Week 2, I can make it through!!

Buenos Dias! 

Week 2 in the CCM has gone by alot faster than the first week. I've finally gotten into the routine which definitely helps time go by much faster. Every day is basically spent learning, studying, preparing, and teaching. Our first practice investigator is over which is kind of bittersweet. It's nice knowing we made it through and she didn't ever slam the door in our face, but she was replaced with TWO new "investigators." So now not only do we have double the amount of teaching but the new investigators are much more difficult because they don't automatically accept or agree with everything we say. They are fake investigators but they are both based on real investigators that our teacher had, so they have a complete backstory and personality and everything which makes it much harder but more realistic which is nice. 

My spanish is coming along nicely and I am understanding more and more and am starting to be able to speak more quickly. Every day I pray in spanish and teach in spanish, but i still speak english to my companion (we will see how much longer that lasts). I still have a long way to go but  I definitely feel like I am making progress. 

This week was also awesome because Sunday was incredible. Every Sunday is stress free because there is no class and no teaching assignments. All day is just spent studying, Church meetings, and devotionals. The best part of Sunday though is the night time. Every Sunday night we watch church movies. This is nice because it is time to relax and unwind, but the real best part about it is that they are super spiritual and you can always feel the spirit testifying to you. It makes every hardship and trial here worth it. Afterwards we have a testimony meeting where we reflect on what we learned from the movies. Our last one was so incredible, as we talked and listened my whole body burned with the knowledge that God loves us and sent his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer and pa for our sins so that we can return to live with God. It was absolutely incredible. 

The following things that happened will let you know that I am still the Taylor Nielson that you all know :)

This week we bought some index cards from the tienda (Often used to make language flash cards) and we used them to make playing cards. So today in the morning while our laundry was washing we playing some games, well I guess one game, Oh Heck. It was really fun and everyone seemed to enjoy it after I finished teaching it. But now we have 2 decks of index card playing cards that we can use on P-days :)

This week My roomates and I initiated Operation "Lunch Box." As I mentioned before there isn't much at each meal and there aren't really snacks around so often times we have the munchies at night or in the middle of the day. Operation Lunch Box was when we took some small trash bags in my companions satchel and filled them up with as much cereal as we could. In total I think we got about 10 bowls of Pops and 10 Bowls of Fruit Loops which we took back to our room. So yes, Operation Lunch Box was definitely a success!

Another great moment from this week was on Tuesday. I was really craving some sugar and sweets (Our meals have 0 sugar) but i didn't have any. But suddenly I got a slip of paper letting me know that I had received a package. My grandparents sent me a package from mydearmissionary.com. I opened it up and it was loaded with candy! My day was made! Plus it made my companion and every one else in my district super jealous!

Besides all that I'm just basically going along, living, learning, and loving every minute of it. I miss you all so much, but I want you to know that you are all capable of great things. Stay goldend and live life to the fullest. And always live knowing that God truly loves you.

Love you all!

Elder Nielson

P.S. I have an hour to email and so far I don't have enough people emailing me to fill it all up, so I would definitely love your emails to hear how your guys's lives are going :)

Questions he answered: 

Have you eaten anything crazy? Craziest things I have eaten... I haven't really eaten anything crazy... But one day we had curly fries and I almost cried! I didn't realize how much i miss American food! I definitely miss my mashed potatoes and gravy, and of course my Jack Tacos.

Spiritual Highs? My spiritual high was definitely the sunday night that i describe in my letter to everyone. 

How is your District? (a group of people he is associated with while in the training center)  

My district is super awesome. I'm pretty sure that everyone in my district was the funniest and craziest one in their friend group, so I definitely fit. We have 2 kids who are super strict which can be annoying sometimes but they also help keep us in line.

Have you seen anyone you know? 

I have seen Derek Wasden who is a kid who worked with me at System Kleen, I have also seen Rocky Mountain's star basketball player. But I haven't seen anyone you would know.  

What do you do on P-day?  (P-day stands for preparation day. A day usually once a week to accomplish cleaning, laundry, laundry, shopping etc.)

Every week on p-day we have to do laundry on our own. On p-day we also have to clean our own rooms in our casa (Sweeping, toilet, sink, etc.). Every Tuesday we also have an hour of service which is spent deep cleaning different casas or the kitchen of the comedor or other things like that. I definitely understand more spanish, but the amount we speak it hasn't increased besides the occasional conversation with a latino.  

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