First off, the bathrooms in this place are NUTS! Haha, but really though, all of the urinals have little foot pedals to flush with. It's such a genius idea, I don't know why the U.S. hasn't adopted it yet.
The other day we had an Hermana [sister missionary] come into our classroom to say goodbye to her friend. She actually flew in with me, but was bumped up to an advanced Spanish class because she lived in Spain for a year, and only stayed at the CCM [missionary training center] for two weeks. Anyway, apparently in Spain they speak in a different accent than in South America. I guess I never really thought about accents in another language, but the Spain accent is hilarious. In Spain, whenever there is a "c" or a "z" that sounds like an "s", they lisp the letter so it sounds like "thhh". So in Spain my name would be Elder Crot"th"er. This is because they had a king a while ago with a lisp, and they decided that everyone should adopt his speech impediment to avoid mocking him. And after he died, the pronunciation stuck I guess. (Someone should independently verify this story for me.) So this poor Hermana can't speak without the native Mexicans keeling over in laughter.
The thing I struggle with most with regards to Spanish is understanding native speakers, especially when they talk fast. As in, when they talk fast, I have absolutely no idea what they are saying. So the other day my companion and I decided to walk around campus during study time, and just strike up conversations with native Mexicans to try and help me. It was actually a ton of fun! We met these Mexicans who were really cool, and from Mexico City. I ended up teaching them how to tie their neckties in a cool way, with a single slash down the knot. See the picture below for what I am talking about.
Speaking of ties, this week I bought a sweet tie bar that is a golf club and ball for only 35 pesos, which is less than three bucks. So that's the deal of the week.
Last night, our teacher decided that we should have a little family home evening and do some service. So we decided to give President Pratt a heart attack. Which sounds awful. But the heart attack that we gave him is when you cut out tons of little hearts, write kind notes on them, and then plaster someone's car, office, door, or whatever. (Kinda like tp-ing). So we snuck out of our classroom last night at 9:00pm like ninjas with our hearts, and completely destroyed President Pratt's door with love. I love giving service, and hopefully as a result of this, President Pratt's heart will be lifted up a little bit. It's really easy to forget that our leaders, especially the high ranking ones, are people too, and that they enjoy receiving thanks too.
Well, I'm officially out of time. I wanted to talk about another sweet devotional that I heard from Elder Richard G. Scott, but I guess that will be for next week. I would like to close with a quick testimony.
Yo sé que mi redentor, Jesucristo, vive. Sé que el tiene amor para mi, y mediante la Expiacion podemos regresar a Dios. Sé que la Iglesia es verdadera. In el nombre de Jesucristo, Amén.
-Elder Crotzer
Editor's notes: Monday nights are set aside by the Church for "family home evening." Families are encouraged to spend time together to build family unity and to teach gospel principles. The most successful family home evenings start and end with prayer. This invites the Spirit, increases love, and teaches family members how to pray. Families might choose to learn from the scriptures and/or study the words of latter-day prophets to help their family live the gospel. Adding music, such as hymns and Primary songs, can create an atmosphere of love, peace, and joy. Making it fun by playing games, acting out scripture stories, and having treats or snacks can keep the atmosphere light and loving. To add variety, families might choose to help a neighbor in need, hold a lesson at the park, or go for a walk as a family.
"Primary" is the children's program and Sunday school at Church for children from eighteen months of age until their twelfth birthdays. So "Primary songs" are simply the songs the little children learn during their Sunday School classes or other church activities.
Thomas also sent the following photos, but did not reference them in his message. The first is a picture of the avenida where he lives, I believe. He is with one of his companions, and the other is probably holding the camera.
The next shows some kind of bus system, although it isn't clear he actually rode the bus.
No comments:
Post a Comment