WEEK 1.5

Hola Familia!

I love you soooo much!! And I miss you and sometimes I catch myself thinking that I can't wait for class to end so I can go home and hang out with you guys...then I remember I'm in the CCM and that going home actually means going to the building next door. Not quite as exciting.  Oh well.  I can understand what Brady is saying about the CCM feeling like a prison, because I kind of feel the same way.  I think it's especially hard becuase BYU is right here and all my friends are there and we can hear the bell tower ringing.  I'll be really excited to finally get to DC.  Which, by the way, will be so soon!  Since I'm in the advanced class, we're only here for three weeks.  My companera got her travel plans yesterday and she leaves on November 7th.  I haven't gotten mine yet, but I imagine it will be the same.  If so, it means we leave the CCM at 3:00 in the morning.  Gross. 

I resent Brady's comment about packing.  I just have way more cute clothes to pack than him.  Tell him that at least my letters are more than a paragraph!  Anyway, last Saturday's letter was kind of an accident.  We had half of a P-day to do laundry and we assumed we could email too, but we learned after the fact that we were actually supposed to wait until today.  Oops.  It's okay though, it all worked out.  This week started out really nice.  It was about 70 degrees and sunny so we went outside and played soccer on the fields.  That was especially good.  I even have some battle wounds that make me look tough.  And then, all of a sudden, we woke up yesterday morning, and it was snowing!! I am definitely not ready for that yet.  This morning when we went to the temple, there was a little bit of snow on the ground too.  Hopefully it melts.  The temple was really nice though and it was a really spiritual experience.  We had to be there at 6:30, which means that we wake up earlier on our P-days than any other day. Kind of ironic if you ask me. 

There are 11 people in my district, and I'm really starting to love them.  It kind of makes me sad that in two weeks we will be leaving and going all over the world, because we've had so much fun and we've learned so much together.  I wish everyone were coming to DC.  I also ran into Alyse Nelson on Wednesday.  She lives just around the corner from me on my floor.  She seems to be doing really well, so you can tell her parents that she's still alive.

I have a funny story for you.  So on Sunday when we were all sleeping peacefully in our beds, the fire alarm randomly went off in our building at about 6:00.  Of course we all had to evacuate and we had no idea what was going on.  So we were all there, waiting outside the building in our jammies, freezing, when we realized that every single sister had her nametag on.  Some didn't even grab sweatshirts, but they all had their nametags. Those little black pieces of plastic have truly become out identity here.  And it's really something special to have your name right next to that of JesuCristo.

I also wanted to tell you, Mom, that I've gotten so many compliments on the skirts that you've made.  Like more on those two than on all of the rest of the clothes combined.  And the wool skirt is so warm.  And soooo cuuuuute!  You're the best.  And everybody wants to give me their measurements so that you can make them skirts too!  I was wondering, if you had time, if you could find my gray striped maxi skirt and maybe hem it so it would hit me right below midcalf.  I saw a girl wearing one almost identical to mine with boots and it was super cute.  And I feel like I don't have enough skirts.  I have waaaaaay too many shirts though, I'll probably be sending some home.  Also, could you find out about replacing the soles on my tall brown boots?  My gray boots fall down and hurt my feet.  I'm hoping that will get better.

So I wanted to tell you a few things I've learned at the CCM.  Probably most important, I've learned how to shower.  Just kidding.  But really, I think I've almost pefected the art of a quick shower.  And also the body rinse when you don't want to get your hair wet.  And as a side note, even the showers are spiritual here!  Every time I'm in the shower it's like we have an official MTC shower choir! I also stepped out of my comfort zone and sang in teh chooir for devotional! Alto!  Also, having a companion is hard work.  It's hard to be together for every single second of the day, and it's also hard to make personality types and different views of life mesh.  But I'm learning how to trust her and how to be a companion and I think it might be getting easier.  I'll let you know next week. Everyone is singing hymns and harmonizing and it's kind of weird to be harmonizing with someone while you're in the shower, but whatever.  You're only in the CCM once.  But what I've really learned is how much we really need to depend on the Lord, He can make us so much better than we are by ourselves.

The food here is sub par.  It kind of gives me a tummy-ache and you just cook so much better, mom.  I miss all the yummies you make.  And I try really hard not to eat dessert.  It's not that hard, because it never looks that good.  Except for ice cream night.

Well I'm out of time.  I love you soooo much!!

xoxo

Hermana Simpson

First Few Days in el CCM‏

Hola Familia!

First, can I just say that I love you so much.  I never thought it would be quite so difficult to say adios, but Brady was wrong; going to the CCM is nothing like going to college. My first day and a half started out crazy!! They put me in an intermediate group and said I was a solo sister.  Wondering what that means?  I did too.  Basically, it meant that I had a companion but she wasn't in my district, so I didn't really have a companion.  That makes it difficult because you have to have a companion wherever you go.  So basically it meant that if I wasn't with my companion I had to be with at least two elders.  Even to go to the bathroom!  They would have to walk with me and then wait outside the hall! Crazy right?  I thought so too.  Being in the intermediate group was kind of a bummer because it meant that I was going to be here for nine weeks instead of three.  But then my teacher, Hermano Lee, decided that my Spanish was too good so to make a long story short, I got switched to an advanced group.  I changed districts, zones, and even rooms.  I was really sad to leave my old district.  I don't know how, but in a day and a half I came to love them.  It's amazing how easy it is to love people here, the Spirit of Christ is truly here and the CCM is a very special place.  It was also kind of fun being the only girl in a group of nine boys. 

Now that I'm in the advanced group I have a companion!  That's great because it means I don't have to have elders for babysitters.  Her name is Hermana Memmott and she's from Chihuahua, Mexico.  You would never guess it, because she has blonde hair and blue eyes, but she grew up in the Mormon Colonies.  I didn't even know there was such a thing!  Basically, she has pioneer ancestors that came and settled that part of Mexico, and her family has been there ever since.  She's really great and we get along really well.  She has such a strong testimony and is a great example to me.  She's also going to my mission!  My new distrcit is full of basically native Spanish speakers.  So I went from the hermana that knew soooo much about Spanish to the hermana that knows nothing about Spanish.  It was a lesson in humility for sure.  It's easy for me to speak my mind and my feelings in English, but I don't have quite the vocabulary to articulate those thoughts when I speak Spanish, so it's been a challenge for me.  I know what I want to say, but I feel like I'm saying in the words of a five year old.  I know it will come as I get back into speaking it and as I rely on Heavenly Father to help me. 

The CCM is crazy!  I've never been so overwhelmed in my life!  By about 7:00 in the evening I feel like it's about midnight.  And waking up at 6:30 is not the funnest thing I've ever done.  Hopefully that gets easier.  And by the end of 18 months, who knows, I might even be a morning person! (doubt it).  Basically every second of our day is scheduled.  It's an adjustment for sure.  But this place functions like a well oiled machine.  My brain is going crazy trying to remember everything.  We have class for three hours twice a day, personal and companion study for about three hours and we also have scheduled meal times and gym time.  The gym time is a kind of a joke.  Yesterday we played bocce ball on the missionary fields.  Not really a workout.  But our time was scheduled right after lunch so we had just eaten.  You can also play ladder golf, frisbee, and they used to have croquet, but all the sets broke.  You can play soccer but elders and sisters can't play together so that's a bummer.  There's not a ton of sisters that like to play soccer.  And you're not supposed to get too competitve either.  The white handbook says so.  Also, we have gym at a different time every day, so it's kind of a pain to get ready in the morning and then have to get ready again after gym.  But it's the only way that they can get so many missionaries through. 

The food here is decent I suppose.  It's not the best, but the variety is good.  And don't worry, I've stayed away from the orange juice.  There are desserts with every meal which is ridiculous.  I can't believe how much the elders eat they have like three plates of regular dinner and then about five different desserts.  And they drink soda pop for breakfast!  Sick.  I usually eat Cream of Wheat for breakfast, a salad or a wrap for lunch and then whatever entre sounds the best for dinner.  Last night it was taco salad.  And lots of fruit.  

We taught our first investigator (not a real one).  That was terrifying!  He was really nice though because everyone in our zone had a chance to teach hime and we went last so by that time he was tired and ready to go home.  I think because of that he went really easy on us.  We're doing a pilot program right now where basically you teach the same lesson to the same person three different times in a row to see what you can do to improve it.  They're going to see if this will be a successful change to the curriculum for teaching missionaries.

There is an hermana in my zone who is going to the LA visitors center.  She'll get there in about two weeks.  She our coordinating sister and her name is Hermana Nordhagen.  She's the most adorable girl ever and I told her that Grandma and Grandpa are on a mission there and that they would make her delicious French Toast!  So tell them to give her a big hug for me.  Also tell them that I love them and I miss them and I'm so glad that they're on a mission. 

Could you ask Grandma where in Germany she is from?  There is an Elder in my old zone from Hamburg so we were talking.
Well I'm about out of time so I just want to say that I love you and that I hope all is well.  Also, if you want to write me letters, use Dear Elder, it's free and they get here super fast.

xoxo

Hermana Simpson

Getting Ready

It's almost that time.  Tomorrow night I will be set apart as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Wednesday morning I will give my family a few last hugs and board a plane to Salt Lake and enter the MTC.  A few weeks after that, I will get on another plane to my final destination of Washington DC.  Sitting here, I'm a jumble of emotions. I am so excited to be a missionary! I've been waiting five months for the day to come, but now that's it's almost here I'm also so nervous.  I'm nervous to leave my family for a whole 18 months, nervous to become Hermana Simpson, and nervous to go somewhere completely new, because let's face it, to a West Coast girl like me, Washington DC is basically a foreign country. Sometimes I can't help the thoughts that come in, "Am I going to be a good enough missionary? Have I prepared enough to go?" And the clincher, "What am I going to do when I can't call my mom every time I have a problem?"
The thing is, regardless of all these nagging thoughts in the back of my mind (or more recently the front), I know going on a mission is what I'm supposed to be doing about it.  It was a hard and terrifying decision to make, but once I made it, I was overwhelmed with peace.  And even now, when what I'm about to do has finally sunk in and I can feel a little bit of apprehension, that peace is still there.  Why?  Because I know that my prayers were answered.  That the answer I received to go on a mission is still the right answer.  I don't know why it's the right answer, but I know that Heavenly Father needs me to be in Washington DC right now.  And that's reason enough for me to go.  I have felt his love and I know that he is there.  It's through his power and his love that I know, regardless of the trials and challenges I'm about to face, that I'll be all right.  In fact, I'll be more than all right.  I can repeat the words of Paul said to the Romans with the same conviction he wrote them: "What shall we then say to these things?  If God be for us, who can be against us...Nay in all things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us."
The next eighteen months are months that I have dedicated to the Lord.  Not because I have to, but because I want to.  I'm excited to learn and serve and love and Jesus Christ does.  And I'm proud to be able to wear his name next to mine.


*If you're interested in reading my letters, my mom and sister will be posting them here.   So stay a while, and maybe even write me a letter!