Week Dos!!! - March 28, 2018

(Dos as in the number 2 in Spanish). 

Well I can't believe it's been a 2 semanas already! On one hand I feel like I've been here forever, and on the other I feel like I just got here, especially since I'm still pretty novice level at Spanish. 

So at one point during this week my distrito was discussing cultrual differences, and Elder Eduria (de los Philippines) somehow ended up telling ME (directed at me though the whole distrito was listening) that in the Philippines it's a complement to when a woman is 'bigger'! And then everyone started DYING laughing. I seriously though it was so funny (don't worry i wasn't offended by it, and he felt bad afterwards)

While here at the CCM I have not only been learning Spanish, but I've been learning little bits of Tagolog and 'Australian'. Our entire distrito now uses phrases like "Scarn on mate" and "She'll be righ' " because we have been so influenced by Elder Thornton's language usage. Also, the Filipino Elderes in our distrito like to make fun of me because sometimes they talk to each other in Tagalog and I try to copy some of the words that they say (because it is such a cool language too) (but i would never want to learn it, that'd be waaay harder than espanol) so i now can say hindi ako madaling magalit which means I don't get angry easily. So whenever they start laughing at me i always say that and then they laugh harder jajaja

I have definitely been enjoying physical activity time this week. I've been able to spend a lot of the time with my district which has been super fun, and we've played things such as volleyball, basketball, ultimate frisbee, ping pong, foosball, the works. We've got a pretty good set up here in el CCM. Also idk if i told you this last week, but one of the favorite drinks that I've been able to try is called Maracuyo, and I think that is the same as the weird fruit that i tried last week. Anyway, so this week during physical activity Hermana Agasen wanted to play volleyball with the latinos while I played basketball with the distrito (which was fine since they are right next to each other). While she was playing volleyball, she hurt her hand pretty badly, so on Monday she and I got to leave the CCM and go to a clinica so she could get an x ray. Driving here is crazy btw!!! I though we were going to be hit, that we were going to run into people, all that jazz, so now i really understand why missionaries don't drive down here. I wouldn't want to!! 

Sundays here in the CCM are the best!! Seriously they are my favorite. This Sunday I was able to accompany a special musical number in my branch, and the music was given to me on Saturday!! Seriously the Lord blessed me so much, I would NOT have been able to do that on my own. We also watched a movie about Christ's Atonement this week, and I had a really cool spiritual impression! In the video it depicts Christ going back up to heaven and all the spirits recieving Him with so much joy. I had this though that I had never had before: I was one of those spirits who welcomed Him home so ethusiastically and joyfully. I felt Heavenly Father tell me through the Spirit that he knows how much I love Him and Jesus Christ, and that He is pleased with my decision to serve a mission. It was so cool. We also have the chance to watch Devos from the Provo MTC every Sunday and Tuesday night, and everytime I look for Rick and Juliana (but sadly I haven't seen them yet) (Her aunt and uncle have callings at the Provo MTC,)  I've seen a few people that I knew from BYU tho which has been so cool! The last one was from Elder Renlund and his wife, and seriously it was so good! While discussing it as a distrito afterwards, my distrito leader Elder Baxter said something that really made a ton of sense in my head. Faith plus Works equals Miracles. If you think about it like math, x can't equal z, and y can't equal z, it's impossible. Only when both faith and works are together can we really find miracles. Just thought that was super cool. 

So this week we went from having 1 investigadores to 2, and Hermana Agasen and I actually have been doing much better!! We speak Spanish much better, so we are able to understand what questions they are asking, and follow the Spirit much more easily! El don de lenguas is real!!! (the gift of tounges) 

Next week my P day is Tuesday, so if you want to write me don't forget to do it early! 

Love you all so so so much!!! Have a happy life, and know that mine is too! 

Hermana Rowe

The Lima Peru Temple

Las Hermanas - all of the 6 week hermanas in the CCM right now, but all except the 4 from my distrito leave next week

Some of the latino hermanas that are so cute and funny (all the latinos are here for 3 weeks, so next week there will be completely different latinos) 

First Week in el CCM!!! - March 21, 2018

AAAAAHHH it feels so good to write home, especially in English!! The CCM grounds are beautiful!!! I'll have to take more pictures this afternoon so that I can send them next week! Ok ok ok... so I got here safely, it was seriously like 2 am when we got to the CCM, but they let us sleep in til 8, so it wasnt too bad *insert smiley face because using spanish keyboards is so confusing jajaja* My companeras name is Hermana Agasen, and she is so sweet! She is from the Philippines, so right now she is learning her third language! I love my distrito, our name is Moroni and we are in the Manti branch. All the leaders are so sweet kind and helpful, and they encourage us to be better missionaries! The food here is... different jaja. The first day I ate almost nothing because I didn't really understand the flavors together (like how they put lunch meat ham in EVERYTHING) but I have finally started to eat things because I guess I'm getting used to it. Although I have to say they have some of the best fruit I've ever had! The watermelon, cantelope, bananas, pineapple, and other fruits that I have no idea what the name are, are all delicious! They also have really weird drinks, but the orange juice here reminds me of Christmas morning, THATS how good it is! And the pineapple juice is amazing too. And others that I forget the names of, but one I think is called Carambolla...? Anywho, they are good. They also have vending machines that we can use in the CCM, and today I tried Inca Cola (that seriously you can only find in Peru or in Peruvian restaurantes) that tastes like carbonated cotton candy slash bubble gum, and it's super good! 

Learning Spanish has been kinda stressful, but I also feel like I've learned tons in the past week! Wow I feel like I've always kinda been here, because this week has been super long but also quick too... not sure if that made ANY sense but we'll go with it :) (figured out how to make a smiley face on this thing) Being with a missionary comes with more rules than I realized! This week I've realized that obedience can be hard when you have to follow rules that you don't know about! They gave us an extra insert to our mission manuals last week with all the CCM rules, and boy there are some that I didn't even realize that a missionary couldn't do! For example: we are only allowed to take pictures on P day and never in our rooms (in the CCM) so I have a few 'sin' pictures to send that I didn't know I wasn't supposed to take at the time. Also, living here is kinda crazy because in my room there is me and Hermana Agasen, and then two Latina Hermanas as well! But they are so sweet and loving, and they always say I love you in English to us :) One of the ways that I've been learning Spanish the best (at least for practical phrases) is through talking with latinas y latinos at meals and during physical exercise time! Oh! And learning to teach investigadores here is hard! On day 3 of the CCM we had our first meeting with an investigador, and it was entirely in Spanish!!! So that was more than slightly challenging haha, but we learn more churchy words and phrases everyday, so esta bien :) we have taught 3 lessons now, and this afternoon will be our fourth. Everyone in my distrito has been so kind and supportive of each other tho! Hermanas Coats and Gundersen definitly know the most Spanish out of all of us, but it is good to get help from them. So I guess I'll explain about my distrito. There are 4 Hermanas y 6 Elderes. We have a lot of fun together, a lot of laughs, but we also work hard. The Elderes names are Elders Baxter and Sabin, Neyra and Thornton (who just so happens to be from Australia and has a super cool accent), and Villareal and Eduria. The last two are also from the Philippines, so it's kinda fun to hear them speak in Tagolog with mi companera.  Also, I never realized this before but Philippinos have to use the bathroom a lot!! Those two elderes y me y mi companera go to the bathroom ALL THE TIME!! jaja pero esta bien. The maestros here are really good too, and they really help us with goals. Things are very goal oriented here. Seriously I've made more goals in this past week then i have probably in my entire life jaja. Today has been awesome since we got to go to the Temple!! It was so cool because we got it all in English up until the end, and then we got to say some stuff in Spanish!  My favorite day so far was Sunday! We got it all in English (except for the talks and prayers of course) and we had so many uplifting classes and got to watch an MTC Devo from Elder Holland that really helped me know that I'm supposed to be a missionary, and that I'm doing the Lord's will! One of the things that he said about obedience that I loved was: You have to do the Lord's will. It's not Burger King, you can't have it your way! That caught my attention, and i thought maybe it would catch some other people too. I know that nuestro Padre Celestial loves each of us, and that we are His children. Yo se que Jesucristo es nuestro Salvador, y nos ama. Nosotros podemos ser con El si seguira a El. I love you all so very much! Know that I am happy and healthy, and even though I'm doing hard things, I'm working through it, and really, I haven't cried because of homesickness at all. (Which is interesting because all the other Hermanas have, and so have some of the Elderes) but it's not because i don't love and miss you! I know that i'm supposed to be here and that makes me happy. :) Amor amor amor!!!! 

Hermana Rowe

Hermana Rowe