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| Las Hermanas |
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| My District |
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| The spot to be. |
Hello all!!
What a wonderful week I have had here
at the CCM! I now speak Spanglish quite fluently. Before I tell you about this
week's events, I want to tell more about last week and also some general fun
facts and info about my stay in the CCM.
Hermana Ylst and I taught our first
"investigator" on the first Friday we were here--yes, in Spanish--
and it was scary, but a good experience. The investigator's name was Jaime who
was 20 and lived with his girlfriend and their two kids. He asked us some
questions that we had no idea how to answer in Spanish, like how to pray and
why babies don't need baptism etc., so we had to learn lots that night a tell
him the next day when we had our second lesson with him.
Everyone had been telling las
hermanas from my district and I that Hermosillo should be called
"Hornosillo" because "horno" means oven and it's
ridiculously hot there. Our teacher also told us that the accent there is a
little deep and some people talk like cowboys. We now say
"HORNOSILLO" as slowly and deeply as we can while we air-lasso a cow
in slow motion. It might sound crazy but try it, it's hilarious (well, at least
we hermanas think it is).
The weather here is very nice. It is
warm for most of the day, but around 4:00PM every afternoon it gets stormy and
it pours rain. It also can get cold at night. I live in casa 9. I sleep on
the top bunk and the bed isn't too bad. :) My bug spray has been well used.
There are mosquitos EVERYWHERE! I kid you not, everywhere! We have to swat them
away constantly. Amazingly, I have yet to be bitten by any bug (knock on wood)
but poor Hna. Harman got like 20-something in the first week. I think she took
the bites that I was supposed to get. One night we accidentally forgot to close
our classroom windows and the next morning there must have been over 100
mosquitos in there! We had to move down the hall for the mañana. The food
is really good here! We almost always have some variation of beans, rice and
some meat with tortillas. The fruit is amazing! I get mangos whenever I can.
There is also ice cream served usually once a day. :)
I want to tell you that I have been
very blessed to have the homesickness at a minimum. The first night was kind of
hard because we didn't have much to do, but since we have been super busy. The
Lord has blessed me with a wonderful district, an especially wonderful
companion, and His spirit to be with me to make me feel very loved.
Okay, so this email may be long, pero
I have lots to share. Now I'll tell you about everything since I emailed you
last Tuesday! *BTW I was super excited to have Tuesday be my P-day here,
because it has always been a special day in my heart because it was the day I
spent with Grandma Hirschi. #grandmahirschi
Tuesday
First P-day was fun! We finally were
allowed to take pictures and have some free time! Las Hermanas (my sisters) and
I played on a playground that is here on the campus and spent a ton of the day
in the gym playing volleyball, cycling and doing yoga. We have laundry machines
in our casas. We have to buy soap at la tienda (the store) and it smells like
really old perfume. We had pizza for dinner so naturally the day ended well!
Wednesday
On Wednesdays we are assigned to an
hour of service somewhere on the campus. Our assignment was to change sheets in
the infermaria (YAY!) but when we got there the lady at the front desk was like,
"We have one bed and it's sheets have already been changed". We just
went back to the classroom y studied. We had our fourth lesson with Jaime
and he accepted baptism!! Hooray! As we walked back to the classroom, it
started POURING! Monsoon rain! Hna. Ylst and I were seriously soaked. We were
laughing so hard because we had to literally ring out our skirts before we
could go inside.
Thursday
Our district drew this man we
imagined was from Hornosillo (Ya know, the slow-motion-lassoing man) on our
white board. He had this sweet black mustache and pointy cowboy boots. His name
is Joaquin. We taught our last lesson to Jaime. At the end, we asked him if he
would teach us la pelusa, which is this awesome Mexican party dance that I can
show you in roughly 18 months.
Friday
It turns out Jaime is our new
afternoon teacher! His real name is Hno. Martinez and he is hilarious! The kind
of hilarious person that can do/say anything and it is somehow knee-slappingly
funny! He has a really good American accent, which he uses about 4,000 times a
day to make fun of us.
Saturday
Happy Birthday America! Hna. Ylst and
I thought we'd be so special if we wore red white and blue today…Turns out
every Hermana here had the same idea because at breakfast everyone was in our
patriotic colors! It was so sweet of the staff, they did this total American
lunch for us--burgers, fries, apple pie, and American flag fruit display with
watermelon, blackberries and coconut. While las Hermanas and I were carrying our
trays to a table, some Elders stood up and started singing the national anthem.
We weren’t sure if that would be disrespectful to the Latinos there or anything
like that so we kind of just stood there awkwardly, but then by the second line
or so, every American in the cemoedor stood up and sang along. I had to try to
balance my tray in one arm to be able to put my hand over my heart. Go 'Merica!
Sunday
Fast Sunday! I bore my testimony in Spanish
at sacrament meeting. It was like 5 sentences. :) We watched The Testament,
which is a movie that set in the Americas when Christ visited the
Nephites. It was hilarious because, in the movie plot there was a romance and
every time anything happened between the guy and girl, all of the missionaries
watching started oohing like crazy. When they kissed the crowd went wild! Well,
as wild as missionaries can get. On our way home, my whole district ate
entire apples, core and all. Why? Because we are hard core...(can I get a
"bah dum TSSH"?).
Monday
So I now have one of those
embarrassing language stories to tell. You know, when someone says something
wrong in another language and makes a fool out of themself. In the lunch line
the food servers are always so happy and smiley. I say "gracias"
whenever I go through but today I was feeling pretty good and wanted to show a
little bit more gratitude. I meant to say "Ustedes son los mejores,"
which means "You are the best". Instead what came out was
"Ustedes son los mujeres," which means "You are the women".
Every single one of the servers was male. I got some weird looks from a couple
of them, but one really cute and nice older man was giving me an encouraging
thumbs up. Hna. Harman shortly told me what it was that I had said to them. I
nearly peed my pants from laughing! Whelp, I'll never make that mistake again! Monday
night was kind of hard for me. I'm doing very well in Spanish and everything
but my brain gets tired and I get frustrated when I can't say things that I
want to. After pouting for a bit, I realized that this work seems impossible
because I am not meant to be capable of doing it without the Lord's help. We
need Him in everything we do whether it be learning a new language or just
living a regular day.
I love in 2 Nephi 22 where it says “The Lord is my strength and my song and has
become my salvation”. I pray that we can all find our strength from the
Lord as we live our lives.
I love you all so much! Sorry this
email was really long! Be safe!!
Con amor,
Hermana Hauck
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