It sounds like things are going great back home. I really appreciate the little things like how different aspects of life at home are going. I also am very appreciative for your spiritual thoughts.That is so great that Lucy started to crawl! tell Aurélie that and Sabra that I am so grateful for their prayers. I am so grateful for all of them actually. It's been a tough week but it's getting easier. Miranda, you will love being a missionary wherever you get called! The first week is... kinda difficult...but after you hit sunday, you learn to appreciate the day of rest that God has given us. As missionaries, finding even 5 minutes of time where the day is not planned is difficult.
I'm going to try and describe this week but it may be a little difficult. Mexico is a beautiful place. There are so many colors! The CCM or Centro de Capacitación de Misioneros México. That''s what we call the MTC here. The day I arrived was pretty relaxed. Every Tuesday they serve Costco Pizza which is pretty fun. That night we had a video broadcast devotional from Provo where Elder Bednar gave a devotional. He talked about how Christ loves us one by one. We are each loved equally and have the opportunity to know Him one by one. Look for a new song to be produced in the new era inspired by this devotional and pseudo written by Elder Bednar (he had help). The devotional was the first live performance of the song. After that we went to work. Day one started and it was crazy! literally there are only a few people who actually speak english, which is great, and it is very intense. It was probably the longest day of my life! Mostly it was orientation, but we had class and all sorts of things to get done. Day two, we taught our first investigator completely in Spanish. The work is progressing rapidly. Every day except Sunday, we've taught Sara Molina Hernandez. Yesterday we committed her to baptism! I almost forgot, I am in a trio and my compañeros son Elder Waters y Elder Summers. (In many ways it is easier to write i spanish) My district is composed of us two other Elderes, Elder Bench and Elder Cammack. Also there are 4 Hermanas, Hermana Maxwell y su compañera Hermana Nelson, y Hermana Heaton y su compañera Hermana Durant. Today is el día de preparación and we get to go to the temple today! The language is progressing VERY fast but very well. I have to thank Heavenly Father for that.
Enough about daily life, it's pretty much the same we eat study, study language, be taught the language teach the gospel in the language..., yeah...But here are some of the things I've learned this week.
1. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be humbled. Everything is so immersive that the only option is to rely on the Lord. It makes me think of how that really is true for everything in our lives.
2. The power of prayer is real and total. I have been saying all prayers in Spanish since day one, but there are two miracles that have come from that. First is that Heavenly Father hears them and answers them. The second is that while I am praying, words come to my mind that allow me to pray.
3.I testify that the Gift of Tongues is real. I've multiple experiences just during this week, but the most amazing happened yesterday during our lesson. I was able to speak with clarity and understand all that was said in the lesson. Then after, any Spanish I heard for at least two hours after I could understand. I just felt the urge to speak Spanish. It was miraculous!
4. We need to have gratitude in our struggles. During a district meeting, Elder Cammack mentioned this. It is truly wisdom to be grateful for in and through our struggles because that is when we grow. If things are difficult, it's both one for us to grow, but also proof that Satan is trying his best to stop what we are doing.
5. God directs our lives. Elder Summers shared something with me that truly touches my heart. He shared that in his blessing when he was set apart that there would be someone who would push him to learn the language and help him. Also that there would be someone who he could help who had never been away from home before. Last Friday, before he shared this with me, he had a pretty rough time with the lesson. The language was escaping him and he got pretty down on himself. I just was like hey, you did great! Do you want to help me study for pre-class work for tomorrow? Anyway, I got Him studying and got his mind onto progressing. His mood drastically improved and the day went on. He told me later that that really helped him get through the day than told me about his blessing. I felt honored to be able to aid in God's work. He then explained that he thought that the other person mentioned was Elder Waters. Elder Waters grew up home-schooled and has never been from home. He is bright as all get out, but he tends to be a bit out of his shell. It just amazes me how we were all put together for a reason.
This is truly a marvelous work and a wonder! I have memorized our purpose, the first vision, the baptismal invitation, and Moroni 10:4-5. I am working on D&C 4 for this saturday because that is the goal the zone leaders set. By the way that was memorized in Español. The work is going forth! Let the good times roll!
Sincerely,
Elder Haynie
ps: The campus is all open and it is so wonderful! From left to right Elder Cammack, Elder Bench, Elder Haynie, Elder Summers, Elder Waters, Hermana Durant, Hermana Heaton, Hermana Nelson, Hermana Maxwell
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