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