So today marks my 3 week period in
the CCM. It's so crazy to think I'll be out in the field in 3 weeks! Ack!
I'm so excited to get your dear
elders! i only got one from sofie last week, which was nice, but i was
expecting some family letters! I should be getting them tomorrow night. I
mailed off a letter about 2 weeks ago. Let me know when it gets to you, momma!
Things here are pretty uneventful. I
mean, for a missionary. So, there are requests to see what my schedule is like.
- 6:30-7:30 wake up and get ready
- 7:30-8:15 Breakfast (usually with beans and fried bananas)
- 8:15-9:15 Personal Study (PMG, Scriptures, whatnot)
- 9:15-10 Language Study (usually spent tutoring my comp)
- 10-12 Various language or gospel classes with my district
- 12-12:45 Lunch (tons of food. always)
- 12:45-5 More various classes (language, gospel, activities practicing teaching "investigators", whatnot)
- 5-5:45 Dinner (even more food)
- 5:45-6:45 More classes
- 6:45-7 Snack (aaaaand more food)
- 7-8 Companion Planning for the next day and Companion Study (usually reading the LDM out loud)
- 8-9 Deportes (exercise time!)
- 9-10:30 Shower, prep for bed (this is pretty much my only free time)
There you go. A day in the life of a
missionary. It's just classes until you eat and then more classes and more
eating and more classes and then I get to hang out with some of my friends at
night.
In my room there are 4 sets of bunk
beds and full length closets that are in between. 8 girls sleep in the room
(don't worry, it's pretty big, we have tons of room). 2 are intermedios (the 4
weekers, aka me and my comp), 2 are nuevos (the 2 weekers, or the newbies) and
the rest are latinas who are only in the CCM for 2 weeks total. They're really
sweet and I love speaking to them in Spanish, cause they always teach me the
slang that I really want to learn ;)
I really like it here. The people
are kind and the staff are all latinos so they can help with the language all
the time. One guy told me my accent was beautiful. I just about melted.
The hermanas here are really great
too. The other day during lunch all of us (our brat pack of 4 girls) shared our
reasons for going on a mission and when I shared mine, one of the girls just
stared at me sappily and touched her heart. She's normally the most sarcastic
person (second only to me) and she was getting all teary eyed! It was so sweet.
I really love them.
Speaking of my reason for going on a
mission, this week I really pinned it down more than ever. I knew before, but
more vaguely and just knowing that it was the right thing for me to do. Now I
know why. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and only through Him can I have
a life that's worth living. Only through putting Him and His church at the
center of my life is going to give me any happiness. And I am on a mission to
show Him that I will do anything He wants me to. If He wants me to go
backpacking across the desert, I'll do it. If He wants me to stay home and
crochet doilies, I'll do it. If He wants to in Guatemala, that's where I'll be,
heart, mind and soul. I really know that this is where He wants me to be. If
I'm successful, that's great! If I'm not, that's okay too. If that's what He
wants, so be it. Jumping into missionary life has been really easy, dare I say
it. This is what I've been preparing for all of my life. I know it. My
testimony allows me to share everything with ease and grace in ways that convey
my message to other people. I don't have a problem with the schedule and the
language has been super easy to learn. The natives are a bit harder to talk to,
but it's so much easier for me that a lot of people here, and for that I am so
truly grateful. Just yesterday we practiced a street contact situation and it
was amazing how easily I could talk to the people! They were just other
missionaries pretending, but I really felt that I wanted them to know what I
had and I wanted them to feel what I feel and then the words just came out of
my mouth. It was so great. I feel like I was made to be a missionary!!
Only 3 weeks here and then out to
the field! I pray for my trainer every morning and night! That poor hermana is
going to have to teach me a lot of stuff, specifically how to deal with the
smells here. In the not so clean parts, it's overwhelmingly awful. Our last
field trip we had to walk through the grossest smells of my life. I was gagging
so hard I could barely breathe. it was AWFUL. that's going to be a challenge.
The weather is like corvallis fall
only hotter. It rains pretty much every night or every other night. And
whenever it rains, there's always thunder and lightning. It's never been too
hot though. Probably 70s all the time, and sometimes the low 80s. and the
humidity really isn't too bad. just a bit worse than corvallis. But i am
starting to get weird tan lines from my shoes. so that's a bummer.
I love you all lots! I'm safe, happy
and doing good work! Don't worry about me :)
Love,
Hermana Weatherford
My mother and I have been checking the weather in Guatemala City close to daily. I didn't believe it when it was ALWAYS showing lightening, but here is the word directly from the source!
For those of us that used Dear Elder....she should get those tomorrow. It means that she's about a week behind in our news. Regular mail I am expecting will take about 3 weeks. She said she put something in the mail and I have yet to receive it, and she hasn't commented about my letters. I am hoping that both of us will get those treasures by the next Pday.
I am very grateful for Teigen's proclamation, why she is on this mission. For me, this isn't news. She's been very vocal about it for years. But reading her words and seeing her conviction just makes me feel like it's okay for her to be gone. In her farewell talk she said: Whatever we do, we do in the name of Christ. We brush our teeth, in the name of Christ. We play with our children, in the name of Christ. We honk at the driver that just cut us off, in the name of Christ. Now she's saying that whatever He asks of her, she will gladly do it.
To Quote both the hymn and Hermana W: I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go, Dear Lord.
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