Tuesday, September 10, 2013

A snack that smiles back!

 
O-la me uh-mE-goes! Que pasa con ustedes? Nada? Bueno.

This week has been a lot like the past 3 before it... LOTS of studying, sitting, strollin´, silliness, spiritualness, and lots of other things beginning with the letter S. When I look back at the week as a whole, I always think...Wow, nothin really happened. But for y´alls email, I think really hard and come up with a few random stories that may entertain or uplift you for a bit. So sit back with nice american snacks and enjoy, por favor!

First things first: Happy monthiversary to meee! Yes, it has been a complete month (4 weeks) since I have left the fine state of North Carolina (or been in the fine country of America for that matter). So crazy, huh? It´s crazy to think that I only have 17 more months left of my mission!! Ahhh, that´s not enough time! Even though this month has been a rollercoaster of emotion and change and growth and all that, I love being a missionary so much! I haven´t even really done anything yet and it´s already been the best experience of my life! I can´t wait to see what the other 17 months bring!

So y´all know how I worked at the Provo MTC cafeteria? Well something that some of the missionaries do there (if you didn´t already know) is a thing called "the tower challenge" (dumdumduummm). The tower challenge is when your whole district (ours is twelve people) eat an entire tower (container thing) of cereal in one sitting. Literally from the tiptop til it´s empty. In Provo, this challenge of champions was forbidden cause lots of people were getting sick and all that nonsense. It was on my bucket list though, so I told our district about it and they all thought it would be way fun to try to do. So at dinner, we filled up over 50 bowls of Fruit Loops and (sneakyly) carried them to our table and plowed in! Don´t get mad Mom...I ate 7 bowls to help contribute, which ended up being more than all the boys did on their own haha. Thanks for letting us eat cereal for every meal growing up Momma, it trained me well ;) And since the CCM is new, we started the legacy of "the tower challenge" down here south of the border! Booya.

Speaking of meals here at the CCM, I am glad to announce that we haven´t seen spam in a few weeks!! Yay for no more spam! The other day, I seriously thought I had died and gone to heaven...we had wings and calzones for dinner. And they were sooo good!

Also, the other day at dinner, there were grapes and I got really excited cause there are never grapes. I was so excited that I decided to stick as many in my mouth as possible without gagging. I got 17. And they were pretty plump little fellas! Hermana Nelson tried to do it too, but when her mouth got full, I told her that it made her look like the evil old lady from ´Chicken Run´. That made her laugh so hard grapes spewed everywhere from her mouth and she kept laughing so hard that she peed herself. Again. And when I say peed herself, I literally mean, there was a huge wet circle on her skirt and a nice wet spot on the chair. She has the funniest bladder problems. But never knowing if laughing will make her pee makes the act of laughing a lot more fun haha!

A bit more about food: this week everyone has been missing American fast food, like: Chickfila, Zaxby´s, Buffalo Wild Wings, Cookout, Yum-yum, Panera, Mickey-D´s ice cream, Wendy´s, Red Robin, 5 guys.....I think y´all get the jist. Entonces, enjoy what y´all are blessed with cause you guys are livin´ the American dream right now! And also now I know why all the Mexicans hop the border...it´s for our food!

Speaking of Mexicans, Friday is Mexico´s independence day! Apparently the President of Mexico goes on a balcony with a huge Mexico flag and waves it crazily yelling "VIVA MEXICO". There is gonna be lots of fireworks and crazy people everywhere and the fiesta doesn´t stop all night long. In the CCM, we are gonna have a little celebration on Friday night too. I´m really excited! All week everyone has been decorating and giving us little mexican candies. Should be a good time :)

There are two Mexican men that work here at the CCM that have become two of the cooliest people in my life: 1) Mario the mower guy & 2) Marco the janitor. I have never actually talked to Mario the mower guy so I don´t know what  his name actually is. I call him Mario because he is FOR REAL the reincarnation of Mario (like super mario brothers..mario and luigi). He has a red little newsie boy cap like Mario does; he wears a red shirt with overalls; he wears white gloves while he works; he has a stache; AND to top it all off, he has a little backpack thing with the handle thing that he holds around front (like in super mario sunshine or luigi´s mansion). IT BLOWS MY MIND. We have tried to capture a creeper picture of him, but to no avail. We will keep trying though! And then onto Marco the janitor. Every morning when we would go to class, this nice janitor guy would talk to us, but we never knew his name. Finally, the other day we asked and he said he was Hermano Marco. So now, every morning when we see him, we yell BUENOS DIAS HERMANO MARCO. Seeing him seriously makes my day every morning :)

Lots of people this week have been getting sick. It´s pretty gross. One of the Hermanas in our district was sick, so I got to sub in for her and teach with her companion. We started the lesson with singing "I Stand All Amazed" and then we taught about baptism. It went so well! And the spirit was so strong! I look back at it now and I realize that it was totally a gift of tongues moment for me cause I was flowing and saying everything I wanted to say. Lenina (the investigator) was sitting there smiling and really feeling the words we were saying. It was so wonderful! I love teaching this gospel. It brings such joy into my day and into the lives of those we teach. I love seeing the light in others eyes as they begin to learn and understand how the gospel of Jesus Christ can change and bless their lives. It must be kinda like how Heavenly Father feels when He sees us learn and progress and grow spiritually closer to Him... So cool :)

Random tidbits for this week:

-Our CCM president is the grandson of Parley P. Pratt! I think that is so awesome! I wanna tell him "dude, your grandpa so AWESOME", but that might not go over so well haha.

-One of the counselors in our branch presidency looks EXACTLY like the evil guy with glasses for Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark that gets his face melted off and his eyes come out at the end. Yikes. I realized it in the middle of sacrament meeting on Sunday, and I can´t look at him the same now.

-I play a TON of basketball here, and the other day I made THREE three-pointers in a row! Whooop whoop! I hope you´re proud Daddy!

-New Hermanas moved into me and Hermana Avery´s room this past week. They are super sweet but kinda really creepy at the same time. They just stare at us a lot, so it´s a bit uncomfortable. They also like to sing opera and read other people´s journals...let´s just say, it has been quite the adjustment.

-Hanging out with my district (especially the Elders) makes me really miss my brothers. I miss messing around with you 4 knuckheads. You four fellas are my bestest friends ever.

-The other day we were practicing some spanish phrases and my teacher (in spanish) asked Hermana Avery why she had not been baptized. She responded by yelling "CAUSE I DIDN´T GET AROUND TO IT, ALRIGHT?" (quoting Stephen from Nacho Libre). I almost died laughing cause of it was such a successful usage of a Nacho Libre quote in real life!

-Random songs that have been stuck in my head this week: "Come Thou Fount", "The Candy Man Can" (from Willy Wonka), the chorus of "Called to Serve" in spanish, "Bailamos", and the last song from A Muppet´s Christmas Carol when Scrooge is singing around the town.

 

Welp, this is the end of yet another not too exciting yet somewhat entertaining email from me this week. I hope y´all enjoyed yourselves.

I miss you all, and I pray for you lots. Thank you for your emails and for your prayers or for even thinkin about me. It really does mean a lot to me!

Thank you for your examples that have helped shape me into the missionary I am now! I can´t thank you guys enough.

 

I´ll just end by saying that I know that this Church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) is God´s true church on the earth. I know that this church and gospel is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ from when He was on the earth. I know that Joseph Smith truly was a prophet called of God, and that through the power of God, he restored this wonderful gospel again in its fullness. I know that our God is a loving God, and that He wants to hear from us, as His children. I know that if we turn to Him, he will do many mighty things through us in our lives and in the lives of others. Oh how wonderful it is that Heavenly Father trusts us and allows us to lift up one another. I am so beyond grateful that I am able to do just that for a year and a half. I am so grateful that I can have this gospel bless my life multiple times every single day. I can testify that if you want more happiness, peace, love, or Christ-like feelings in your life, you need look no further than this gospel. I testify with all the surety I have in my heart, that it can change your heart if you let it. I know it can, I have seen it, in myself and in others. Let Christ change your life.

 

I love you all. More than you can ever know.

God be with you till we meet again.

 

Love always and always,

Hermana Abigail Page

 

 

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