Week Dos: Mas Incomido

Hola mi familia!

I am officially 1/3 of the way done here at the CCM! It's kind of weirding me out a little.  Mi espanol viene, mas o menos.  Pero me gusta aprendar.

I had a fantastic week last week.  It felt so much quicker than the first week, but then last p-day seems like it was a millenium ago... Haha.

We finished teaching Pedro.  Our last few lessons went really well, as the Spirit was there and we felt so guided as to what to say to him.  Sadly, he rejected our offer for baptism 3 times... It was so heartbreaking.  He's not even a real investigator, but I got so invested in him.  Despite rejejecting us multiple times, Pedro must have been baptized and progressed pretty quickly in the church, because he is now our evening teacher...

This week it finally hit me what I am doing.  We have been seeing the main problem with 18 year old boys lately- they think the CCM is high school subconsciously.  When the teacher is gone, they go crazy.  It's been hard on me, because I don't want to miss our on the fun, but I do need to study.  Pedro (Whose real name is Hermano Hardy) had a corazon-a-corazon with us the other night and reminded us who we are- we are representatives of Jesus Christ! We only have a very limited amount of time here, and we need to study and learn all we can.  We took time to just sit and pray and then ponder and wait for the Holy Ghost to tell us exactly what we need to do- what goals we need to accomplish before we leave the CCM.  I was so overwhelmed with the Spirit after I prayed.  I realized that I'm not the person I want to be at all.  I know the doctrine, and Spanish is coming along great, but I cannot say that I am ready to be a great missionary yet.  It hit me that I am a representative of Christ.  I am taking His place in this work, because He literally cannot physically be here.  I can't say that at this time if I'm walking down the street, people see me as "Jesus Christ". I've been focusing so much since then on becoming truly Christ like.  Having the Spirit reveal to me that I have a lot of work to work on on myself was really a humbling experience.  I am so grateful for the Spirit and know that He will reveal the truth of all things, no matter how much it might hurt.  So, I am now on the journey of becoming the person I want to be.  I study the Savior's life and am slowly taking baby steps to accomplish my goals of becoming more charitable, humble, and diligent.  It's hard, but sooo worth it.  I love it.  It's weird to be spending my mission currently focused on myself, when the work is a self-less work. But I know that I cannot focus on others if I am not in the right place first.  My mission scripture has sooo much more meaning right now.

My elders are still having a hard time focusing, so I have been plyaing mom a little, but esta bien!  They know "what manner of men [we] ought to be"and I have complete faith in them.

My favorite days of the week are p-day and Sundays.  Sundays we have AMAZING church meetings, devotionals, and we watch a movie.  Funny story- they keep all the lights on during the movies to prevent cuddling (at least that is my theory).  Also Sunday lunches are the best!! They serve all the branch presidents lunch, so they go all out.  Picture this: after a long 24 hours of fasting, you go to the cafeteria and load your plate with corn soup, macaroni and cheese (with bacon!! Mom I told you that was a real thing), potatoes with crab, watermelon and all other types of perfectly ripened fruit, beans, the most amazing ice cream bar I have ever had, and chicken that tasted like spicy-lime Cheetos, that I'm pretty sure fell from Heaven.  I died a little.  And the best part?? We had the chicken leftovers for lunch on Monday! Also they have the best salsa here.  And they have like five different kinds.  And I love them all.

BEST NEWS EVER.  WE GOT PEANUT BUTTER IN THE CAFETERIA THIS WEEK.  Basically the first meal they had it I ate it on my pancake, my banana, and my spoon.

Sunday's devotional was by Elder Christoffersen and he said something like,"You are in debt to the Lord now before your mission, and you will be even more in debt after your mission because He will have blessed you that much more."Basically I will always and forever be an indentured servant.  No offense Mom, but the Lord is a much better slave driver... Haha.

Apparently Emmy wanted to see what Spanish scriptures look like. :)

This week's awkward story is brought to you by non other than, ME! My district's "thing"is volleyball.  We play it all the time.  So last week while we were playing the ball was coming right inbetween me and another Elder in my district.  We both sprinted for the ball and comletely slammed into each other.  And when I say slammed into each other, I mean like full on body to body contact.  And since our arms were out to get the ball, when we crashed the force was so strong it made my arms sort of wrap around his waist... Hahaha.  We jumped away from each other immediately, and you could just hear my district gasp all at the same time and then start yelling "Ohhhh! Somebody report that!" It was a little obvious that we have a bit more contact than just a simple firm handshake... Hahaha.

Getting mail is the greatest! It takes about 10 days to get here.  I haven't sent any out yet, so I don't know yet how long that will take.  I got letters last week from Mom and Elder Honey and it was seriously the best.  Also we can get packages here! I really don't expect you to send one because they cost a bum load of money, but if you do, stuff some Nyquill and cold medicine in it because something is wrong with me.

Love you all!! Have a great week! Don't forget to bless your food like I do!

Todos mi amor,

Hermana Dodson