Hola mi familia y amigos!
I am SO happy to be able to email
you! They don't give us a p day our first week, so I have been writing
down moments and thinking about what to email all week!
The
CCM is amazing!! The spirit here is so strong. It's literally like
girls camp collided with EFY, because us hermanas cry all the time!
Haha. The food is always an adventure, we never know what the comedor is
going to serve up. We've had corn dogs, pasta salad, boiled zuchinni,
chips and salsa, enchiladas, pizza, brownies, oatmeal, chicken fajitas,
etc. It's just a weird mix of American and Mexican food. Some of the
Hermanas have gotten sick, but I think it's (usually) delicious and
exciting! Sometimes we sit next to Latinas and practice our Spanish.
Everyone
here is so nice and friendly! The city is insane and super colorful.
When we go out of the walls of the CCM we just take pictures of every
building because they are all so unique and crazy. Traffic is the
craziest thing I've ever seen! You can literally reach out and touch the
bus next to you. Everyone knows the rules, but no one thinks they apply
to them! At night we hear dogs barking, crickets chirping, crazy
mariachi music blaring, and gunshots...er...."fireworks." But I feel
very safe here! There's a giant wall and of course the Spirit. I've
never been so grateful for running water and a clean casa.
The
flight over here was really long, but good. There were maybe 30 other
missionaries all going to Mexico City, so it was awesome to have that
support. Customs was a little confusing and I got sniffed by an adorable
security dog, but I made it into the country with no problems, so that
was good! The airport looked like a giant sam's club! A girl in my
district was on the plane and we talked to this adorable little abuelita
in broken Spanish for the whole plane ride! I also met my roommate
Katie's cousin on the plane! She is in my zone and is absolutely
incredible!
My companera is Hermana Salazar! She is
amazing! I know that we were supposed to be companions. She's from
California and is going to the Mexico City South mission. She actually
reminds me a ton of my roommate Mickey from BYU, which is awesome. We
get along well and I think we're a great team when we teach! She's been
kinda sick the last few days though, so if anyone wants to pray for her I
know she would appreciate it. She is such a sweet spirit with a super
strong testimony of God's love, which is exactly what the investigators
need. She helps me a lot and is a great example to me. I love being
called an Hermana! No one can pronounce my name, so I am now Hermana
E.....Swards? It's awesome.
The language is coming so
great! I seriously love speaking Spanish and have a real testimony of
the gift of tongues. I remember words that I didn't even know I knew,
and I think I have a pretty decent accent. I know I have so much to
learn though. I'm just super grateful that I can usually communicate
with Spanish speakers and that we have so many good books and teachers
to help us learn. Singing in Spanish at BYU was actually super helpful,
too! The hymns are so powerful and fun in Spanish. It's funny because I
hated Spanish grammar in high school, but now I literally beg the
maestras to "please teach me past tense!!" We're gonna get to grammar
stuff in a couple weeks. We work fast and hard here, but it pays off
when you know how to pray in Spanish by the second day.
The
second day here, we taught our first investigator! It's an actor
playing someone she really knows, so it was super cool. I was nervous,
but in our broken Spanish we were able to teach the First Vision. Now, a
week and a half later, we have committed Jazmin to baptism and to keep
the law of Chastity! It is seriously the coolest feeling in the world to
teach about the gospel. I also got to pretend to be an investigator and
that gave some really cool perspective.
There are
beautiful birds and trees in the CCM. I really want to send a picture of
the green little parrots but they are too fast! I think of Brooke and
Megan when I see them, because they could be from Planet Earth, haha.
Mexico city is closer to the equator, so I burn super quick here. We
were outside for like, 20 minutes and my nose, neck, and part of my arms
got burned. I also feel like a giant! I'm a lot taller than all of the
Latinas.
One of the coolest experiences so far is that
President Nelson, the president of the quorum of the 12 apostles came
and spoke at the CCM! And he shook each missionaries hand!! It was
amazing. He brought such a strong spirit. I got to sing in the choir for
him! So cool. He spoke to us about how the Lord uses unlikely means to
accomplish the impossible. That message rang so true for us
missionaries! Sometimes I feel super inadequate, but I know that
anything is possible with the Lord's help. Reading Ether 12 was an
incredible experience for me, because the whole chapter was a direct
answer to my prayers. I would really encourage everyone to read it!
Today
we got to go to the Mexico City temple and it is beautiful! The
architecture is aztec inspired and it's just a huge temple. We had
translators so we could hear the session in ingles. It was a really neat
experience and I'll probably get to go again before I go out into the
field.
Some random experiences: The tienda (store) sells
everything an American missionary could ever want, plus some delicious
Mexican snacks. My favorite are the Bueno bars! They are like heaven on
earth!
The toilets are different in every bathroom and my
favorites are the ones you can flush with your foot! The sinks are also
kinda different. There are just little reminders that we aren't in
America any more.
Some of our favorite inside jokes are
"Que tenga un buen dia!" because it was one of the first phrases we
learned, and "Elder Estone needs to estudy!" because our teachers always
add an E before Elder Stones name.
Our district is
awesome and is already so close! We have four elders, Elder Stone, Elder
Uffins, Elder Bedell, and Elder Humphrey. They are so eager to use
their priesthood and also so immature at times. :) We have six Hermanas!
I love them soooooo much! We're all really good friends and support
each other through this whole loco experience.
I am the
only missionary in the MTC going to Cancun, as of right now! Some more
missionaries will come in a couple weeks and they might have someone
going there, but for now I have a very unique and random mission call!
I'm so excited to get out and actually meet the people. I know that
Cancun is where I am supposed to be. I feel it so strongly that serving a
mission was the right decision. When the going gets tough, I think of
my purpose as a missionary, and of all the people supporting me. I'm so
grateful for all of you!!! Missions are definitely not easy but I love
this work and I love preparing here in the CCM!
I know
that the Church is true and that it can bless lives! Personal revelation
is real, and by focusing on the basics, we can learn so much and grow
closer to our Heavenly Father! Sorry that this email is so long, but I
had a lot to catch up on! The weather is good, the food is exciting,
Spanish is fun, and the gospel is true!
I love you all so much! ¡Gracias!
Adios,
Hermana Schwartz
Pictures:
I
can't see what the links are, but I included a bunch! (you know me,
always taking photos!) There's one of my whole district, some with
Hermana Salazar, one of me by the famous CCM sign, one by the mission
map, one with some of my friends from my zone in the comedor (cafeteria)
and my yummy breakfast this morning! And I think just one of the
beautiful campus. 
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