Nov. 13, 2014
Me and my companion Hermana McCally at the Lime Peru temple
Holy smokes just knowing
that I am FINALLY A MISSIONARY and writing a letter is making me so happy right
now! I have so much to say, but first let me say this is the greatest thing
ever. I LOVE IT SO MUCH!
The flight here was great,
we all had tons of luggage and felt like harry potter running through the
parking lot trying no to get hit by cars with our massive carts.... haha so
great!! My companion is Sister McCally from Washington and is super fun. The other hermanas going to Chiclayo are Hemana Wood and Thruston
from Canada and Arizona. Super nice girls, Wood is like the definition of
adventure and all the craziness I aspire to be. She backpacked Thailand and
rock climbs daily. Awesome.
Spanish is so hard! The
adjustment has been a little rough too because we all just want to be AMAZING
missionaries RIGHT NOW! But especially here where NO ONE. NOT A SOUL. speaks English.
It is so hard to know what in the heck we are supposed to do.... I’ve been
doing a ton of “figuring it out” and such because seriously, were in the dark,
but it’s gotten a lot better and I feel like we just need to be patient and
then its awesome! So many funny sayings in trying to learn a new language (you
eat babies? you are studied?) I have laughed so hard I’ve had tears and the
maestro is like “what the heck is wrong with you?”
Also the first night the
older hermanas told me they had a letter from a latino for me and were like “what
did you do?” Turns out it was a letter from Elder Lewis who I went to school
with! In his city in Chiclayo he met a kid who was coming to the CCM and he wrote
me a letter with tips and such! So nice, but for days it was like the talk of
the CCM “did you get your letter?”
All the teachers call me
Hermana Click because they can’t say the egg part... and they ask “like the
mouse?”
I play basketball every day
with the elders and hermana wood and it’s so fun! They are so good and remind
me tons of BYU spring, I also tried to play futbol with the latinos the other
day and it was such a blast! They are insanely good, and in the game I went to
kick the ball and accidentally kicked his foot and knocked him straight on the back!
They all started yelling “rojo carita” or something like that for red card and
were laughing so hard because he was tripped by a hermana..... I said lo siento
a billion times. Also that game I scored a goal!! It was super lucky but then
all of the lations were saying hi to me and stuff... got on the in level with
them hahah... such a blast.
I say all my prayers in
spanish, we teach in spanish, all classes in spanish, it is weird to write this
in english! I love the language so much and it hasn’t been too bad. There have
been classes or exercises where I get super frustrated and want to cry,
but for the most part, especially speaking I feel the spirit so strong and all
the words I learn just stick so easy and I can remember them so well! Definitely
the gift of tongues.
Also me and mi
companerio have become super good friends with the group of latino sisters
here and they are SO HILARIOUS! We laugh all through dinner every day and I
kind of love the language barrier because we can kind of communicate, but most
of it is through laughter and feeling of their sweet spirits! Also a love the
food here more than anything... probs too much! It is so delicious every day,
and the CCM is super nice because there are like maybe 90 people here so you
get to know everyone super well!
I realized later this week
why being a missionary is so awesome, cause before it was kind of like We just
have no idea what we are doing and stink at spanish! But when we taught
the latinos and fake investigators i feel the spirit SO STINKIN STRONG! It is
amazing. It’s like i know exactly what to say and have such a strong desire to
share it and bear testimony. Also only knowing simple words makes it that much
better.
However last night we
taught a much harder fake investigator and our lesson was not good. I think i
was just nervous or distracted, but i couldn’t speak at all and it was so hard!
Then we had to teach two more latinos and they speak so fast and can’t
understand us at all.... it was just a long, frustrating night. Then to top it
off the elders we taught last were giving us feedback and said “You are very
good teachers, but your spanish is so bad it makes me want to kill myself!!” haha
if you know me my eyes started to tear up and it was hard to shake off. Then
when we got to our room i kind of broke down because i was so frustrated!!
Hermana Wood was having a SUPER rough time too so she asked for a blessing and
I went on splits and tagged along, it was amazing and the spirit was so strong,
and they’re like do you want one? UM YEAH! It was amazing and so powerful and
all I wanted to hear. I love the priesthood and the amazing power of it. Today
we went to the temple and then shopped and I just know I love this country and
the people. Even though they are crazy drivers and I can only greet them and
say “i know god loves you” haha....
Anyways, sorry it’s so
rushed and jumbled, I just had so much to say for the first week, and so little
time! This seriously is so fun and I know it’s where I’m supposed to be. I LOVE
IT!
Hermana Clegg
