DISCLAIMER: don't expect correct punctuation or even great spelling because these Mexican keyboards are slightly different.
Whats
up everybody! I made it through my first week here at the Mexico MTC,
or as we say... Centro de Capacitacion Misonal Mexico.
My first week was amazing. I don't know how to write
these things so forgive me for my lack of structure and my lack of
eloquence. So it goes...
The CCM is amazing. We
are in the middle of this massive, ridiculously packed/epic/pretty
sketch area of Mexico City. But its so beautiful. The grounds are sooo
much nicer than the Provo MTC (sorry Jeff Brian Katie...Kent?!..) The
bus ride from the airport was a pretty cool eye opener. We have so much
in the US yet we spend so much time looking for things to complain
about. The locals who work here on the CCM grounds are amazing. There
has to be 300 or more, between cooking, cleaning, yard care, teaching
language classes, and the branch presidency... And they are all so cool.
The people here are genuinely happy and always kind, its way
refreshing.
So here's how my day basically goes... 630-wake up,
7-breakfast, 730-12 study and class (personal study, companion study,
language study with teachers, and mentoring with teachers), 12-lunch, 1-
additional study for whatever we feel we need, 2- gym (aka soccer w/
the locals;)), 330-TALL (language study on a computer program),
430-guess...(more additional study), 530-dinner, 630-930-companionship
study/teach investigators (only in spanish...obviously..which is
interesting lol). 1030-bed (aka paradise).
Our main teachers, Hermano Romero and Hermano Ortiz,
are DOPE. Ortiz reminds me of my freshman football Coach, Adam. And
Ortiz reminds me of a skinnier Ricky Ricardo (haaaa B). Ortiz served his
mission in Mexico, and he has very very limited english. Romero served
in SoCal, so his english is pretty good. They're both so nice, funny,
helpful, and COOL. (Thats the mission word so far...everything is
COOL!...lol). We rolled into class the first morning (thursday) and
discovered all of our lessons are solomente en espanol, which was fun...
The first day or two was rough but I honestly can not believe how much I've picked up already... Me and Hermana Hull are the translators for a
lot of our lessons. (a homie from Folsom and friends with all my friends
at BYU...she claims we met but I am convinced it never happened
haha. Her and her companion are headed to Houston Texas South.)
In the evening, we teach Enrique, an investigator of
the church who we all have been convinced is just acting, and last
night we found out he is...he actually becomes our evening teachers
which is SWEET because he will know first hand what we are good at and
what we need help with. We teach him 20-30 minute lessons every night,
starting with teaching about God, and moving through the first 8
sections of lesson 1 based on what we feel he needs to know (his dad
died, mothers poor, has never really felt right in various churches...)
and based on other background info/what he is understanding and doing
well with. We teach ONLY IN SPANISH. Its epic. My companion and my
lessons consist of me talking for like 80% of the time, but its all
good. He´ll come along soon haha...
My comp. Elder Anderson. He is a hommie. I got lucky
with a real cool dude. He's fresh out of high school, just like everyone
else in my Disctrict (6 sets of companions) except all the Hermanas are
my age or older. Already feeling like Brian....mission Dad hahaha. That
1 year at BYU definitely made a huge difference. This is all these guys
first time away from home and their families. Anyways, Elder Anderson is
from Logan Utah, has 8 brothers, plays football (corner back) and
lacrosse, and is a fun dude. We get along way well. We crack up a little too often but its all good.
You'll see pics of him soon.
My district is way cool. Its crazy how close we are
after only a week. There's 8 elders, all fresh out of highschool, and 4
hermanas, 3 from BYU (my age, 1 year above, 2 years above), and 1 from
Utah State.
The food here is amazing. Its different but I love it. The fresh fruit and juices are the best part.
Now I'm gonna answer some questions (thanks Kent hahaha)
What
is your schedule like (way busy I can only imagine)? (above. busy but doesn't seem to busy...days are going by fast, not much time to miss home
and my friends and fam, which is good at this point)
How/how big is your district? All going to your mission? (12 people, 2 sisters to Chile 2 to Texas, All 8 Elders to Quito.
What
is the MTC like – size, security, surrounding area, any sports fields,
etc? (sketch around, but a nice wall surrounding it haha, we feel plenty
safe. TONS of soccer and basketball fields, and a dope weightroom! I'm
gonna make it.)
How’s
the food - like Cannon Center or like Guadalajara Taciera? (cannon
style, with Mexican food. lots of fruit and meats and rice and beans and
juices. weird desserts...sometimes bomb.)
How
are the workout facilities? (DOPE, but yesterday and today is the first
time I had energy to lift any weights. But soccer,...bien.)
How
different is your P-Day schedule vs a usual day? (P Day is Christmas.
Straight up. Free to do whatever from 830-530. Its been so great. Me and
Anderson check our emails early, take pics of em all, and save our hour
for once we have read and though of what to say. You know me, always
working the system ;) ill usually be on here to email between 1 and 2 on
WEDNESDAY mexico time.)
How
often will you be able to go to the temple? (only once, and the temple
is closed, but we get to go hangout at the visitors center.)
How’s
your language teacher and how many do you have? Separate culture
teacher? (no culture classes yet, language teachers are EPIC)
How
often do you see Cam, other BYU buddies? (see cam 5 or so times a day.
Pollock, Drennan, Higbee, Blaylock, Me and Cam are here from May 2200,
and handful of other BYU bros. Its way cool seeing everyone.)
How
much technology do you use in you classroom (i.e., computers, tablets,
projectors, ya know?) (Only 1 hour on the comps. none else. its weird
haha. except some videos on a projector, just like school ya dig).
What’s
the most fun part/method/activity of language learning? Did you start
“Speak Your Language” your first day? KT was telling us how she prayed
in Croatian first day – wowzers. (yeah, im praying in spanish and
teaching lessons in spanish with no notes, its broken spanish but i
already know sooooo much I don't even know where it came from. grammar is
awful, but i can say what i need to.)
What’s
the mix of gringos, Mexican, other Hispanics? (mainly gringros, 1/3
latinos. All them only stay for 2 weeks tho cuz they are pros.)
That should be enough if not too much. So I'm gonna bounce and hit some personal emails up for my last 20 or 30 minutes.
Love
you all. Loving it out here and learning a crazy amount. I'm way happy
here. And way focused...its kinda weird haha. Enjoy the pics!!
Word,
Elder Sorensen.
