FIRST WEEK -CCM, MEXICO CITY

Hola! Familia and Friends, Well to start out this email, I just went running and showered and ate lunch so I am in probably the best mood Ive been in here at the CCM - hopefully that will translate to a relatively positive email. Als the mexican keyboards are weird and confusing so there may not be any captial letters or alot of mispelling - oh well. Okay so already the last 10 days have been the most overwhelming and hardest days of my life, and Ive cried silently like a baby basically everyone of them. Its like Im looking up at an 18 month mountain and to say the least its discouraging not to mention all of the little quirks that are apart of life here. Aka my companero. Either way the biggest lesson Ive learned already is we have to live in faith with the decisions that we make, and I made this decision. Now all I can do is get to work and count the sundays until I am home again. SO SO SO much has already happened in these last 10 days - they schedule every second of every day, there is no messing around with time here. Last thursday I met my companion and was placed in district 19D. My district and my teacher are the only reasons I am not already home. My district is so wonderful! Its half girls and half boys and I love each one of them. We have like all types of opposites which is fun and entertaining. [Background on each person in my district: There is Hermana Johnston and Hermana DuPape who are the two that are struggling the most with the language classes but they micromanage everyone and are constanly trying to manipulate situations and say really passive agressive things. There is Hermana Northcott and Hermana Barton, Northcott is funny but she thinks she is good at everything and loves loves loves to tell stories about herself. Barton is probably the most chill sweetest girl ever, I love her and out of everyone sorta wish she was my companion. There is Elder Wagstaff, Scheffler, Anderson, Elison, Hall and Hughes who are all great in their own ways and its thanks to Elder Elison that I am learning the language. Elder Wagstaff, Scheffler and I quote Hot Rod alot which makes me homesick but also I just die laughing. My companion has now started to jump in on the quote game too but shes never seen Hot Rod so its just sorta awkward.] Anyway last night we finished our last lesson with our first fake investigator, Fernando. We got him to commit to baptism and at the end he bore his testimony in English which was super cool - since all our lessons have been in spanish thus far.My companion sorta takes over our lessons once we get in there, she has such a desire to teach in spanish that she gets like nervous excited and cuts me off, its whatever but sorta annoying. Im learning alot from hearing so much spanish though. More on my companero, well to start she absolutely loves loves loves being a sister missionary and I dont think there is anything in the world that she wants to do more. She believes the missionary rules and time schedule to be the word of God and will not tolerate anything to be askew. She is constantly bearing her testimony to me and wont let us take Preach my Gospel translations out of the spanish version - not gonna lie its a little frustrating. Oh also she has a full on opposite direction lazy eye and its most noticeable when she is trying really hard to explain something to you so I basically am looking at it 80% of my days here. She reallyl wants us to be best friends and is constantly trying to be on the same page as me by copying the little things I do like swinging my arms, snapping, dancing, humming whenever and wherever I start doing it. Also shes constantly looking for excuses to hug. I cant even. Now update on the living conditions: I am in a little casa which in theory is super nice but since I moved in last I am in the room with a single closet for 4 girls and I have half a drawer, and a foot of hanging space - so I am living out my suitcase... the 3 other girls fit their stuff in just fine though. I am on the top bunk above Hermana northcott and across from my companion. So hermana Northcott has been sick since saturday night and from sunday to wednesday had bad diahrea which has made for delicious farts wafting up to my nostrils as I am doing final preparations for bed, before I go to sleep and when I wake up in the morning...Horrifying. Somehow still though I am okay and would consider myself doing good. Being so busy helps with the homesickness. Overall its been a rollercoaster of emotions but these last couple days have been signficantly better. I LOVE YOU! TE AMO MI FAMILIA!!! - this has been the closing line to every single one of my journal entries each night. I CANT EXPLAIN HOW GRATEFUL I AM FOR YOU GUYS! xoxo Hermana Crawford