Week 1 at the CCM

I have been doing good during the day at the CCM (MTC in Spanish). I
have found a friend in Hermana Nielson because we have a lot in
common. She loves music and both of us miss it so much. They took our
ipods and cameras away and put them in a vault because apparently
those things have gone missing in the past. You wouldnt think we would
have that problem here but we do.
-The Norte sisters (North American) live in a house around the corner
from the CCM. It is temple housing for the Guatemala Temple. Because
of how full the CCM is we stay over there. Security guards with huge
rifles and handguns are stationed all along our route to and from home
so we are always protected. Living in the Casa is the worst because we
cannot unpack. There are no closets so we live out of our suitcases.
We sleep in barracks and have to constantly lift our bags onto our beds
if we want anything out of them. The showers are the worst part
though. There is nowhere to put your stuff to change into and the
water trickles out. Even with the lack of water pressure there is
always hot water. The other day the CCM Presidents wife, Sister
Nicolaysen asked me what it was like over there and I told her
everything. She told me that they were planning on moving us over to
the CCM housing in a few weeks, but after talking to me she is trying
to get it pushed up to next week! Our teachers here are amazing! We have a day teacher,
Hermano (Brother) Lopez who is so doctrinally smart we are convinced
he is going to be the prophet one day haha. And our night teacher,
Hermana (sister) Melgar is the best spanish teacher. She helps us alot
with pronunciation and grammar. They are the best teachers in the CCM.
the first day we got here I immediately learned that it is rude to
leave food on your plate or throw it away. So I eat a ton! The chef
here knows I cant eat pork and so he makes me a special dish of
chicken everymeal. The kitchen staff all know me by name. I eat only
fruit for breakfast and vegetables whenever possible. I have also been
drinking a ton of water. Last thursday we began teaching our
investigator Pedro. We gave him a Book of Mormon and already asked him
to be baptized. He is talking to his family about his interest in the
church and we will ask him again tonight. On sunday we had exchanges
and I had a Latina companion who taught me a lot of spanish. I havent
gotten any letters yet and I heard that the DearElder letters always
arrive on thursdays. But we can only send mail out on Wednesdays, so
try the regular mail and I will let you know how fast it gets here. I
love you all! I only have 30 minutes to write and my pday changes
weekly, next week it is tuesday. I love you!
Hermana Heather Shoop
El Salvador Santa Ana/Belize Mission


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I made it!

Hola mi familia! I made it to the CCM in Guatemala! The first things
we were told was that it was disrespectful to leave food on your tray
or throw it away. So I am stuffed full at every meal, or I starve
because I just take fruit. We were also told to NEVER drink the water.
They gave us water bottles to filter the water though. We were also
told we should not shake hands with anybody at the CCM, which I was
perfectly fine with! But then they said do not hug your companion, and
then I was sad. Me ompañero es Hermana Quarez donde Morgan, UT. She
was the one I friended on facebook because she was afraid to fly
alone. My first friend at the CCM was Hermana Nielson from Salt Lake.
She went to BYU to sing. She is really fun to be around. Yesterday we
were all exhausted from flying all night. They let us go back to our
casa at 7:30 and I was asleep at 9. We are staying in temple housing
around the corner from the CCM until there is a bit more room in the
actual CCM. So right now we are living out of our suitcases and dont
have closets. They also took our cameras away because a lot of them
have gone missing in the past month and so they dont want ours to be
stolen. I love you and will write on Monday, I think. That is our
PDay. I love you!
--
Hermana Heather Shoop
El Salvador Santa Ana/Belize Mission


NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.