Final Week in the CCM! Week 5!!

Well, here is the last update before I am in LA! Time has gone by so fast and I have mixed feelings about feeling ready and prepared to go out. BUT! I know I have used the time here in the CCM to help me as much as possible. It makes me sad to see so many Elders and Sisters playing games during study time, or coming in late to language classes, goofing off, not studying when they should be, etc. I'm glad I have Elder Barrett and my district who have helped me become the best missionary I could be here at the CCM! 

The Office - District 11C

Remember the mysterious sausage I ate my...2nd week? Well, I advised EVERYONE to not eat them because I had a bad experience, right? That was in fact the ONLY tip I have given the new 11B district who came in this week. Well... I kid you not, over 100 missionaries are sick. Like haven't been well enough to come to church on Sunday, or class on Monday and Tuesday. And I have no idea, but still, so many people are sick...from THE HOT DOGS (sausage, no one knows...). Crazy story, Hermana Lucas, a hermana in my district and a fellow LA missionary, got sick on Sunday along with a handful of people. She wasn't feeling too good and spent the night in the enfermeria. Monday morning before class, the district went over to visit her and Elder Barrett and I gave her a priesthood blessing. We went back at lunch to find out she had been taken to a hospital in MEXICO!! What?? Long story short, Hma Lucas is fine, but just needed a lot of nutrients because she lost so much and they couldn't help her as much as they wanted to here in the CCM! She has been the only person to go to the hospital so she is kind of famous. Our district is doing awesome with the whole famous thing, haha. But seriously, there is like the swine flu here or something because everyone is getting sick...BUT I'm ok! :)

A quick note about letters and the PDF service: I don't get mail on Saturday or Sunday, so Thursday will be the last time I will be able to get any PDFs, but they are fantastic! Thank you so much for sending them! As far as real letters go, send them to LA! 

Speaking of LA! I leave Monday morning! at 3:30am! YAY!!!..... My flight leaves at 7am and after a 4 hr flight and a time change, it will be 9am, and I believe (not positive) that Monday and Tuesday are orientation days...and then transfers are on Wednesday. I'm excited and have already started packing and such! It's amazing how much stuff I brought and I have to pack it all in my suitcase again...this time...ALONE. gahh. It's all good though! I am super excited to leave and hit the field with a good attitude, and frankly, to be back in the US, haha. Its great here in Mexico, but...yeah! :)

Once again, more of the same old same old.

The desk

 More class, studies, gym time, sleep, and eating. I have gained 12 lbs here at the CCM! I am now over 160 and quite proud actually... it's amazing what sitting in a chair for 6 weeks will do to you haha. Other changes: shaving is going great, but everyday...after 2 years, I might as well be Lorenzo Snow.. 

Lesson plans

Cool experience: So we have 3 or 4 investigators I am teaching right now (depending on the day) and one of them is Ofelia, or Hermana Gonzalez, my teacher. She has a boyfriend, not married, has a kid, wants to get baptized but is living with him and he is not the best, blah blah.  You know missionaries are often time marriage counselors... ANYWAY! Elder Barrett and I were teaching her about the law of chastity, and it was going.. ok. I have been trying to give Elder Barrett more opportunities to take ¨charge¨ a little bit of the lessons and talk more because I tend to be forward(?) I don't know how to describe it, I like to talk and Elder Barrett is a little more shy. So, Elder Barrett was teaching his part and I could tell she was fine with what was being said but she had a question on her mind and I was sitting there try to figure out what to say to help her understand...THEN I felt an impression I will never forget, like seriously something out of a general conference story or something. I testify that it was the Spirit. All of a sudden, I asking her things, questions about her boyfriend, marriage, baptism, somehow all stringing them together in the way that she needed to hear it in that moment. I know that that lesson was taught by the Spirit and not by me or Elder Barrett. Afterwards, my teacher told us both that she felt the spirit so strong and told us to always remember that we can always have that power if we are prepared and are worthy to have the Spirit be with us. SO COOL! 

TRC: usually we have taught members, but this week we got the chance to teach a REAL INVESTIGATOR! That was pretty cool, we helped her understand how she can receive personal revelation and guidance through reading El Libro de Mormón. 

Elder Mills - International MTC President came here this week and spoke on Sunday. He showed before and after pictures of some missionaries around the world and WOW. I knew that people change, they come home with the light of Christ, they come home weird and awkward, and sometimes with a little more weight or less hair on them, but the way he talked about the change that will happen if we are worthy and let the Lord change us was so incredible. The world works from the outside in, hoping to change the environnment, a haircut, clothes, in hopes of changing the personality. The gospel works from the inside out. We change our beliefs, desires, goals, motivations. It's what changes boys into men. As we give what we have (a testimony, a helping hand, etc.) there will be supplement, with an increase. Serve others! Don't pass up an opportunity because it is inconvenient for you! DO IT!  

​There are so many little things I have learned, special little lessons for me, for life, for marriage in the future, so many and I am writing them all down as much as possible and I wish I could share them all but I sadly don't have enough time! :( 

Sunrise on the way to breakfast

Next update will be coming from sunny LA! I love you all so much! Yo sé que está Evangelio is verdadero. Yo sé que Jesucristo es mi Salvador y estoy aquí en el CCM para una razón, ayudar a las personas a venir a Cristo y recibe el Evangelio de Jesucristo y cambiar sus vidas. Español es muy difícil pero mediante la Expiación de Jesucristo podemos llegar a ser limpio y digno entrar en la presencia de Dios para siempre. Yo amo la obra. Yo amo mi familia y amigos y sé que soy un misionero de la Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los últimos días. Tengo gracias por ustedes y todo cosas para ayuda mi en mi misión. Gracias! ​

​God Speed! ​

Week 4

Well... only a week and a half left in the Jesus prison. Just kidding, everyone says that but really I don't think its been bad at all! Love it here, love the people, and the work!

New Comedor

Everything is basically the same. Nothing really changes from day to day so nothing too exciting to share with y´all (Elder Barrett has rubbed off on me). The probably most exciting NEW thing is the new comedor! Seriously this thing is like 21st century classy cafeteria status, nothing else in the CCM comes close to being this nice...haha but seriously its pretty cool, but no makes our walk from our house to the comedor twice as long... gotta start eating more to make up those 20 extra calories we burn. 

Average lunch, with root beer from la tienda

District 11B left for Florida Tuesday morning and along went our Zone Leaders. So guess what, Pres Torres called me to be the new Zone Leader!! What?? Which means I handed the District Leader mantle to Elder Barrett and he is a rockstar with that, I think a leadership position will be great for him. But that's all that is new, OHH! I gave a talk in sacrament meeting this past Sunday. I talked about repentance and it was all in Spanish, I used scriptures and everything! That was a cool experience. I have also gotten to bless the sacrament in Spanish, but that was week...2? Who knows anymore...

Fun facts: 

• I kid you not, I can dunk a basketball on a 10ft rim now. I am pretty excited haha.

• I am pretty good at volleyball, or so everyone says, Elder Barrett and I play with some other Elders who played in highschool and they told me I totally should have played on the school team. 

Volleyball with the District

• I can only take pictures on Pday. You can´t listen to music at the CCM so Elder Barrett and I have gotten pretty good at whistling and humming hymns and such, we are basically pros.

• For the CCM choir we have sung the EFY Medley and Come Thou Fount, in Spanish. Super cool experience and I'm starting to LOVE how hymns sound in Spanish. I offered to play the choir piece for our last Tuesday devotional, but we will see if that actually happens, apparently you have to beg and keep nagging to be able to play...so idk.

Kickball with District 11C

Elder Barrett and I have become famous at the CCM, I kid you not. For whatever reason A LOT of the CCM presidency knows our names, and whenever we walk into the Devotional or a meal at the comedor we are greeted by basically everyone. I don't know why...probably because we are the big elders on campus now, haha. And Elder Barrett is probably the most ripped Elder here, seriously. My brother I know. Also, I am now getting requests to tell stories because apparently I tell good stories. :)

Thank you for all the letters! The PDF service works great and I am getting all of them the next day! As far as real letters go, if you send them today or later, I will not get them and I don't know if they will forward them to LA for me...SO if you are going to send real letters, send them to the LA mission home! You guys are the best! I love hearing what everyone is up to and doing, and its amazing that its already been a month haha.

Spiritual Corner with Elder Ekberg (please, fireplace and hot chocolate are completely optional):

• I memorized D&C 4 in Spanish! That thing is long...haha 
• TRC this week was amazing. Still can't understand everything, but this week Elder Barrett and I were able to have some really meaningful conversations and lessons with these people. 
• Repentance: Do you want Late Regrets or Proactive Repentance? Which do you think will make you more happy?
• MISSION MODE: pray, fast, study, work, experiences of a lifetime - Pres Torres 
• Specific Prayers: If you have faith, we can ask the Lord for very specific things. We had a class where the CCM President shared lots of stories about this including: There was this girl who had two guys wanting to marry her, she didnt know who to go with. She knelt down and prayed: Heavenly Father, I dont know who to marry, so let it come to pass that the man I am supposed to marry call me at exactly 1:15am. It happened and she has been married for like 30 something years! Nuts! If you ever lose anything, have faith. 
• ZION: Be one, in heart, mind, goal.
• Elder Ekberg´s personal revelation of the week: Sometimes we pick and choose one thing to be better at, because we all need to improve. Setting priorities is great, goals are amazing, we NEED to get better at almost everything because we are not perfect. However, we can't forget things that seem less important at the time. Do not think rules, commandments, duties, chores, whatever it is, are not worth our time, we can ALWAYS improve and we need them. 
• If you think you might fail, take one step. Christ is there to catch you and walk with you. 
• Don't pass up opportunities to look for a perfect one. Don't wait for when it's convenient for you, do it. 

Yo sé que Jesucristo es mí Salvador y estoy aquí en el CCM trabajar y llegar a ser a mejor misionero y hijo de Dios. Yo amo mí familia y amigos. Gracias por todo amor y apoyo.

District 11C "The Perfect District" 

Week 3? or 4? Half way...

Zone 11

So here at the CCM I am on week 4 as far as classes go, and they start on Monday, but we got here on Wednesday, so it's really just been 3 weeks... I don't know, time is the weirdest here. As far as time goes, here is roughly my schedule:

6:30 am- 10:30 pm - BE A MISSIONARY

Classic Elder Ekberg

Just kidding but really: 

6:30 - Wake up, shower, get dressed

7:00 - Breakfast

7:30 - Personal Study (Scrips, PMG, etc)

8:30 - Language/Grammar

9:30 - Progressing Investigator 

10:30 - Fundamentals/PMG Study

11:30 - Additional Study

12:00 - Lunch

1:00 - Personal Language Study

2:00 - GYM

3:00 - Prep for classes

3:30 - TALL (Computer language class)

4:30 - Additional Study

5:00 - Daily Planning Session

5:30 - Dinner

6:15 - Prep for evening classes

6:30 - Language

7:30 - Progressing Investigator

8:30 - Companionship Study/Planning

9:30 - Home

10:30 - Night Night

​Sundays and Wednesday (Pday) are different and Tuesday nights we have a Devotional, but that is literally everyday. :)​ And I LOVE IT. 

Everyone here knows something about THE GILBERT ARIZONA. Hermana Bailey from 11A is going there, her companion Hermana Areno is cousins with Conrad Belshe. Hermana Sara Anderson and Hma Heather McKendrick are here and I see them quite often (Hma McKendrick is across the hall and I practiced teaching with Hma Anderson last week!!) I talked to some Elders who were Noah Millers roommates at BYU-H and know quite a few Gilbert kids, and there is a Hermana.. Hiatt? who is really good friends with the McBrides, Alex and Danny. Everyone says Gilbert is nicer than Utah...I agree. :) 

District 11C (LA missionaries on the left, Houston Texas East on the right

How am I doing? How am I REALLY doing? I'm great. Honestly. :) Some days are really hard, I get discouraged, frustrated, tired, or whatever but after a quick prayer and a step back to remember what I'm doing and its only been 3 weeks, I am back  in the groove loving every second. Here at the CCM it is literally a spiritual firehose and you can only take so much in at a time, but we have the same lessons about planning, stress, studying, etc. again and again and you learn something new every time we talk about it. So I'm great. Some mornings I am REALLY tired and its hard to stay awake during Personal Study, but as soon as our teachers walk in the door listing off Spanish, you HAVE to be awake. And I love them. :) In the morning we have two sisters, Hermana Gonzalez, and Hermana Alvarado, they are the best and so sweet. Even when I just stare back at them because I have NO IDEA what they said or asked me, somehow they keep smiling back until someone answers something...usually not even close. We have become really good friends with them, (All the teachers are returned missionaries and are only like 26-30ish) and we like to tease them about getting married. We may or may not be trying to set Hma Alvarado up with the teacher from 11B...:) ANYWAY! OHH and our night teacher is Hno Galicia, is RICARDO. and I talked about him last week. The best. :)

Please send letters! 

Back to how I am doing. I think I'm gaining weight.. which is good! I need to! :)

I LOVE getting letters from you! The PDF thing works great and is the best! Please send me more...? Please? :) Also, if you would like handwritten letters, I have some time every night to kill and I can write you some, but I need your address... :)

​Alright, this week I think I will go a little more spiritual because I have learned A TON. ​

President Packers Funeral Service - When the general authorities were recalling some of their memories of Pres Packer this is what was said:

-Don't call people before 5am, its not considerate...people are trying to sleep. 

-The only difference between being young and old is age

-For Pres Packer, it doesn't matter which side of the veil he was on, He will always be a master teacher. 

Anyone can invite, thats easy. When you HELP people, thats where the money is.

Joy isn't about your circumstances. It's about you knowing that Heavenly Father has a plan for you and He loves you. 

THIS is the dispensation that will NOT fail. Every other dispensation has, but this one will succeed. That has never happened, be a part of it. 

The second coming has already started, it started in a grove of trees in 1820. 

We are Gods investigators. Keep commitments, its ok to have a bad day, but tomorrow is a new one. 

Elder Barrett and Elder Ekberg post haircuts :)

The Lord is close to each and everyone of us, it depends on how close we allow ourselves to get to him. 

It doesn´t matter what you were before, it just matters what you are now. For me, BE A MISSIONARY.

You dont have to be perfect, be a MISSIONARY.

True conversion comes when you act because you NEED to. 

Do we have to do something? Should we do it? No, I NEED to do it. 

We need to understand why we do things, why we are obedient. Is it becuase we are scared not to, because it keeps us safe, or do we follow commandments and obey rules because we LOVE the Lord? Do we obey out of Love? You dont need someone telling you what to do, do it because you NEED to. If you love Christ, you NEED to do everything to be the son of God that God wants you to be. 

I will try to say a little something in Spanish, my grammar probably stinks but I will try! Love you all! :) 

Yo he llamdo servir a mision en el Los Angeles. Yo sé que Dios es nuestro Padre Celestial. Yo sé que le Iglesia es verdadera y el Libro de Mormón es la palabra de Dios. Yo sé que mediante Jesucristo y Su Expiación, puedo llegar a ser limpio y mejor misioneros y hijos de Dios. Aprediendo Español es muy dificil pero mediante Jesucristo lo es fácil. Estoy agradecido pro la oportunidad estar aquí. Estoy muy agradecido por mí maestros y amigos ayudar con todas cosas. Yo sé que Jesucristo vive y puede ayuda sí permite Él. Amo usted todo!

Living quarters

Living quarters

It's so  nice here!

Physical Letters to Elder Ekberg

Note from Mom:

I have discovered that you can write a letter to Elder Ekberg and there is a company that will print it out and he will get it the next day.   All letters need to be in PDF format and will be printed in black and white.  No photos--that costs actual money. (But if you are interested in sending photos, visit mtcmexicocarepackage.com for details). 

Send a PDF with "Elder Daniel Ekberg" in the subject line to :

letter@mtcmexicocarepackage.com 

He has a LOT more time to read and write real letters than he has to use the computer for email.  

Week 2 at the CCM

Dear Family and Friends, 

Week 2 at the CCM. I can´t believe I'm already 1/3 of the way done with my training. ITS NOT ENOUGH TIME!!

But Spanish is really picking up! I hold myself to a certain standard of getting things right "One take Ekberg¨ as Mr. Bitter calls me,  haha. So I've been working on realizing that I have only had 14 days or so in the CCM and I can say almost everything I want to say with some thought. Well, say what I want about spiritual topics and such haha. As far as normal everyday life conversation goes, I can´t. But whats important is I am learning Spanish to preach the gospel, and the other stuff will come! For now I have to be able to ask questions and testify of my Savior Jesus Christ, so Im on my way to success!

Life here at the CCM is weird. Time is weird. Time is relative to us here on earth and it changes and

<blah blah Inception rant insert>. Seriously though, we will be talking about something and be like: Ohh, I remember learning about that last week! Ohh wait...that was yesterday... or something along the lines of, What was that question about the Holy Ghost and such? Ohh that thing we learned on Day 2? yeah... time is weird and I have to write the day of the week in my planner because everyday is the same haha...Except Sunday! Sunday is a real blessing! :)

Elder Barrett and I are still becoming really close, although he and I are from two different worlds still. So in my Zone there are 3 districts. 11A, 11B, and 11C. We are 11C. In 11A there are 4 elders and 4 sisters, and they are the same generation missionaries as us. 11B is the zone leaders district and they are 2 weeks ahead of us. At lunch, Elder Barrett and I sit with the Elders from 11A, so out of the 6 of us, I am the only stick thin one, and the only one not wanting to go into the military after the mission. So our lunch conversations consist of talking about what branch of the armed forces we are going into,

the hunting party we had days before we left, or the biggest deer or elk we have shot. On the daily, they are catching parrots in the CCM, yes PARROTS.

They even whistle back haha. But its been good, there are the different personality types and although its not my cup of tea, I´m glad we are the most obedient group of Elders I have seen...is that bad to say? 

Elder Barrett and I have a 4 person room to ourselves. We live in House 33, which is the furthest house from everything. Its basically on another planet. But it's great!!!... :)

On Pday last week we got to go to the Mexico City temple. Everyone was astonished at the ´3rd world country´ and how different everything was. It's honestly not that different from any big city anywhere in the world, and I'm sure parts of downtown LA will look pretty similar to Mexico. Although I'm sure there are lines on the roads in LA! The Temple was being remodeled so we just got to go in the Visitors Center, but it's like super new and technologically advanced, I think the church is going to redo all the VC to look like it. We got to watch a video on eternal families and God's plan for us. Can I just say, I love my family and I can´t wait to have my own family. I can´t wait to be a dad. BUT in like 5 or 6 years. Now is time for the mission, haha.  I may or may not have been crying during that video though...BE STRONG ELDER!

So about my first investigator. The names have been changed so don't worry, haha. Ricardo was my and Elder Barrett's first investigator. Basically, his wife died two years ago and he has two kids. He works at a sock factory and loves it and spending time watching movies with Will Smith in them. BUT, he really didn't know of why he was here on Earth. So, in our broken Spanglish and trying to understand what his problems and concerns were, we taught him for 5 lessons. By the end of the 3rd lesson we had him committed to baptism but then found out he was an alcoholic. Awesome. But we finished our 5 lessons with him and he was doing better. THEN we found out that Ricardo was really a member acting the part of an investigator (We knew it the whole time) and THEN we found out that Ricardo would be our new night time teacher. WHAT. No. But we did so bad and our Spanish is terrible and he knows what we are bad at and he is going to judge us and laugh at us and...NO!  Elder calm down. RICARDO IS THE COOLEST TEACHER ON THE PLANET. Turns out Hermano Galacia (Ricardo) is our new teacher. He is the ´grandpa´of the CCM as he has been there 2 years, longer than any other teacher and he knows his stuff. So basically we are in good hands. :)

Now, we have two new investigators, Ofelia (one of our morning teachers) and Mauricio (Ricardo or (Hermano Galaica)) haha. Its been good. There is a lot of planning and I think its awesome that your investigators are your teachers because you get instant feedback after the lesson and know what to improve and study for next time. For those of you going to the MTC... don't pay any attention to the above. The investigators at the MTC are real... maybe. 

Fourth of July here was awesome. The lunch staff fed us like kings. Seriously, I thought I was going to explode. But then we started the all CCM 24 hour fast. So that makes sense. Fasting was such a cool experience and specifically for help with the language, it was awesome and I testify that fasting is powerful and works. It does. 

I am sad to report that my stomach was not as strong this week. Monday for breakfast the staff served us these mysterious looking sausages, and me thinking, "hmmm I'm hungry and that's different", I ate them. Then for lunch I had two bacon cheeseburgers (very rare - had to take advantage of the opportunity, right?) WRONG. That day was miserable...ohh my, I apologize to Elder Barrett. Luckily I was able to break out my ´anti-runs´ meds and I'm better now. Better. Be. Careful. But the mosquitos aren't as bad so thats good! 

Ok: spiritual time. Its ok to be stressed! A little bit of stress is healthy and keeps you motivated to be better, BUT too much and you're toast. Learn to manage your stress and prioritize what is really important. Prioritize what needs to be accomplished today and right now. What is important and what does the Lord need me to do right now? A nap may sound good, but learning 5 new phrases for tomorrows lesson is even better. Plus, I fall asleep within seconds at night, haha. 

1 Nephi 2:15 - You can receive revelation ANYWHERE. Even in a tent. Or a hammock. You just need to be in tune with the Spirit. 

Elder Barrett and I joined the CCM Choir. Yes, I am pursuing my lifelong dream of standing in the back row singing bass. YESSSSS. It was seriously cool though and we are going to keep going. :)

No Elder Ekberg, but mom thought the post needed a picture about now.  

God can´t help you remember stuff you didn´t learn. Even though we think ´God will give me it in the very moment´ doesn't meant we don't need to prepare. Do it. Don't be lazy. 

I am called to serve as a missionary and teach the restored gospel. Not provide my investigators with my personal opinions and nonsense. Get out of the way and let the Spirit teach. 

Apostles. I'm sorry to hear about Elder Packer. He has been the ONLY President of the Twelve since I have been alive. Its incredible to see the sincerity and mourning for Elder Packer here at the CCM. On Tuesday (last night) we had our Tuesday Devotional. Elder Paul B Pieper talked about Apostles and Missionaries. We are called the same. The apostles call us to a specific mission through revelation and the Spirit. I, Elder Ekberg have the same first name as the 12 apostles for 2 years. What am I going to do with that? I have the same authority in some respects to them. I can receive revelation for my investigators, no one else can. I need to honor that. 

Last, be a committed disciple before anything else. Jesus called disciples before He called apostles. In whatever we do, we can represent the Lord, be a disciple. 

I love you all and miss you! I wish I had more time to write but I tried to include everything that happened this week and a little bit more of mission life! Please, send letters! Although they take 2 weeks to get here, so this week and next are probably the only two weeks you can send mail, so...email! I will try and get to you! :) Thanks for all the love and support! God Speed. 

Week 1 at the CCM

Elder Barrett and Elder Ekberg at the CCM

1 week down, 103 lifetimes to go. I mean that in the sense that this work is never done. We should never be done sharing what we know to be true. We should never stop being missionaries, not when we get off the mission, or depart from this world. 

103 weeks left in the mission though. And the first one was awesome! And by awesome I mean that I spent most of it looking blankly at my teacher trying to figure out if she wants me to pray or go take a lap around the MTC. 

The MTC: The Mexico MTC is called the CCM because it stands for Centre of something C for Missionaries something Mexico. You get the point, its in Spanish, everything is in Spanish... The CCM is on a private well, so all the water is clean to drink, although it tastes REALLY bad. So the CCm has bottled water brought in like there is no tomorrow, so the water is safe to drink. It is cool in the mornings, with a thousand mosquitos greeting you as you exit your house, and then it gets pretty warm. There is no AC in most the buildings and when I have to wear a suit coat, I don't want to be wearing a suit coat, haha. Around 3 or 4, it starts to rain. It sprinkles for a little, and then by dinner time it is pretty much pouring and then its a game of "guess when it'll rain at night", so I have learned to just always carry an umbrella. 

The food at CCM is great! Although sometimes I may not know what kind of meat or what kind of food I am eating, it tastes pretty good! They have told us its all safe but some Elders are getting sick...Maybe I got lucky this week? Every meal you are welcome to grab cereal, salad, and rice and beans. They usually serve a sort of meat dish if you want it and a side of pasta or potatoes. There is plenty of variety, I have had stuff from BBQ to Lemon Glazed Chicken...? My main meal consists of the meat they serve, a bacon salad, 2 glasses of Apple Juice, 1 glass of Lemon-lime juice, water, 2 rolls, a plate of beans and rice and usually a chocolate doughnut. I dont know why I eat so much, I don't even workout...

My compañero: Elder Barrett from Highland, Utah. He is 200lbs and likes to fish and talk about the army. Sounds like my brother right? Wait a minute...He played football (left bench haha) and was like state something in wrestling. I think gym time is his favorite. Elder Barrett has a Southern accent and he has no idea where he got it from. It is the first thing anyone notices about him and he doesn't even notice he talks with an accent!  He is not even a cowboy, a little disappointing... Elder Barrett is a little awkward but then again aren't we all? It's been a great first week and really fun to get to know him. We are starting to get a groove down for how we teach lessons together so that's been good. He took Spanish 3 years ago so its been interesting to try and learn Spanish. It seems like almost everyone here took Spanish and has a leg up on me, which may be true but I WILL PASS THEM ALL! Ok maybe not, but I like to think so :) 

The District: A district is usually 6 or 8 people (3 or 4 companionships) and those are the missionaries you go to class with. I was called as district leader so that has been a great blessing! It is Me and Elder Barrett, and 4 Hermanas. Thats a little backwards I think, there are SO many Sisters here at the CCM. We are district 11-C in case you were wondering. 

Spanish: So I have 2 main teachers, both Hermanas, and they are so happy and eager to try and teach us Spanish! The first day, we had an hour lesson learning things like: Como esta? Buenos Dias! and then that night we had to teach an investigator about the gospel! Umm...what?? That has been hard but I think I am getting the hang of it. At first we were just reading doctrine from Preach My Gospel and the scriptures but then we were thinking and realized that that is kind of why they made Preach My Gospel, so you didn't have to recite a lesson from memory to the investigator. So the past couple lessons, Elder Barrett and I have been working on testifying from the heart, from what we are feeling. Which is hard to do in Spanish when you don't know any Spanish... 

Lessons: I have learned a lot here at the CCM in the past week. We went to all the first-day-of-school meetings, rules and safety stuff. We are now PROS!  Just kidding. Sundays are a blessing given to us by the Lord, haha. The first week was so hard with being expected to sit in hours of Spanish lesson and talks and understand and I was getting really overwhelmed and kind of depressed, but Sunday happened and it was a great break from it all. I know I can make it 2 years now that I've made it through my first week! 

The biggest thing I have learned here at the CCM is that I did not come here to learn Spanish. I came to learn how to help people. The only way that I am going to be able to learn as much Spanish as I can in 6 weeks, (and trust me my zone leaders are week 4 and they are basically fluent) is through the Savior. If we are learning Spanish for our investigators, to teach them, we can do it. That is the only way. Give anyone 6 weeks of Spanish and they won't even come close to us missionaries. Another thing I learned is that I can't be comparing myself to others, that's awful. The only person I can be comparing myself to is Jesus Christ. And even then I am no where close, so what do we need to do? Rely on Him. With our whole hearts and our whole minds. We CAN do this and we will. I know I can.

I am so excited to continue my adventures here at the CCM, I wish I had more time to write but I have to be exactly obedient to my hour I have. I love you all! Yo se que Jesucristo es el Salvador. Te amo!