studied it. Its Nephi's psalm where he talks about how he has made a lot of mistakes, but he "knows in whom he has trusted". I have always loved that chapter because I relate to it so much and it was cool to have it pointed out to me again at such a perfect time.
On Sunday, Sis Call shared a quote that I really liked. "One desire changes nothing, but one decision changes everything". This is something I've been working on since I got out here. I know that I want to be good, but its a hard thing sometimes to turn that into actions. Also, our Sunday night devotional was the famous Elder Holland talk he gave after the church switched over to the Preach My Gospel method of teaching. That is a good talk. Elder Holland is just amazing. I loved it.
Monday was our last day with district 9A, the ones that were STLs and everything. They left for their missions yesterday at 4 in the morning. It was really sad because they are way cool and it feels pretty empty without them here now. We get to meet our new district tomorrow though so I'm excited for that!
So I think I'm out of things to share. If there is anything I'm blatantly neglecting to share, let me know.
Oh yeah, one more thing. Anderson and I forgot our key for our casa today and so we tried to look for a way to break in...we were going to bust out the screens and climb through the window, even though we were in skirts, but the screens are bolted in so that was a no go. We waited for the other sisters to come let us in. It was sad because we wanted to do something to live on the edge a little bit...but yeah...guess not. Haha.
Love all of you mucho! Keep writing me about polo season and life and all that good stuff.
-Sister Bren Scadden