Dec. 14, 2013

So I am emailing a little early this week because I am leaving the CCM on Monday, and probably wont be able to contact anyone again until my next p-day in Colorado.

  Wow.  Time has flown by so fast.  It is so hard and surreal to believe that I will be in Denver in a day and a half.  The CCM has become my home and I feel like I don´t know anything else besides this.  It is just so normal for me to be here and I will feel so out of my element in Denver.  First off, it is going to be freezing cold.  I have no idea how I am going to survive through the winter.  No idea.  I´m at least pretty sure that a few of my toes will be gone by the time I get home.  The sacrifices we missionaries make for others.  What saints we all are.

  Once again, who knows what even happened this week.  The days blur together and I never have any idea what the date is.  

   On Wednesday we studied, went to class, spoke really bad Spanish, and...... Oh, we did do a service project that day.  We helped out in the kitchens of the comedor and it made me feel right at home, just like the good old days at Costa.  We cleaned the floors (Of course I was pro because of yrs of practice), sorted silverware, and got to see how the disgusting food here was made.  Honestly, I love all of the workers here.  They work so hard to provide for us and they are all so kind and cheerful.  BUT, their food is no bueno.  Siempre.   And we got to wear really really cute hairnets the whole time.  Pretty Lucky right.   But it was fun afterwards when we put them on as beards and the natives kept yelling "Santa Claus!" at us in broken english haha.

   Then lets see...more studying, more broken spanish, more class time, little sleep, bad food, and great people.  

   All day friday was our in-field orientation.  So we basically sat around all day and listened to other people talk for hours.  It actually wasn´t that bad.  All of the information was really good and it definitely calmed our nerves about going into the field.  It´s is going to be so hard, don´t get me wrong.  I know that will be spending Christmas with a family ive never met before, who probably doesn´t speak a word of English, and I know I will want to cry every single day.  But I also know that it will get easier.  And that in a few weeks, once the language truly starts to come, that being a missionary will be second nature to me.  

    Here at the CCM we get a debit card with 120 pesos on it every week, just for emergency things and so what.  And there is a little Tienda here that we can buy things and go shopping (don´t use your imagination too much, it is about the size of my bedroom)  But we love going to the tienda!  They play christmas music there now and it makes us feel almost normal haha.  Anyway, yesterday was our last day there so we just went and tried to blow all of our pesos.  We would buy a few things, and our card wouldn´t decline, so we would go in line again.  And then repeat over and over until we finally ran out.  I am pretty sure the Hermano there was tired of helping us out, but he was still super nice about it.  So mi familia, hold your breath for the best christmas presents that la tienda offers haha.  

   Remember how I told the story about Hna. McRae walking in on the little latino women in the bathroom.  Well I have now had a similiar experience.  But mine was with a fellow missionary.  I don´t know why she didn´t say anything to me, I was singing at the top of my lungs all the way to the bathroom.  I had no idea she was in there until I opened the door and she was there.  As soon as I opened the door she screamed and I was like "oh, lo siento!"  I really wasn´t embarrassed but every time she sees me now she gets really red and embarrassed.  I feel really bad but laugh really hard haha.  These kind of experiences happen a lot here at the CCM.  You truly havn´t been here long enough until you walk in on someone in the bathroom.  

   The other day we played the funnest game of handball with our District.  It was so much fun and I now love playing it.  But as I was shooting for a goal my arm went out and Elder Wegrowski ran right into it at full speed.  Basically like a charging bull.  My arm bent back as far as it could until it would go no further.  He fell to the ground and had the breath knocked out of him and I sat there thinking my arm was dislocated.  Dont worry it isn´t.  But it was really funny.  And Elder Hettinger made it even funnier with his comments "thats what you get for trying to stop Adair"  "you wish you could get past here".

    I have truly loved my District so much and just think they are all so fun.  We are seriously the best district here.  They are all like my family and everyone will be such a great missionary. 

  Well, here it is.  Denver or Bust!  Wish me luck!  

I love you all!

Love,

  Hermana Adair

Dec. 10, 2013

Baylee,

Thanks for writing me!  You liked Frozen?  All of my companions sisters have written them about it and have said they loved it!  I am excited to see it, we need to put it on the list for when I get back home.  Sledding sounds fun, but the cold and snow dont haha.  I love the weather here, it is paradise and I am scared to get to the cold of Denver.  You want a Kindle for Christmas.  haha and you say because of homework haha like I believe that!  Well good luck, I hope you get one.  All I want for Christmas is cards and letters from everyone.  With pictures drawn haha.  Have you gotten my letters yet?  It takes so dang long!  I love and miss you!

Love-

Your Sister!

Crew! 

What!  You didn´t write me this week!  Its ok, I guess I can forgive you.  But I even asked you a lot of questions.  What do you want for christmas?  tell me about sledding and playing in the snow.  Are you going to build a snowman?  Have you seen baby Camden yet?  I really miss you bud.  It is sad not to mess around with you every day, but I am having so much fun in Mexico!  It is warm, but I am inside most of the day studying!  Sometimes I feel like my head is going to explode haha.  Love you!  Write me next week!

Love, Andee

November 26, 2013

I am sitting here at the computer and honestly can´t think of anything to type haha.  Time has gone by so fast that I feel like I just emailed yesterday and nothing new has happened.  So my thoughts are not in order and this will probably be a super sporadic and confusing email.  Sorry.  

I love my compañera Hermana McRae!  We have gotten to the point that we know each other so good that all we do is make fun of each other and laugh so hard all of the time.  Actually I feel like my whole District is my family and we have always known each other.  I especially love the other Hermanas.  And guess what!? Hermana Heaton, who is entirely amazing and so much fun, is from St. George.  I forgot to tell you that earlier.  So we have already decided that we are basically going to be best friends for life and travel the world together.  We laugh together all of the time and have a lot of fun.  Hermana Moser is just a few hours north so she will come down some weekends and party with us.  And Hermana McRae and I will get together every time that I am down in Mesa visiting family.  It is awesome how we are all so close and connected.  You know the move "sisterhood of the traveling pants"?  Well we are going to have our own travelling scarf and send it back and forth throughout our mission.  Then we will have a CCM reunion at Disneyland where we will have a ceremony and burn the scarf in front of the castle.  JK, I don´t think that would fly well with security.

    We now have 2 investigators and it seemed like we are teaching all of the time.  Hermana McRae and I work really good together.  We usually don´t thoroughly plan and write out our entire lesson like the other missionaries.  We go in and just let the spirit work as best it can.  The first time we went into a lesson with nothing but our spanish scriptures we were freaking out a little bit.  Because what if we remembered no spanish! But it actually does work!  Our lessons flow and usually make sense and we basically finish each others sentence.  It is really cool and we love that we are basically perfect companions for each other.  We always feel pretty bomb after our lessons.

   Except for our lessons on Friday.  It was a really off day and just basically no bueno.  The Español was not flowing and it was a little rough.  but the outcome was good, our investigator Guirrmo basically begged to be baptized.  So we have a date set for that and now just need to make sure he understands the committment.  And we need to work with Elias more as well.

   Hermana McRae and I sing together all of the time.  She is basically amazing and makes me sound horrible but we have a lot of fun.  Our latest songs have been from Mama Mia haha!  It is a blast.  

  Actually weird thing, a lot of people have commented on how pretty my voice sounds when I sing.  At first I thought everyone was just being really big fat liars until I heard it multiple times.  But I can testify that it is God only making me comfortable with being bold and singling loud.  

    So last week I bragged about not being sick.  But bragging is a sin and now I am paying for it.  Basically the whole CCM is infected with a super bad virus that is a cold on steroids.  Actually its like a cold hulk style.  Just understand that it is pretty bad.  My whole District had it and now I have it.  I have already gone through over 2 packs of kleenix's today and it is not even 3 pm yet!  I hope I will get over it soon.  And Hermana McRae is the only one who has not been sick.  But I tell her she has no chance because she is my companion.  

   This Saturday and Sunday were really rough days for me.  I had the worst migraine I have ever had in my entire life.  Which is truly saying something.  It started Sat. and just escalated and went for almost 2 days straight.  I have never felt more pain then I did those two days.  It got to the point where my body would shake completely, I would get dizzy, throw up, and basically black out to where I couldnt see anything anymore.  It got really scary and I think I freaked my whole District out.  But it also brought the most amazing blessing and spiritual experience I have ever really had.  I asked for a blessing Sunday evening, (dont ask me why I waited to so long to get it.  The only defense I have is that I wasnt right in the head) from our District leader Elder Wegrowski.  He was terrified because he had never given a blessing before and was shaking beforehand.  And it was really cool because all of the Elders in my District joined in as well.  This was the most amazing blessing I have ever received.  It even beat my incredible setting apart from President Rollins.  

   This blessing was so different then anything else.  Just everything it said was so unexpected yet completely made sense.  I was told to do completely simple things and then I would be healed completely from my pain.  Stuff was said about my past that no one knows here.  And stuff was said about my mission in the future and it was totally freaky but incredible.  There was no doubt in my mind whatsoever that my blessing was from God.  I didn´t hear Elder Wegroskis voice as her spoke, I heard God´s.  It honestly felt more like a Patriachal blessing then just a blessing of healing.  

  After my blessing everyone was sobbing when I looked up.  The spirit was so strong.  It would have probably been too thick to even cut.  No one spoke for at least 15 minutes.  No one could.  And everyone admitted that it was the most spiritual experience they have ever felt in their entire life.  Words can not do it justice, I wish they could.  But I have no doubt that the power of priesthood is truly the power of God.  And this is an experience that I will treasure for my entire life.  And it brought my District together so much.  We really are a family.  

     I don´t know how I got so blessed to have God speak to me in such a profound way.  It blows my mind and I have so much to be grateful for.  I am just glad I am on a mission so I can repay him a fraction of what he has given me.      

But good news.  I have done exactly what I was  told in my blessing and now my migraine is gone.  And even though my cold is rough, I would take this for the rest of my entire life instead of having one day of my previous pain.  So I am completely happy!

   We went to the temple again today.  It was truly amazing.  Just with everything that has gone on and how much I felt loved and blessed by God, it was the best temple experience I have ever had.  And this time I also went through in Spanish.  It went good and I could understand a decent amount of what they were saying.  But when it came time for me to talk I messed up a bit and I think the little Hispanic Hermana got a little irritated with me.  She didn´t understand why I had no idea what she was saying.  But she was super nice afterwards haha  They were decorating the temple grounds for Christmas and covered practially the whole gardens with poinssetas(spelling is comletely wrong.  But the pretty red flowers that are everywhere during christmas)  I only wish we could go at night see all of the lights lit up.  We are thinking of bribing our teacher Hermana León and see what he says haha.  

     I am so sick of the food here.  I just want to eat normal things, especially fruit that I am not allergic to. (cantaloupe, honeydoo, and watermelon)  That is all they ever serve here. Besides some pinnapple occasionally, which is always amazing.  And now we play a game of "who can find the hot dog" first during every meal.  It is pretty depressing.    

 Well, I wish this letter was a little more entertaining or full of funny stories.  But I honestly can not think of anything else to say.  Except I truly have a testimony of this Gospel and it has just grown más grande this past few weeks here in the CCM.  I love everyone so much and can´t wait to have my family grow as I meet more and more people every week!  

-Love, Hermana Adair!

These are some letters that Andee sent the family from the MTC.  They are dated Nov. 11, 2013.  They took five weeks to get to us.

Baylee!!! Mi Hermana!!
    Como Estas?  (How are you)  I miss  you so much already and it has only been a few days!  How is the new room?  It's nice to have your own isn't it.  You will have to send me pictures so I can see how you guys changed everything.  Especially in my room.  How are the fish?  I hope they are still alive.  Haha.  
   The MTC here in Mexico is so cool.  It is beautiful and there are palm trees everywhere!  I live in casa 22 and share a room with 3 other girls.  My companion is Hermana McRae and she is going to my same mission, cool, huh!  Plus she is from Mesa, Az.  
   Spanish is hard but I love it and feel like we are learning so fast!  It's like I am in school for 14 hours a day!  And I have to wake up at 6:00 each morning.  No Bueno!  But we play volleyball almost every day.  Which is so much fun!  The sidewalk here is uper uneven so I trip al of the time!!  Haha!  And they have amazing chocolate chip cookies called, "chokis" that everyone is addicted to!  They are so good!!  You probably wouldn't like the food here, sometimes it is a little weird...
   Do you miss me already?  Has anything exciting happened in Cedar City since I left?  
   I hope you know how much I love you!!  Never forget!
             Love, Hermana Adair
P.S.  We play a game here called falling dinosaurs.  We spin in a circle for awhile and then race as far as we can without falling.  It is fun, you should play it with your friends sometime!  I will try and smuggle you some amazing cookies home.  Try and learn some spanish so we can talk secretly when I get home and no onw will know what we are saying!!

Crew!!
   Tiene mi hermano! (you are my brother. Haha)  Crew!  How is everything?  How do you like your own room?  Did mom let you keep my bass guitar?  I hope so, you better learn to play it!  It is so cool here, you would love it.  The houses (casas) we all live in are different colors.  My casa is #22 and is green.  I'm pretty sure you wouldn't ear any of the food here, but every Tuesday is pizza night.  Woohoo!  
   Guess what?  We found a huge cockroach in our casa last night.  Not in our room but in the hall.  Me and my companion were too scared to step on it- it was huge.  So some other missionaries arrived alte and screamed so loud ( I didn't scream) then killed it and it was so gross!!  Guts everywhere!
   Spanish is fun but alot of hard work, I have to sit in school all day long!  How does that sound?  I showed some other missionaries your baptism pictures and they all thought you were so cute!  They called you a "Stud Muffin"  Haha!  I love you so much and miss you!
   Adios,    Hermana Adair

Mom and Dad,
   Sorry, you guys get to share a letter, I only bought 5 envelopes for this week.  Today is my P-day and I just got done e-mailing everyone.  Even though I wrote quite a bit I have a lot more stories I wanted to tell you but didn't have enough time read the e-mails and then write everything.  So I will probaly send a letter every week with more details and stories.  I tried to put different stories in each letter, so be sure to read them all and possibly type them and put them on the blog, haha- they better tell the experiences I am having.  And sorry if I repeat anythin.  How is the blog- did you remember how to do it?  Does Crew really sleep with my blanket?  How sad- I miss him and the made me want to cry.  I miss home but mostly my bed,  Haha!  Mine isn't very comfy and it is hard for me to sleep way good.  Oh and the shower is horrible!!  Literally only 5 holes work on the shower head nad it is so hard!  I feel like my skin was being ripped off!  It's like a form of torture!  I feel like I am a prisoner of war!!  But we do call the CCM our spiritual prison haha!  Let's see, what haven't I talked about yet...
   My teache is Maestro Leon (like lion, super cool)  He is 22, got off his mission about a year ago and is a native from Mexico City.  He is honestly the nicest and most sincere guy!  He doesn't speak english, which I guess is better for us to learn, but we have alot of fun in class.  WE mainly focus on spanish right now, but do have a few gospel and teaching classes intermixed.  Spanish is amazing!  I don't know tons but I love the language so much.  And even though it is hard and seems impossible to ever be fluent, we really are progressing fast.  I actually understand a little when others speak and I am starting to form actual sentences.  No more going by just one word for this girl anymore!  In my e-mail I talke about our first investigator, Juan Carlos.  It is really hard to teach in spanis right now but each lesson is getting better.  He is reading the BOM has learned how to pray with us, and is going to church with us on Sunday!  Now obviously he is not a real investigator but it still feels good when we improve.  And all of our teachers have told us to pray for him, what to teach him and that the holy ghost will let us know what his needs are.  Hermana McRae and I both thought that was weird at first because he is just acting.  How can we learn what his needs are when he doesn't really have any...?  But it truly does help!  The spirit knows we are only practicing but still know what we need to do.
   I love how much we pray here, it is literally all the time.  And I love how perfectly normal it is to pray in public and not feel weird or out of place.  It will be hard to return to reality once I am out of the CCM.  Me and Hermana McRae pray a lot together-it really makes us closer as companions!  
   The campus is beautiful here- just absolutely gorgeous.  In a way it reminds me of the little town in the movie Edward Scissorhands, haha, just with alot more trees.  All of the casa roofs are different colors, it is so green, and everything just seems too perfect!  Like there is a dark secret about this place or something weird is going to happen, Haha.  But this place belongs to the Lord so I guess it really can be perfect!
   Sundays here are absolutely amazing!  We have study time for a few hours in the morning and then go to Relief Society.  Sister Pratt teaches ( the Presidents wife)  and the lesson was truly amazing!  The spirit was so strong and I loved being surrounded by so many amazing daughters of God!  Plus the meeting was in englis so that was a bonus.  Then we have a meeting with only our distrcit-it's basically sunday school.  Then we have sacrament with our branch.  Our branch consists of 2 other districts and ours.  Everyone is way cool.  Sacrament is in spanish and 6 of us have to speak.  On Thurs. we are assigned a topic and have to each write a talk in spanish, then find out who is speaking an hour or so before the meeting.  I wasn't picked to talk but my companion was!  She was nervous but did great!  I love my branch pres. and his counselor.  They are both amazing men who truly care so much.  They sang, ' Senor te necissito' (I need Thee Every Hour)  It was the most beautiful thing I have ever heard.  And that song might possibly be my new favorite.  Hymns in spanish are so beautiful, you should look some up.
   Here is another cool story about hymns in spanish.  The first day all of the new missionaries sang "Called To Serve" in spanish together and it was very neat.  The spirit was very thick in the room.  
   Anyway, back to Sunday.  We had an hour long meeting where Pres. Pratt taught a lesson.  And of course, it was just amazing.  About being truly converted.  We had a devotional where a speaker came and was hilarious and also very motivationg.  Then every Sunday we get to watch a movie! Yay! It's the best!  (In a Nacho Libre voice)  Of course they are church movies but they are still great!
   Did I mention that I love my district?  Well I do.  Especially Hermana Heaton and Hermana Moser.  There is also Elder Grzan and Nyholm.  Elder Hittinger and Summerhays.  And Elder Wregrowski and Mortimer.  They are all awesome and have a lot of fun.  Sometimes we have tyo seperate or else we will talk too much and not get anything done!  But Hermana Moser, who has never taken spanish ever in her life, is getting really discouraged.  She feels she doesn't understand anything that is going on and cry's almost everyday.  It is so sad to see her because she is the nicest and happiest person I have ever met.  But I know that God will help her.
   I know this is kind of a long letter but I am using it as a way to keep a journal and remember everything.  So be sure to make copies of all my letters and keep them safe!
   Thanks for all of the work to get me here!  I love you both so much!  It is amazing here!
  Love, Hermana Adair 

                                                December 10, 2013

Since I did not have time to write an group email last week I will be writing about 2 weeks today.  Ill let you know the week changes.  

So the week before was absolutely insane and went by so long.  I felt like it would never end.  Probably because I just kept getting sicker and sicker, I was not sure that I would ever make it out of the CCM alive.  I don´t even know what I had but it was horrible.  For over a week I could barely stand and walk, let alone actually study productively and learn in class.  It was a little rough and I admit that I kept asking God, "Why Now?!"  I need to be learning spanish not falling behind!  But I think I figured out why I had to be so sick last week.

   As I might have mentioned before, Hermana Heaton has been so so sick.  It is with something more permanent and she has had her entire life, but the pain and problems have just escalated since she has come to Mexico.  So I ended up staying with her a few times and trying to get some rest so I might get better.  But we ended up talking a lot more then sleeping haha.  We are so much alike and got into some serious conversation.  Now I feel like she knows me almost as good as anyone.  We both want to do the same things in life and both feel so strongly that we are meant to do something great together and change the world.  We have already planned our first trip together haha.  It is awesome she is right in St. George.  But anyway, after thinking about it, I really think this is why I have been so sick.  I would have never talked to her that much without being on my deathbed.  It was funny because we would look over at each other and just laugh, we were so pathetic looking.  

   The best part of my week was laying in the middle of the sidewalk enjoying the sun with Hna. Heaton.  I was so tired and I have never felt so happy in my entire life.  I did fall off a curb in my sleep and she talked about having cancer and making a wig out of her own hair, but it was a great hour.  

  Thanksgiving was pretty much the same as every day here.  But there was an amazing Thanksgiving meal during lunch!  It was actually a legitimate holiday meal!  No hotdogs involved.  And the pumpkin pie was divine.  I dont know if it was actually the food that was great or it was just something different.  And we had a Thanksgiving devotional that night which was great.  Hna. McRae and Moser were in the choir that night and all of the lights went off when they were singing haha!  We laughed so hard.  

   So you know how I mentioned that Hna. Heaton was so sick...well she ended up having to go home :(  She hasnt been able to get out of bed for a week and just really needed to return home for some medical tests.  So Sunday was a little rough.  We knew she was leaving and it was sad.  During sacrament we sang "God be with you till we meet again" (which is the CCM goodbye song here).  We sobbed throughout the whole song and I am pretty sure that we scared the new Hermanas who came.  But oh well.  

  But funny story, President Pratt (president of the CCM) has been talking with Heaton about her leaving but had missed 4 appointments with her.  He knew how long she had been sick and how bad she needed to go home but didn´t do anything about it for a whole week!  He kept putting it off and it was making us mad because we are the ones who would see her in so much pain.  So, after missing the meeting to plan her flight once again, I went up to Pres. Pratt sunday night, and told him exactly what I thought.  I was completely respectful of course, but let him know that he has to do something more to get Hna. Heaton home.  That he had no idea how bad it was and he needed to step up and get her a flight home.  haha needless to say, he doesn´t like me very much anymore.  

   Anyway, Monday we had to move to a new casa, we are becoming a Trio with Hermana Moser since Heaton was leaving.  McRazy and I were a little nervouse because there is a lot of drama involved around her.  So our new room is tiny!  and Me and McRae share a tiny closet, but esta bien.  Tuesday morning we had to wake up at 2 in the morning to bring Hna. Heaton to reception so she could fly home.  It was so sad but she was rushed onto a van so we really didn´t get to say goodbye :(.  Which is probably for the best.  We are all staying in touch throughout our mission anyway.  

Then pday happened.  It was a super boring day.  We took a nap, did laundrey, had a devotional.  nothing new.

Now onto this week!  (sorry this email is so long.  But once I get started writing I cant stop)

Once again, the days all blend together and I feel like nothing has happened this week.  We went to class, I got a tutor in spanish to hopefully learn a lot more.  Moser had a few breakdowns,  um what else....  Spanish is getting a little better but still so hard.  I just want to speak it so bad but cant.  We did have our best lesson ever the other day.  The spirit was truly there and we were able to teach clearly and get to know our investigator and his needs.  Our Trio has been doing a lot better then we first thought it would be.  We all get along really well and have fun together.

   Have I told you guys my jersey story?  well they sell really awesome Mexico soccer jerseys here at the tienda that you can get your name on, and McRazy and I instantely bought one.  THey take about a week to get here.  The first time they came, they got the entirely wrong size.  A womens small.  Baylee wouldnt have even fit into this size, the latinos are so short and tiny.  So we tried again, and I was so excited to finally get my jersey!  I knew that the joy I would feel from it would instantely heal me from my sickness.  It truly would.  But nay, it was not to be.  Once again they got the size wrong!  It was really frustrating!  We had been waiting almost 3 weeks.  Finally, last friday, we went again and although they got wrong sizes again, they were decent.  So we gave up and just took what we had.  They are fine and we are just excited to finally have them.  

     Another funny story, Hermana McRae had to use the restroom one day, so she goes in while Moser and I just wait out the door.  When all of a sudden we hear screaming, so of course as the good companion I am, I run into the restroom to see what is wrong.  I guess McRae accidently walked in on a small latino worker using the restroom.  So she just stood in the door way, screamed, then yelled "Lo siento! Lo siento!"  It was hilarious!  And then she just kept apologizing from the other stall over.  Oh my gosh, I could not breathe.  But the best part is when we were teaching our investigator the next day, and we saw the same women through the window while we were teaching.  She smiled so big and kept waving to McRae and laughing, It basically made my entire week.

   We got a new district in our zone and our Trio is the new Sister Missionary trainers for all 3 districts.  Which is kind of cool.  It is fun to get to know all of the Hermanas and help them out with whatever.  They all seem so much younger but are exactly the same age as us haha.  

  Now here is a slightly sad story about the new District.  The 2nd day they got here we decided to play Steal the flag with them, trying to be nice and all.  But not even a full minute into the game one of the elders fell and smashed his face into the concrete.  I guess he tripped on something...?  But he came up covered in blood and mission multiple teeth, it was pretty gruesome.  They rushed him to the hospital immediately.  He is going to need some plastic surgery and get new teeth but he is staying at the CCM.  It was just such a weird thing that happened and we all felt so bad.  But he is doing completely fine now, he just cant eat too much, which is hard for those elders.  

  Sunday was as amazing as ever.  The spirit was strong and we were able to watch a live Christmas devotional in the evening.  I can not believe that it is already that time of year.  I love it here.  The grounds are covered in flowers, there are trees, and there is a huge nativity by the comedor.  Plus, a lot of the houses behind us on the hill have put Christmas lights up!  It looks so cool!  Although, most flash different colors and it is a little disorienting.  I wouldnt be surprised if someone got a seizure from them one day.  

  And today is pday again!  We went to the temple this morning and it was so amazing!  The Mexico City temple is beyond gorgeous and I love the Celestial Room.  I just wish that everyone could go there someday.  It was sad to think that this might be the last time I ever get to go there.  I hope not.  But I went through in spanish again, and this time was a lot better.  The lady was so nice and I was able to understand almost everything she was saying.  Once I can finally speak spanish, I know I will love the language so much.  

   Todays letter was way long and way scatter-brained, lo siento.  It is hard to put your thoughts done correctly when you are short on time and want to include everything.  But I want everyone to know that I have a huge testimony of this gospel, and how much it truly blesses my life.  It has honestly become everything to me and all I want to do is share this happiness with the world.  I love everyone so much and am so thankful for the support and love I feel every single day!

Love You all!

Love,

  Hermana Adair

p.s. I cant believe I leaving on MONDAY!  Yikes!

November 19, 2013 Week 2

     
   Time here flies by so fast!  We are already on week 3 and have less then a month here!  The CCM is just as beautiful and gorgeous as it was the last 2 weeks!  I love it so much here and it feels so normal and right to be here.  

  I sleep decent here.  The only thing that is a problem at times is one of my roommates who snores almost as loud as dad.  I´m not exageratting about this, she can seriously hold her own.  It finally got to the point where Hermana McRae and I had to beg our other roommate for ear plugs.  They help and it was hilarious when the Hermana Baldwin(the snorer)  finally asked, "Where in the world did all of you guys get matching earplugs!  Thats not even possible)  It was super funny.  

  The oils I brought are amazing!  I am not even joking.  Half my District and I would be dead without them!  So thank you so much Grandma!  So many people are sick here and I am just waiting for Hermana McRae and I to catch it.  Hermana Heaton, who is in my District has been so sick.  But not with anything normal.  Its something thats pretty serious she has had her whole life and thought that her faith would help her through it.  It is something with her stomach and not accepting the food she eats, but I don´t understand much more.  It is so sad to watch her be in pain and how much she wants to stay here and serve.  So the Elders in our District gave her a blessing and it was amazing.  The things that were said were so true and it really brought our District together as a family.  It was something I will always remember.  

    Almost every day for physical activity we play volleyball with a lot of the missionaries from our zone.  And can I just say, I am AWESOME!  I have seriously never played this good before in my life.  And somehow I can even jump high enough to spike the ball.  Like a legitimate spike that leaves people in awe haha.  No joke, I even had on Elder Bowing at me once haha.  I felt pretty dang cool.  At times, when the gym is full, we play in the sand court and it is so much harder.  Every time the ball goes up in a serve or hit, your face gets showered in sand.  I have a beach on my cheekbones every time we get done.  

   The other day an Elder accidenttily farted during our class time, and it was the best thing that has happened here.  We were all quiet for awhile, you know, trying to be polite and just ignore what happened.  Until we look over at Elder Grzan and he looks like he is in such physical pain because he is trying so hard to not laugh.  Then we all start laughing hysterically and could not stop.  Even our Maestro finally sat on the floor because he couldn´t breathe anymore.  This went on spontaneously all day.  Even anyone remembered this incident they would bey hysterical suddenly and it would all start over.  It is probably one of those things where you had to have been there.  But let me assure you, there was no dry eyes in our District that day.  

    I hate hotdogs.  I´ve never truly like them before, but now I hate them adamantly.  To the point where if I ever see anyone even in a hotdog suit I will probably run over and shove them to the ground.  The put hotdogs in everything here!  It is in salads, soup, pasta, bread, enchiladas, beans, rice.  You name it, and I am sure there is a hotdog disguised somewhere in it.  And the hotdogs are what make you sick here.  For real, we would rather not eat then have something with a hot dog.  So that Digest-zen oil has saved the lives of my entire district and has spared us from some super scary things.  Im sure you can only imagine what.  

   You know how in my last letter I said I loved Spanish?  Well that was a lie.  Despise is a strong word but I am still considering using it.  It is so hard here.  You spend hours and hours trying to learn just a few sentences and it is so hard not to get discouraged.  Yes, I know a little more Spanish then I used to but not as much as I want.  We see everyone here so fluent and so many missionaries are learning fast and easy, its hard to watch.  For example, an Elder in our District barely knew any spanish but now he is almost fluent.  It is insane and we just stare at him in wonder.  He says its because the Lord knew he needed the extra help learning and so that means that the Lord knows we are capable of learning on our own.  I hope he is right, I don´t feel like I will ever be able to speak fluent Spanish.  The best I can do when a Latino comes up to talk to me is go all tribal on them.  With lots of weird, intangible sounds coming from my mouth accompanied with hand gestures and charades.  It is not a very pretty sight. 

   The lessons with our investigator has been improving a lot though, which is super excited.  It is getting easier to understand and talk with him.  But we have been focusing on the language more and havn´t had the spirit as strong as we should have.  So this last lesson with him we sang a hymn to bring the spirit.  Yes, you just heard that right.  I sang a hymn, OUT LOUD, to someone.  It wasn´t too bad actually.  But it definitly set the tone for the rest of the lesson.  Hermana McRae and I flowed and were able to commit him to baptism!  YAY!  He kept saying how he wants to follow Christ and be good but doesn´t understand why he cant do that without baptism.  So I whipped out 2nd Nephi and showed him where Christ was baptised and the Lord says that we need to follow his example and be baptized also.  So then of course Juan kept saying how he wasn´t ready and he just needed to learn more.  But I kept assuring him that if he truly had faith in Jesus Christ then baptism was the first step to show that Faith unto him.  And that afterwards his Heavenly Father would bless his faith and help him with everything.  I wouldnt have pressured him if he wasnt ready but he was.  He was just chickening out at the last moment.  So we were super stoked and glad of our success.

  Now we have a new investigator.  His name is Elias Nefichili. He is young and went to church once and became interested.  This lesson mí comañera and I decided not to bring any language books, phamplets, or notes into the lessons.  Just us and our scriptures.  Which was really nerve wracking because we do not speak any spanish at all.  But the spirit was there and it went great.  We came up with things to say and we were even finishing each others sentences in Español.  Which is Crazy!  The spirit was guiding us toward what to say and we both knew what we had to do.  We asked him if he read the LDM(Libro de Mormon) and sincerly prayed to God and knew it was true, if he would commit to baptism.  He said yes!  So he really wants to know the truth. Elias said he felt our sincerity and felt something.  He is getting really excited and wants to only find the truth.  We are excited but also stressed to continue teaching him.  

   Um, funny and random story.  I can now rip apples in half with my bare two hands.  It is very cool and makes me feel empowered haha.  Hermana Heaton taught me how and I was demonstrating in my casa when 2 Hermanas arrived just in time to see me break it.  The were pretty impressed haha.

   And now I slackline as well.  If you don´t know what it is then look it up, its pretty cool.  It is like tight rope but much bouncier.  An Elder brought one and it has been fun to practice on.  

  So you know how everyone says the MTC is the most spiritual place ever?  And how people feel the spirit so strong here?  Well I was struggling a little because I felt like I haven´t been feeling the spirit here almost at all.  Only during Hermana Heaton´s blessing.  That was until Sunday.  Oh my goodness, Sundays are amazing here!  I think in a letter I wrote in the mail I explained last Sunday and told about it.

   But I absolutely love Sundays!!  We start with Relief Society with Sister Pratt, and the lessons are always amazing.  Then Sunday School with our District and then we have Sacrament.  This gets a little nervewracking because we are given a topic for talks around Thursday but don´t know who will be speaking until actual Sacrament.  But thank goodness it wasn´t me.  It was Hermana Heaton.  And as soon as she stood up you could feel the spirit so strong.  IDK what it is about her but I just love her to death!  She truly is amazing.  Then an Elder in the other District played an amazing song on the piano about Josephs smiths first vision.  It was so beautiful that we were all crying.  It could not be helped.  Then guess what, I was called up to bear my testimony!  Yikes, I couldn´t even tell he said my name because he had such a strong accent.  I probably should have done it in Spanish but couldnt recall one word.  So I did it in English.  which is better because everyone knew what I was saying and I was able to adequetly express my feelings.  The spirit was really strong when I bore my testimony.  I have never had anything like that happen before.  I cried and others cried.  It was crazy and super weird haha.  And then all day I just kept on crying!  I had felt the spirit so strong and just couldnt get my eyes to stop.  How weird, especially for me.  Every Sunday we watch a church movie, which is the best part of our week haha.  This week´s was the Testaments.  About Jesus Christ and also the people in the Americas.  I have seen it many times before but it truly just hit on Sunday.  It was amazing.  The spirit was so strong throughout the auditorium and everyone was crying their eyes out!  Everyone!!  Elders and Sisters.  Which was good and made it less awkward that I was crying.  It was a really special moment and truly testified to all of us about our Savior and that HE LIVES!.  It is still so surreal to be surrounded by so many amazing and strong spirits.  I love it.  And I love how strong the spirit was on sunday.  It was exactly what I needed and will never forget the way I felt throughout that day.  

  I am sorry this letter was so long,  we had more time then usual to write and I wanted to make sure and tell you everything.  Or almost everything haha.  So much happens here it is impossible to keep track of it all.  But I truly do love it here and have met so many people I want to always stay in touch with.  

  I want everyone to know I truly have a testimony of this Gospel and the happiness it can bring to everyones life.  I wouldn´t be here if I didn´t feel that way.  I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and that he atoned for my sins and for yours.  He loves us more then we can ever comprehend on this earth.  

I love you all so much.

Until next week!

Love, 

Hermana Adair

The selfie of me with my nametag is super ghetto, I will have an official one next time.

 This picture is with all of the Hermanas in my district. (Left to Right): Hermana McRae, Hermana Heaton, Hermana Moser, and Me.

These two are our view of the outside from inside this spiritual prison.

(Andee's Literal Words)

Week 1, November 12, 2013

Hola Mi Familia!  

I can not believe that I have already been here almost one week!  Time flies by so fast yet so slow.  Every hour is a year but every day is only an hour.  Does that make sense?  Thursday was a lot of orientation stuff and just getting the feel of the CCM.  (MTC means missionary training center, but in spanish the initials are CCM.  And pronounced ce ce eme.)  So I love the CCM!  I feel really at home here and know that this is where I belong.  The campus is so beautiful.  It is so green and all of the houses are different colors.  Then right outside the gates it is like an ocean of houses stacked on top of one another.  What a culture shock.  The first day they spoke English for us, but after that it has been mostly spanish.  But still not as much as I expected.  But I love hearing Spanish everywhere around here.  I love saying Hola or Buenos Dias, or even being called Hermana.  

  On day two they seriously threw us to the curb and gave us an investigator that only knew spanish!  His name is Juan Carlos Ramirez.  Our first lesson was basically a trainwreck.  lets just say there were a lot of awkward pauses and nervous laughs.  But the next day(we teach investigators almost every day)  went so much better!  Surprisingly better actually.  I was able to pull sentences and words out of nowhere and after I was like "whoa, where the mexicó did that come from?!"  The gift of tongues truly does reside here.  I have only been here 6 days and already I can understand quite a bit and am able to come up with sentences and speak muy pequito.  

  But that doesnt mean that things are easy here.  We spend 14 hours a day just running around, studying, and hitting our heads against the wall.  At times it is easy to get discouraged.  After our first lesson Hermana McRae and I were just not feeling it.  It almost felt hopeless and we could not focus the rest of the day.  If you let any inch of doubt come in your mind then that is when Satan takes over.  He himself has no power.  It is only us who lets him in willingly so he can work his magic.  But ever since then we have been staying positive and know it has only been a week.  

  All of the missionaries who are on their 4th week seem so old and mature haha.  Even though they are the same age as us.  And their Spanish seems so much more advanced then ours.  They give us a lot of hope for the future.  

  Everyone here is so so nice.  I can honestly say I have not heard one negative thing coming from any Hermana or Eldér.  It really is just a bubble of peace and happiness here.  I love how much we pray.  We pray all the time.  Morning, every meal, before study time, during lessons, before teaching, night.  And a lot of the time it is with my companion.  I can even pray in Spanish now.  At times it is hard to come up with tangible things and I just thing, please forgive me God if I am saying any bad words haha.  But I am excited to be fluent.  I only wish I could roll my Rs so I wont sound like a Gringo.  

  I love Hermana McRae.  Our personalities are actually very similar but she is definitely a little louder and more outgoing then me.  But you would be surprised about some of the things that I do here haha.  There is this game called Falling Dinosaurs.  You basically spin in a circle for what seems like forever then you all race.  The first time I played Hermana Fisí-ahi ran into me and I got thrown into a wall!  haha it is hilarious and we do it if we are tired and need energy.   also love my District.  All of the Eldérs are a blast and I especially love Hermana Moser and Hermana Heaton.  They are the other sisters in our district.  We spend almost all of our time with our district and everyone says we will get very close.  We have played a lot of volleyball which is fun.  Sometimes we get a little too into it when we are not supposed to be competitive haha.  

   The food here isnt too bad.  Actually sometimes it is super good.  But there are a lot of weird combinations.  It can be scary.  But there is always a Nutella bar! haha The money the church must spend to go through so many jars of Nutella each day.  So far we have only had one Nutella sandwich and one bowl of cereal with it. (Try putting a spoonful of Nutella in some frosted flakes-best thing ever)  All we do is sit around and then only get and hour a day of exercise, so we definintly have to limit ourselves.  

  Today we went to the temple.  The Mexico city temple is so beautiful!  It seems so huge and I loved going.  Our first time through we can do it in english but the rest of the time has to be in spanish.  And we only go ever other week.  But I loved it.  Even though the bus ride there was terrifying!  People here are amazing drivers.  They have to be to tailgate, brake, and swerve the way they do without getting in constant accidents.  I tailgate so I would probably fit in perfectly here haha!  Plus on the way back to the CCM we actually hit a car.  No joke.  But no one stopped so I guess it is actually a regular occurance.

  I love the spirit that is constantly here.  I especially love the hymns in spanish.  They are so beautiful.  You all should learn some, it is worth it.  

Please forgive me for any grammar errors.  The keyboard is different and I do not have the time to go back and fix things.  We only get a little while.  But I am sending out letters today with more stories and more detail.  So feel free to post them all on the blog.  Tell everyone I love them so much and miss them.  I am so grateful for everyones support!

-Love, Hermana Adair

November 7, 2013 (Day 1)

 Alright, this morning I have a few more minutes to write.  We got in so late last night and it was hard to wake up so early this morning.  It seemed to take forever to wait for my bus, and get back to the MTC.  But the ride there was cool.  Very neat to see the city and the lifestyle here.  I even got to see the Temple here at night, it was so beautiful.  My companion is Hermana Mcrae from Mesa, AZ; and it turns out that she knows some of our family down in the valley.  What a small world!  Plus she is going to the Denver South mission as well, very cool.  I have my nametag! I will attach a picture as soon as I have more time. 

My p-days will be on Tuesdays.  So expect an email sometime then every week.  I will also be going to the temple every week on Tuesday.  Which I am excited for.   And please send me a list of emails for family and friends that want to be on my forwarding list.  And if you could have grandma send me a email with the notes she took from my blessing.  I really want to read over them and remember the blessings in store for me. 

Your Dennys story was funny.  I can´t believe you were all hysterical, you know how I feel about that.  But the sisters are all so nice here and I cant wait to start my lessons and begin really learning spanish. 

Oh and I saw all the cards and notes in my bag.  Thank you.  I havent had time to read them yet but cant wait.  And these keyboards are weird, so dont judge me too harshly for any grammatical errors. 

Madee, Thanks for your email.  It really meant a lot.

Love you all.  Thanks for supporting me.

November 6, 2013

Hola Mi Familia!
  I Made it safely to the MTC.  It was a long day and I was alone the entire time.  I expected to meet up with some missionaries at SLC but it didnt happen.  And the time between my flights was super short, I had to almost run every time to make my flight.  And my gate got changed to Mexico so I had to run back a forth a few times.  But I feel completely at home here and know this is where I am supposed to be.  I already have such a strong love for the culture from just being here a few hours.  Love you all.  Make sure to forward this to all family!

-Hermana Adair

The End.

  This is it.  The day where my life ends yet also begins anew.  I have finished packing up the 19 years of dreams and collections that once lay in my room.  My suitcases are filled to the brim, and my nerves are skyrocketing.  Tomorrow I officially leave for my mission.
   A million things are going through my mind.  Am I really prepared for this?  Will I even understand one word anyone is saying at the MTC?  Will I freeze in Denver?
  Yet as I have these thoughts, an overwhelming feeling of peace comes over me.  I am doing what God wants, and as long as I have Faith, everything will be fine.  I am so grateful for the knowledge of a Heavenly Father who I can put my trust in.
   I am also so so so so so EXCITED to go!  I am ready for a new adventure!  I am ready to serve God's children and meet so many amazing people!  I can't wait to have companions(i'm hoping I will quickly learn to not go insane with one.)  And I can't wait to learn the spanish language.
   I just want to say how thankful I am for all of my friends and family who have supported me over the years.  You all have truly made a difference in my life.
  From now on my mom will updating this blog by posting all of my letters.  Feel free to email me anytime!

Thanks! See you in 18 months!
      Hermana Adair!

The Call

   I waited over 3 weeks for my call to arrive in the mail.  It was agony!  But can I say, it arrived at the perfect moment.

   It's pretty common knowledge that most mission calls come in the mail on a Thursday.  So by Thursday July 25th, I was crossing my fingers, rubbing a rabbbits foot, and praying very hard that my call would come in the mail.  Because my Dad was leaving for Africa that very night for over 10 days!  And no way would I be able to await his return to open my call.  But the heavens shown down on me and that white envelop came.  It was the kids and Madee who actually let me know that it had arrived-their screams as they ran back to the house from the mailbox probably could have been heard across the country.  I am pretty sure they gave our poor mail lady a heart attack!

   So that night, about 30 minutes before my dad boarded a plane for Africa, I sat down and began ripping open the paper.  This is when the nerves began to set in.  This tiny piece of paper in my hand would determine the next year and a half of my life.  Could this truly be happening so fast!

   I slowly began reading my call,  and I will be serving in the Colorado Denver South Mission!  And not only that, I will teach in the Spanish language and report to the Mexico City MTC!!  How freakin' cool!  

   But I won't lie, when my eyes first took in the word Colorado, they cringed just a little bit inside haha.  I was just going right next door.  But as soon as I said the words out loud I was so overcome by the spirit.  Never, in my entire 19 years, have I ever had a confirmation that strong and true.  There was no doubt in my mind that this was my mission.  Meant just for me.  And I know that this is where God wants and needs me to be.  

   So people of Colorado, particularly the hispanic part, be ready.  Because Hermana Adair is on her way. 

Age Change

  Hey Everyone, this is Andee!  A little over 6 months ago I made the decision to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  In the October 2012 General Conference President Monson made the announcement that the age for young women to serve a mission would be lowered to 19.  During the time, I was in Colorado hunting with my dad and didn't hear the news.  But believe me, I found out pretty soon.  Almost all of my aunts and friends had sent me "over-enthusiastic" messages about how excited they all were.  And all I could think was "crap, this screws up my 2- year plan"!  I mean, I already knew what I wanted to do in the next few years and now the First Presidency was making me think about a mission way before I thought I would ever have to!  How dare they!
   So I prayed to my Heavenly Father and received the answer that a mission was what I should do with my life.  Actually, it was what I NEEDED for my salvation!  How scary is that!!  So, after thinking and praying about it I realised what a huge blessing the age change truly was, I would have never gone on a mission at the age of 21!
  But I am so thankful for the opportunity to go on a mission!  And I know it is what I am meant to do in this lifetime.  And I am so excited to serve God and his children!!