Hello Everyone-
Week 2 and still going strong! I just thought to myself "how many more to go," but I probably should not think about that at this point. Things here at the CCM are just as great as they were last week. It is one of the most amazing places I have every been, and I am truly blessed to be here and learning so much. Now, here are a few updates and how things are going...
Things around here are pretty routine, so my schedule consisted of many classes, practice teaching lessons, devotionals, and things of that sort. It is so hard to think of things in the moment from the past week, but this week I prepared myself with a list of things to hit. Hopefully this email is not as scatterbrained as the last one probably was! Interesting thing happened in front of the CCM a few days ago. We were all sitting in class and heard a big BOOM, which of course made us immediately rush to the window. A huge dump truck had toppled over right in front of the CCM, and yeah, it was not the prettiest site. We had to run around and shut all the windows because of all the smoke. It was honestly the most disorganized rescue I've ever seen out there (it lasted hours). I would say this surprised me, but seeing how people drive here, it really doesn`t. Thank goodness I am not out there driving, because it is nothing like I am used to.
Language update - Spanish is coming along. Not as fast as I would like it to, but that is expected. I am still always falling back on my high school Spanish, so I will be bowing down to some of my Spanish teachers when I get back for sure. I have a really quick and amazing experience to share about using Spanish though. We teach practice investigators every day, going through the church lessons and stuff to get the hang of teaching and using Spanish. I typically write everything down in case I need some notes, but sometimes it just becomes a script and the lesson is the most boring thing. In the last practice lesson I taught with my companion, we were teaching and stuff, but I was freaking out because I did not think we would have enough time to finish (my companion is very new to Spanish and talks verrryyyy slo
wwwllyyy). I had this feeling that I shouldn't end it early and just go with it, so I looked up from my script and just started babbling on in Spanish about the gospel of Jesus Christ and such. I have never talked that fast using Spanish in my life, and wow, it was truly something. I cannot even remember what I said, but it sure gave me a testimony of the gift of tongues. I can definitely not talk that fast in Spanish now, but I know that as I keep working and rely on the Lord, he will help me get there when I need it most.
Quick companion update - my companion's name is Elder Orr and he is a good ol` Canadian (not sure if I mentioned that last week). He is a very chill and down-to-earth fellow. In saying that, things are not always easy being with someone every second of every day. His pace is a little on the slower side, which is frustrating sometimes because I like to be punctual, but I guess I need to learn to ease up to prepare for this Latin American culture anyway. Also, he knows next to nothing about Spanish (never taken a class in his life), so I am basically a human translator. I know it sounds a little bad, but it really is not bad at all, and I am happy to help and learn some patience. I learn to love him more everyday, and I know we will become better friends by the end of the six weeks.
Well, I should probably get to the never-ending stream of other emails I have, but I am truly loving it here. I feel the Spirit so strongly every second of everyday, and I am beyond excited to learn lots so that I can get to Honduras and share what I know and what brings me so much joy and happiness. Love and miss you all!
Amor,
Elder Marcellino