It`s super weird not being able to call and tell you guys everything..
Another big change that I am having to get used to is having mi compañera with me all that time. There is literally no such thing as `alone time` which is something I miss LOTS. It`s okay though cause my companion is super sweet! Her name is Hermana Avery. She is from South Jordan Utah, and she is 20. The other hermanas that are in mi casa that are also in our district are super awesome too! They are both from Utah as well and are named Hermana Nelson y Hermana Garrett. Since there are only 4 Hermanas in our district we are always together...we are kind of like a `quad` together. I like it cause it gives us more people to bounce off of, ya know? We have already decided that we are all gonna go get pedicures together when we get home cause I`ve never had one :)
Anywho, the Elders in our district are super awesome as well! We all get along great! And sometimes, it`s almost too great cause our attention span with studying (with no teacher around) is rather short. We are working on getting better though!
So I`ve officially been in Mexico for over a week now...woah weird. It still blows my mind sometimes that I am in Mexico. I thought "oh Mexico, it`s gonna be hot there". Uhhh, I was dead wrong. It`s perfect weather here in Mexico City! It`s cool/sunny every day. And honestly, it can get pretty nippy at times. It rains almost every night, which I love cause it keeps everything fresh, ya know? Speaking of Mexico City, Uncle Barry was right...the houses are literally on top of eachother and they never end. The latinas here think I`m crazy, but I think it is super pretty...in a ghetto kinda way. It`s never quiet here though. There are always horns or super loud music (during the sacrament on sunday we could hear from the city "THIS GIRL IS ON FIIIIIRRREEE"..thank you Alisha Keys) or dogs or bombs. Yes bombs. Actually, I`m just kidding. We don`t know what the sound is. We have many "big bang theories" (see what I did there?). Some say fireworks, some say it`s the jail down the street, others say guns or bombs or a clock.... Yo no sè. But it booms multiple times everyday. Slightly sketchy.
The food here is ummmmmm let`s just different from the Provo MTC. Those missionaries should COUNT THEIR BLESSINGS..getting Papa Johns and Creamery icecream and lots of delicious food. I think here they are training us for the field in the sense that we won`t always like our food..or know what it is. We "think" the majority of the meat is spam, so we stear clear of that. Some weird combinations they have had are whoopers (like the chocolate candy) and honeydew, spam and peaches, and refried beans and cantalope! I mostly eat fruit. An apple (or two or three) a day my friends.
We watched "Only A Stonecutter" on Sunday...made me think of home cause that was the last movie we watched as a family.
Random sidenote: Last real world song I listened to....Bennie and The Jets by the wonderful (and slightly creppy) Elton John. Love that guy.
You know the song "Wide Open Spaces" by the Dixie Chicks? Well I am feelin those lyrics lately! I am in a double fenced-in with the occasional barbed wire complex. It is super nice and open compared to the rest of the city though I guess.
The CCM president banned music (of any kind) on campus, which STINKS. So bad. I MISS PRETTY MUSIC SO MUCH. One of my teacher though played some Paul Cardall the other day and I coulda swore I had died and gon to heaven. Goodness I love piano music. Hearing it literally made my soul lighten by a literal ton; I could have cried it felt so good.
Okay so now to tell you about the LONGEST WEEK OF MY LIFE. Again, this was literally the longest and hardest week of my life. I honestly don`t know how to explain the intensity of everything, and it`s one of those things that you can not understand in the slightest til you experince it. The first full day felt like atleast two weeks. I`m not gonna lie to you guys...I seriously considered going home multiple times. And on Saturday morning, after having yet another panic/depression attack, I had decided to leave...
I can`t pinpoint the exact moment of complete 180 change that happened on Saturday/Sunday, but I`m almost crying now (the good kind) trying to explain it to you guys. I know I`m supposed to be here. I know I got the call that is perfect for me. I know I`m on the Lord`s errand. I know He is watching out for me and will help me through all my trails, big or small. The first couple days that I was here, I was in a constant struggle not to break down from anxiety about the language, the mission, me measuring up, me falling behind, home, what will happen to me, and a million other things. I kept thinking of Matt cause I kept quoting Nacho Libre and saying "IT SUCKS TO BE ME RIGHT NOW." ;) But now, I can promise you all that I am so happy. Even when I`m not happy, I still am...if that makes any sense haha. I`m viva la vida-ing! I love that I have this opportunity to serve the Lord for a teeny while. I know it`s gonna be super tough, but now...I`m ready. "Here I am Lord, send me."
So for the most miracle-ish and spiritual thing that has happened to me here (and possibly in my life). As most of you know, I don`t know Spanish. In the slightest. It sounds like "asñidfhañlsnbdgjhañierhgweioh" when I hear it. I have been struggling hard core (worse than Marissa-type struggling ;)) with learning and catching on to the language. I know it`s not japanese, Zachary. But it`s still super difficult for me to get. Anywho, we start teaching our first "investigator" on Friday...when we still didn`t know any English. So my companion and I would bring tons of notes and pretty much read straight from them the entire lesson and they would only go for 10-15 minutes. I had been struggling with how to gain access tot he gift of tongues, I had been promised it multiple times but I dind`t know how to get it goin.The spirit wasn`t there every time and it was just bad. On Sunday, the Elder Bednar devotional said, "You don`t pray to know what to say so THEN you can open your mouth. You FIRST open your mouth and pray and trust that the Lord fills it." That taught me that in a way, I was lacking the faith that the Lord would fill my mouth if I prepared and then trusted Him. So I told my companion that we weren`t going to bring any notes to the next lesson, and she thought I was crazy. After explaining that the Lord can`t bless us if we don`t first trust Him. We said a prayer and went. The lesson was so wonderful!! We had the gift of tongues out the wazoo, and the spirit was so strong. I cried bearing my testimony (typical). And even though Fernando isn`t a real investigator, that was the biggest miracle I have experience. I`m so grateful the Lord was there for me and Hermana Avery. Goodness, it was so great.
Talking about General Conference talks, Elder Bednar said if there was preplanning, it would go a little something like this, "Elder Bednar, you say this, Elder Scott, you say this, and Elder Holland, you light it up." I thought that was pretty funny.
Anyways, I`m already over time emailing, so I`ve gotta run. Just wanna say, I love you all and I miss y`all like the dickens. I hope you all are doing well and having adventures todos los dìas!
You`re all in my prayers everyday.
Love always and always,
Hermana Abigail Page
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