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