Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Married and Divorced in 30 Minutes

Hola Amigos!!!! I have decided that the days here are very long, but the weeks are short! Time is picking up so fast here at the CCM, I only have two weeks left here and then I am out in the field! It is crazy, some days I feel ready to go into the field and others I feel like I am still not even close to being ready! My Spanish has gotten sooooo much better this last week! Hermana Dunn and I don’t use any notes for lessons anymore and reach our goals to speak only Spanish until lunchtime! I am also able to have normal conversation with the workers here!

So you all know, I got over my cold so that was a blessing! I love all of the emails and letters that I have been getting they give me that extra push that I need every week. Well one fun experience that I had this week was during TRC where we teach volunteers who don’t speak English a lesson.  Some are members or nonmembers or less active and we don’t know that when we teach them. We did a companion switch so I was with another sister.

The first lady we taught spoke so fast and we had no idea what she was saying. I picked up on words here and there but didn’t understand her question. My companion was getting really frustrated and so I turned to her and told her to share her testimony. Once she started doing that the spirit filled the whole room! It was amazing as she talked about how she didn’t know Spanish well but she knew the church was true. The three of us started crying... yes the investigator too! Luckily she was already a member so we didn’t mess her up too bad!

This week was filled with spiritual experiences one of them was when we taught one of our teachers a lesson. Now this teacher is hard. Everyone in my district knows that when you teach him he is going to give you some serious feedback. During the lessons he will ask you impossible questions like why the catholic church was built on the rock of Peter and you can’t even answer that in English let alone Spanish.  

Anyways, Hermana Dunn and I have been praying and studying so hard to be able to have one good lesson with this teacher! We taught our lesson and after we ended he looked at us in silence and said… Perfect. It was incredible!  He never has said that to anyone or has said anything positive about a lesson. So having him say that was a miracle!!! We told our district and they didn’t believe us. We are now the teacher’s favorites so we are pretty proud about that! Also I was asked to give a talk last Sunday in church on the Atonement and I did it all in Spanish!! That in it’s self is a miracle!

One little funny story about this week. So I was asked to sit in and be a member during and investigator lesson. The lesson was on families so they had me pretend to be married to another Elder.... It was awkward.... but kind of funny. The lesson went pretty good. The Hermanas that taught thought it would be funny if I was the one "married" to him because his girlfriend back at home has the last name of Hadley. Anyways it was weird. 

This week has been another good one in the books and I really love having that constant feeling of being a missionary! Tuesdays we have devotionals and I always go and sing in the choir. Yesterday we sang the EFY medley “As Sisters in Zion” and “We’ll Bring the World His Truth”. It was amazing and I got so emotional singing this song in Spanish especially when we sang the line "and we will be the Lords missionaries to bring the world his truth" it was the best! I love every second here even the hard ones!

Love you all and hope everything is going great at home!!!

Te Amo,

Hermana Hadley



My District minus Elder Dew and Elder Tibbits...They weren't feeling to hot that day.




The result of praying every 30 minutes! It's great, they are called praying bruises.



It rains a lot here.  I am almost positive that all of Mexico is going to flood.



Elder Critchton and Elder Andrus, they are our best buds.



The Arboleda where I find the most peace. There are a ton of parrots in the trees. 
Reminds me of the Tiki Room in Disneyland.



Stewart Weight and his companion, neighbor who moved away now found in Mexico!



Gatorade which has saved me this week and all the stomach problems here!


Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Jail Break and Hermana Dunn is Peachy

Well it has been a week let me tell you! There are so many things that happen everyday I don't even remember half of them!!! FIRST OFF... I hit my hump day at the MTC!!!! I am beyond happy about that one! I can't wait to get out in the field. Sometimes it feels like I haven't really started my mission yet. My Spanish has been getting so much better and I am really happy about that. It’s not perfect yet but between Hermana Dunn and I we can teach a whole lesson without any notes in Spanish!!! It's still frustrating at times but I know that faith without works is dead. With that being said I have never worked so hard in my life but it is awesome! We go home and go right to sleep exhausted but at the same time we are still smiling! 

Last Wednesday we managed to sneak out of the huge 16-foot tall fence!!! Ok maybe we didn't sneak out but they put us in a bus and we took a wonderful trip to the temple!!! It was so pretty!! Well the bus ride there was so bumpy and crazy and not too fun, but once we got to the temple it was great! We were able to do most of the session listening in English, but we had to do some in Spanish so that was a little hard. Ok random fact, there is an escalator in the temple, like 4 of them; the temple does not have stairs. It’s kind of different honestly but hey, we didn't have to walk up stairs. 

Another fun thing about this week, I got sick. A couple of us have really bad colds and on top of that Hermana Starke got way sick too just a different type of sick. Two nights ago another sister from our house came to say hi and looked at us where I was on the ground the other two were in their beds and Hermana Dunn was getting ready for bed. The sister asked what happened to us so I said, "well Hermana Woodyate and I have colds, Hermana Starke is dying from her insides and Hermana Dunn is just peachy" we all started laughing and went to bed at like 9:45 that night.

Last night I asked Elder Critchton and Elder Andrus for a blessing so I can get better and get back to work. This cold has really been hard, but we had such a spiritual night last night where my whole district and I started sharing our testimonies out of the blue. We felt the spirit so strong and after we finished the Elders gave me a blessing! I am so happy and grateful for all the Elders in my district they are my family here. 

Today we were able to go to the temple again and this time the whole bus was Latinos except for the 10 in my district the whole way there we sang hymns in Spanish and it was amazing!! I never thought you could feel the spirit on a bus that is making everyone sick, in the middle of Mexico, singing in a language that you barely know, but that goes to show you can feel the spirit anywhere and everywhere!!!

Love you all until next week,


Hermana Hadley




Mexico City Temple


 

Me and the Mexico City Temple



Visitor's Center at the Temple


 
Hermana Dunn and I forgot our umbrellas


 
Hermana's from our Casa



Our District at the Temple



Hermana Dunn and I

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Never go to the Doctor's Office

Hello all!!!!

All right so this week has been yet another adventure! I spend about 9 hours a day in a classroom.... :) so most of the time I don't have anything too exciting happening. I am trying really hard to learn the language but it’s a serious trial that I am going through. I understand almost all of what is said to me in Spanish but I still am trying to communicate back. I have made some big improvements. When we teach our "investigator" I have gotten to the point where I don't have to read everything off of a page to give the lesson but I can actually tell them what I really feel about the topic and almost answer all of their questions.

So I have a funny story. Here at the CCM there is a little doctor’s office called the infermaria. Now some of the doctors speak only Spanish so if you are ever sick you have no idea what they are telling you at all. Well poor Hermana Starke got sick this week and threw up in Spanish class. (by the way she is ok telling you this story... she thinks is the funniest thing on the planet) Her smart companion told her that they needed to go to the doctor because well... she obviously was sick.

When she went to the infermaria the doctor was Latin. She tried to explain what happened and they asked her if she was afraid of needles. (Always say yes.) She said no and they went and pulled out a needle that was ridiculously long. She started to roll up her sleeve and a little Latino lady told her no and motioned for her to lay down.  She didn't really think twice about it and was thinking to herself, "I have never had to lay down for them to give me a shot in my arm."

The lady then motioned for her to flip over... at that moment she knew this shot was not going in her arm..... I will let you finish the rest of that story on your own... but lets just say Hermana Starke has been standing a lot during class. Lesson learned never, EVER, go to the infermaria for anything. They are shot happy. One Elder went in with a headache and left with an even bigger problem. 

This week my parents sent me a package through a Mexican care package company with Dr. Pepper, Beef Jerky and my favorite candy... Gummy lifesavers.... dang my parents know me well. That was one of my highlights. I knew that Dr. Pepper was my favorite drink but I never thought that it would make me so happy that I would cry. Yes, I cried while drinking Dr. Pepper.

Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MOM!!! Her birthday was on Monday and my district and I wrote her a little card that we made with the amount of resources we had, paper and scripture marking pencils. I am so blessed to have the family I do!! I have been getting little letters from them throughout the week and it's made me so happy!!!

Also this week Hermana Dunn and I taught Relief Society this week and it went really well. I have had a lot of experiences that have brought me closer to my Heavenly Father! I find myself on my knees a ton strengthening that relationship with my Father in Heaven.

I say most of my prayers in Spanish but at night I usually say it in English so I can actually say what I want but the past few days I have been able to do it all in Spanish and say what I want without realizing I was speaking in Spanish!! Yay for progress!!

Well that’s all for this week I don't have a ton of time but I will also send some pictures. I get to go to the Temple today so my district and I are excited to be let outside of the gate!!!!!

Anyways I hope everything is going great with everyone back at home I love getting your letters and I feel your love and prayers all the time!! This church is true!! I know that for a fact!!! Love you guys!!

Love, 

Hermana Hadley


The amazing packages my family sent me!


What the company put the 12 pack of Dr. Pepper in haha



What they gave us for breakfast today...Ya I didn't eat that but some of my Elder's did. They don't understand breakfast let alone food here in Mexico I've decided.  
Tuesday's pizza becomes Wednesday's breakfast.



A message to my mom for her birthday from my district!



My compinaria Hermana Dunn....she is awesome!

We can only take pictures on P day so I don't have a ton 
but there is a little bit about my week!!

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

How did I end up in Mexico?

Random facts about the MTC in Mexico... or the CCM:
1. It is never quiet. There are the loudest birds that are always making noises, random parties we can hear from outside the fence, about 2 cannons go off every hour... yes I said cannons, it’s some religious thing, and of course the constant sounds of sirens, and the occasional gun shot (no mom I didn't say gun shot), but ya Mexico is a party. Don't worry I'm safe, they have a 16 foot tall wall surrounding us... it’s like Mormon jail! 

2. I am here to confirm that the food here is indeed the worst thing I have ever tasted. My favorite day was when they attempted hamburgers. It wasn't half that bad they basically put a spicy sausage on a hamburger bun and called it good. These people crack me up. My normal meal is rice, refried beans, fruit, and toast with Nutella. It's ok I think I’m finally getting used to the food so I'm trying new things. 

3. I say Hola Hermana's or Hola Elder’s probably 200 times a day. Every time you see someone that’s all you say, because I think that is all we actually know in Spanish. Just kidding I have learned how to say some things. My favorite language slip up was with an Elder in my district was saying the prayer and he said please bless Joseph Smith and he ended it by saying in the Book of Mormon amen…we couldn't stop laughing.... ya he is struggling with the language a little. 

Anyways this whole experience has been the craziest thing of my life! I have felt every single emotion every single day! Adjusting to missionary life has been so hard but I can already tell I am being blessed extremely!

So to start off I got to the CCM on Tuesday at 5 at night so I had been traveling all day long and my companion (at the time) had not arrived yet. She came late at night and she was the sweetest thing ever her name is Hermana Smith!

The next day in the morning we found out that one sister missionary didn't show up at all.... so I got put in a trio with Hermana Dunn (my traveling companion) and Hermana Starke from Portland Oregon!!!!! How cool is that!!

So some of you guys knew I had a pen pal of a sister going to my mission that I had been told about when I was on vacation in Oregon... Well.... THAT’S HER!!! She is so sweet, they both are!! The three of us (and Sister Smith) are all going to San Fernando!

We started teaching investigators our second day, the investigator is actually our teacher but we had to teach in Spanish... so ya, you have to be fluent by the time you arrive in the MTC.... Anyways the language and to have something going on every minute of the day is so hard to handle but I have been turning to my Heavenly Father so much!!

The hardest part during this week was when my companions and I were trying to teach a lesson to our investigator and it was not going well at all. The three of us just all started crying... yes crying in front of the investigator!

When he asked us what we were feeling (now in English because he is our teacher) the only thing I could say was sad. It was just hard to want to teach and have the spirit but couldn't because of the language.  We have gotten so much better at teaching but I think we had to hit rock bottom before it got better!

Our District leader was amazing and gave us three sisters blessings that night and it helped us so much.  It was his first time giving a blessing so it was one of his favorite moments this week. His name is Elder Crichton and he is serving his mission in Logan Utah.  How crazy is that!!! I also accidentally hit him in the face with a volleyball yesterday during gym time... I felt really bad. 

Sunday I think was my favorite day it was so amazing and I was able to share my testimony in Spanish! Then we listened to a talk by Elder Bednar to missionaries given in 2011 on Christmas. It was the best talk I have ever heard!! If you have time,  cause it’s a long one, go and listen to it.  It will change your life forever I promise you.

We then watched Meet the Mormons for our Sunday movie and I cried my eyes out when it was talking about the missionary mom at the very end.  I don't think it was nice of them to show that part to us. But it's ok I just know that while it's hard to be away from my family and friends I am doing such a great thing right now!

Yesterday a sister decided to go home and so I was like 90% sure I was going to be transferred and I was so sad, but Hermana Starke got transferred.  So I am with Hermana Dunn... who is amazing and I was able to stay with my amazing wonderful district who I love!! Also yesterday we had the awesome opportunity to watch a live Missionary broadcast by Neil L. Anderson where he talked about keeping our flame and also to find the people others aren't able to find. It was really good and so nice to hear something in English! 

There is so much to say and so little time, but just know this has been such a crazy adventure!! I am so glad I am here on a mission. I know that is where I am needed the most!! 

Sorry if I wasn't able to write everybody back I had such little time but know...

Te amo mucho familia y amigos! yo se el elvangilio es sierto!!! 

Hermana Hadley 

p.s. there are so many bugs here.... 



The Sister’s in my zone! 



My compinara Hermana Dunn




The famous name tag picture



Mi Casa



My District