Find a Broom!

 ¡Hola a todos!

I have officially made it through the first 2 weeks of el CCM! And I feel as though I have simultaneously been a missionary for 5 years but also maybe 2 days, all at the same time. It's kinda a weird feeling. Los miembros ask how long we've been learning Spanish when we practicing talking and speaking to them. Our response is always to laugh shrug and say, "Uh, cerca de dos semanas."  And their eyes get all huge and then they start speaking in very fast Spanish about how they absolutely cannot believe that we've been learning for only 2 weeks and we can teach and talk to them and have a fairly decent conversation en español. It's very funny and the best thing ever because it happens multiple times a day. :)

This week has been absolutely full of teaching opportunities. We have regular opportunities to teach members in the morning classes and then often teach lessons to Hermano Peréz as he pretends to be the investigator "Nelson". We also have opportunities to schedule extra teaching opportunities with investigators which adds a whole other lesson into our day. Hermana Mellow and I taught 4 lessons yesterday and it was incredible. It was hard and trying to find the needed words en español was hard, but the experiences with these wonderful people are something I will not forget. Hermana Mellow and I are getting lots of practice at pulling together lessons with one a few minutes warning and doing it en español. Our district's progress en español has been absolutely incredible. We are moving at such a fast pace and our goals keep increasing as we try to think about what we would like to accomplish by the end of our experience at el CCM. 

On Monday, in the middle of our normal morning class, Hermano Alcalá looks at all of us and says, "¡Encontrar una escoba!" (Find a broom!) We stared at him for a second, so confused. Not quite sure what was happening, all of us left our rooms in search of a broom, not entirely sure why we needed it. And Hermano Alcalá didn't tell us right away. We just set it aside, next to our desks, until it was broom time. Hermano Alcalá then proceeds to teach us the most wonderful analogy about missionary work and about life in general. He made us get up out of our chairs and balance the handle on the palm of our hands. In order to balance the broom, you have to be constantly looking at the top of it. As soon as he told us to look at the handle, the broom would fall.

The lesson here is that you can only focus on one thing in life. And if you choose to focus on the wrong thing, the broom will fall. As missionaries, we need to focus on our purpose, to invite others to come unto Christ, and all of the other things we need will come because we are focused on the Savior. Spanish is not the goal, Spanish is the way to the goal. I need to learn Spanish because the people I have been called to teach have Spanish ears and Spanish tongues. But my purpose is to invite them to come unto Christ, not to be a master in Spanish or to be able to share the most eloquent lesson with them.

By choosing to focus on Christ and His atonement, the rest of our life will balance itself out. Especially in these times of uncertainty and doubt. Focusing on Christ will bring security, hope, and peace in a way that nothing else can.

Being a missionary and learning Spanish is one of the best things to happen to me and I am so excited to continue learning and improving. I love hearing from all of you! Thank you all for your continued support and kind words. 

Have a safe and wonderful week!

Hermana Blackburn

Fotos:

1. ¡Encontrar una escoba! The foto we took after the broom activity. We look like a missionary janitor army wielding our mighty weapons. :)

2. Hermana Mellow y yo playing hangman with new Spanish words

3. Pass me a cookie! Somehow, we can still share snacks virtually. Our district is thriving off of virtual cookies from Elder Miller

4. Finally seeing Hermano Peréz's face! You guys have no idea how funny and awesome this was. We had been used to only seeing a picture of Hermano Peréz and just listening to his voice for our 3-hour class. One day, we came to class and he had his video turned on! We were in shock, to say the least. Elder Winters could barely keep it together.

5. The district all together

Oh, freak!

 Hola familia y amigos! 

I have officially completed week one of el CCM! (missionary training center en Español) This week has been simultaneously one of the hardest weeks of my life but also one of the best weeks of my life. I feel as though I have gotten a wonderful idea of what my mission is going to be like and what missionary work is like even just from these few days. Learning Spanish is hard, waking up early in the morning is hard, and just the online format of el CCM is hard. But mi compañera is amazing and I honestly couldn't ask for a better district. My teachers, Hermano Alcalá, Hermano Durán, y Hermano Pérez are wonderful and very funny. They are incredibly patient with our Spanish blunders and our baby steps towards being mission ready. 

For those of you that are curious, a lot of the online MTC is almost the same as being there. We have 6 hours of classes a day and workshops/devotionals almost every day. By the time I do personal and companionship study, language study, planning, and somehow eat in the middle of all of that, I've done around 13 hours of missionary work! It's absolutely amazing! But this format is also very challenging as I wish I could be physically around my district and teachers all the time. Don't worry though, somehow we all still manage to get up to crazy shenanigans. ;)

This week hit a little bit like a truck and as Hermano Pérez often says, "¡Oh freak!" was definitely my reaction. But also, there has been an absolutely incredibly outpouring of the spirit that has been just as overwhelming as my schedule and the things I'm learning. But of course, overwhelming in an amazing, inspiring, uplifting kind of way. The gift of tongues is so real. I've been here a week and I've learned more than I learned in a month of college Spanish. And of course, none of it has to do with me or any skill on my part, but rather my Heavenly Father teaching me how to be the best missionary I can be. As we discussed this week, "It's not an event of learning a language, but a journey of loving the people." 

As I have been learning this week, an overarching question I have felt the spirit continue to ask me is, 

"Who do you need to become in order to share my gospel?" 

In Ether 12:27 we read: 

27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

I've always loved this scripture but this week it has become something more to me. I have become painfully aware of areas in my life that desperately need improvement this week, places where I definitely am struggling. But in the scripture I found hope. The condition to be shown our weaknesses is to come unto Christ. Because I am drawing closer to Him, I am going to feel a little uncomfortable because He knows that I can work to be a little bit better. This is not chastisement, but enlightenment. 

This week has been amazing and I am looking forward to learning how to more fully trust my Savior as I work to become the best missionary I can. I love hearing from all of you so don't hesitate to send me emails! I have time to read them throughout the week and I'll respond on Wednesdays. Your kind words are small, tender mercies, so know that I have read them and I greatly appreciate them. :)

Have a wonderful week! 

Hermana Blackburn 

Fotos:

1. My wonderful district

2. Hermana Mellow, my amazing companion, featuring my cat (can't take your cat to the MTC, the cat's soooooooo excited I'm still here)