So I had two major accomplishments this week. The first was spending a whole day (well at least until dinner) speaking only spanish and the second was teaching a real investigator.
So for the day of solo español it started out as just us Hermanas and then we invited some Elders to join and they jumped on the wagon and then some how or another it ended up that most of district decided to give it a shot. It was really hard, i´m sure my conjugations were off half the time and i used my dictionary a lot, but it was really cool. It forced me to work out how to express myself in Spanish and more often than not I was able to actually do it. I´m sure in the mission field it will be so much harder because everyone will speak much fast and use more words that I don´t know, but it was definitely encouraging.
Teaching a real investigator was awesome. Before hand our whole district was really nervous, but now it feels good to have made that first step. Some of the companionships taught investigators through Skype, but Hermana Hansen and I were lucky enough to be set up with an investigator who could actually be here at the CCM. Our investigator was from here in mexico city, he´s working and going to school and he has a three month old baby. We taught him about how God is his loving heavenly father and how to pray. It was a simple lesson, but we could really feel the spirit. I was able to give him a copy of the Book of Mormon in spanish that I had bought at BYU before coming here. I´m really glad I had brought it. After we had left he told our teacher that he was very grateful for the book, that he had felt the spirit and that he was going to try and pray with his family. I don´t think we´ll ever find out what will happen with him, but I hope other missionaries can continue to teach him and his family.
Mexican Independence Day was also this week. It was way fun. I wore a red skirt and a Mexican looking blouse because I cant resist a holiday. I was worried I would come off as tacky but a bunch of Latinos complimented me which made me feel great. One employee came up to me and thanked me for the love I showed his country. One of my teachers said I could have passed as a Mexican from Chihuahua. Don´t know how true that is, but it was fun to hear. All the week before they had had tons of mexican candies at lunch and dinner. I have discovered that I actually like some tamarindo candies. it´s a weird taste, but i like it. Then on the night of the 15th we have a celebration where we had a ringing of the bell ceremony and they brought in a dance troop to perform traditional Mexican dances. It was so awesome. Not going to lie, I´m kind of jealous, it´s too bad that the US doesn´t have cool traditional dances like that. I guess maybe I could learn to square dance, but pioneer apparel doesn´t have a thing on those traditional Mexican dresses with the huge swirly skirts. When we were walking back to our casa we were able to see some of the fireworks people were setting off around Mexico City. It was really cool. I hope someday I can come back and experience the holiday outside of the wall of the CCM.
As a spiritual thought I just wanted to share some things from a devotional we had broadcast from the Provo MTC. It was by Elder Scott and it was actually an address that he had given some time before and we had watched a recording of about two weeks earlier. Some people were really annoyed that we were hearing the same thing twice, but i figured if we were hearing it twice there was a good reason. Plus, there were some differences between the two and i had fun comparing my notes and seeing what he had changed. The whole talk was on prayer. One of the things that stuck with me was the idea that God is the creator of endless worlds, he has unimaginable power and we have the privilage of being able to talk directly to him. My prayers have totally changed since coming to the CCM. I had never really prayed on my knees before, but now I do it several times a day and I don´t know why, but there is something special about praying on your knees. I know that he hears me prayers and that he provides me with answers. He also said there is no need to fear repentance. I thought that was cool because I think that is definitely something people are fearful of. But in reality it can lead to the greatest joy we have ever felt. We can stop carrying with us thoughts and feelings that weigh down our hearts. We can start over and know that the Lord is on our side.
I love you all!
Hermana Hamilton
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