Week 2!!

Hola familia y amigos!

    So this last weekend was Mexican Independence Day! It's so cool that we got to be here for that. The whole week, they had different Mexican sweets at lunch to celebrate, but Mexican candy is nasty. Hermana Behan and I bought some laffy taffy things at la tienda, but it didn't taste like laffy taffy- it tasted like bubblegum toothpaste. Gross. On Saturday night, there was a fiesta for the whole CCM (MTC). WE gathered in the auditorium for a show. Mexicans sure know how to party. There was tons of cheering and it was super loud. A dance group made up of people that used to go to this school performed some Mexican dances. It was really fun to watch. The girls' dresses look so cool when they twirl them! I'll send some pics. After one of the songs, fireworks shot up from the stage. Awesome! At the end, the performers sand the "As Sisters in Zion/Army of Helaman" medley in Spanish. That was cool. Sunday night, there were fireworks and gun shots/other loud noises throughout the city in celebration.

    So I forgot to mention last week that we're in the intermediate class. It surprised me. I guess I know more Spanish than I thought I did. The stuffed I learned in high school is coming back to me. I'm amazed at how much we've learned these past two weeks. We've taught a bunch of lessons in Spanish without any notes and we're getting better at minimizing the amount of awkward pauses in lessons. We now have a second teacher named Hermana Nishigucci. She's pretty intense, but it's good that she's pushing us to work harder and learn more. The language barrier is still very frustrating. We had a first lesson with an "investigator" this week that went very poorly. We forgot so much of what we had planned to say, but we're learning how to improve our lesson preparation methods and how to use our time more effectively. People we're kidding when they said missionary work is hard. It really is. There are so many things to incorporate into a lesson. We need to be bold, but not overbearing. We need to explain things thoroughly, but not take too much time. And we need to focuz on the investigator, but also find ways to relate to them. It's tough to find a balance. I'm learning patience and stress-management.

     The elders in our district are really funny. We were talking about when we have lessons that don't go well and one of the elders said, as though he were ending a lesson, "Well that awkward and weird and uncomfortable. Can we come back tomorrow?" Hahaha, seriously, sometimes that's what it feels like. I've been playing the hymns for sacrament meeting, and even though I sometimes have to switch to only the top hand, I enjoy it. We've memorized the first vision and the missionary purpose in Spanish! Memorizing things makes me feel accomplished. Anyway, that's all for this week. Thank you all for your love and prayers!!

Count your blessing, Hermana Hawkins