At the feet of an Apostle - Week 5 in Mexico

Hola Familia y mis amigos!!!

 How is everyone doing? Mexico is AWESOME!!! I am super sad to leave it in 6 days :( It is gorgeous here and the CCM is so wonderful. I will miss it so much. BUT I am so excited to go to SLC!!!! It is gonna be awesome and I am so excited to finally start missionary work and to teach real investigators. I have been waiting 6 weeks for this.  

All of us decided to get our hair cut before we leave.

I haven´t gotten any more letters yet....other than Dad´s letter (which I read like every day BTW). I pray so hard and even fasted yesterday that I would get the letters before I leave. I hope they get here and I check the mail box EVERY DAY! I understand now how missionaries feel about mail.....seriously....it is the best thing in the world. Send me lots of mail when I am in Utah!!

Ok...so nothing exciting has happened this week....it is just the same old class and then eat food...study and then eat more food....and then have class again and eat more food again! I am never hungry but for some reason, I eat so much! I don´t understand it! Last night, we had CORN DOGS!!! I was really happy and I thought about everyone at home and how we always ate corn dogs when Mom and Dad went out on their dates....good memories :)

Here are some funny stories....

one day, when we were practicing a discussion with some other Elders in our district, a BUG flew down Hermana Childs shirt!!! It was so funny! Haha I was laughing so hard........it made my day :)

Yesterday, we looked in the mail box and there was tons of stuff in it! Hermana Childs and I screamed and ran to our District Leader to get the key to the mail box. We ran back and we saw Elder Bulinger’s and Elder Strech’s names in there and I opened the mailbox and it was a “Best Two Years Moment”. ¨Vanpelt, Vanpelt, Vanpelt¨but this time it was ¨Bulinger, Bulinger, Bulinger¨ He had 8 letters!!!!! We were super bummed :( But it was funny.

Today, we played kick ball as a rama (branch) and it was so much fun! Seriously the best...I love my branch so much and I am gonna miss them :( It is so hard making friends and then having to leave them....but I am definitely gonna see lots of them again, either at school or just on Facebook or something.

Ok, so I am gonna talk about the dedication of the training center here in Mexico City. We had to get to the Auditorium at 5:45 pm to practice the song that we sang. Then we sat in there for 40 minutes just talking or taking a nap haha....then we started singing hymns at 6:40, 20 minutes before it would start. As we were singing, my heart was pounding because I knew that an Apostle would be coming into this very room! Then, the worker opened the side door of the Auditorium and in walks Elder Oaks and his wife. I was in the front row and so I could see them coming in. After some talks, we watched a video they made for the Dedication and Hermana Childs was in it! Then we sang our song, which sounded great. Then Elder Oaks got up and gave a short talk about using PME...Predicad Mi Evangelio and then he gave a beautiful dedication prayer. I just know that this place was always meant to be a CCM.....it is the safest place, other than the temple, in all of Mexico. Sitting at the feet of an Apostle was absolutely amazing......this was a once in a life time opportunity and Heavenly Father sent me at the right time so I could be here for it, I am so blessed :)

 My Spanish is coming along great! I can meet a knew investigator and not use any notes to say what I want to say. My Spanish isn´t perfect but I know that Heavenly Father is helping me with it.....I really hope I am fluent by the time I get home :)

 So happy for Jenna! I knew she would get accepted to BYU-Hawaii! That is a bummer for Mitch Give him a hug for me and tell him that everything happens for a reason and God´s hand is in everything that happens in our lives. 

So I sent another letter from Mexico to you all! Di you all use international stamps for your letters? I think that is why they are taking a long time to get to me.....the one I got from dad was an Air Mail post which I think takes longer....but I am praying for those letters and I have faith that they will come :)

Happy Valentines Day to everyone! I was thinking about Valentines day while I was working out and how mom would always have sugar cookies at home for us.....and how we would sing Val-o-grams at school....there are so many things that I miss. We watched a video about a basketball player at BYU and how he left on a mission. They showed the family dropping him off at the MTC and I just started crying.....I remembered that day when everyone dropped me off. I can´t believe it has been a month already! CRAZY! But anyway, it was hard to watch but I am so happy to be here and I am so happy to share this wonderful news with everyone I see. 

 I love this Gospel and I am so happy here! The next email I send will probably be from UTAH!!!! YAY!!!!!! I already have a referral from an Elder in my District! Share the Gospel with everyone! It will bless your life and theirs........through sharing the Gospel, we can experience true joy :)

 I love you all and miss you :) I wish I could give you a big hug :) But, it will have to wait for 17 months! Hug each other and be kind to one another........the family is the most wonderful thing in the world :)

Love you all and talk to you in UTAH!

SLY

Hermana Warren