I Survived My First Weeeeeek!

Hey all! I'm so happy to hear from all of you. This has seriously been the hardest week of my life so far! But I made it to P-day alive :)

This is Hermana Taylor and I when we landed in Mexico.
 We were jus about to go on the bus to the CCM. 

First picture of me with my name tag! 
Hermana Nissinen!

I have so many things to tell you all about! First, the CCM is AWESOME. We're pretty much completely immersed in Spanish. My teachers only speak Spanish to us. The first full day here, I was SO tired from traveling the day before. I didn't understand anything that was being taught and it was a crazy long day. I was like "What the heeeeeeck have I gotten myself into. I don't know if I can be here for 6 weeks and then do this for a year and a half!" But some other hermanas here told me to make it to Sunday. Just make it to Sunday! The days here feel like months, but the week has gone by fast. Haha Idk how to explain it but it's true. I am always super tired when I get back to the casa! But I always feel really proud of myself because I had a productive day.

The Sisters in my district.  I love them all!

I'm doing pretty well with Spanish. Our 2nd day here, we had to teach Fernando (Our investigator) the first lesson completely in Spanish. MAN was it hard! I understand almost everything my teachers say, but speaking it is harder. It'll just come in time though :) I'm grateful I get to learn the gospel in another language because it's teaching me to just go back to the very basics. When we teach, our lessons have to be SO simple because we don't even know what we're saying haha. 

My companion is Hermana Despain from Beaverton! She's so so sweet. I love her. We get along great. She is going to LA California on her mission! We tease each other and always laugh at how we're just "2 blonde chicks from Portland who ended up in Mexico and are trying to speak spanish" haha.

So we actually live in a casa (house) instead of a dorm.  It has a laundry room and a big living room with couches. Then 4 girls have their own separate  room in the house.  It's nice!

My companion Hermana Despain.  I love her!

I had 2 cool experiences this week: 

1: Friday morning, I had told Hermana Despain and the other girls in our district how much I was craving a sandwich! We eat good food here, but I was just wanting a sandwich SO BAD. Well, we went to breakfast right after that and GUESS WHAT. The main entree was a triple decker sandwich with bacon, cheese, lettuce, and tomato. I was sooo happy you don't even know! (I even went back for seconds... ha ha). My district thought it was hilarious, and we turned it into a lesson about tender mercies and how God is aware of our desires and wants. I really learned how to find joy in the little things. We now all find "Sandwich Momentos" which is when something good happens to us that makes us happy!

2: On Saturday, Hermana Despain and I were told that we can't use our notes anymore for teaching in our lessons. No notes, no bullet points, nada. So, we started to prepare our lesson for Monday about the importance of prayer and the Book of Mormon. We were pretttyyyyy nervous. We taught Fernando, and we did GREAT. About a half hour lesson only in Spanish with just our scriptures and the Holy Ghost! He said he would read the assigned chapters in the Book of Mormon that night and pray to know it's true. The spirit was so so strong, I'm not sure if I have ever testified so strongly of the Book of Mormon than when I did it a few days ago in a language I barely know. 

The CCM is beautiful. The mornings are pretty chilly, but the afternoons and evenings are way nice. At night, we hear either fireworks or gun shots (we're not entirely sure), so we always try to guess which one it is. It's kinda fun :) I love the food here. A lot of Mexican food which is great! Joe, you'd love it here... there is fresh pineapple, cantaloupe, and watermelon every meal, so I eat a ton of fruit. 

Sorry for the small amount of pictures... We're only allowed to take pictures on P-Day's so cameras aren't a distraction. I tried to take some this morning before emailing.

The CCM is beautiful!!!!! There are always lot of guys here doing construction and landscaping.  They keep it very well maintained.

The latinos here are so fun! We try to sit with them
during meals because we want to learn Spanish
 and they want to learn english, so it's really fun!

I love you all. I really appreciate your letters that you send me. It makes my DAY when my district leader brings them to lunch and I have one from you guys. (Sometimes a tear or two falls onto my plate when I'm reading them) haha. 

 My P-Day is on Friday next week because I think we're going to the temple. 

I get to play the piano for the CCM choir and do a musical number next Tuesday in the big devotional! I'm excited.  

Thanks for all the support! Even though it is hard, I love being a missionary and being a representative of Jesus Christ. It's AWESOME. I'm so grateful to be here. I know that this is where I need to be right now in my life. I am going to keep working really hard! Love you all so so much!

Sorry for the way long letter, I just had so much to say!

Con Amor,

Hermana Nissinen ❤