Dear Loved Ones,
Thank you so much for your words of love! I love you guys, sincerely.
This past week has been loco!
September 15th was the Eve of Mexico Independence Day. I've been hearing fireworks every night since I've been here, but that night I actually saw some! A man who works at the CCM actually shot off three from the roof of the Gordon B. Hinkley building!
There was a huge assembly where they had a show. There were 5 dances and many songs performed. They dressed like Aztecs and danced with shaker devices on their legs, and one held fire in his hands. Then the ladies put on skirts that were very, very twirly and the men put on sombreros. They all had handkerchiefs that they twirled like a baton the whole time. Then they changed into cowboy/cowgirl attire and had the equivalent of a rap battle (I didn't understand a word of it), and they danced quite sassily.
Just a little background. I could be wrong, because all of it was in Spanish, but I think that Mexico Independence Day is called the "Grito de Independencia" and it represents what happened on September 16 in 1810. This priest or bishop named Miguel Hidalgo rang the church bells in a city called Dolores. He then brought together the people in the town, and gave an inspiring speech, basically a pep talk to take up arms against the Spanish rule. That event is what started the fight for independence, and every year, they celebrate it with colletos, or cuellos, I'm not sure (fireworks). So that was cool!
That day they served real Mexican food, dulces, (which are these really cultural candies), Mole and Bistek . . . Actually, that could be inaccurate, but regardless, it was delicious. I was so full!
The next day was a difficult day for our district. At the very moment when we were ready to sink into despair and abandon ourselves to destruction, Hermano Valencia, our Maestro, gave a beautiful testimony of the Gospel and the Gift of Tongues. He encouraged us all and told us that our hearts were in the right place, and if we just work hard, the Lord will bless us. We just happened to be listening to spiritual music and it played in the background as he spoke, inspiringly. :)
Our Elders have native Mexican "primos" or cousins in their house. They are very kind and loving, and they only speak Spanish, so it´s really cool to speak with them. They always say, "We are homies!" They have FHE every night at their casa, according to the Elders.
On Sunday, Elder Slaugh, our district leader, was feeling really down. My companion was the first to notice, so she and I went to talk to him. Everyone eventually joined us, and working together, we were able to get him back to Slaugh mode.
Let me explain a little more about our district. There are six Elders and six Hermanas. Hermana Loescher I´ve already told you about; she's also a classically trained opera singer. Hermana Karren I've mentioned, she´s our district ´mom'. She likes cute quotes and craft tape and she's from Virginia. She's going to Salem, Oregon. Her companion, Hermana Leavitt, is from Las Vegas and is going to North Carolina. She has blonde hair and kind of looks like Mallory Everton, but she acts like (and these are her own words) a 'sassy black woman'. She and my companion share a love of volleyball, and that's been pretty much the only sport our district has played since we got here. Hermanas Karren and Leavitt share a room with us.
Hermana Anderson is from California and she's going to San Diego. She's a gorgeous California blonde with a pretty, raspy singing voice. Her companion, Hermana Petersen, is from Alaska and she's also going to San Diego as well. She's the slimmest, shortest little thing, but she's super fast and surprisingly spicy. She is very punctual and kind of keeps everyone in our district aware of the rules, which I love.
Elder Slaugh, from Philidelphia, is the district leader, as I said, and he's awesome. Once or twice a day, he'll express his love for our district, his testimony, or a spiritual thought. He also beatboxes. His companion, Elder Nielsen, is very patient with Slaugh's exuberant personality. He was a tennis player, and when he laughs, his eyes roll back in his head. Elder Ficklin was a baseball player and in drumline in Iowa. He can talk about baseball all day long. His companion, Elder Shaefer (Shay-fer), quotes movies with incredible accuracy. His Spanish is very good, as well, and he wants to be an actor in the movies. Elder Bohn is the tallest Elder in the district. He's a character. His companion, Elder Carrizales, is the sweetest. Whenever he says something, it's always positive and humble. We joke in our district that Elders Carrizales and Bohn kind of look like Pedro and Napoleon from Napoleon Dynamite, as I said in my last Mission Log.
We had three awesome Devotionals this past Sunday, one after the other. A part of Elder Bednar's talk that stood out was that it's not about you. He mentioned the Cookie Monster and admonished us not to be like that. "ME WANT COOKIE NOW!" "ME WANT BAPTISMS NOW!" It was humorous, but the message was powerful. Also, Elder Holland talked about the Breakfast on the Beach that Jesus and His Disciples had, where he asked Peter, "Do you love Me?" "Then feed my lambs." Elder Holland encouraged us to follow the example of Peter and leave our nets behind.
On Monday, I was Spotlighted. Basically, our district started doing this thing where each night, we all go around and say something we love about the spotlighted person. It's awesome - and I felt really humbled after mine. Then, when we, the Hermanas, got home, we had a jam session where we all sang some songs. Hermana Art and Keller, who are in our ward in a different district, heard it and complimented us the next day.
Today we went to the Mexico City Temple. It was beautiful! Inside and out. I felt the Spirit very strongly there.
After the session, we went to the tienda, a little Deseret Bookstore next to the temple. It was fun! Everything was in Spanish.
Happy Day before your Birthday, Toko! I love you and you're gonna be an awesome 5 year old!
Love,
Hermana Smurthwaite
Happy to read about what is happening With Marie right now! Thank you for sharing this.
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