¡Hola Familia y Amigos! Semana 5

Another week has come and gone in the CCM. This is my LAST week at the CCM!! Next week I will be in Ecuador! We got our flight plans today, and we leave late monday night for the airport and fly to Colombia at 2:15am, and then fly to Ecuador! its crazy that the time has already come for that! im excited to get to ecuador and preach the Gospel! i just hope they can understand me... haha

This past week was basically the same as usual. Really each day is almost exactly the same schedule. But i learn new things each day, so really i guess each day is different... it just feels the same! :) 

On Thursday I got to attend the zone teacher meeting with all the teachers in my zone. they talked almost all in spanish, and in full speed spanish... so there were some parts that i was a little confused. but for the most part i could get the main idea of what was going on! Also my teachers said that i was doing really well at the language and my lesson plans! Wow! maybe im not as bad at spanish as i think! But it is not by me alone that i have gotten better. i have been so blessed with help from nuestro Padre Celestial.

This week for TRC we taught this cute mom and her cute 1 year old son named Mateo. it was so fun! All 4 hermanas in our district taught her together, so it was a little different in our teaching style, but it was still a good lesson. She was very kind to us and talked slow! (phew!) 

On Friday it was the 25 of september, so it was our Christmas in the CCM! haha.. we sang Christmas songs for our devotional, and it was fun to have a little bit of Christma spirit here in Mexico, 3 months before Christmas. 

But it has felt like Christmas here, because it is SO COLD!!! im freezing here. i brought clothes for ecuador, not for utah cold weather. it has been a little rainy and chilly these past few days. i never would have guessed that mexico would be cold! all the teachers are wearing coats, and i keep thinking to myself, "if only they could experience a real utah winter... " haha

This past week my teacher Hna Arnaud has come up with this "fun" game for our district. We have to speak ONLY Español all day. and if we speak english, we get a tally mark on the board. whoever gets the most tally marks (because they speak the most english) loses!! And has a punishment. Well Hna Arnaud sure thinks its fun, but she is Latino! It is a hard game! It reminds me of elementary school. When the teacher would write your name on the board, and give you points if you misbehaved. Well i never got points in elementary school... But i lose almost every time here!! Ive lost 2 days in a row! And my punishment was to bring choki cookies to the class the next day! I dont know what it is! i just slip up, and if you get caught, another "punto" (point) on the board. BUT i think the game is rigged. cause everyone else speaks english, and they just dont get caught. so the REAL game is seeing who can speak the most english without getting caught! (obvioulsy that is not me...)

Yesterday i was able to watch the funeral service for Richard G Scott. it was such a nice service, held in the Salt Lake Tabernacle. Seeing the tabernacel made me feel that i wasnt that far away from home anymore! it was good to see a litte bit of home again, right in front of me! The music was also amazing during the service! Wow. it was so good to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir again!! music truly is a blessing, and i am grateful for beautiful hymns and choirs that can uplift and inspire others.

One of my favorite quotes this week, i got from a great Relief Society lesson. It says: "Do not judge by appearances. A rich heart may be hiding under a poor coat." Our lesson was all about forgiveness and love. it was a great lesson! the woman who gave it reminds me a lot of Grandma Warburton! But it was great to be reminded that we are all hijos de Dios. We all have strenghts and weaknesses. No one is perfect. But when we remember that we are all hermanos y hermanas, and rememer our divine worth, we notice that no matter who we are, we are all loved by Padre Celestial y Jesucristo.

Gracias for all your love and support! Im grateful to be here, and for the things I am learning each week. Nuestro Padre Celestial truly is mindful of us all!!

Les amo,

Hermana Warburton

Some pictures with my Latino friends that left this past week! the last one is a funny elder who called me Hermana Pink because my skin color is basically pink... haha!!

Elder who called me Hermana Pink

My new leather scripture case.

¡Hola familia y amigos! It's crazy to think that I only have 2 weeks left!!

¡Hola familia y amigos! ¿Cómo están?

This week was just another week at the mexico ccm!! the weeks tend to blur together now, and its crazy to think that i only have about 2 weeks left!! ah! do i know español.... well i guess i will just have to find out. but here is a hint... when i talk to the native Latinos in the lunch room, they laugh... haha so im getting there!!

Last Tuesday I got to sing a solo for the Tuesday night devotional with the choir! i sang the verse part of "Te necessito si" (I Need Thee Every Hour). And it went really well! It was fun to sing again! Ive missed singing, and crazy enough I've also missed practicing! I never thought i would get to the day where i would miss my practice room! So it was good to sing again!

This Wednesday we welcomed in 2 new districts into zone 12! It was fun to get 4 new hermanas that are so cute and fun! our district gets to help welcome the new missionaries and help them do all the orientation things that they do when they first arrive at the ccm! it is one of my favorite parts of the week! and even though it was POURING rain that night, it was still fun to help the hermanas find their casas and feel welcome! it was also fun that there was a girl from Bountiful High that i graduated with that i got to help this week!! its so fun to see a face from home!! :)

On Thursday we had our 2nd TRC (where we teach real people from mexico city) and woah. it was hard!! the first man we taught spoke spanish soooo fast!! i probably understood about 10% of the whole conversation. I just kept saying "sí" or " que bueno" hoping that those were the right answers! And i did make a funny spanish mistake. The man we were teaching had a son that was 12 years old. And so i wanted to say that i have a brother that is 12 years old too! So i said " Yo tengo un hombre que es doce años." And the man just kinda looked at me a little confused and we moved on. Well when i said it, i didn't realize my mistake. but after the lesson, i realized i said "i have a MAN that is 12 years old" .... not a brother! hombre means man and hermano means brother!! Haha! He probably had no idea what i was talking about! oh well!! It was hard but good practice for when i will need to speak spanish all the time. We then taught another girl who was 19 years old like us, and she was A LOT easier to understand! she spoke slower and helped us when we couldnt' say what we wanted in spanish! I told her i was a vocal performance major, and so i sang for her at the end of the lesson! she said her favorite song is Called To Serve, so i sang that in English, because i dont have the Spanish version memorized! (and by the way the spanish version has 4 verses, not 2). 

On Sunday lots of new things happened! I had to give a talk in Sacrament Meeting! In spanish!! But it went really well. It was about Faith in Jesus Christ. So it wasn't too hard. I remember thinking before i left that i would never be able to give a talk in spanish, but i did! How the talks work here is that you don't know if you are giving a talk until they announce the speakers in sacrament meeting, about 10 seconds before you actually have to get up there and speak! So it is a little scary, and you always have to be prepared with a talk! Cause you never know if you will get chosen! 

Also on Sunday Hermana Johnson and I were called as the new Sister Training Leaders of our zone!! we are now the oldest district, and so we were called as leaders! so we just basically check up and work with the hermanas in our zone! im excited and grateful for this new assignment!

Yesterday a Latino elder came up to me and translated my last name.... so in español my last name is "guerra-burton" because guerra is war in spanish. the Latino elders thought it was pretty funny! they also all laugh when i tell them im from utah, because every person is almost from utah!

Love you all and i hope everyone is doing well!! Thanks for all your love and support! :)

Les amo,

Hermana Warburton

PS- Another funny thing this week. This week i went in to weigh myself.. and the scale in the Reception office said "overload"!! ah! I think i better stop eating all of those Chokis (like chips ahoy cookies) and krispy kreme donuts..... hahaha!! 

Hola! Semana 3. Rededication of the Mexico City Temple.

Another week at the CCM! its crazy how fast this week seemed to go by! the days are way long, but the weeks are short... Time is a crazy thing in the CCM!

This past week we had some neat things happen in Mexico!!

We got to be a part of the rededication of the Mexico City Temple!!

On saturday we watched the cultrual celebration broadcasted for us here in the ccm. it was really fun!! they had these cool dance numbers with beautiful costumes and i loved it all! even though it was all in spanish, i was able to understand the main idea of the show, and what was said!!

On Sunday was the rededication of the Mexico City Temple! We got to watch the rededication and it was a neat experience. at times it was a little hard with the language barrier, but that is also what made the experience so neat! President Eyring and Elder Holland were at the dedication.

Then today we got to go do an Endowment Session in the Temple!! The first session for missionaries since it was reopened!! it was so neat. the temple is soooooo beautiful!! i loved it. i am always amazed at how much peace and love i feel when i am in the temple. it truly is a Holy Place on earth. no matter if it is the Bountiful Temple, or the Mexico City temple (in the middle of the super large and busy temple) there is such a great peace and comfort felt in the temple.

It was also great to get out of the ccm for a while. i like the ccm... but i havent seen real life and people for a long time (or it seems like it) So it was fun to see the city!! the city is so big and so busy. the roads are... well lets just say im glad im still alive! and there are so many buildings and people everywhere. it was fun to see just a little glimpse of the city! and it was fun to see flags and mexican pride everywhere, because tomorrow is mexican independence day!!

This week we had our first trc... which is teaching REAL people! not our teachers. they are volunteers from mexico city and they could be members, less actives, or actually investigators!! ah! but it was sooo good. we taught this woman named Gloria, and she was so sweet. She was a member, and has been for over 20 years. she was kind and talked really slowly so we could understand most of what she was saying. she actually ended up teaching ME more than i probably taught her. Her testimony of the Savior was so strong and inspiring. She reminded me a lot of Grandma Buck!!

This week again we talked about praying and my teacher said this neat statement on prayer. She compared it to Peter who went back to fishing after Christs death, but after Christ appeared to the apostles again while they were fishing He commanded them to feed my sheep. So then they left fishing and became apostles teaching the Gospel. So.. How do we pray? Do we pray like fishermen or like apostles? Great question for us all to think about!

Thats about it! The ccm is going well and i am learning new things each day. i think little by little i am picking up the language, but i am in now way doing that alone. I am constatly being helped from above. gracias for all of your love and support!!

Les amo,

Hermana Warburton

PS it is mexico independece day tomorrow... so it will be crazy loud for the next few days.. it is already super super loud with these bombs/fireworks going off often. But its fun! 

Another exciting and busy week at the CCM! Here in Mexico... it rains A LOT!!

Hola!!

This week has been another exciting and busy week at the CCM!

Here in Mexico... it rains  A LOT!! So much rain. One second it will be beautiful and sunny, and the next it will be pouring rain and the ground and everything turns into a lake! Its crazy! But im sure you will be surprised to know that i actually get cold here! yes its true! i thought i would be dying of heat and humidity, but in mexico it gets pretty chilly at night and in the morning. or so i think so. but ya know me... im always cold!! :)

My favorite part of meeting a Latino here at the CCM is when they have to say my name. They just stare at my name tag and get this worried look on their face. I usually have them try to say it first without me helping, because they usually always get it right. They always say "Warburton? Es dificil!" But its actually not that hard. I mean try saying... and remembering... some of their names its way hard!! But when people find out my first name is Megan, they always say i look like a Megan.. so good job mom and dad for naming me a good name!! 

On Saturdays its a party in mexico city!! There is karaoke night, and bombs or fireworks or whatever they are all night long. its crazy! but of course the missionaries dont participate in it. The funny thing is we cant see any of it!! The walls are so high and the bushes around them high too, that we cant see anything we can only here it! i feel like we are in the hunger games or something! haha!

I always have to share about the food... this week we had these taco things with instant mashed potatoes and this cheese sauce.. it was different to say the least. Lunches are the best meal! And they really do have Costco pizza night on tuesday nights! so tuesdays are like the best days because i can email, take a nap, and eat costco pizza!! woot woot!!

But Sundays are also great days! We have church and a devotional, and watch a movie. This week we had a big focus in relief society about the family a proclamation to the world. it was a great lesson. there are soooo many scriptures that support what the proclamation to the world says. What a great document!! We had the devotional from Richard G Scott from a devotional he gave in april of 2013 to the provo mtc. it was about prayer and it was awesome! i suggest watching it! He talked about how important prayer is, and that we need not rush through prayer, but take it as a gift and a privilege! its great to know that we can always talk to our Father in Heaven. We dont need an appointment. He will listen anytime. We are never alone! im so grateful for prayer. here as missionaries we pray all the time all day!! before each study session, planning session, lesson and so on. Prayer is great! We also watched the movie Meet the Mormons Sunday night, which was great as always! it was crazy seeing the way missionary work can really change peoples lives.

So our first investigator i talked about last week, giovanni, is now our teacher in the afternoon! we still have hermana arnaud, but we also have hermano osorio in the afternoon. and now we have new "investigators!... which are actually our teachers.. but they have different names when they are the investigators and the investigators were or are real people with real stories. so its cool. 

i think my spanish is getting progressively better! sometimes i feel like i helped teach the lesson and could say a lot!! but sometimes i am totally lost.. but for the most part i can understand what people are saying... as long as they talk slowly!! what am i gonna do when they actually talk normal speed. ah!!

Oh.. so i got in trouble this past week... me and the other hermanas in our district were studying outside during personal study time. i was on a bench, with my shoes off, but i was studying like crazy! the other hermanas were laying down on the steps by where i was. it was all good and peaceful. and then... i saw a teacher come out and i knew it was bad. The other hermanas looked like they were kind of sleeping.. or we could say pondering.. .and she made us all come by her and tell her who we were and then got in trouble. Apparently no more studying outside for us. and dont take your shoes off when you study... not good not good. I mean it was all kind of funny cause we didnt think it would be a problem... but it kinda was.. oh well!!

Well thats about it! i hope all is going well with everyone! I love you all! Always remember that somos hijos de Dios, and He loves you things will work out great! 

Les amo,

Hermana Warburton

PS Every Sunday we sing Onward Christian Soldiers, and it makes me think of Little House on the Prairie every time!! haha!!

1st Week at the Mexico CCM

¡Hola Familia!

¿Como estas ustedes?

This week at the CCM has been forever long... but it has been good! CCM stands for Centro de Capacitación Misional. They made it very clear to us that it is not the MTC, we are in Mexico now, so it is the CCM (ce ce meh)!

The flight to Mexico was not too bad. There were a ton of missionaries on the plane, and even an Elder from Bountiful! Nobody was worried our flight was going to crash, because of all the missionaries! :) After we arrived at the CCM, we had a bunch of orientations, got our name tags (so I was officially a missionary), and it was a lot of information to say the least! I got my companion and her name is Hermana Johnson. She is super cute and the sweetest girl ever! She is from Idaho falls, and crazy enough, she went to USU too for a year before the mission. I wouldnt be surprised if our path crossed and we just didnt know it! :) 

After we got all of the orientation business out of the way, we went to our casa (house). I am in casa 20, and there are 4 hermanas per room. im on the top bunk- so it reminded me of my childhood days. The other hermanas in my room are Hermana Wells and Hermana Gonzales from Idaho and California, and we are all going to the Ecuador Guayaquil North mission!

The first dinner i had, i got just a little bit worried about the food here. They were these tacos with mystery meat.. and I uh didnt eat them. But the food has gotten a little bit better! haha! I seriously eat fruit loops, nutella on bread, and a banana for breakfast and dinner. No joke. The lunches are the best meals, so i always look forward to lunch. The other day they had hamburgers and it made me miss the american kind...  One weird food thing. Tamales for breakfast..? We had those one day and I was very thankful for fruit loops and nutella. None of the food really is bad. It is just different than American food that is for sure... So fruit loops and nutella are my life at this current moment.

My district is 12B, and we have 6 Elders and 4 Hermanas. 8 of us are all going to the Ecuador mission, but the other 2 are going to chile and bolivia.

Every day is about the same. We study all day long. We wake up and do personal study, and then we go to breakfast, and then we have class (which includes Gospel study and Spanish study) and then lunch. And then study. And then we teach an investigator. And then dinner. And then more study, study on a language computer program, planning. Bed. Im always tired, but it is all worth it! Our teacher is Hermana Arnaud, and she is the sweetest lady! I really like her!

On friday we taught our first "investigator" (he is not a real investigator, he is a member who pretends to be an investigator, but I dont think the missionaries are actually supposed to know they are not real investigators, but we all know.) His name is Giovanni. (is it a coincidence i saw the opera Don Giovanni in Italy a month ago, and then im  teaching a guy with the same name.. i think not!)The first lesson was rough. I mean its my 2 full day the the CCM, and I DO NOT know Spanish. Luckily we had little cheat sheets and books that translated phrases of the lessons in to Spanish that I could read. But it was hard. One thing ive learned for sure is that I am not the teacher. The Spirit must be the teacher, or the lesson is way scattered and it is not really meaningful to the investigator. We have taught Giovanni every day since then, except for Sunday and P-day, and the lessons have gotten progressively better. Yesterday Hermana Johnson and I barely used our Spanish cheat sheets! We just used the language we knew!

So i can now pray in Spanish!! Yay!! A real prayer, out loud! On Sunday I prayed out loud for our district, with no cheat sheet, all in Spanish. I also can bear my testimony in Spanish! So slowly but surely im getting the language. Pero Espanol es muy dificil!! When I think im finally getting the language, a native Latio talks to me and I am completely lost. 

Sundays are the best days. You get church, a devotional, and a movie! How great! Relief Society was good, but i did fall asleep during some of it. Yep same old megan falling asleep in church. But Sacrament Meeting was great! Some people from our zone/branch sang "Yo se que vive mi Senor", which is "I Know That My Redeemer Lives," and it was so great! Wow! I do know that my Redeemer lives and loves me. He knows our feelings, our challenges, and best knows how to comfort us.

Yo se que el Evangelio de Jesucristo es verdadero. Yo se que Dios es nuestro Padre Celestial, y somos Sus hijos. Yo agrecido por Jesucristo y Su Expiacion. Yo agrecido por familias! (Translation: I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true. I know that God is our Heavenly Father, and that we are His children. I am grateful for Jesus Christ and His Atonement. I am grateful for families)

I love you all mucho!! I am excited to share and learn the gospel more!

Love,

Hermana Warburton

Hermana Warburton and Hermana Johnson

The four Hermanas

My district