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)