My Last Week at the Mexico MTC!! Off to Ecuador I go....

Hola!

This last week has been great. It is already my last week here at the CCM. I found out Monday that I leave the CCM on Thursday and I leave the CCM at 10:00 PM on Thursday. I am freaking out a bit because I have less than two days to pack and I have no time. The rest of my district leaves on Saturday morning. I am sure I will sleep the entire flight because we have a full day on Thursday with class and all. The good news is that I started to pack my bags last Tuesday because I was pretty sure we were leaving early. 

Last night was hard though cause it finally hit me that I was leaving this amazing place and I wont be surrounded by hundreds of Priesthood holders or my companion Hermana C. It is kind of sad when you think about it.

I got my second Priesthood Blessing  because I was feeling really stressed! Elder R did my blessing and he is such a amazing Elder! I prayed beforehand that I would be prepared to recieve the blessing. I could feel the Lord´s love for me! It was such an amazing experience. The Savior blessed me with so many promises if I stay worthy to receive them. He told me, that I am prepared for this time in my life, spiritually, emotionally, and physically. He told me that I am preparing now to be a wife and a mother and will be soon. I was also told that I am a respected sister and that I am the mom to my district and that everyone looks up to me for the great example that I am. 

It was exactly what I needed to hear at the time. I often worry that the decisions that I made in the past effect my future blessings but I have to remember that the Lord will bless me according to his will. I need to remember to demonstrate faith in Christ and let him bless my life and leave the guilt and pain behind. The blessing made me realize that if I obey and follow Chirst that I will be able to be blessed eternally and temporaily. I am also so thankful for the priesthood holders that I have in my district and that I can get blessings whenever I need them.

Last P-day we had a SPA DAY! It was so amazing. We did our nails, pedicures, facials, and I dyed my hair! It was such an amazing day. We also took a nap for an hour, which is also what I plan on doing today. It is my last p-day where I won´t have to go shopping for food, and all that other fun stuff I´ll have to do in the mission field when I am out of the CCM.

On Tuesday we had a member of the 70 here at the CCM for our Tuesday Night Devotional. His name is Lester Johnston, and he gave a great talk about Obidence. It was the talk that I needed to here. It has been really hard to be exactly obedient while we have been here at the CCM. But he went over some great points on how we can be more obedient.

1)Prepare ourselves to be obedient
2) Be friends with your companion so that you can teach with unity, it is KEY on your mission.
3)Work with the members in the area so that you can reach others

This last Wednesday we celebrated our one month here in the Mission! One our of Elders mom sent us Krispy Kreme donuts! They were so amazing! Sometimes at breakfast they have donuts mexican style of course and those are the first to go.

I love the CCM and will be so sad when I leave but I know that the Lord would not send me already if he didn't think I could handle it. I can´t wait to get to Ecuador!

Love AnnaAlicia

Hermana Wall-R

 The weather here does not make it look like it is FALL. I don’t even think fall exists here. It does thunder and rain here every once in a while. When we go to bed at night it is about 70 degrees.

I have already started packing because I know how fast time is going to fly and then I’ll be off to Ecuador. My companion and I get along so well. I absolutely love her and my roommates are amazing. We are already talking about doing a road trip across country so me and Hermana Sellers can go out to the East Coast before they head back to BYU for the Fall in 2015. So crazy.

This week was yet another amazing week full of amazing Spiritual Moments.

We learned how to use the Book of Mormon and the Introduction to tell people how important it is and why it was written. The Introduction is powerful when you read it. Just make sure to pray first and then test out the promise from Moroni. I challenge everyone to read it. In the first paragraph it says, “The Book of Mormon is a volume of Holy Scripture comparable to the Bible…and contains as does the Bible, the fullness of the everlasting Gospel.” It drove home the point for me that people who are looking for the truth don’t have to look any further when you read the Introduction of the Book of Mormon but that they must have a desire to act on faith and then they will know it is true for themselves.

Last Sunday we were asked to speak about Agency, which I worked for three days to write a talk in English and then translate it to Spanish. So that by Saturday night I had a talk prepared for our Sacrament Meeting. Well on Sunday morning we had a Leadership meeting since Hermana C and I are Sister Training Missionaries, so at the end of the meeting our Branch President, President L asks me to talk on Retaining the Holy Ghost and Hermana C to talk about Keeping the Commandments. So with 2 hours until Sacrament we went to work and wrote brand new talks in SPANISH. We were super nervous about the whole thing and for sure did not translate it as well as the first but we did it! I ended up talking for 10 minutes in SPANISH in front of about 40 missionaries. It was so crazy. Afterwards a new sister in our Branch told us she needed to hear those messages and she thanked us. We were so thankful someone needed to hear the messages we had, because we were both having panic attacks. 

On Monday,we taught our investigator F again. We were not really sure what we should teach him so we waited until about 15 minutes before and prayed and prayed and then made a quick outline of a few key points we wanted to cover. We thought that in the last lesson we didn’t do a good job of explaining how the Book of Mormon is important and how it can help him but to our surprise he had read it every day and he shared his favorite story he found that week which was about Nephi and Laman and Lemuel. It was so amazing to know that he wanted to read and took the time to read even after work and school. So needless to say our lesson plan was out the window in the first few minutes of the lesson but luckily Hermana C and I can teach in unity and we ended up giving one of our best lessons yet. We taught him about how he had faith, and what faith was. We shared scriptures in Alma 32 and talked to him about how he can gain a testimony. We could feel the spirit so strong with him. I home that he continues to prepare for his baptism we have setup for him on November 2^nd. Oh and we also got two new investigators this week. So we are now teaching 4 people on a regular basis. So fun and it is so great to practice with other missionaries and our teachers (who are investigators F and S).

Love, AnnaAlicia

Funnies of the week:

On Thursday outside of the Clinic we meet new Hispanic missionaries that had just arrived. One of the Elders, walks up to us and asks us what our names are. I say Hola, mi nombre es Hermana Weller, the he repeats back: Hermana WALL – R, I say um close and just smile, then he says Hermana WALL – E like the little robot on Disney. I couldn’t help but laugh. We just all started to laugh. They try but apparently the double LLs are hard to pronounce.

Don't Forget Dad Doesn't Like Black Licorice!

Sister Missionaries! We love to share clothes :D Yes Mom, that's my orange floral print dress on the right!

I've officially been at the CCM for 3 weeks! Crazy how fast time has flown by. I can't even remember what I did before I left, It feels like it was so long ago. 

Anna is so concerned about other people she felt the need to write us what we should do and remember for our dads B-day. :D Haha. He passed away I guess two years ago. We still celebrate and have a party for him.

I know this weekend is Dads Birthday, I wish I could be there to celebrate with you guys. Please make sure to eat all his favorites and don't forget dad doesn't like black licorice. I miss him so much but I can feel his spirit around me. I did today when I was in the temple. Jessica if you can go with mom this Saturday to the temple and send me photos of the birthday party for him. 

Remember he also likes German Chocolate Cake or Chocolate Cake with Peanut butter and Chocolate frosting. You should watch the movie too that I made. I have photos up of him around my bed with the kids and a picture of us when we got sealed in the temple. I cant wait to give him a hug again some day. He was such a good example to all of us and taught us not to judge other people. Remember to love on another and to hug randomly on that day. I love you all and love and miss Dad.

Studying hard!

Spiritual Movies

So I thought I would start this weeks email with the Sunday Night Movie, it is called Presious Treasures and was all about the Book of Mormon. It told the story of a man named Di Vinchinzo, he was a priest in Italy, and when he moved to New York back during World War I he found a book slightly burned with no cover or title page. He read it and started to give sermons from this amazing book he knew was true. He eventually got shut out of the church he was preaching in because they didnt like the book he was using. So after 10  years of knowing this book was true, but never knowing whose book it was, he found out that it was the Book of Mormon. He wanted so badly to get baptized, but he had moved back to Europe and because of the war, the church had pulled missionaries out of the area. So he waited, and waited, and from the time he was 23 until he was 60,  he waited to get baptized. He was finally baptized after he waited for over 40 years! He was so faithful!!

 

We also watched another movie on Sunday night, I am not sure what it was called, but it was about Capitan Moroni from the Book of Mormon. It talked about after he wrote Moroni chapter 10 in the Book of Mormon he wondered for 40 years as the only Nephite left and wondered to save his life because the Lamanites wanted to kill him. He buried the plates in the ground and then retired to his death. What the strength of a man to be the only one left who believed and he safely guarded the plates which were later translated into the Book of Mormon by Joseph Smith. I loved both movies so much!! Also, I invite you to read the Introduction to the Book of Mormon, it is pretty amazing what it says. God restored the fullness of the Gospel when he restored the Book of Mormon!! Read it and tell me what you think. Oh and read Moroni 10;3-5 and ponder, pray, and ask if it is true.

 

Spiritual Moment

One of the most Spiritual moments here at the MTC was yesterday the 14th of Oct. Every Monday we have an hour of dedicated time where we go to the TRC (Training Resource Center). While we are there we practice teaching people based on their needs, which is obviously what we will be doing out in the field (on our actual mission). People volunteer in the TRC, so sometimes we teach other missionaries, recent converts, investigators, or teachers. 

Our Classroom

This week we had the opportunity to teach a young college girl named E. She is a recent convert to the church and was baptized 2 months ago. She absolutely loves the church, institute and everything we have to offer. She is the only one in her family who is LDS and her parents have not been supporting her so she has felt a bit at odds with them. We got to visit with her for 45 minutes, as a whole district (which is 10 missionaries including me and my companion). 

We really got the chance to get to know her and found out she had been struggling. We were able to share our own experiences with her. One of our Elders is a covert and his family does not support him either and he is on a mission. The whole experience was amazing. It made me realize how hard of a decision it must have been for mom to go against what her parents told her when she decided to join the church. I told E that my mom had been in a similar situation and that her decision had made a positive effect on her family as an example to them. Without her decision to join the church I wouldn't be sitting here at an MTC on a mission writing this letter. Moms decision along with E's will not only be an example to their own families but also the families that they have. So MOM thank you for your decision, I wont want to have my life any other way. You are an example to me and to others around you.

 

Missionaries!

We also watched a Mormon.org video about a Bishop named Chris, who one Friday night, out with his family, got hit by a drunk teenage driver and his wife and 3 of his kids were killed. Our teachers, stopped the video and then became our investigator for the day. (They are trying to teach us what the real mission will be like). So Chris, our investigator said he wanted to find out why this happened to his family, and why God would do this to him and he didn't feel like existing anymore. We talked to him for a while and taught him about the Plan of Salvation. 

The entire time, I was crying with Chris because all of the questions he was asking were the same ones I asked myself after Dad passed away. So I cried in front of everyone in my distric for a good 30 minutes. I was sad about Dad and knew what Chris was going through. I finally pulled myself together and was able to tell him that I have had those same questions before and that God knows what he is going through. The Plan of Salvation is a plan of HOPE and that he can live with his family again, but the first step to do that is be baptized. So, I asked him if he would follow Jesus Christ's example and be baptized, he said YES! It was such a spiritual experience and I loved being able to share my testimony.

 

My companion Hermana C and I have also been teaching two new investigators twice a week since last Monday. One is named F, he is friends with on of our teachers and he is interested in learning more about this gospel. He has a strained relationship with his family and wants a stronger relationship with God. Hermana C and I have been teaching him about the restoration of the Gospel. During our last lesson he said he had not gotten a chance to pray yet. He said he was embarrassed.  We asked him if I could give a simple pray, I did. Then we taught him how to pray again, and after that he prayed with us! It was so amazing to see his willingness and faithfullness. I cant wait to teach him tomorrow about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon!

 

Our other investigator is S. He wants to find peace in his life. He is not really sure from what so we are trying our hardest to help him. Hermana C and I put together a lesson about the Plan of Salvation and then memorized for two days what we wanted to say and how we were going to say it. Then, 2 hours before we were supposed to teach it, we decided it wasn't the right message. So with 2 hours until the lesson we prayed and decided to teach him about the Book of Mormon instead. We read the introduction with him. He said he wants to read it and more! I cant wait to see him again on Friday and see if he read it and what he got out of it. Teaching can be so hard and knowing what to teach even harder. This week we have really tried hard to teach with the SPIRIT and let the SPIRIT guide us in what we are teaching. It is so much harder than it sounds that is for sure.

 

On to other things....

 

Last Wednesday I bruised a tendon in my wrist and couldnt play volleyball for a week because my wrist swelled up which has never happened to me before. Dont worry though. I went to the doctor and he said everything would be fine. I am going to see him tomorrow for a followup. My wrist swelled in a few hours and I didn't play volleyball all week, which was pretty sad because me and Hermana C love playing volleyball together. But we played Basketball, ping pong and went running. We even walked around the entire CCM and got to see the pretty mountains that surround us. 

We found out this week from one of our American teachers that we are in the southern most part of what is considered Mexico City. 3 blocks south of us, is the suburb area of Mexico City. So the hills around us are actually other cities. Crazy huh! Oh and this week at the CCM we have had American food pretty much every day. We had corn dogs, pizza, hamburgers, pasta, and today we had some amazing donuts. So good but I love the Mexican food too. We had green chilli tamales and posole this week and it was amaz!

 

The weather is amazing here, not trying to rub it in though. I know it has been rainy there and for sure fall. Here is is 75 all day and is around 65 at night. Still hot and muggy. It has not rained much since we have been here. We had thunder and lighting a few nights ago and it sounds so cool.

 

Funnies of the Week;

Unexplainable

Two of our Elders were teaching a lesson about Jesus Christ and his Example to us, so they taught the investigator about how Jesus died for us. Then they asked;

 

Elders; How can you follow in Jesus Christ footsteps?

Investigator; I would die.

Elders; Oh no, that not what we meant, Jesus Christ is an example to us. God does not expect us to die. So they asked a better question instead.

 

The same elders were teaching a different lesson and were trying to ask What goals the investigator had with meeting with the missionaries but they couldnt remember the word for GOALS. So, instead they asked;

 

Elders; Que es su Goals (in english) en su vida? (what are your goals in life?)

Investigator; Que? (What)

Elders; Goals (in english)?

Investigator; No entindo... (I don't understand)

Elders; Goals (in english) as he throws his arms up like a football goal post.

Neadless the say the Investigator still didnt understand what they were trying to ask so they skipped the question.

 

Love AnnaAlicia

No longer the New Kid on MTC Campus! Week 2

Where We're Going!

This week has gone by so fast yet it feels like an eternity here at the CCM (MTC in Spanish). I can't believe it is already my second P-day here. So I'll start with a summary of the week.

 As of Wednesday last week we were no longer the newbies on campus. New Elderes y Hermana's from States came in, so we were officially no longer the new kids.

Last P-day I was feeling super sick so I finally went to the clinic and found out I had a stomach virus, how fun...not really. I had to take pills every 6 hours for 5 days. So I was waking up at midnight each night and early each morning to make sure that I was taking them on time. I asked one of the elders in my district to give me a blessing. That was such an amazing experience after that I was so much better and finally able to focus on learning the language and teaching our investigator. The clinic here is amazing. The doctors are great! They listen to you and quickly come up with a solution. We have a doctor here from Mexico and one that is serving a mission that is American. They are both great and love us missionaries.

 

This last week has been kind of hard just because I was sick from Sunday until Thursday last week, so imagine trying to learn spanish and going to all of these classes and not being able to think. I had a couple cry sessions but now that I am better everything else is too. The hardest part of this week was when we had to meet a new investigator that we had never meet before and ask her questions on her religious background, what was missing in her life ect. I could not put two words together to save my life, in English or Spanish, so once it was over I cried for a few minutes. But after my power nap, and some more cold meds, things were good again.

 

My second best part about the CCM is the GYM! So much to do here! We have volleyball, basketball, work out rooms, beach volleyball, soccer, tennis, and treadmills, oh and a ping pong table, Dad would love that. The only thing we are missing is a swimming pool. I play volleyball everyday with my companion and a distric that just left last night to Ecuador Guayaquil South. I played volleyball today too during GYM time and burised a tendon on my wrist. I went to the doctor though and everything is good. I just have to put ice on it and then come back next Tuesday to get it checked out again. I LOVE playing VOLLEYBALL though. My companion and I laugh so hard sometimes, so it's a nice break.

 

Best part of the week so far is for sure GENERAL CONFERENCE. I loved General Conference so much this session. We got to watch it live in the Autotorium with hundreds of missionaries. It such an amazing experience to listen to the prophets as a missionary. I didn't even fully hit me until I heard the opening prayers where the people saying the prayers were praying for the missionaries...and I thought wow that is me. So crazy! I cried, the prayers touched my heart so much. I know Mom watched the middle of conference where it showed where I live  here at the CCM, I hope everyone can watch it. We all cheered when we saw it. It also shows President P, he is such an amazing person!! They love the missionaries so much. We are the first group of missionaries to watch General Conference at the CCM. Way cool! Here are some of my most favorite quotes from Conference....

 

• 183 years ago the church was organized with only 6 members, and it now stands strong at 15 million!
• Missionaries seek out those who want to change
• As of October 2012 there were 58,500 missionaries and now there are 80,333!! What I am one of them! Holler!
• Edward Dube - Never look back look forward. Faith always points to the future.
• David A Bednar - Maybe we need a great capacity for us changing something instead of others changing it for us.
•  Uchtdorf - Doubt your Doubts before you doubt your faith -- One of my most favorite quotes of all conference
• Carole M Stephens - RS Broadcast - Stop and point out the Blessings in our lives. Don't rush thought it or  you will forget and miss out on the things the Lord does for us.
•  Linda Reeves - The Lord allows us to be tried and tested.
• Thomas S Monson - had one of the most amazing true experiences of Faith and the power of the Holy Ghost, when he said he gave a man a blessing who had gone deaf and could no longer see. The Holy Ghost made it so he could hear what was being said and the man thanked him. I cried when he shared this experience.
• Adrian Ochoa - We are living evidence of our Loving SAVIOR.
• Russell M. Nelson - The death of our mortal bodies is part of a process. It allows our spirits to return to heaven.

Our CCM Campus, Like were bat

 

Funnies of the week...

 

1. During companion prayer with Hermana C, while she was praying said, Gracias por mi companera Hermana Weller (Thank you for my companion, Hermana Weller), but instead she said...Gracias por mi comdia Hermana Weller (Thank you for my food, Hermana Weller). To funny! She was obviously hungry. 
2. I also had a funny this week during a lesson yesterday with an investigator...I was trying to tell him that God is our loving Heavenly Father and instead said....Dios es nuestro almuerzo Padre Celestial...So basically I told him God was our lunch!! We all died laughing...I hope I never say that on my mission to a real investigator  haha

Love Hermana Weller

The buses we take to and from the temple

Money Money Money

1st Week at MTC in Mexico City! Part 2

Hola Familia!!

 

Es muy bonita aqui in Mexico! That the most spanish I am going to write for now cause I only get an hour on the computer.  But I wanted to send everyone one big letter than I will write back to those of my siblings that wrote me this week. 

 

To start, it has only been 6 days since I saw you and it feels like an eternity! My flight from Portland to Las Vegas was uneventful, I was the only missionary who was sent on that flight so it was just me and my Book of Mormon. The layover in Vegas took forever so that was really boring. I didnt know how to use a payphone (I know sad right...the days before iPhones), so I ended up calling Mom collect and felt so bad. It was so expensive to talk for less than 10 minutes, but it brought me comfort to hear from her even though it had only been a few hours. 

When I got to Mexico I was still the only missionary on the flight. I went through customs and made my way outside of the doors and found 16 Elders and an assistant to the Mission Office. We made our way out to the little Yellow CCM buses they have. It was a 45 minute drive here to the CCM. People here in Mexico drive crazy! They have no signals or signs on who goes where, so everyone just kind of goes at once.

 

We finally made it here to the CCM at around 7 PM (Mexico Time). The Elders all got my luggage for me and we made our way to the main building which is called the Thomas S Monson building. It's where everyone new goes to get their schedules for the CCM, room assignments, house cards and materials for studying. 

I also met my companion that night her name is Hermana C, she is from Washington DC and is going to serve a mission in Chile. She is 19 and I love her. We have gotten so much closer over these last 6 days. We also got´put in a room with two other sisters, one who I meet on Facebook before the mission, her name is Hermana S, she is from California and going to Quito, Ecuador, and her companion is Hermana J, she is from New Jersey (yes, like Jersey Shore but she didn't watch it so one point against her lol). I love my roommates they are awesome!! Here is a photo of us today. 

Oh and they are all 19 but they are amazing and they totally make me feel welcome and not like I am 9 years older than them! (which I am. Crazy!!) From left to right...Hermana S, Hermana J, Hermana C, and then me of course.

 

A little more about the CCM, we live on a 91 acre piece of church owned property that is seriously like a little town of its own. We have a cafeteria, multiple gyms, a post office, a store, a reception area, computer labs (that is where I am writing you from now), we have classrooms, church buildings, a doctors office, volleyball courts, tennis courts, badminton  soccer, football fields, and our own 24 hour security. We have dormitories which is where the Elderes live and all of the Hermanas live in casas close to the center of campus. In our house we have 5 bedrooms, all have 4 beds, we have our own shower, closets, living rooms, and kitchens (but we dont cook so it just stores our filtered water).  I have attached some photos of our room here too. I sleep on the bottom bunk and Hermana C sleeps on the top...thank goodness because it is hard getting up and down from there. So don't worry about my safety, we are closed in behind brick walls with barbwire and fence on top of that, we cant get out and people cant get in.

This week has been super hard learning Spanish. My companion and I were in the Begininer Spanish class on Thursday but then on Friday, we found out we got switched to the Intermedate class so we have been stressing about. We also have taught an investigator everyday since Saturday which has been crazy and stressful to say the lest. Our entire lessons are in Spanish I have no idea how but they are. The Lord works miracles when you obey so we have been trying hard to obey all of the mission rules and our spanish is coming along great. Our teachers only speak to us in spanish, we pray in spanish, go to church in Spanish, say our testimonies in Spanish ect. You get the point, its a lot of Spanish.

 

The food here is good! We get lots of fruits and veggies, and meat, salad, juice, breads, pan dulce, mexican icecream, flan, ect. We actually had service work in the Kitchen this week so we got to peel strickers off of fruit. My stomach is doing fine with the food but others not so much. No bueno. Many of the others have never tried mexican bread, they were totally missing out lol.

 

The spirit is really strong here. I love being here but miss home. I try not to think that it has only been a week and that I have 18 more months but it is hard. I love you all so much and miss being able to hug you so give hugs to eachother and especially mom! I love you all so much.

 

My pdays are on Tuesday so expect an email for the next 4 weeks on Tuesdays  I leave the CCM on November 2nd and head out to the field. Crazy huh only a month away. The time here goes at turtle pace so I feel like I have been here for an eternity!!

 

Read Alma 32 talks about Faith, love it. Ill be reading that tonight.

 

Oh and ill take more photos of the map and stuff today and  send them next week.

 

Love you lots!!

 

Hermana Weller

 

Funny moment of the week = I was practicing my testimony with my companion and I said Yo se JesusCristo vive y el es nuestro Salvador and she goes WHAT....Jesus doesnt live in El Salvador...Haha...it was too funny we laughed for a while after that one.

Heres some other photos AnnaAlicia sent us!

1st Week at the MTC in Mexico City! Part 1

These are photos from our temple trip and some from Sunday. I also took some photos of the city around Mexico as we drove to the temple which is 45-60 minutes away depending on traffic.

 

The temple is so pretty it has escalators inside becuase it is small so it s a few stories high. It sits next to a really busy street but is so peaceful inside. Hermana Corbett and I had fun taking photos outside. 

 

Love you lots!!

AnnaAlicia