Week One: What a week!

Area: Mexico CCM
Companion: Hermana Katie Neeleman
Hermana Neeleman's Blog Post: Week One

Phew! What a week! Right now I am writing from one of the computers in the labs where we learn Spanish grammar every day after attempting to use about every computer in the place. Oh well. This week has been one of the craziest that I have ever had.

When I left the family at security, I was a total mess. The ladies that were checking me through stopped to ask me if I was okay and where I was going. When I got to the terminal, I was doing a little better until Laney came through. At that point, I fell apart again. As soon as I got on the plane, however, I started to feel a little more excited about what was going to happen. The plane from Springfield to Dallas was just about the smallest plane I think I have been on in my entire life. There were only three seats in each row, so I didn't even have to sit next to anybody.When I got to Dallas, I was expecting to see at least one missionary who was also going to Mexico City, but there was no one. Instead, there was a group of about 90 Catholic missionaries who were going down to Mexico City for a weeklong workshop. On the way down to Mexico, I sat next to a man who was in training to become a priest and one of his friends from the missionary program. It was actually super interesting. He offered to let me join in his morning prayer and he taught me all about the different kinds of Catholics that there are. In the end, he asked me to bear my testimony and offered to give me a book about different kinds of prayer. Very fun.

After I got to Mexico City, I made it through customs (I didn't even have to have my bags searched) and met up with my driver. Because I was the only missionary who made it in until the next hour when the flight from Salt Lake came, and I didn't speak Spanish and he didn't speak English, it made for a very long wait. After all the missionaries came through, we got to ride through Mexico City during the middle of the day. I don't think that I have ever been in a bigger or more hectic place in my entire life [Mom note: That's saying a lot coming from a girl who has experienced rush hour in Beijing, China!] . Finally, we made it to the MTC and it was completely calm and absolutely beautiful. I met my companion, Hermana Neeleman. She is super great!

with Hermana Neeleman

Being at the Mexico City MTC is a mixture of being really fun and exciting and being super nerve wracking and stressful. During all of our lessons, the teachers only speak in Spanish, and we are supposed to speak in Spanish to them as well. I am getting better, but I am not to the point where I can converse with people yet or really speak my feelings, but I am sure that I will get there someday!

I am super excited to be here and even more excited to get done so I can really go to the mission field. Hopefully, I will be able to learn Spanish before I go, but I know that I was called to my specific assignment. I am glad that you guys are okay at home, I hope that you continue to have a good winter. I am suffering down here in the warm weather. The other day, it was a little warm, I almost had to take off my sweater. I don't know why everybody says that the food at the Mexico City MTC is so bad, I think that it's fine. One day, though, I did get a burrito for dinner and found out that it was filled with mashed potatoes. Also, I got a mysterious dish for breakfast and found out that it was actually chips that had been hardcore soaked in salsa verde. Other than that, the food has been wonderful. (also, tonight is the end of our P-day and pizza night!)

On our second full day at the MTC, we had to teach our first "investigator" EN ESPAÑOL!!! As you can imagine, it was a total trainwreck. Even though Hermana Neeleman is much better at Spanish than me (she took some during high school), we still did not have any idea what to say. At one point, we told the investigator that prophets were messengers from God. He then asked if we were prophets and we said yes! Later, I was teaching about the Book of Mormon and my nose started to run so bad that I had to stop in the middle of my sentence and get a tissue, then Hermana Neeleman just finished my sentence for me. It was soooo embarrassing. After we got out and learned that we had to teach the same investigator every night for a week, we were mortified.

Sunday at the MTC is so nice. Most days, we spend all of our efforts in attempting to help our investigators to learn about the gospel, but on Sundays, we are able to be spiritually uplifted. Church was so good and I was able to feel the Spirit so strongly. Sundays are also nice because it is movie night! This Sunday, all the non-latino missionaries watched Meet the Mormons. It was a nice break from the non-stop work that we have to do every day.

Our yoga class

On Monday, I had probably one of the best days that I have had at the MTC so far. At the beginning of the day, I was feeling a little discouraged because I felt like I was struggling with the language. Later, we had a presentation about handling stress and I think it actually made me feel a little more stressed about how I was doing. After that, we had to teach our investigator, Sergio, again. He had told us that he was having trouble making decisions in his life and that he would like help with that, so we prepared a lesson about faith, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. When we got in, we were able to be very friendly with Sergio and ask him about his life. Then when we started to teach, the Spirit was so strong! I taught the segment about the Holy Ghost and how it could help him make decisions in his life. Then I shared the story about how I chose to go to BYU. After that, I promised him that if he would recieve the gift of the Holy Ghost and live worthily, he would be able to have help in making his decisions. Right after that, Hermana Neeleman asked him to be baptised and he said yes. The Spirit was so strong in the room. After we finished with the lesson, the Hermano who plays Sergio came up to us and said that our lesson was one of the best he had listened to in a long time. Then he told me that my Spanish was good during the lesson. It really made me feel good after a kind of stressful morning and testified to me of the gift of tongues. I know that Heavenly Father knows us and what we need, when we need it.

Hermana Blau

p.s. While I am at the MTC, you can send me emails and they will print them off that day and put them in my mail box. You just have to send them to letter@MTCMexicocarepackage.com and make the subject Hermana Savannah Blau 12A.

Also, we are only able to take pictures on our P-days, or else I would have sent more. There are palm trees and green parrots everywhere and the mountains all around the MTC are so beautiful!

A view of the mountain outside of the MTC.