Spanish Humor

Hola everybody! This week has been crazy. Time just flies by like nobody's business.

Remember my investigator, Anna? Well we had more lessons and everything was awesome. She committed to be baptized. So great. Also, she is our new teacher.. HAHA! Should have seen that one coming. Her name is actually Hermana Resendiz and she's so nice. It's nice because I can give her hugs unlike every other person here at the MTC. I thought there would be a lot more girls here but the elders run the place. They're good to us though.

We are now teaching 2 more investigators. Daniel and Miguel. They are our other teachers. But after 5 lessons with them we are going to have real people. I'm really excited for that.

Friday was a lovely morning so I took my umbrella out of my bag. (Didn't want to carry around the extra weight). Of course that night would be the biggest rain storm of my entire life. My companion and I had to walk home in the rain. It was so cold.

I learned a joke in Spanish!! 

Cual es la diferencia entre una pera y la novia de un misionero? Una es pera y la otra no espera.

I laughed for a day and a half it was so funny to me.

Sunday is my favorite day of the week. It's so spiritual! I am also now known as the district cry baby because I just bawl my face off when I bear my testimony or feel the spirit strongly. Oh well, they're all really nice about it.

We had fast Sunday because of general conference. I got up and bore my testimony in Spanish then in Ingles because I wasn't sure if I said everything the right way. At the end of the meeting our branch president stood up and said specifically that he loved my testimony and he wants his kids to hear it. He said it gives him hope for the future in this church. Of course that made me just cry even more. It was so touching.

The elders in our district have been writing nice notes and hiding them in our scriptures. They're really nice.

Not much else has happened, just a lot of learning Spanish. Thank you all for your prayers. I love you all.

Best wishes, 

Hermana Bryan

My companion, Sister Epperson

Some of the Elders in our district.

After the walk in the Rain.

The force is with me in Mexico!

P-DAY

See ya later!

Hello everyone! The first week here at the ccm has been pretty good. It's a big change from life at home or at school. We are studying 24/7 with no down time. Spanish is hard- really hard. I'll just take you through my week a day at a time.


When I first arrived, we met the president of the CCM and his wife. They're really nice.That night we had a tour and just settled in. My companera came in on another flight so she didn't arrive until later. I am staying in a house. There are 5 rooms to a house and 4 girls to a room. We have bunk beds (I got the bottom bunk-woohoo!) It's so hard to get up in the mornings and have 4 girls share a bathroom to be ready in 30 min. Everyday is crazy. 

The second day here I got to know my companion a little more. Her name is Hermana Epperson. She is super nice. She is from Tucson Arizona. She is 5 foot nothing so I feel really tall compared to her. She knows basically the same amount of Spanish that I do (which is basically nothing) I thought my little Spanish apps and slight knowledge would help me but we bypassed my level within the first 5 min of being here in the CCM. This was the first day I learned how to say a prayer in Spanish. They gave us a little cheat sheet to look off of for the first couple of times- thank goodness. I am grateful God knows the intentions of our hearts because I don't know if even He would be able to understand my prayers the first few days. I made a personal goal to be able to say an entire prayer in Spanish by Sunday. Also, I received some great advice from my branch president. He told me: "If you want to learn Spanish, you need to eat frijoles." 

March 20th was a ton better than the previous day. I'm super glad we have 0 down time because it helps keep my mind off of missing home. We also taught our first investigator! Her name is Anna and she is nice. However, the lesson was the WORST! First lesson, so I had no clue what I was doing. Also, she doesn't speak any Ingles so it makes it hard- really hard. I thought it was just a practice lesson so I gave her my scriptures (which are nice) to read out of. She thought I gave them to her as a permanant gift and kept them after the lesson! I didn't know how to tell her I needed them back. So we told the elders that were going in after us and during their lesson she got up to use the restroom and they took the scriptures! The next elders who went in asked her if she had any scriptures and she said yes then started looking around rapidly. I felt really bad. But it was also super funny. I had no clue what to do! This was also the day we had an earthquake. It wasn't super bad but I did feel it. All the sirens started going off and we had to do an emergency drill until we were cleared to go back into the buildings.

Saturday was great. We had our second lesson with Anna. We prayed so much and studied our missionary bootys off! We even wrote down the entire lesson in Spanish so we could read it if neccessary. We went in and ended up reading most of it because it's the best we could do. Then she started talking super fast and asking questions and guess what? I UNDERSTOOD HER AND ANSWERED HER QUESTIONS IN SPANISH! It was so crazy. It was hard and some of the words I didn't know but it was totally the gift of tounges . When we walked out my companera looked at me wide eyed and said, "Wow!" she didn't know what even went on but the spirit was so strong. It was super awesome. Definitely the Lord-not me.

Sunday was the best day ever! Sacrament meeting is in Spanish. They don't announce any of the meetng until you are there sitting in your seats! You know what that means? We have to write a talk in Spanish every week. This week I was called on to say the prayer. What a blessing that I had already made a goal to pray by Sunday, right?! I said it and was grateful I had made it a goal and accomplished it. Relief society was in English, so that was another blessing.

Monday was definitely a Monday, but it was so close to pday that I made it through somehow!

Today we went to visit the temple in Mexico city. It is a beautiful place. I hope I can come back someday. The angel Moroni on top is holding scriptures in his hands as well as the usual horn. It's really cool. 

Mexico is super crazy. There are always fiestas going on and we hear cannons and gunshots daily. However, the CCM is so safe. The spirit here is so strong and I know nothing bad could happen. It's sacred ground for sure.

That's it for this week folks! Tune in next week for more Mexican madness. 

Te amo

Hermana Bryan

Safe and Sound

Your Missionary's mailing address is:

[Elder / Sister]

[Departure date 28-04-2015] [Branch - District 14-A]

Carretera Tenayuca-Chalmita #828

Colonia Zona Escolar, Gustavo A. Madero

07230 Mexico, Distrito Federal

Mexico

The estimated departure date for your missionary is April 28, 2015. The use of the

above address on all correspondence will greatly faciliate delivery to your missionary

at the MTC. Please don't send packages.

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Hi guys! I arrived safely along with all of my luggage. Mexico is crazy! But i know i am going to have fun. everyone here is so nice. my p-day is on tuesday so look for my emails on that day. (martes). My companions name is hermana Epperson (her first name is morgan) but i havent met her yet. i will tell you about her next tuesday when i email. we arent allowed to drink the water but there is a lot around to fill water bottles. the keyboards are super weird because they are spanish keyboards so excuse the awefulness of this all. Anyway, i sure love you guys and cant wait to hear from you!

much love, 

hermana bryan

P.S. i drank caffeine on the airplane. (:

Goodbyes at the airport