The Mexico MTC (El CCM) is an absolutely beautiful place! We are smack dab in the middle of Mexico city, and we can see a huge portion of the city on the mountains. We also hear lots of fiestas, car chases, and sporting events from the MTC. We think there is a stadium of some sorts near by, but we really have no idea!
My parents will be happy to know that the water is CLEAN here! The church has its own well and water purification system. They also offer bottled water in all of the buildings.
The food here is AMAZING! It's all authentic Mexican food, and I never know what any of it is, but it's all divine! Some of it is very spicy though, It takes some getting used to. For some reason we have become friends with the chef, whose name is Esteban, he sneaks us extra dessert. Gracias Esteban!
The CCM is like a little town. It has streets, a library, a post office, a barber shop, two gyms, a dining hall, a track, lots of soccer fields, and missionary casas, which is where I live! I think we counted about 40 casas in total. I live in casa 26 with 4 other companeros. There are four beds in our room, but just two people! The entire MTC is very spacious and beautiful!
Gym time is the BEST! We get so sick of classes. We have been playing volleyball with the Latinos, which is super fun. All of the people of Mexico are SO HAPPY! I have such a love for the people here even though this isn't the actual place I will be serving. The Latinos are VERY competitive, and we usually have no idea what they are saying. One time I missed the ball and I apologized by saying "Soy Americano," which they thought was absolutely hilarious. The Latinos are also obsessed with potato chips. They want us to mail them some when we get back to the U.S. They are so funny, and I have loved getting to know them!
Our teachers are AMAZING! I am slightly afraid of them because they make me speak Spanish, and half of the time I don't know what they are saying, but I love them so much! They are all native Spanish speakers, and even though the teachers know basic English, they are learning as much as we are! Most of them served Spanish speaking missions in Mexico and learned English from American companions, so they understand what it's like to learn a second language. There English isn't perfect. One of our teachers mixed up the word gossip with the word thing-a-majig. I am not sure how to spell that, but it was hilarious! Most of the staff, besides the teachers, don't speak any English. It's instant immersion here!
This week has been one of the hardest weeks of my life. Learning Spanish is going to be much harder than I anticipated. All of the members of my district, which I am convinced is the best district ever, have at least 2 years of Spanish behind them, and they are all really good. My companion is especially good. She has taken four years of Spanish and had a roommate at BYU who was a native Spanish speaker. She tested into the intermediate Spanish program, but there weren't enough missionaries, so she is an intermediate speaker in a beginning class. She is pro. I just have to remind myself not to compare myself to her because I have learned A LOT in the past week! I fell like my teachers compare me to her and expect me to be as good as her, but I'm just not. Everything, including Spanish, gets better every single day. One good thing about having such an awesome companion is that she helps me...a lot. I love her so much! I know that God loves us because he puts people into our lives that we need. I feel the same way with my roommates back in college. I have been so blessed! Hermana Sorenson is from Colorage, and she is really smart, happy, motivated, articulate, and kind. I can't imagine having a better companion.
The other members of my district are awesome too! Hermana Edwards, from California, is 22 and is kind of like the big sister of the group. I look up to her a lot! Hermana Pearson, from Utah, is so happy all of the time. She has such a sweet spirit. Elder Falk, from New Jersey, is our district leader, and is really calm about everything. His girlfriend was on our same flight to the MTC! It's really funny to see them awkwardly talk to each other, complete with a handshake. Elder Falk doesn't want us to know that his girl friend is here, but we've known the entire time. They are both really professional about it though, so no worries! The other Elder is Elder Adams is from Kansas, and just got out of high school. Despite being younger, he is really wise and works hard. The two elders are like little brothers to us. I love my district! We realized yesterday that we don't know each other's first names. How weird is that?
We are teaching an "investigator" named Carlos. It's not real of course, but it's good practice. We arrived Wednesday afternoon and had our first lesson with him on Friday morning. There is no messing around here! The first lesson was hard because I don't know very much Spanish. I mostly just nodded and said si as my companion had a lengthy conversation with him. Lessons get better and better each time. I am not able to share my half of the discussion with only one page of notes. By the end of the week, I can't have any notes...yay. Carlos has committed to baptism, but I think he is just supposed to say yes if we ask. He is a really good practice investigator and he is really patient with our limited Spanish. I am learning so much, but it is so hard to communicate with my limited vocab. I have so many millions of things to say, but I can't say any of them. It's hard to teach with the spirit when you are focusing on trying to teach at all.
I love our branch and our branch presidency, except for the fact that we all have to write talks in Spanish every week and we don't know who will actually be speaking until we get there. My companion was called on last time, but she's a natural, so she was fine! She will be playing the piano for church, and I'll be leading the music. Rumor has it that volunteering for other things is the best way to avoid speaking.
The more experienced missionaries at the CCM are so nice to us. They teach us all of the ins and outs, and help us with whatever. There are also some people to try to freak out the new missionaries by speaking super fast Spanish to them. Trust me, it's horrible! We are really excited to not be the newest missionaries anymore, because a new generation is coming today! I want to make sure to help them transition because the first week is SO hard!
There are three hermana Jones's in my "generation" here.
There are tons of birds around, including green parrots. They are so cool!
The CCM has words etched into a lot of the concrete. I think it's mostly names, and dates, but I don't understand why they are there.
All of the fire hydrants have mirriors attatched to them. I still haven't figured out why...
Our bathroom has a hole in the wall next to the mirrior. You can't really see through it because it is right next to the wall, but you can hear from it. Our next door hermanas love to sing in the shower! It's kind of fun though. We pass notes through our hole.
I am so grateful for my mosquito net! I am sleeping on the bottom bunk, so I just put the net on the top and let it hang over. The first night I didn't have it up and there was a fly buzzing in my ear all night. I haven't had that problem since! "The expression don't let the bed bugs bite" is a real thing at el CCM!
I hugged a palm tree today! Just for you Dad!
We have around 20 pounds of books that we have to have at EVERY class. It's kind of a hastle!
The weather here es perfecto! It's not too hot and not too cold. It's also not very humid. It's just perfect!
Mom, I LOVE all of those cute skicky notes you put in my bags. I have been really discouraged at times this past week, and they helped a lot! And thanks for the photo album. It's so nice to have a piece of home here!
Thanks everyone for the emails and advice I love hearing from all of you and I can take all of the advice you can give! I'm glad this week is over, and read to start again! That was an increadibly hard week, but every day is getting better and better!
Thanks goodness for P day!
Sorry for the long email and the crazy random thoughts!
Until next time!
-Hermana Danielle Jones
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