Thursday, August 6, 2015

Wrapping up the MTC


Hey guys!

It has been a surreal "last week" here at the CCM. We are all very excited to be out of the CCM - it has been a long 5 1/2 weeks - but I'm also becoming very aware that I've only had 5 1/2 weeks worth of learning/hearing Spanish, so I'm a little nervous as to how well my limited language ability will hold up out in the field. 

Even though we've been cooped up here, we´ve had some fun times in the CCM. We have had two teachers through the time here - Hermano Cristeche teaches us in the mornings and Hermana Camacho in the afternoon/evening. Both of them are going to be moving on from the CCM soon - Hermano Cristeche is going to go to school full time and study and Hermana Camacho is getting married a week from Friday! They are so kind and patient and have made learning Spanish fun. Since this last week has been all review we've played a lot of games, practiced teaching and even learned the Hoki-poki in Spanish.

We moved to a new area for proselitismo and we didn't have the greatest success. We got a taste of how rejection in the field will probably be like - no one would really talk to us and we didn't do a great job talking to those we did have conversations with. We are making a new game plan for our last proselitismo though! We'll make it a good one.

It's been a little difficult staying on task these past few days - we have been taught all of the basic grammar principles and have a solid set of memorized vocabulary, but are struggling to correctly practice and apply what we've learned. The field should definitely help us with that! For now we are enduring to the end of the CCM!

Mis compaƱeras and I were talking with a recent sister RM at the hostel and she told us "the CCM prepares you for the mission and the mission prepares you for life" (roughly translated to English). Last Sunday we had a lesson on persevering to the end. Our teacher shared the story of John Ahkwari - an Olympic marathon runner who fell and was injured in his race but finished anyway - and shared Ahkwari's inspiring words: "My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start a race, they sent me 5,000 miles to finish one". This has been the longest I've ever been away from home, and by far the longest I've been without seeing my family - but I have come out here to serve and learn and to see my mission through. I'm just at the start and I am excited for what is ahead! 

Next time I email I'll be in Paraguay!!! I'm so excited to meet the people I've been called to serve for the next 17 months! 

I love you all!

¡Estoy aquĆ­ porque yo amo a toda la gente de Paraguay!

Hermana Carr