New Calling!

Group Letter

Hi everyone!

Week two down in the CCM! (CCM stands for al Centro de Capitaciòn Misional in Mexico, btw, which is just Missionary Training Center in Spanish).

Mexico is beautiful! I love the green hills, colorful flowers, and rain! Also the palm trees help me feel right at home, haha. But it`s also sketchy. We like to play this game where we guess if the loud sound we just heard from outside the CCM gates is a gunshot, firework, or thunder. I think the answer is gunshot most of the time. So that`s fun. Haha, life is an adventure.

We went to the Mexico City Temple last week and again today! Ah, it`s so beyond amazing. I definitely needed the peace that the temple brings. It`s absolutely gorgeous inside and out. Also, I have mad respect for bus drivers in Mexico City. They`re a special kind of talented driving a huge bus in that traffic and those road conditions. Wow. 

The Elders in my district are so fun. We play intense Spanish flashcard games, have (church related) rap battles, and they race their chairs around the classroom. Typical boys straight out of high school, gotta love 'em. 

We practice teaching only in Spanish already! We started on like the second day of being here at the CCM. We have our teachers acting as investigators, or people investigating the Gospel, and we teach them what we know. So terrifying, but I`m learning so much. 

This week my cute companion and I memorized SO MUCH! in our classes. So many scriptures and short lesson plans in Spanish to help us learn. And also a ton of words and phrases. I can't wait to learn Spanish!

My fav scripture from this week is in Doctrine and Covenants 6:37, "Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet; be faithful, keep my commandments, and ye shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. Amen."  I need to have so much faith on this mission and I definitely needed to read this scripture this week. All of D&C 6 is amazing, actually. 

     https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/6?lang=eng

ALSO mi compañera and I are the newest Sister Training Leaders! Which means we help any hermanas in our zone and basically just be good examples to them. We go to all the meetings and add our input on the well-being of our zone. But here`s the thing. As of now, Hermana Petersen and I are the only hermanas in our zone, so our job is pretty easy until new hermanas come into our zone next Tuesday. 

So here`s how the organization of zone & districts go. My district is my classroom of 10 Elders and us 2 Hermanas, and we are called 14A. Our branch is us and 14C, a classroom a few dooes down. Then our zone is made up of 5 districts. Each district has a district leader and his companion, and each zone has two zone leaders and a companionship of Sister Training Leaders. I hope this explanation helps, because I was confused at first. 

On Monday I saw blood twice! So fun (not). Once in the morning, one of the Elders in my district had a couple bloody noses. Later that night, my roommates and I were getting ready for bed & one of my rommates hit her head on the soap holder thingy in the shower (which is metal and sharp) and sliced her head. We took her straight to the Enfermeria, and luckily she didn't need stitches and the cut wasn't too big. Just bleeding a lot. So that was an adventure. Everyone is totally fine, so no worries. We said a lot of thankful prayers that is wasn't worse. 

Well, here are a few pictures from this week! I hope you're all doing well and that those of you in SoCal are safe from the fires! 

Love,

 Hermana Lowe

Fav Spanish word of the week: knucks = chacalas

Family Letter

Week 2 down! Time is going by a little faster, which is good. I basically just look forward to Sunday, then P-day, then Sunday, then P-Day. I'm writing my emails out in advance in my notebook during the week so I have more time to actually type and talk to you guys but also today I have a stupidly slow keyboard. So bear with me. I hate mistakes when typing more than you guys do. Please email me all your questions!

There's an MTC postal service thing where you can send me your emails as a letter! So I can read them throughout the week and spend less time actually reading during my hour on the computer on p-days. If you guys want, you can do that. If it costs money or is inconvenient, don't worry about it. Just an idea. You can also send packages I think? I have enough PB and Nutella to last me this 6 weeks and I get money at the tienda each week (120 pesos aka $7) so that sweet.

We went to the temple again today! That's why I am emailing later. We can email anytime after breakfast and before dinner, on p-days except when we go to the temple, we have less time. 

I have a list of things to tell you guys, so I'll just spurt everything out now.

On Thursday, my companion woke up and didn't feel good, and I wasn't feeling the best either. We didn't have the virus going around, but I just felt sick. We went to the Enfermeria and the doctor told her to take Tylenol and stay home for 6 hours to rest. So....we BOTH took a 5 hour nap! haha. I wasn't even the one who was sick. Oh well, it was nice but threw off my sleep schedule even more, if that's possible. It really helped her, though, so I was happy for that.

She (my comp) is a very open person & she loves talking with everyone. It's good because it helps me make more friends.  She keeps my life entertaining and we're getting pretty close.

One night my district was all unfocused and goofing off during study time so I started a flashcard game on who guessed the name in English the fastest when I said it in Spanish. All the elders got into it, it was funny.

Our zone leaders leave this week, Elder Jones and Elder Lee to Chile and we have two new ones in our branch. They're cool and we're friends with them, which is good bc as STL`s (Sister Training Leaders) we'll be working closely with them over the zone.

I saw a kid from my BYU ward this week! It was cool. His name is Elder Seacrest.

It POURED rain this week and I heard thunder the loudest I've ver heard in my life. Sounded like it was right outside my window. Might've been. 

Two of the Elders in my district are super funny. Elder Peters and Elder Snapp. We came into class one morning a little early and they were the only ones in there..racing their chairs around the circle of desks and timing each other while one raced and one timed. They crack me up. Also one night they were walking home with us and Snapp dropped a beat and Peters rapped in his Nephi Utah Demolition Derby Announcer Voice. So hilarious, it's times like these where I wish I could record and have a funny video to look back on. So fun!

This week we got two new investigators (our teachers with double personalities) named Dana y Sergio. They are much harder to teach than Rigoberto, our first investigator, because they aren't as open to the church and have harder problems, it's good, but hard.

My comp and I are getting better at Spanish and at teaching in Spanish, but it's still so hard. We are memorizing so much. Sorry to the twins, but I think I know more Spanish than you now. But then again its church words in Spanish that I know so idk.

I can recite the missionary purpose, first three lesson bullet points in Predicad Mi evangelio (Preach my gospel), JSH 1:16 to 17, two baptismal invitations, and a list of common phrases on our Basic Core Vocab sheet ALL in Spanish. I'm working on Moroni 10:4 and 5 right now. 

OH YEAH! I'M ALREADY A SISTER TRAINING LEADER!  It's basically a Zone Leader, but as a Hermana. We went to one meeting on Monday, but we will have three a week. 

Well familia! Im a little over time but send me your questions! Also email me ALL about school! I love hearing about your lives and job hunting and seeing my friends around town. 

I LOVE YOU ALL TREMENDOUSLY! I MISS YOU EACH EVERY SINGLE DAY!

Con amor, Hermana Lowe

P.S. Please read D&C 6 with missionary work in mind, and also Mosiah 16. Both awesome chapters/ Capìtulos!

https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/16?lang=eng

Here's our email conversation from today.

Deb:  I sent her the picture that I found on FB of the CCM choir, and asked if Brittany was the one in green in the second row.

Brittany:  The pics are tiny when I try to open them, but yes, that's me! I saw the Mission President's wife take that picture, haha. We call her Mama Bennett.

Deb: What's your favorite food?  

Brittany:  The food is good! I eat a lot of fruit (they have canteloupe and watermelon out for every meal) and usually some sort of chicken or beef, I have rice and beans when the meat entree isn't enough to fill me up. Definitely some weird foods, but its not as bad as I thought it'd be...ha ha. 

Deb:  How are you feeling?

Brittany:  I feel MUCH better this week than the first. I am sleeping better too!  ALSO ELDER BEDNAR IS COMING ON FRIDAY AND I'M SO EXCITED! Usually the hermanas get to sit in the front rows so I'll be so close to him! I'm pumped.

Deb:  Did you have everything you need?  If I sent you a package, what would you need?  Is the towel I sent you okay?  

Brittany:  The towel is perfect! I think I have everything I need! Ok, so I really gotta go. Maybe next week I'll just send you pictures of my emails written out so I can talk to you guys more.  Love you all so so much!

Until next week, Hermana Lowe

 At the Temple on P-Day!

Holiness to the Lord

Sister Barney!

Street performing