Hola!!
A Belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!!
I hope you're all having a great week and enjoying this festive time of year with family and friends. Thank you all so much for the emails and support that I received last week. Its really nice to hear how everyone is doing and to know you enjoyed some of the things I wrote. Hopefully writing good emails can become a habit for me here!
This week was another amazing week. Its crazy how comfortable and at ease I feel here already. I feel like I've known all of these people for several years at this point. We've had a lot more time to bond with the whole group of missionaries, not just the ones in our district. We all laugh and goof around during lunch and P.E. time, when we usually have some semi competitive games of volleyball or ultimate Frisbee. Its a very fun environment!
It's amazing how quickly we have been able to learn Spanish here in el CCM. Even though our vocabulary is still pretty limited and our grammar is usually always incorrect, we can still have full on conversations in Spanish. They are simple but its still awesome to realize that I'll spend a solid 20 minutes just speaking Spanish. Our teachers are really trying to enforce us only speaking Spanish in the classroom. We're used to doing our lessons in Spanish and participating in class in Spanish, but all the other time we go back to English. Our evening teacher, Hermano Rodriguez has started a system where he tallies on the board when he catches us speaking English. For each tally, we have to give him Oreos. (Everyone here is obsessed with oreos for some reason! They are everywhere!). Our other teachers, Hermana Diaz and Hermano Perez also address us almost completely in Spanish. We just sit there and do our best to understand, though they usually have to repeat themselves. They are extremely patient and supportive and loving. It's a wonderful learning environment. Hermana Diaz is like our mom and she calls us her Hijos! When she teaches new missionaries, she introduces them as our younger brothers and sisters. It's amazing and she is such a great teacher and brings the Spirit with such power when she talks about missionary work and the struggles of learning a new language. We can now testify and pray in Spanish with relative ease which is super cool. My prayers are often Spanglish and I am not as nervous when asked to pray in Spanish in front of the group. It's so nice to be receiving so much help from everyone around me here.
This week, we've had so much experience teaching and it's truly amazing experiences. The first time we taught someone (one of our teachers pretending to be a stranger), it was super nerve-wracking and terrifying. Now, even though we still make tons of mistakes, its amazing! We've had the opportunity to teach several people (in class) and I'm getting much more comfortable with how to do it. My compañera, Hermana Larson, and I are able to better express ourselves and help one another with the language when the other is blanking on the words. It's crazy how strongly I can feel the Spirit in the lessons, even though it is all just for practice. I remember this being one of my greatest fears about learning how to be a missionary in the CCM. I thought it would be super awkward with pretending to teach people I know as teachers. But when we go to practice, it all feels so real and genuine. I love having these opportunities to learn and gain experience so I can be better prepared when I go out to talk to real people! A few days ago, our teacher sent us out onto the temple grounds to practice getting to know people. Most of the people were members of the church who had come to go to the temple, but it was still amazing practice. My companion and I actually talked to someone who was a non-member and were able to answer some of the questions he had. It was such a spiritual and uplifting experience. Even though we are still new and always start with "lo siento, nuestro Espanol es muy mal" we are still able to communicate and share what we know to be true. It was a super cool experience!
I love when we get to go outside and enjoy the scenery and this awesome climate. P.E. time is always enjoyable. Its hot but not too bad yet at this time of year. There's always beautiful skies and there has been a great breeze the last few days. Yesterday, we had the opportunity to go to the Tienda (store) and get some things that we needed. I absolutely loved walking the few blocks it took to get to the store. I'm sure we looked funny walking through the streets, with all the Elders in their white shirts and all the Hermanas in our skirts. Its amazing to be able to interact with some of these people and to be able to see firsthand some of the light and energy in these people. They are truly beautiful and warm people. I cannot wait to be able to go out amongst them and speak with them everyday!
Okay just a couple more cool stories! So 2 days ago, the Haitian missionaries that were here left the CCM! It was kind of surreal. We have only been here for 2 weeks and they weren't here for very long before we got here. I didn't think much of it until we got to our nightly prayer meeting. We had just finished up with a very inspiring and empowering lesson with our teacher. Half of us were already crying from the absolute strength of the Spirit that we were feeling. Then we all gather together in the capilla and started the prayer meeting, which just consists of singing a song, saying a prayer and then saying goodnight to everyone and going back to our rooms. All of a sudden, I realized that we were singing "God be with you til we meet again." This song almost always brings me to tears with its sweet message. I could hear the Haitians singing along in French, but they also kept dropping out because they were holding back tears. Afterward, we all said goodbye to them for the last time. Even though I only knew them for a short time and could never really communicate with them as I wanted, they had a huge impact on me. The strength of their testimonies and their strong desire to serve the Lord was so inspiring to me. I gave each Sister a long hug and shook the Elders' hands and said goodbye. I have absolutely no doubt that they will be amazing missionaries in Haiti.
Each day here in the CCM is full of great learning experiences. I am learning so much about this Gospel, about the true purpose of missionary work and the importance of Christ in my life. I am so grateful to be here and I know that these experiences are already changing my life and increasing my faith. Its so great to be uplifted and reminded of the love that the Savior has for me. I know that even when I make mistakes or one of our lessons don't go as planned, I can still walk away feeling motivated and appreciative. I have such love for my companion and all the missionaries in my district. We work together to support one another, to help lift each other up when the work and stress piles on. They teach me so much every day about how to be a disciple of Christ and make the most of my time here in the DR.
I love each and everyone one of you! Thank you so much for your prayers and love. I hope you have a great New Year's day and that 2015 will be as special for you and I know its going to be for me!
Con MUCHO MUCHO MUCHO amor,
Hermana Graham
P.S. I just wanted to share this scripture which was helpful for me this week. Its from the Book of Mormon- Helaman 3:35. It says "Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in their faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God"
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