Week 3: Halfway There!

¿Qué tal?

How is everyone doing? I hope everyone had an awesome week. I am officially halfway done with my stay here at the CCM. It’s weird how time can pass so fast but feel so slow at the same time. I’ll be in the field in no time.

Because it is now week three, the older groups called “avanzados” (or “avocados” as we like to call them) will be heading out to their respective missions tonight. It’s going to be tough saying goodbye to a lot of them because we’ve all gotten pretty close over the last three weeks. I’m especially going to miss Elder Christensen and Elder Goddard. I knew them back home and they’ve helped me out a lot with my first few weeks. They’re studs and will kill it in their missions. I’m also going to miss Elder Cruz and Garzon from the Latino districts. They were like my brothers. I gave them some of my favorite floral ties because all the Latinos want those. So basically, when we wake up in the morning the old “avocados” will be gone and new Elders will be arriving. I remember how much I looked up to the Elders who were already three weeks in and it’s weird that I will be one of those “experienced” Elders. I look forward to meeting the new Elders and hopefully I can help them out and show them the ropes. 

This week I was made a district leader. I’m super excited to have the opportunity to help lead my district for the next three weeks. We have eight Elders in my district and they have been my family here at the CCM. We’ve all grown and learned so much together. They’re all awesome and we do everything together. Needless to say we’ve all been working super hard to learn Spanish and to be the best missionaries possible. 

We have learned, and me especially, that great things take time. Learning and speaking Spanish has been a lot more of a challenge than I thought it would be. I don’t know if I came into the CCM with too much pride or what, but it has been a very humbling experience so far. Everybody talked a lot about the “don do lenguas” which is the gift of tongues, and how amazing it is and how they could see it in their lives. And to be honest, in my first two weeks I didn’t know if it was working for me. I was getting frustrated because I didn’t feel like I was learning fast enough, and we were expected to do things like teach mock investigators even though we hardly knew Spanish. A lot of times it was a big struggle. I thought maybe there was something wrong with me. But looking back, even just a week or two in hindsight, I can see that sometimes we need to struggle and fall. I’ve found that like Moroni says, we don’t receive a witness until AFTER the trial of our faith. When we want something from God, we need to be willing to work hard and struggle to achieve that thing. For me, it was believing in the gift of tongues and having the faith to act, and to do what was necessary to obtain the Gift. We demonstrate our faith in the Lord by acting and doing what He would have us do. As I have worked hard and have been obedient to the work, I have seen the Gift of Tongues begin to be realized. I had several mock lessons this week where I was able to clearly speak what I needed to, and the spirit was there very strongly as well. It was awesome. I know that I still have a long way to go in seeking this gift but if I put my trust in the Lord and continue to do His will, all will be well. I challenge everyone reading this to re-evaluate your relationship with your Heavenly Father and to ask yourself how you can better trust in Him and His plan. And to remember, sometimes we need to struggle. His plan has always required it. 

Well, I hope you all had a great week! I miss and love you all a ton! I’ll talk to y’all next week. Also I’m super sorry if I don’t get back to you with some of your emails. They only give us a little time to write each week. I’m sure I’ll have more time in the mission field. Just know that I appreciate all the support!!

Hasta Luego,

Elder Bailey