Week 2 - A District Divided

hola everybody!

this week was very interesting. last miercoles they tore Elder Johnson right from our District! which is a shame because I was really starting to like him. apparently one of the elders from another district decided to run the Latino track and so his compañero needed a compañero that wasnt on the latino track. so they took elder Johnson. also, we are now sharing Elder Mayer with another distrito porque they didnt have any guys and they need la sacerdocio in their district. and that district full of girls.  If youve ever seen the movie Mean Girls, well, that is what they are like. so its kind of sad, but we're getting used to it. 

hermano tilachi, my nighttime teacher, doesnt know ingles very well. and so as he is teaching us spanish we are teaching him english. its super fun! he is one of the most sincere guys ive ever met. he is also one of our investigators, and he is so awesome! he says he has a dream to speak in general conference one day, so we need to help him learn english. and then the other night  while he was bearing his testimonia con nosotros he said Jesús es mi amigo. we all need to learn from that and not only have Jesucristo be our Savoir, but also our friend. 

oh, and then the other day we were sitting in class doing personal study, and all of a sudden a bird just smashed into our window.  it was funny, but then i was kind of sad for the bird. so i went and checked on him and he was still alive but he wasnt moving. so i volunteered to say the opening orracion and i prayed for the bird and then he flew away! prayer is real folks, even for birds who smash into windows. 

also, this week Hermano Silva (our morning teacher) just kind of threw us into TRC which is where you teach like an actual person, not just your teacher pretending to be an investigator. so the lady we taught was a member, pero she had some problemas con la iglesia. and honestly thats all i understood the whole time, and mi compañera doesnt really understand any spanish at all so she didnt understand anything. but i just kind of said what i thought i should say and apparently it was what she needed to hear! that was el Espiritu Santo, i promise you that, becaus i was clueless. 

i really like it here porque there isnt really any carpet, so anytime you sing it sounds like youre singing in the shower. the acuostics are amazing. (me and hermano silva may or may not have had a Beyonce jam session one time. he just started singing "who runs the world" and i couldnt help myself. i know, i know. shame on me. and hermano silva. but we laughed a lot that was for sure.) 

AND THEN one night i was kind of frustrated with my spanish one time and hermano tilachi kind of pulled me aside and said my espanol was very strong and very beautiful. not efficient. but strong and beautiful. and I wanted to cry! seriously. it was so nice. el don de lenguas. 

this week we started teaching 2 investigators a day which is kind of stressful, but its okay. in the morning, its hermano silva, or Daniel and he is a really hard investigator porque he is only 16. and then we have hermano tilachi, or Ivan, and hes great. he has a drug and pornografia problemo, but he tries really hard. 

and last but not least, i seriously love the Latino personas here. really they are just so friendly and so humble. so i want to extend a challenge to everyone who is reading this to be more friendly and more kind. don't avoid eye contact with the cashier at the store. ask them how their day is going, SMILE AT THEM. a smile can mean more than words. And love people. it doesnt cost anything to love someone and to be kind. so just do it. with everyone. it doesnt matter if they don't speak English. Even if they look like they just walked out of a bar with their motorcycle buddies and look like they could beat you up. it literally doesnt matter. be kind and love everyone, because we are all in the same boat. 

okay, i think that is all for me today! i love it here in la CCM and i love spanish and i love the gospel.

les amo mucho!!! 

Hermana fowlks

Week 1 - Hola Amigos!

hello everyone! le amo mucho! 

first off, i would like to apologize for all of the grammar errors and spanglish you are about to read. mexican keyboards are really hard to use and my mind is in spanish mode. lo siento.

anyways, wednesday was crazy. i was solo misionero for a while, but my companion eventually got in at one in the morning. she is from canada and i guess her flight was delayed for like forever.  her name is hermana shurtfliff. she has bright red curly hair and looks a lot like merida from brave! she's also going to san diego. i'm glad she got here though! there are two other girls in our room, and they are awesome! their names are hermana nichols and hermana mackenzie.  they are from south carolina and northern california. they are both going to nampa, idaho. i love them already. 

in my district there are two other companionships.  elder johnson, elder flloyd and elder mayer, and then elder stevens and elder stoecker. elder johnson is from arizona and he is also going to san diego. elder flloyd is going to jacksonville, florida. elder mayer is going to mexico city, west. and i actually went to high school with him! his first name is dylan. he's pretty cool. and then elder stevens and elder stocker are both going to nampa idaho as well. elder stoecker is from yorkshire england and he is seriously one of the funniest people i have ever met.  

okay, you guys arent going to believe this, but WE CANT LISTEN TO MUSIC WHILE WE ARE HERE. i know, im totally starting to lose it. no music at all. triste. 

i taught my first lesson on friday, completely en espanol. it was really really hard. however, i am getting pretty good at praying in spanish and if i can pray for the spirit that is what is most important.  we have taught 3 lessons so far and he is comitted to baptism so thats great. 

but were super busy here. downtime is not a thing at all. pero es bien. 

my teacher is amazing. and he is just like one of my friends rob erwin. he is sassy, and he loves beyonce and has impeccable fashion sense. but he is one of the greatest teachers i have ever had honestly. 

im starting to really love gym time and its probably one of my favorite times of the day. (i know mom, shocking) but i really do love it! the elders try to show off which is kind of funny but we always laugh a lot. sometimes we actually lift weights and sometimes we just play ping pong or something. but its muy bien!! 

sunday was interesting. i was curling my hair, getting ready for the day, when all of a sudden THE POWER WENT OUT. so i had to go throughout the day with only half of my head curled. it was terrible.  all of the elders were being so nice and telling me it wasnt that bad but i know it was bad. pero relief society was so awesome. it was in ingles so i could understand it too haha. then district meeting was great elder flloyd taught because he is our district leader. my distrito seriously bonds so well. we defintiely knew each other in the pre existence. then in sacrament meeting, how the speakers work is everyone prepares a talk on a certain subject.  then they just announce who is going to speak right over the pulpit. its terrifying. i didnt have to speak, but i will soon im sure. then sunday night was movie night!!!! ole!!! we watched the resoration which was super spritual. i love that show.

tuesday was especially awesome because elder oaks came and spoke to us! he gave a wonderful talk. it was cool to see him in a situation where he could be more himself . he was really funny. 

today we got to go to the temple! it was great, but it was all in spanish and we forgot to get headphones so i had to really focus and try to understand what was being said. muy deficil. pero i still felt the spirit a ton! i am really enjoying myself here though. some days its hard to sit and study all day, but i know its for the good of the people i am about to teach! i feel like ive already changed so much. im grateful that i get to learn more about myself and this gospel and then go use that knowledge to go teach personas! 

mucho amo,

PS i forgot to bring my camera to the computer lab so no pictures this week. ill remember next week. sorry mom!

--

Hermana Fowlks

Mom added these pictures 3 weeks later when McKell finally sent them!

 Elder Oaks speaking to us at the CCM

Shaking hands with Elder Oaks!

I made it!

Hey everybody!

I made it safe to the CCM, its awesome here.  The food is pretty good, I had a burrito and fruit for dinner. We got here around 5 PM. Cant complain. :) I don't have a companion yet which is kind of awkward....she just hasn't showed up yet. Oops. Oh well! 

I'm really excited, and I've made a ton of friends already. 

I love you all!! <3



After we said goodbye to McKell she met up with 9 other sisters who were also on their way to the Mexico MTC that day. Someone took this picture and then sent it to me!  Happy day :