Week 1 ONE WEEK DOWN

Well howdy, mis amigos!

Week one done at the CCM, and boy are things going well! Life here in Mexico is a bajillion times better than I ever expected! I`ve felt the spirit stronger than I ever thought possible, and I surprise myself with my abilities in Spanish every dang day!

Day one was a bit of a stresser, 'cause there was a lot of running around to do considering I was almost a day late. But I got on my feet quick enough! Basically, I had to go through all of these steps to get all situated in the CCM on the first day. But because all the American kids were supposed to have shown up already, they didn't speak a lick of English to me! I was thrown right into the fire, I guess you could say.

The CCM is kinda split in two in a way; it's the white kids and the Latinos. Hopefully that didn't sound too bad. It's not that we don't like the Latino missionaries or anything, there's just this giant invisible force field called language that stops us from being able to fully communicate with them. But it's way cool at the same time because over the past week all of the American kids have seen their Spanish skills increase tons and tons, and it's allowed us to start breaking down that wall piece by piece. There are a couple of Latino Elders in my apartment, two of the coolest guys I've met here, and it's getting easier and easier to talk with them as I learn more and more!

My companion is Elder Butterfield, a way cool guy with a super strong spirit. He's into sports and country, basically the opposite of what I'm into, but opposites attract, right? I feel we mesh pretty well, and when we plan our lessons and whatnot I feel like things flow in the right direction! The rest of my district is way cool and we're all getting along super well. Not a complaint out of this guy!

Except for, maybe, the food. It's... un poquito scary, you guys. I feel okay myself, but I've heard some pretty terrifying stories over the past week that have shaken me to the core. On top of that, Elder Butterfield is lactose intolerant. Almost everything we eat here is lactose-based, so that's a lotta fun. I won't go on.

Our "mock investigator" is named Juan, and we've been teaching him about a buncha different stuff about the gospel, including the plan of salvation and the restoration. It's definitely freaky speaking in Spanish 100% of the time during those meetings, but when we have the spirit with us, things flow so well I honestly don't have a single worry! We've found that as long as we remain completely obedient (including the stuff that may seem trivial, like getting to bed on time and stuff like that), that the spirit is way stronger during our discussions with Juan, and Elder Butterfield and I feel like rock stars once we leave the room.

Being in the CCM rather than the MTC has been a huge blessing for me. It's awesome being able to chat with the Latinos and practice my Spanish even when I'm not really doing anything. Also, my past knowledge of Spanish that I learned from school has helped me way more than I thought! I can now say that I no longer regret taking those classes!

Things are going really really well here, and I'm so excited to be serving the Lord on His mission. I hope everybody has an amazing week, and I'll catch ya next Tuesday!

Con mucho amor,

Elder Slavens