Things that make me happy...

Hola from Mexico!!!

I hope this email finds you all doing really well! I'm going to try and focus more on the spiritual things this week since I've gotten all the other little details of things out of the way it seems :)

You know its been a good week when you get compared to Christ by your teacher. Yeah, it happened. We had an interview. He just wanted to get to know me a little. So he compared me to Christ in that Christ had to be the rock for his disciples and his apostles because oftentimes they were scared or nervous. So that gave me a big boost and I really appreciated it. He said I have a real light and that gave me a lot of comfort. Later in the week, he told me that one of the teachers of the natives overheard me talking to one of the natives and he said that I had an accent "como un nativo"! It blew me away, it was such a compliment. So despite the challenges, I have a lot of blessings and people looking out for me.

Things that made me happy this week

1. According to Hermana B., Elder M. flirts with me every time he sees me...which is pretty rare. It's just something to laugh at I guess as a sister missionary.

2. The chocolate chip/cheescake dessert thing they have is amazing. You just can't pass it up.

3. Chokis!!! They're a brand of chocolate chip cookies here that we get in the tienda. Let's just say that according to the scales here I should quit buying them altogether :)

4. Nutella and peanut butter! They added it to the breakfast condiments area and it is the most genius thing!

5. Our investigator Raquel said she would pray to know if baptism was something that she would do in her life! Yeah sorry my English doesn’t even makes sense anymore.

6. I see Ethan Chaney like 5 times a day! So that's fun, it's nice to have a friend here :)

7. My interview with my bishop. It made me the happiest I've been in a long time.

8. I don't have a parasite and I'm not sick anymore! But Hermana B2 has a parasite and who knows what's up with Hermana B, but we're keeping an eye on it....

9. This week, Hermana B2's shining moment was when she started to walk into the guys bathroom. Yeah, we probably go to the bathroom about 15 times a day and for some reason the walk to the right bathroom has just not been ingrained yet I guess! So we had a good laugh :)

Oh and its really good to not get rubbing alcohol on scriptures, I don't know why I had to figure that out the hard way but it's just something good to know.

We have earthquakes here a lot, okay so like twice a week so when they sound the alarm, we all have to go out to the green circles, maybe I've mentioned that already, but we go out and stand in big groups, it's great. Then we don't feel anything and that's even better! :)

I'm wearing a long sleeve shirt today, can you all believe that? August 29th! And I'm wearing a long sleeved shirt! Hermana B2 said it's a great color on me :) Of course it's hers though :)

So after my interview with the bishop, we raced over to the Sunday devotional and it was beyond AMAZING. Guess why....two words....ELDER HOLLAND. It was from a devotional at the Provo MTC on February 28th 2012. I still can't believe I got to shake his hand when he visited our stake like last year! So his devotional was great and I just want to share some notes that I took from it. He was talking about missionary work of course. He said that oftentimes missionaries will say that this isn’t real life, the life of a missionary, but he said that this is as close to real life as we're ever going to get. He also said that when we get back from our missions, we're just not supposed to go back to the way we were, ever, even if we were terrific. That really stuck with me because we really should never retreat to how we were, we should be improving day by day. He is just such a powerful speaker and he gives you so much encouragement. He talked about the use of the Book of Mormon and how we just need to give it a chance and tell our investigators the same. He talked about how just within the first chapter of 1 Nephi, we learn about prophets, revelation they receive, books, prayer, etc. So much! Just within the first chapter of the Book of Mormon! So we encouraged Fernando, our other investigator (aka Hermano Montés one of our teachers) to just read the first chapter. We'll see how it goes! I'll share more notes next week when I have my notebook with me. That thing is full of oro I tell you. Palabras del oro!

During class sometimes as a district, Elder M. will have us guess his like insulin number or something because he has diabetes. Yeah, it's about as exciting as....well not a lot. But it's exciting for us!

Saturday night the ciudad must have been partying because literally, the bass was so loud we could feel it. I honestly dont know how I fell asleep that night!

We had TRC last night for the first time!!! I still don’t know what it stands for but its where they have members from the city come and we teach them! More like we just share experiences because we technically don’t need to teach them. So we talked about prayer and taught three lessons, each 20 minutes. They went so well and we worked really hard at getting to know the members first because that’s something we struggle with, learning their needs so that we don’t teach a presentation. I must say that I don’t do a lot of the teaching, I do a lot of the Elder Calhoun (Best Two Years) smiling and reassuring and laughing and all the filler stuff and testifying.... ;) I've also learned a lot about body language. Actually I already knew about the importance of it, especially in a lesson.

At one point some sister missionary said something about my companion as we were walking past and I about lost it, I was so close to being like "you don't talk about my companion!" But then I remembered I am a sister missionary in a skirt and I didn't lose it. You really become protective of your companions though, I've felt motherly instincts kick in multiple times. Usually when we trip on the rocky roads in between buildings :)

We keep having light wars with the other sisters, idk why, but we do. I turn out the hall light and someone usually comes and turns it back on. I guess things do follow you from home ;) I hope you're enjoying the hall light staying on when you want it to Dallin, I miss our light wars :)

I realized that the Liahona....well I can’t remember what I realized this week about it....OH! Ok, of course it was from God, and of course it was un milagro porque honestly, no one but God could have made something so incredible. God is real and He loves us in case you didn’t know that :) I also realized that the Atonement brings about happiness!!!! Like of course repentance brings happiness in the end if you really do it all right, but I just always associated the Atonement with sadness and misery! But it really brings true happiness! Proof that you can find light in the darkest of times :)

We watched the Testaments this week and oh boy, those two kisses, you would've thought the auditorium was full of 6th graders....or just Elders and Sisters that just haven’t seen PDA or had any sort of contact between the human race other than a hand shake for weeks on end. So that was pretty hilarious.

I love being a missionary. I was an idiot to think that I would have tons of issues, crying about missing home and missing a friends...instead I’ve had opportunities to care for others - being the mom and handing out tissues on the daily. It's really challenging and emotionally draining to have to be happy all the time. But my district and Elders help me. Guys are so carefree it's ridiculous.

My district recognized my facial expressions pretty early on and they comment on them like daily.

I have so many blessings. Anyways, I pray for patience constantly and for love. I really do love it here. I notice new things everyday. I love applying what we learn and noticing my language skills increasing. I love the Savior, and I know we can be made clean from our sins through him. You better believe I know how to say that in Spanish. I can't wait for Honduras but I seriously love it here. I love it more every day even though others feel that it becomes a prison. I love the gospel and I'm excited to share it with others. I seriously love Hispanic people, they are incredible with such good hearts. I feel so lucky every day :) Thank you for the love and support everyone!

Love,
Hermana Despain

You know you're an Hermana when you dont realize you're wearing pajama pants under your skirt...

Hola a todos!!!

I hope everyone is having an AMAZING WEEK. Cuz I know I am ;)

GUESS WHAT!  I did the impossible! I lost weight in the CCM ;) Yep, I lost like 6 pounds, crazy right? Especially with how I just zone out during gym time. I just chill at the top of the elliptical mostly and eat two oreo dessert things for lunch. They were amazing and then they had cookies yesterday. Like how can you pass that up? And I got two small bags of M&M's at the tienda this week and they were gone within two days, but I guess I'm burning it all off! Sitting in a chair all day...........

Goodness, I make a list every week of stuff to talk about, I hope I don't bore you all with the crazy details, I just love being able to write home about it every week, it is such a blessing. Thank you so much for my dearelders and all my emails you guys!!! I FINALLY got my dearelders yesterday, can you believe that?! Talk about having to be patient, but seriously, it was like Christmas and I asked my district leader if he felt like Santa :) Those words really are precious from you guys, they give me such support and make me smile and laugh and miss you guys. I love it.

Oh! I met Tanner Mangum this week! He's going to Antofagasta Chile! So apparently he was or is one of the quarterbacks for the BYU football team. My district leader Elder V. drools over him. He's like a celebrity here. What was even better though was the fact that I didn't even know who he was when I started talking to him. I was walking with like the only black girl here after basically going on splits with her, best thing ever btw, after teaching a lesson and we just saw this huge group of Elders so I was like sweet, some testosterone...So I just started talking to the group and I was like hey are you guys here to do service? And they were all like yeahh so then Elder Mangum started talking to me and I was like "cool stuff, where are you guys serving and where were you at school" then I looked at his name tag and was like "Ahh shoottt" It was pretty cool. Speaking of meeting other Elders, I met this Elder Cantwell that knows the Connors and the Martschenkos and was dating Malorie Winkel apparently? And he's serving in Raleigh! So I told him to keep an eye out for you guys :) We got a pic so that was exciting. He's a nice guy. I also met an Elder who's name started with an F that will be serving in Raleigh, good looking guy with dark hair so keep an eye out for him and also I met a girl from Chapel Hill. She also goes to Dr. Bass for her teeth and she would go to the Apex Stake dances so yeah. Her name was like Kendra something....She's going to Ecuador. There is also an Elder Park going to Raleigh, blonde. I finally saw Ethan Chaney! It was cool, he's doing well and it seems like he and his companion get along!

Funny story though! There I was sitting there after I had stuffed my face at breakfast with like a huge pancake the size of my face and oh no wait it was a biscuit. So yeah I like had my destroyed biscuit sitting on my plate when I started to ask my companions a super interesting and spiritual question...I was like "So where do avocados growwww???" And low and behold Ethan walks right past me and Hermana Barney and her hilarious self was like "They grow on trees I think..." And then I was like shoot, I look like a fatty, and turned to the Hermana next to me and was like "Quick, give me your bowl of fruit!" Maybe it was just funny to me....

Speaking of fruit, the cantaloupe and melon must be of the devil cuz my companions are sick and lets just say all the other sisters are too! EXCEPT FOR ME! Well I got sick the other morning but nothing really after that. Honestly it sounded like it hit everyone at midnight the other night. Creepy huh? So we don't think it’s the water, but we don't know. My companions took some samples to the doctor here. It was great, we got to deliver them and of course the doctor is busy, swatting mosquitos haha. It was precious. So it hasn't been pretty, we take a TON of bathroom breaks here but it’s great. The Elders are always just like "gotta go to the bathroom" and then they just get up and leave, then the Hermanas are all like "Um you guys? I kind of need to go to the bathroom, is that ok? We can go later, it's ok" So its quite the difference. But now, we just sort of look at each other and we know. We've got quite the system down now, and lets just say we've been brought pretty close. Oh and the other day, Hermana B2 realized she had put her skirt on over her pajama shorts. We laughed SO hard, it was the best thing.

We had tamales the other day and they were pretty good! It's good to get some cultural experience in a safe place. I felt like I was unwrapping a present, it was hilarious.

We do an exercise here called TALL which stands for like Technology Assisted Language Learning. It's through BYU. It’s a computer program and we do it about an hour every day. It's really cool and interactive, you do typing, listening, reading, speaking and all this really good stuff. Its easy to get bored and fall asleep though. Yeah I'm guilty of that. I feel like as language teachers and professors my mom and dad would LOVE it.

SO many sisters are going to Ecuador if they aren't going stateside here! Seriously it's the coolest thing cuz I'm just like oh my goodness, that's where my dad served and then I get all proud :)

The temple was incredible last week. Such a neat bus ride through the city and it totally reminded me of Costa Rica, just a lot more busy and less clean and organized. OH! The craziest thing here or at least one of the craziest are the huge like river/gutter/sink hole things on the side of the road! I don't get it! Like your kid could stumble and fall right to their death!

Also, there are quite a few inappropriate posters which bug me, but we are sort of in a bubble here. It just reminds you that not all places are as holy as el CCM. Poor Elders probably hate it too but it's all good. But seriously the temple is smack dab in the middle of the city and you totally don't see it coming. It is huge you can't even take a very good pic because it is so huge! I felt really comfortable inside though, even though my heart was pounding. It was intense but I was falling asleep haha so pretty sure it was pretty peaceful :) We go like every other week so that is nice, but it makes the P day a bit stressful.

So we all were wondering if the noises we hear throughout the day and during the night here are gun shots but apparently they're not always gunshots. Most of the time they're just like fireworks and cannons from this church on the mountain or something? But there we were learning some fundamentals the other night with Hermana Powell who used to be our investigator Andrea, and the shots were getting louder and closer....talk about scary. She said she was talking with one of the workers here and the worker said that "it isn’t just the gates and barbed wire keeping the city out here". Aka, there is a powerful spirit and the power of God keeping danger out of here. Neat to hear from a worker, who probably was not a member because most of them aren't. We usually fall asleep to crickets, fireworks and some nights, the rain falling, dogs barking, and girls talking. I swear quiet time means nothing to girls, even on a mission when you're tired all the time. The other day during additional study, 6 out of the 12 missionaries in my district were sleeping. I was probably one of them, I can't remember...haha.

"Everything will be ok in the end, but it won’t be easy. If it isn’t easy, then it’s not the end." Elder M. just said that quote in a voice message home. Thought it was good.

So our first investigators name was Andrea, super shy and very quiet. We were literally so close to her by the end of our lessons, just so we could hear her haha. We never understood why she wasn’t progressing, we just didn’t get it. So we prayed and prayed and just didn’t get it. We loved her and wanted to know why things weren't going as planned. So we come to find out that as an investigator, she wasn’t feeling that love and it frustrated my companions so much. I was honestly like, you guys, we're here to learn, missions are hard, what did you think this would be, cupcakes and butterflies?? So it was a little hard to deal with. I swear I have become such a good communicator, haha lots of listening :) Which I'm still working on. We don’t always see eye to eye. But we eventually get things resolved and so far things have been working out just great. I just love how Hermana Powell, or Andrea at the time, had NO idea what she as doing to this companionship haha.

My companions are amazing. Really they are. I love them to death and they have been a huge blessing. We laugh so hard and make sure we are all doing ok. We have become so close it is great, especially after seeing other companionships that don’t even walk with each other. So it’s great and we have really come to realize why we are in the companionships that we are. Let me tell you, a trio can be such a huge blessing and then the hugest pain....sometimes it’s a party and then a war.

Hermana B2 is the best. She is seriously so funny. After a little rough beginning we are the best of friends. We laugh all the time and work so well together. We're really similar and our companionship is ok with having quiet time. It’s especially fun to people watch during meal times. Hermana B2 has such a good heart. She gets really concerned about her level of Spanish but honestly she is improving so well and shares such a powerful testimony. Teaching in a trio is definitely a challenge. Sometimes three heads are nice, other times is a “spiritual madhouse” as one of our district Elders would say haha. I feel so blessed all the time to be with these girls. They have taught me a lot and I am so going to cry when i have to say goodbye to them. They have changed my life :)

My district is so great. the guys are a ton of fun and they are all clean and healthy, fun, so spiritually strong and just powerful teachers. I got to teach with Elder M. last night and oh my goodness it was the best experience. It was so powerful and I felt like we worked so well together! I was about to be like um I request to be an Elder now please? He taught the doctrine mostly and I asked the deep questions and smiled and encouraged and had the filler words and all that great stuff that really is necessary in a lesson. I loved it, our personalities just meshed so well and we were totally on the spot. I seriously love anytime I can get some more testosterone in my life. Girls are straight up crazy sometimes you guys. So we're playing volleyball as a district later today, should be a blast! I’m super excited. I love p-days! My district also loves to sing so that always brings the spirit.

We have a new investigator named Raquel and another named Fernando! They are great. Raquel has an addiction to alcohol that we aren’t supposed to know about yet and Fernando and his wife can’t have kids ;( such a heartbreak. But I’m excited to help them both come unto Christ. I’ll include more next week after we have taught them more ;) Its neat having our teachers be investigators. Sometimes its straight up awkward, but its so beneficial and such a genius idea.

I am so happy that I have the privilege of being a missionary. I know I don’t share so many spiritual experiences but just know that they happen all the time! I’ll work to include more. I swear I won’t be able to sing Called to Serve in English ever again. i love talking about the gospel all day. It is such a blessing and its what life is really about. I feel like I have been here for months. I don’t want to leave! I love feeling the spirit and just walking under the beautiful trees here multiple times a day and seeing the beautiful world God has created for us! It is such a blessing we sometimes take for granted. My testimony is growing and it’s definitely growing in Spanish :) Thanks to everyone who has had an impact on my life, you all are incredible. Every morning I wake up and can’t believe I’m a missionary being trained in México. And in the beloved words of my grandpa, I find myself saying, "How did i get so lucky?" Before our Tuesday devotional, a district of Elders sang Homeward Bound and it was gorgeous, brought me to tears :) so I wanted to share a bit from it:

"In the quiet misty morning, when the moon has gone to bed, when the sparrows, stop their singing, I’ll be homeward bound again."

So powerful and so beautiful. A real testament to the fact that I will be homeward bound in less than a year and a half, I love you all, we are incredible sons and daughters of a Heavenly Father who loves and knows each of us. Make this week an incredible, blessed week :)

adios!
con amor,
hermana despain

¡Estoy en México!

¡¡¡Buenos días a todos!!!!!! OH MY GOODNESS y'all that was the longest 10 days of my life! I don't know why we had to wait 10 days for our Preparation Day (P-day)again since it's on a Thursday but I learn to just go with it. Let's just say the candy that was supposed to last me 6 weeks? Yeah it's all gone haha oops ;) But the little tienda here is pretty decent and they have some pretty good American junk! It's a huge temptation for us though so we've only gone twice. As far as money goes here, you get your debit card and sisters get like 120 pesos each week which is like the equivalent of $10 and it adds on to the next week if you don't use it. At the end of the time you have here, anything you don't use will be recirculated back into a basically big mission fund and just goes to someone else's card. But to start, the church is true, God hears our prayers and he watches over the missionaries like crazy. I know I'm where I'm supposed to be and it feels amazing. I have NEVER been so happy or content in my life. So as far as top things I miss to get that out of the way... 1. Family 2. Friends 3. Half-baked brownies and ice cream 4. Being able to just talk with guys and have it be okay :) Other than that? I LOVE IT HERE. I cannot even begin to tell you how amazing life is here. Mexico is beyond gorgeous! We are in such a little bubble here but I am seriously in awe every time we walk around on this campus. It is seriously such a beautiful place.

Mexico: This country is truly beautiful. We really are deep in the city. It is so incredible to see all the houses. Seriously there are thousands and they create such a beautiful panorama here on the mountains. I cannot wait to send you all pictures! The mountains are gorgeous. It is COLD here!!!! I was so happy, I was like it is August and I need a hoodie! It is so great! It's always like high 60's in the morning and then it always rains, afternoon or evening. It is soo amazing. We'll get pretty good thunderstorms too. And the palm trees are so pretty you guys :)

Food: IT'S SO GOOD. I had pretty low expectations but dude, it's good. That is like what keeps me going on the rare occasions that I'm like down. I'll just be like "hey elders, when is lunch?". So they always have cereal for almost every meal, occasionally they'll cover the dispensers because people love it so much during lunch or dinner. They always have Cocoa Crispies (which I get of course, cuz it's chocolate), Fruit Loops and Frosted Flakes. Then they offer like one or two hot things a day, like waffles or pancakes or this dumb bread with beans and cheese on it or tamales or these sick nasty eggs. I've tried them all though and I don't complain! Ever really! They don't have maple syrup so they offer like chocolate and strawberry syrup which usually just ends up going in people's milk haha. The tamales were good and spicy but they were dry and needed more meat.

Their juices here are SO good. I love them all except for this one that tastes like the syrup after a freeze pop or Otter pop, whatever you call them. The juices are usually like guava, pineapple, lemonade or other stuff that you just don't really ask about.The water here is fine to like brush your teeth with and stuff, otherwise you just drink from their big blue tubs they set out and then when it's empty, you stick it outside your casa. For lunch and dinner they will have some sort of meat which is usually pretty good! Sometimes it looks sketchy and other times I'm like dude, get me some of that! And Tuesdays are pizza days so we missed that last week, yay us. It was Costco pizza though. I don't approve. Shout out to Papa Johns! Hey Dallin ;) Then they always have salad, fruit, sometimes beans, rice and occasionally pasta. The dressings are hit and miss, sometimes you just don't get any but if you do, they usually have mil islas (hey daddy!) or bleu cheese which I've come to be cool with and Ceasar (whattup). The papaya is sick nasty and tastes like throw up so we don't get that. The pineapple is so good and the cantaloupe just gets boring haha. They also always have like a bucket load of bread out but we pass right on by cuz we don't need the calories!!! We also say that and some other stuff as we pass the desserts. Mostly the desserts are like forms of gelatin or cake or just fatty looking stuff. But I did cave and got this cheesecake thing yesterday and it was soo good! Hermana B. keeps us on board by encouraging us not to get desserts, so either I'll just grab a bite from someone else or I just don't get any! I need to weigh myself but I don't feel like I've gained anything! I probably lost some honestly.....whatevs.

District: I don't even know where to begin. I got SO incredibly blessed with my district. They are all so amazing. Our guys are to die for, well at least this trio!

El CCM: The Spirit you feel here is amazing. You learn to just say !Hola! to everyone you see, and the workers here are so nice I just want to go up and hug them any chance I get. They keep the grounds here so nice and spic and span, They keep it so clean and professional looking. I am SO grateful I am here instead of Provo. From what I've heard, they're a little more lenient here and just plain chill. Don't get me wrong, we have high expectations but the Spirit is just a little more real. I love that everyone here is learning the same language, even if we're all at different levels, it just unifies us all.

Hail and Earthquake: When our plane landed and we were waiting for the bus to take us to the CCM, apparently there was an earthquake! They have like big green circles in the streets you run to here on campus if there is an earthquake so that's new for me :)So the first day we got here, last Tuesday, we unpacked and we're headed to dinner, when it started POURING. So we ran to this building where they were going to have the Tuesday Devotional and it starting hailing!!! It was so cool though cuz we started seeing all the missionaries run in and to see them all there at once was amazing. It just reminded me of the fact that I was a missionary :)

Casa: Our little casas house about 12 girls probably? Maybe 16? Anyways, we have 3 in our room because one Hermana got moved up into the Native group so I AM IN A TRIO!!!! But! We do have pillows and sheets and we saw these huge blankets and at first you're like what the heck, it's August, and then you wake up freezing at night. It's the best!!! I love it. The pillows are seriously so great, they're huge and pretty sturdy and comfortable! I was pleasantly surprised! We each have pretty big closets and we have a shower and toilet and two sinks. The showers were cold for the last week so you learned to get a pretty good back workout, trying to stay out of the freezing water but it wasn't too bad!

Animals: Dude the animals here are so messed up haha. The birds like gallop and they run like little road runners sometimes it's hilarious to watch them. They have like crows and mourning doves and little brown ones that are adorable and then the other day we were running (which means I was just struggling to breathe) and we saw these green birds you would see in a zoo, chillin' on the fence around the track and I'm just like "What the heck! I'm in Mexico!". It seriously is amazing here.

Natives: They are SO nice and SO hilarious! Because I'm in the intermediate class we will do a few activities with the Natives and they are so good. They correct you but they are so nice about it. And I always end up laughing with them so it gives me some hope for having Native companions. I talked to one from Puerto Rico yesterday and she was soo nice and I loved how she talked, we got along really well.

Sisters: But yeah I should probably watch my facial expressions cuz I probably have like the most fed up look on my face sometimes. Especially when some sisters complain about the Elders in their districts and we're just over here like, "We love our Elders, they're so mature and so amazing". Cuz they are!

Elder P. going to Raleigh and I met an Hermana Despain here! Seriously I have so many people ask me if I have family in like Colorado and random places and after their list of names I'm just like sorry dude no. One Elder just like straight up walked away after that and I was just left standing there like um ok?? Haha so it's cool to have people ask though! I met President and Sister Pratt! They are so sweet, they are very old and President Pratt has pretty high expectations but they are so good. They are related to Kristina Gaspar de Alba, my bestie so that was amazing to have them look out for me and ask how I knew her and stuff :) President Pratt is so cute, I swear every time I see him I'm just like, can he get any cuter as an old guy?! You just want to go give him a hug as he shuffles along.

On Sunday while we were singing "Love at Home" during Sacrament meeting I realized Cary 2 starts at the exact same time because of the time difference and oh goodness, you better believe I started tearing up. I haven't cried though! Sorry if that hurts anyone's feelings, but I am actually doing so much better than I thought I would! Sundays really are great cuz you don't have class, you just go to your different meetings throughout the day and it's pretty chill! Although breakfast on Sundays is weird cuz they give you like a sandwich in the morning with your cereal and I was just like, "Say what?" It's mostly so the workers don't have to work through lunch.

Packages:Oh, but I can receive packages here, I just can't send them out. I don't have a certain adapter you need to send pics but we're thinking Elder M. has one so I'll try to send pics. Oh! Dumbest rule here EVER, we can't take pictures on any day expect for P day...I get why but honestly it's a pain in the tushy. So the address here for letters and packages is different from what the original one in my call book: Carr. Tenayuca-Chalmita No. 828, Col. Zona Escolar, Deleg. G.A. Madero, C.P. 07230, México, D.F.; México.

Gym time: So during gym time we typically go cycle for like 10 minutes and then we either do some weight routines that Hermana B. teaches us or we go out to the track and Hermana B. goes and runs a few laps while me and Hermana B2 collapse on the grass and "stretch" haha. The track is just that red pebbly rock stuff so its like running on sand so its way frustrating and the grass is way squishy so that isn't fun to run on either haha. I tried the elliptical yesterday and it was neat, really good for your knees but not my fave, it's just awkward. It is pretty frustrating having to stay with your companions that much though cuz i was dying the day I went running with them and I was just like, "Dude give me a break! My poor NC lungs are dying in this elevation!" Its like our favorite time of day though cuz we literally just feel so carefree and free from all the stress that can go on. I'm probably getting anything but ulcers here. I like NEVER worry about anything, life is so good. There is a gym, ping pong tables, a sand volleyball court thing, a field within the track, two like real "work out" areas with weights, stationary bikes, ellipticals, and other equipment that really just looks like torture devices to me. We have about an hour to work out here everyday but by the time you're changed and everything you have about 45 minutes.

Spanish: I feel so comfortable with my Spanish here! I don't get nervous around the Natives and I feel good about where I'm at in comparison to my district since you have all your language stuff with them. As a trio, we speak only in Spanish from the time we wake up to 1pm now, we keep adding an hour each week. They say to "hsi" or habla su idioma or speak your language all the time but our heads would explode, so we do what we can and set goals. Honestly we're moving pretty slow with the Spanish but I guess I'm just used to Señora McCamy and moving really quickly! We learn a new thing every day like using "deber plus the infinitive" or "querer plus the infinitive" and I'm like ok, sweet, let's move on. But its good cuz we work on preparing lessons each day for our investigator que se llama Andrea. And yes, just like all the other missionaries have said, she turns into our teacher after we're done teaching her so that will be awkward but really helpful.

Zone Leaders: Our zone leaders crack us up. They're both 18 and fresh out of high school but the one, Elder D. will be the one of the running backs for BYU so we see him out there practicing everyday shoving those things around on the field. He and his companion are great though and check up on us. He actually asked us how our work out was after we were done yesterday.

Teachers: Our teachers are so great and so helpful! Hermano C. was the trainer of our teacher Hermano M. and they are seriously so amazing. Hermano C. is always SO happy and the guys call him superman. He's from idaho and served in Mexico. He is hilarious so he would remind me of dad anytime he was teaching us. During our classes they really only talk in Spanish which is totally cool with me and i like it! I pick up stuff to use later and it's really helpful! One time Hermano C. was like "Este es la obra de los angeles" and i was just like yes it is!!!! And he would thank us daily for being missionaries. He is like 24 and we're all so surprised he isn't married, honestly he's just one of those guys that you're just like ...why aren't you married? Hermano M. served in Tampico Mexico I think and he's from Mexico. He always smiles and actually talks in English sometimes. He just got married like 3 weeks ago so we were all just like agh that is so cute....he's a good teacher. They've definitely trailed off as far as being with us a lot of the time. They leave us to ourselves which is nice cuz you feel trusted, not like you're in high school all over again.

Bugs!!! Honestly the mosquitoes are so retarded here! Haha. They are so fat and slow that they're like sleepy flies. They don't bother you at all. I have no bug bites. No use for the mosquito netting! We only had like a total of 5 probably the first few days in our room. The only reason they bug me is when they get all close to my ear when I'm trying to fall asleep haha other than that, not a problem. We just find them like randomly dead on our tables or beds haha kind of weird.

Shoes are great! Wish I had packed more though just for variety and more jewelry, as weird as that sounds, but I'll be grateful for not packing so much when i get to Honduras. Clothes are great! Yeah I so wish you guys could experience this with me!! Its amazing and I love it. It's sad to think I won't ever come here again since you really have to be a missionary, president or teacher to get back into the ccm!

Faucets: The faucets here are so weird! They're like these little lever things that you pull or press on that come out of the main attachment of the sink. Random I know, but they're just something to get used to and the water pressure isn't always the same, They totally make such a mess and the paper dispensers are slow as molasses.I end up doing like a dance just to activate the sensor. And the toilet paper comes out like sideways tissues. It's all good though, porque estoy en méxico :)

Honestly, I've realized that I have never been happier or a more positive person IN MY LIFE. I am just like totally in my element here so it scares me how happy I am. I'm really worried Honduras is going to slap me in the face honestly. But really though, just watch. My testimony has grown so much. There have been a few times where I've really felt your prayers. And if you're not praying for me, then I guess I was just praying for myself cuz I felt really comforted! The only time I was ever like stressed was when I had to unpack. It feels like such a privilege to be here, I'm so grateful everyday. I don't know how I have been able to stay sane and healthy and awake, actually I do know, it's because of Heavenly Father and the prayers for missionaries! I seriously feel so looked out for. Peace and blessings to you all ;) I miss you all like crazy, but know that I am so incredibly happy. I love being a missionary and I love you guys :) The church is true, God loves us and He knows our weaknesses and makes them stronger :) Talk to you all next week!

Love,

Hermana Despain

Arrival at the Mexico City MTC

im here safe and sound and these keyboards are way weird.

so oh my gosh i love it. i was like kind of nervous on the flight over but i met up with some elders in atlanta! I went over and I was like um you look nervous, are you an elder? Sure enough he totally was, and we met up with another one too. Our luggage came like at the last minute so we were like way stressed and the lady in customs was impatient...but! Everything is good and guess what?!?!?! I met an elder here who knows devin bodhaine and ben housley! Crazy right? Small world...so oh  my goodness, Angilyn Bennett is my companion!!! Can you believe that! We saw them drive up and everything and I cant wait to go talk to her!! So I hope everything is going really well there! Im so glad i'm not like sick or anything honestly...

The weather is so nice, its like mid 70's! So this bucket load of missionaries just came in. This is so cool. Ok so I haven't taken any pics yet but I will! So apparently we get to just go back to our little casas and rest, that was pure music to my ears, I am so excited!!! Like this is crazy. I feel so good. I could totally feel the Spirit when we got here, and you see pictures from other church buildings and you're just like YESSSS (hahahha dude I'm already beasting this keyboard.)

So I miss you guys all SO MUCH. It's crazy...

To continue.....

So when we got through customs, we totally got picked up after like 30 seconds, these two men with a sign that said Mexico MTC came up to us and we could just tell they were legit, like it's weird to say but it's totally the "light in their eyes" thing. (That probably totally freaks you out mom sorry, hahahhaaha) I'm slowly getting more used to the idea that this will be my home, like it's weird but it's all good. I wrote in my journal a couple times so that helped. This crazy family going to the Bahamas from NC totally cracked me up though, they were all so excited and gave me a few laughs

K to wrap up, I know this church is so true, it's crazy. Prayer is real and I love being Mormon. Heavenly Father totally takes away all your fears if you're righteous and faithful.

I love you all! Have a great week! Ask me questions and I'll get back to you!

Love,
Hermana Despain :)

Departure

She's on her way! After a very busy day Monday spent prepping clothes, packing, making a few final hair bows and spending time with friends and family, Elena was set apart as a missionary by Pres. Harry Maxwell. She was also able to spend some quiet quality time with her sister in Arizona via Skype to say final goodbyes and to get some great missionary advice.

We got her to the airport as planned.  Elena was confident and just a little nervous but smiling and ready to go!  Her dad refused to worry about blocking the way for other passengers to get to security :) He had to see his princess until she made that final descent down the escalator with a big Elena smile and a wave goodbye!!

Thursday August 1 2013

How did five months turn into five days?! I have five days left...

The luggage is starting to explode and the language proficiency call has been made and the lemon curd is chilling happily in the fridge for the open house. I'm so excited to have everyone over for a last hoorah before I leave, I think that will definitely help this whole waiting experience feel finalized.

We have just a few things to get taken care of and packed but everything is drawing to a close. 

It's already hard thinking about leaving my family and friends and my life here but I know I'll be looked out for and I know I'm coming back!

Mexico, here I come!

Love,
Elena