CCM - Week 3

Sporting my Brazil jersey in honor of Elder Scarlett!!!

First of alll HAPPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY ALLISON! I knew your birthday was soon but when I checked the computer last pday (on the 15th) the computer said it was the 9th so I thought I had a whole nother (is that a word) week until your birthday!

Ummm so anyways because it was Allison's birthday I had some kind of loco suerte (crazy luck) and scored my first goal of real futbol (with all north americans... but it was legit). 

My district and our teachers!

Friday our district did a black out day. We all wore black and the elders wore their dark suit coats and we did black friday- cause black equals work. We get work done in District 111! Haha anyways spanish is coming along we are teaching alot now. Its cool cause we use the casitas (little house like areas) and it feels kinda like you are really in an investigators home. We had our first TRC yesterday and that we a little stressful but it was real good practice. I couldn't tell you what TRC stands for but it is when we get un poco (a little) notice that we have to teach a brand new investigaaaaator for 45 minutes, and they really don't go easy on you but you get good feedback in the end. That was pretty hard for me but it was a really good learning experience. 

I love the sisters in my district!!  Our room is number 314 and we like to lay in bed and just talk.  We call our talks the Secrets of Pi - yeah, I'm a math nerd.  Also my companion (Hna. Anderson) is the best and she helps me so much and we can just always de-stress and be silly and have fun but also really work hard together. This week some of the hermanas in my district and I decided to brave the futbol field with the Latinos and it was crrrazzzzyyy. Somehow me and hna. Morris were the only two northamericans on one of the teams. Hna. Morris is my height and skinny like me but she has super blond hair. One of the latino elders kept calling us supermodels. He was maybe like 5,5,... he's a strange one but it was sooo funny! 

Also we like to teach the latinos tongue twisters. So funny and they think it is so cool! 

CCM Entrance - Its not a prison!!

The food is the same every day. Rice and meat. And giant portions! When I first got to the CCM I could not hardly finish it but now I get hungry in between meals and just scarf it down! But it is good. Especially the Ice cream. South american ice cream, I'm pretty sure comes straight from heaven and just bypasses the cow. Its delicious. Also the churros are on point. So good. But since soooo mannny northamerican and latinos came in last week we have not had a single churro. We get the best desserts at lunchtime. At dinner we get compo de fruta. Sick. Its weird like apple juice jello, but not, and has soggy fruit in it. It doesn't sound bad but it is. And they make soooo much of it and no one eats it! Hahah but now I'm pretty sure the kitchen people just try and concoct the weirdest things and take bets on how many people they can trick into eating it! Last night there was this strange pudding looking stuff and I asked one of the workers what it was and she said that it was flour, brown sugar, milk and something other stuff I can't remember. But she said it was SSOOOOoooSOooo good so I got some. Ok this stuff was the color of snot and swamp water or something else.... Like the nastiest brown green you could think of. I tried to put my spoon in it and literally the whole thing shifted. So strange. It had the texture of a slug and mucus post blender. Hahah it was just so strange and so yuck! But we ate it. We had a race to see who could down it first. We all plugged our noses and shut our eyes and were gagging afterwards. It was strange.

Hahah also I am really good at mixing up words. SO I was praying with an investigator during one of our lessons and Instead of salude (health) I prayed for suerte (luck). And it was so weird because I did not even know what that word was so when I finished I leaned over to my comp and I was like what in the world is suerte. She laughted and told me I just prayed for luck. Haha also we were pretend teaching the elders about prayer and I was explaining that first you need to start (empezar) with Heavenly Father, but I said first we need to teach (ensenar) Heavenly Father. Haha spanish is fun.

 

Anyways thats life. Its good here. I am happy. Its weird that today is my 3 week mark. It feels like I just got here but it also feels like I have been here for my whole life. The CCM is just a time vortex. But I love it and I know I am here for a reason and that there are people waiting for me an I am just so dang excited! The church is true folks!
Miss you all!

With love from Lima,

Hermana Scarlett

We have PB - but its super expensive :(

Main street in Lima - People everywhere!

Public Transportation is for short people......

CCM - Week 2

MY DISTRICT    <3 Them!!

This week is basically the same as last week. 

Most days we just have class all day and learn some grammar... muchos palabras (much words), or how to teach main points of the lessons in espanol. Also we eat. Also we have an hour to run around everyday. Also we kinda sleep. 

My district is so cool and we have so much fun together and we have a little book of inside jokes cause we are just really cool. 

Shopping on P-Day

We are at week three and this week it just hit me that i am trying to learn another language. Its weird but i was just reading in PME and i realized that they were not English words. This is probably one of the hardest things I've ever done, but its also the funnest time ever. Lots of weird mixed emotions but its great and I love it. 

Public Transportation is fun?!?!?!

So I really don't have that much to say! Well actually, to day was p-day so we got to go to the temple and to this big place called metro that is kind of like a grocery store on the first level a pharmacy/panaderia (bakery)/cafe on the second level and like a bed bath and beyond kinda place on the third floor. Also there are these cool little shops that are kinda tucked away and hidden in alleyway places in the streets and they are like levels of shipping crate looking things that are just filled with stuff. There's one that's pretty popular that sells every kind of jersey you could ever want and one that sells the coolest most comfy pants ever. I got some sweet pants and a Lima club jersey and a Brasil jersey (REPRESENTING MI HERMANITO!) haha! Next time I'm going to get a Peru one and an Argentine one! After shopping the hermanas in our district got some futbol (soccer) lessons from our elders cause I'm pretty sure we kick people more than we actually kick the ball! Esta Bien. 

FUTBOL!!

Oh and all of the Advancados (advanced missionaries) and the latinos left monday and today we became intermadios (Intermediate missionaries) and some new premiantes (new missionaries)  came in with a ton of latinos. When we arrived at the CCM there wasn't that many missionaries but now its like overflowing! Its great! 

That's about it! Sorry its short this week but its all the same in the CCM! If ya wanna know something more specific you should totally email me! Or better yet right me some letters cause we can get them, buuut we can't send them. Letters are the best because we can pull them out latter and reread them so send letters! 

Perú Lima Central Mission

Perú Missionary Training Center

Centro de Capacitacion Misional

Av. Melgarejo 159, La Molina

Lima 12

PERU

Also spanish is so hard so if you could send me some great tips about how to learn alot alot of spanish in a little bit of time I will love you forever! 

With so mush love from Lima!! 

Hermana Scarlett

The Hermanas in my District

CCM - Week 1

At the Lima Peru Temple

July 8, 2015

OK - so the first day at the CCM was literally the longest day of my life. It was basically like 2 days with a 3 hour nap in between. SO I'm not sure if I said this in my last e-mail but the first day we taught some pretend investigators in English as a group. Since then its been mucho espanol espanol espanol!

The second day was still super long, but not quite as long as the first. Basically my schedule is wake up before the sun, eat, class, class, study, eat, class, physical activity, study, eat, class, class. We learn so many new words and have so many memorization assignments so muy muy espanol.

The third day was good - we played volleyball during physical activity with the latinas (latin sister missionaries) and they are so funny! We played CCM volleyball.... no rules... it gets pretty crazy and we end up laughing so hard we ended up literally rolling on the ground. This day we also went to Immigrations which was just about the most boring thing ever in the whole world. But driving there was sooo crazy fun! In Peru, and probably all of South America, traffic lights and lines are not really that important. You just get from point A to point B however the heck you want. We were in a 15 passenger van and if ya wanted you could reach out and touch the cars by you. Also there are people all over in the streets. We saw a man playing the clarinet right in the middle of the intersection, a woman drop her pants and use the bathroom in the middle of the street and some angry pregnant lady with a bat screaming at some other man... in the middle of the street. Siempre (always) in the middle. At Immigrations we really just sat around forever and then gave them some papers and then wait forever more, so not really that exciting. SO we did that and then went back to the CCM and had dinner and we were talking to some latinas and they were trying to tell us how to say ceiling or fan and mi companera (companion) ended up calling the latinas a not good word that may start with a B - haha. It was funny!!

A weird flower

Day four was the FOURTH OF JULY!!! AHhh i missed fireworks. All the North Americans wore red white and blue so it was really cool. For lunch they decorated the cafeteria with all kinds of american flags and red white and blue and it was just so America! And they made us hamburgers, hotdogs, chicken, french fries,watermelon, and apple pie! It did not taste that great but it was just soooo goood. I think I got a little teary eyed when I saw the hamburgers. 

Umm the food here is rice rice rice, and beef, chicken, and a little bit of veggies. But so much rice! Its good but everyone always has a hard time with the food at first. In the CCM there are the siempres y el nuncas (the ones that are always in the bathroom and the ones that never can go to the bathroom) If you are a siempre then you eat mas mas rice to fix it. If you are a nunca, granadias are your BFFs. Those are the weird fruits that are hard, kinda look like an orange with a tail and it looks like seeds covered in boogers on the inside but they taste like umm cantalope or the other melon that is green. But that's just the flavor - it feel like slime, esta bien (its okay).

The fifth day was sunday and it was just so nice to do something that I know how to do. It was the first sunday so it was fast and testimony meeting and it was muy muy bueno! We watched both Joseph Smith movies (they are the bomb) and that night we had a fireside by the CCM president and his wife and they gave suuuuch good talks.

Another weird flower

Monday we learned how to share our testimonies in spanish (we already learned how to pray and the missionary purpose) and we also learned how to invite people to be baptized. That's about all I know so far. I can say a lot of words that aren't important like cat and makeup and fire. Spanish is hard.

Umm day 7 was our week anniversary in Peru. We went to Interpol and that was fun. The bus ride was crazy fun as usual. Our driver drove up this two lane road and then all of a sudden just stopped and threw it in reverse and started backing up the street and no one even cared. Cars were coming right at us and then they just swerved out of the way at the last second. Haha then our driver just parked. In the middle of the lane. We were like ok..... and just got out and followed him. We went to this little place on a street that kinds opens up to an area that has wall on all sides and little rooms in the walls. It was crazy cause it was just our district and we were all in full on missionary mode. We placed like 3 LDM (Book of Mormons) and a folleto (Pamphlet) while we were waiting. It was fun to talk to the latinas (local Latin people). Itss sooo hard but its fun. We met a lady from Africa that was on a catholic mission trip and she wanted a LDM so we were like ok! There was one latina lady and the elders were talking to and she was the sweetest and had the cutest kids. She ended up buying Elder Noel some food and then gave him a big kiss on the cheek - it was so funny cause he got so embarrassed! 

Fresh seafood at the market - eewww

Haha there were also a ton of cats. One of them was cross-eyed and it was hilarious cause they would just walk up to you and stare at you. I think its because they hadn't seen so many white people in one place at a time. But one would just look at you but it wouldn't be looking at you cause it was soooo cross-eyed! At Interpol we had to get our fingerprints done in this itty bitty room that had maybe 20 people in it, you couldn't hardly move. Then we had to go into this other room and get in this dirty medical chair and some latina checked out my teeth with a flashlight, then SHE PUT HER HAND IN MY MOUTH AND POKED ONE ONE OF MY TEETH. No gloves. ew.  OK so then we left interpol after like 6 hours. (We left at like 6 and got back around 11ish) After that we had class and physical activity and then more class. then we got to eat. After dinner we had a devotional (it was a devotional from January that was at the Provo MTC) soooo goood. Afterwards we had a district testimony meeting and it was so amazing. I love my district so much. We are always laughing and having so much fun together and also having tons of spiritual experiences together and we are all helping each other and its just great. I would be a mess without them.

Peruvian Monopoly - Hahahaha

And then today was P-day! We got up at 5 to get ready, had breakfast at six, and left for the temple at 630. But this time we took public transportation. The buses here are so small <I cant stand up straight in them and there are so many people in it them its crazy. You cant move an inch you're packed in so tight. But it was cool. The temple was super except for My temple recommend is GONE! It fell out of my card holder somewhere between the CCM and the temple so I gotta figure that out. We go tot go to the distribution center and get some sweet spanish scriptures and then we went to a book store shop. There were some cool scripture covers and bags and jerseys and so many things that I want to buy! Haha but I have to pace myself or I will have no more money by next week! We also went to this kinda like super market place. It was like a small Walmart, but Peruvian. It was cool. I got so many little peruvian snacks. Que Bueno!

So thats my week in a nutshell!

Hermana Anderson and Hermana Scarlett

We are also teaching a pretend investigator and its crazy hard cause we are doing it all in spanish, It is getting so much better and we are really working well with her. Oh yeah my companion, Hna. Anderson is the beeest! We have so so so much fun together and I just love her. 

Here it is always misty in the morning its super weird. Also the sky is always gray! That is probably one of the things that I miss the most about home is the blue sky with the fluffy white clouds, its just grey here, sometimes you can kinda see the sun from the clouds. Also they have these crazy mountains, well they call them hills. But they are just giant mounds of dirt and stone, no trees no nothing. Its so crazy.

Well my time is almost up! I love you all and miss you!

Also Johnny and everyone else about to go on missions, STUDY YOUR LANGUAGE!!! I wish I had done more of that! Oh and PMG, so great!

Haha oh and also people know me as the one from North Carolina cause apparently I have a crazy accent. Almost everyone else from north america is from out west. Haha esta bien!
Love you all so much!

I hope this email made sense!

With Love from Lima,

 

Hermana Scarlett

CCM

CCM

Lima CCM - Arrived!

Our girl made it to Peru safe and sound - here is her first email!

Ummm these keyboards are strange sooo yeah...............

On the flight from Charlotte, I sat next to a peruvian man and we were talking. He was going home and long story short, after many questions about why I was going to Peru, he asked where the church was in Lima so he could go.. How cool! 

5 miss... ahhh

Lima is soooo cool! We got out of the airport and onto the buses at like 2 am; then we drove through the city and saw a ton of Lima. There are lost of KFC... haha and really nice McDonalds. There were some pretty cool places and some super sketch places. Que Bueno! Hahaha. 

My companion is Hermana Anderson from MIchigan and I FREAKIN LOVE HER!!!. There were about 30 missionaries going to the peru mtc on our flight. So far I haven't seen any missionaries who are already at the MTC. I think they are probably in classes or whatever mtc missionaries do. 

My PDay is on wednesdays so send me lots of emails! I'm so excited! 

Also in Lima there is like a lot of grass art (?) haha i guess its a real thing. They do all kinds of shapes and animals and words. Haha anyways its time to go! I love you all!

With love from Lima!

Hermana Sara Scarlett

sara.scarlett@myldsmail.net