July 28, 2015: Last Week in the CCM!

The whole CCM has "had the diarrheas since Easters!" (Nacho). So many people here are sick, many people in the infirmary are on IVs because they are so dehydrated, and one Hermana even had to go to the ER because she was so dehydrated, crazy! On Sunday, this girl was singing in the choir and passed out, and her companion held her up for the rest of the song, without making a scene. Then staggered out of the auditorium afterward!

This week my companion and I asked one of our investigators for any references or contacts he might have for us (our teacher investigator). And he actually gave us the number of his cousin who is not a member! So we called him on the phone and asked him if he would hear a message from us at the CCM.

He said he could not come to the CCM, but that he would accept a Skype lesson. So on Saturday at 12:30 we set up that we would Skype him. My teacher was SUPER nervous, because this was real life eternal life on the line for his cousin, and he wanted everything to work out as planned! So we decided to all fast starting after lunch on Friday to lunch on Saturday, so that we could have the spirit stronger, and know what to teach. We spent hours preparing, and praying. and also to add, our teacher decided that all 6 people in our district would teach, and this was really difficult to plan for! So Saturday morning we literally spent 6 hours preparing for and practicing this lesson. And finally at 12:30 we Skyped him. It was really hard to hear him, and hard for him to hear us. We were like 4 minutes in and he said he had to go.. but we sang I am a child of God before he left, and then I asked him if he would accept the missionaries to come visit him at his home. And he agreed! And we set up an appointment next Sunday at 12. Although this was NOT what we had expected, and I at first was bummed! I realized that any amount of seed that we planted for Allen, was worth every bit of my time. The spirit always has a different plan than you, and knows best, so you just have to trust it! 

I am grateful for this experience, and it makes me super excited to teach real people next week in Hermosillo! My teacher is going to email us, and let us know how Allen's first lesson goes, and any progress that he makes!

 I am so estoy stoked that next week I will be emailing you from Hermosillo! My time here in the CCM has been a great experience, and I have learned loads, but I am definitely ready for a change!  One of my favorite quotes from my companion this week is when she was trying to ask my teacher what type of cake he was eating, in Spanish, and said accidentally: "Que typo de caca?"   [Editor's note: Everyone knows what caca means in Spanish, right? If not, look it up for a good laugh.]

Spanish continues to become easier everyday, and I know that this is solely because of the help of God. #the gift is real!

But I have noticed in my journal writings that my English is really weird! the order of my words,and the words I decide to use are words that I have never used before in my life, like yesterday I wrote that I prayed "fervently"?!  I have never used that word in my life! 

Thank you for all the prayers and love!

Oceans of love to you,

Hermana Barton

My new skirt that I bought at the tienda by the temple. Built in pouch! So much room for so many activities!

The exercising mamas! AND Chanco Jr. in his stretchy pants. Middle of the road. 

Rad to the Bone District Shot in the super cool gym shorts at CCM. 

Yoga Hermanas at your service

Meredith's district visits the Mexico City Visitor's Center

I'm trying to be like Jesus

Lady carrying a dog like a baby. (Joke between Meredith and Mom.)

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July 21,2015: Fish Out of Water?

So I realized this week that I do not sweat chlorine anymore, and actually now sweat BO... and I understand completely now that rotten fish Stinks! Sad Story!!

Today I went to the temple in Mexico City. The temple is closed, so we couldn't go inside, but we got to go to the visitor center, and to the tienda at the temple. At the tienda I bought this awesomebroso Mexican skirt that has a pocket and pouch at the top so it is like a skirt with a built in fanny pack! Brilliant! And also on our way I saw the exercising ladies still kickin it, so I will try to send pictures of them as soon as I can! This time there was a little boy with his mom there, a spitting image of Chancho from Nacho Libre, and he did have stretchy pants on!  "Sometimes when you are a man, you wear stretchy pants while working out with your mom, just for fun!" Hopefully pictures to come of this boy!

This week is my fifth week here, so I only have one more full week after this, then I will finally get to go to Hermosillo, which I am so excited for!

This week my companion was sick, so we had to spend most of Saturday in our house and she slept, but hallelujah she is feeling better now. It was a really great experience. The elders in our district gave her a blessing which is so amazing! The power of the priesthood is definitely so real!

Yesterday, my teacher told me to teach my companion about the word of wisdom in English... and it was crazy, I tried to start and all I could say was  "Joseph Smith." Then it took me like 30 seconds until I finally found some English word to say. It was so weird that I am so used to teaching in Spanish, that it was so difficult to teach now in English.

Also I have been having these funny dreams where my life of teaching swim lessons and teaching the gospel lessons are coming together and my companions and I are in the pool teaching people about God while swimming, and my teacher here, Hermano Martinez is telling how I can be a better swim teacher and teach the strokes, instead of telling me how better to teach about God. Funny and Random!

Oceans of love to you all, and a hallelujah because I did not have to sing in the choir this week!

Hermana Barton

P.S. shout out to the Duffin family--your cousin is here, from Smithfield Utah and is going to Chile (but of course you probably already know that!), and I met him today because we were on the same bus to the temple! Such a small world!! 

Pics:

Mexico City Temple and Visitor center! Shout out to Aunt Liz and Janae Clark for the outfit!

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Note from Lainie to Meredith: 

Bomby, 

 I know I already sent you a letter but last night I had a dream that mom was taking me to junior guards and I saw you in your swimsuit and I said I have a sister that looks exactly like you . And the said I am your sister . And it was you  and you had come back to go to junior guards with me then you were going to go back to Hermosillo. Isn't that funny! And now for the junior guards today I start junior guards. I'm super excited but a little scared . I miss you a lot . But I hope you're doing good. I love you so much !                                                             

                                                      Love Mama Cootzy

Meredith's reply:
In my heart I was wearing a swim suit and doing Junior Guards with you! I also have dreams of me swimming. Thanks for sharing, I love it, and YOU! 

July 14, 2015: Estoy Stoked!

So, as many of you know, I did NOT get the Rebekah Barton gene for singing! And so this Sunday, all my district wanted to go to choir practice? SOS!! So that equals me going too! So it starts out and they ask me if I am a soprano or an alto... and I was like ¨ I don't know? I am just Hermana Barton! and that's  all I really do know!¨  They thought that was funny, but I was serious! But actually when I got past the singing part it actually wasn't too bad. We sang the Sisters in Zion- Armies of Helaman duo and it sounds pretty cool in Spanish. Never thought I would be singing that or anything for that fact in the CCM!
So the hymns here are awesome! And there is a guide of English hymns to Spanish. And the guide says:
I have a family here on Christmas Day.... instead of "I have a family here on earth." Awesome!

This Thursday we went to Immigration in the middle of Mexico City, which was really awesome because I finally got to get out of the walls of CCM! Probably the best part was seeing this random exercise center in the middle of the divide of the streets with about 7 old ladies on the machines, and they were doing these walking machines but it looked like they were doing the splits.. so this is confusing but we have one in Santa Cruz really similar.. so if you need a visual have Maddy take you to the one on the levy and imagine yourself as an old Mexican woman, and you will know the joy of this sight! But it was awesome to see the old buildings in downtown Mexico City, and become estoy stoked to get out and teach real people!
Hopefully next p-day we get to go to the Mexico City temple, which I am super excited for!
I have been learning so much Spanish, and actually can talk and have a conversation with the Latinos in the next door classes, which is awesombroso! And we especially talk a lot with an Elder we met who is from Hermosillo, so he tells us all about what it is like. So now I have evidence that Hermosillo actually exists, and there are real people there for me to go teach! Bonus! Well I knew it was real, but it is just cool to actually know someone from there!

I wanted to tell you about an awesome experience I had teaching Alejandro, my teacher this week. We were teaching about the restoration and he has been a really duro investigator, and we really wanted to have him feel the spirit so that his heart could change. We asked him to pray in the middle of the lesson to know that our message was true, and that the church was true. When he was done, he said he didn't really feel anything... so immediately my companion started bearing the most heart felt testimony ever, and started crying and at this point we were all crying, and he asked us how we knew that the church was true. And it hit me, why did I know it was true? And the spirit was so overwhelming, I knew without a doubt at this moment that it was true, that the gospel of Jesus Christ has made me the person I am today and has changed my life. And that the spirit has testified to me that God is our Heavenly Father, that Jesus is the Christ, and that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that the Book of Mormon is True, and nothing else in this life really matters except that I know that el Evangelio de Dios es Verdadero!

The first week in the CCM was all about Spanish. The second was all about teaching. and the third has been all about the spirit. and I have grown so much this week. Our lessons, now that we can just open our mouths and the spirit pours out, are so much better than before when we had a script and didn't know what to say, and could not say what the spirit wanted us to say.
Also, my companion and I led a discussion in Spanish yesterday about Ether chapter 12. It is an awesome chapter all about faith. And it makes so much sense that the first principle of the gospel is Faith in Jesus Christ, because until you can understand this concept, nothing else really matters!
WOW! this email makes me sound like a missionary!

Oceans of love to you all! Thank you for all the support, mail, and prayers!
Hermana Barton

Note to parents:

I forgot to tell you last week that I am not doing the push up challenge, i forgot to get the schedule, but i do instead 50 push ups in the morning, and 50 at night. One of the other elders in my district does it too, so i just started joining him. Hopefully soon I'm going to bump it up to 60 and 60, but at least for now I am keeping some of my no skills...

So this week we got news that the US now allows gay marriage in all states, and the people with US missions had to go to a special meeting about new changes and rules. Has that been a problem for you?

I love hearing about your experience with that girl, it is amazing the love I feel from Heavenly Father for the investigators I am teaching, who are just my teachers. 

How are the Clarks? I actually think about Janae alot since I know that she helped train the people here at the CCM.

I love hearing all about the surfing, and Liza, I wish I could catch a few waves,  but I also know that this is the place I am supposed to be!

Oceans of love to you,

Hermana Bomby

Also Ademas!

I forgot to tell you about my companion and I and our awesome telepathic powers with the spirit. I hope that is not sacrilegious to say it like that... but when we are teaching, and I get stuck on what I am trying to say, or vice versa, the other person is able to pick up exactly word for word what the other person was trying to say without even us talking. It seriously is amazing, and a HUGE testimony of the spirit working in us when we are in tune with it, and saying what it wants us to say during lessons. 

Pictures:
This one makes me laugh. Check out our faces.







Here are pics with the two hermanas I was telling you about! (Who weren't in last week's pictures.) They are awesombroso and a half! Especially love the second one's (from the left) face in the goofy pic! She is Santa Cruz at heart in so many ways that I can't explain. And the one with curly hair (far left) was probably given to the wrong family because we were meant to be twins, but anyways that's a side note!

El Hermano Vargas (teacher in CCM)

El Hermano Medina (teacher in CCM. Favorite!)

Gangsta Style #westcoast best coast

El Hermano Moroni Martinez (teacher in CCM)

July 7, 2015: Shoutout Mamma BQ and Bad Ash

To start, a HUGE shoutout to Mamma BQ and Bad Ash, two of my best friends and inspirations in life! Feliz cumpleanos, I hope all of your wildest dreams came true!!!

I cannot believe that I am actually in Mexico! it is like Maddy when we were in Hawaii for a month, and she was like, wow, its like we are surrounded by water on all sides and we are on an island... um yeah, we are in Hawaii! But it feels like I am just in a little bubble, but I cant wait to be out on the real streets meeting and helping real people! I learn so much everyday but by the end of the day, my brain is practically fried! Sometimes my teacher asks me a question, and I cant think in Spanish or English! The other day my teacher came up to me and my companion and said, Es un hippie? and I was like, Yup, sure am! And then turned to my companion from Colorado and said, Es una vacera? and she said, I guess.. And then he said, A hippie and una vacara juntos????? 

Also another funny thing that happened in class was we were role playing, and our teacher was the missionary, and me and hermana Hauck were the investigators. And my name was Olga, of course! And her name was Helga. And he was asking us if we needed anything to be blessed in a prayer he was about to say, so Hermana Hauck told him about how our younger sister was very sad and needed help because we had previously told him about how our parents had died 9 months earlier in a car crash in Greenlandia... and then that her name was Illga. So in his prayer he said, ¨ Por favor bendice Illga¨ and it was muy chistoso!!!

Also Hermana Hauck was in the lunch line and wanted to say more than just Gracias. And was trying to tell the servers that they were the best, which is mejores, but actually said ¨ Uds. son los mujeres¨ which means you are the Women, which is really funny because they were ALL men!  I was laughing so hard when she figured out what she had done, after my companion told her what she had actually said! 

Since I am super talented at being in really awkward situations, the other day my teacher asked me for my name tag, and it is a magnet one, so you have part on the front of your shirt, and part inside your shirt. So I took off the front, but the back part fell down my shirt, which was tucked into my skirt.. so he was waiting for the back, and it was trying to inch it up my shirt from the outside, but of course that was not going to work, so i had to awkwardly turn around and reach inside my shirt, get the magnet, and then hand it to him, like he really actually wanted it after all of that !!! but its only awkward if you make it awkward right??!!

There are lots of funny things that happen, especially everything is funny after studying for so many hours, but the best part is all that I am learning about Heavenly Father, and his love for all of us. And that only because of Jesus Christ can we be able to return to live with God someday. I love each of you, and love hearing about all your adventures!

Oceans of love, 

Hermana Barton

PS-- (to Mom) One of my favorite stories this week in a devotional was from Elder Bednar and he said that he was going to help a man who he didn't know, and when he saw him he whispered in his ear, "Jesus sent me to tell you that you CAN do this!" and I love that. And he then said to us, the same thing. And I know that Heavenly Father will help me on my mission and make all things possible.

 Also there is an Hermana here named Sarah Anderson and she also had super curly hair really similar to mine, she is awesome, like seriously I could spend all day talking to her, and we could be best friends because we have really similar sense of humor, and her companion is an art major and is like someone you would find at a book store in downtown Santa Cruz, or in New Leaf buying dried cranberries, just because that is the first thing that came into my head. 

Yeah anyways, Oceans of love,

Hermana Barton

ps sorry my punctuation is terrible! I don't know how to use this Spanish keyboard!!

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Here are pics:

Elder Lunt ( Arizona), Elder Barrus (seatlle Washington) Hemana Hauck (Saint George), Hermana Ylst ( Salt Lake Area), Hermana Harmon ( Colorado), Hermana Bomby ( Santa Cruz!!!!) this is the order of the top pic. And one pic is when we went on the roof of a building, don't really know if we were supposed to... but there is not a rule for or against... and there was a view of the whole city so we did! And then you see the view of the houses I love to see everyday from the CCM. 

Mas pictures! The first is right next to the bathroom, and I think the Mexican lady's face is hilarious! 

June 30, 2015: Viva Mexico!

I am loving being in Mexico. I seriously am learning so much everyday, and I understand a majority of what people say in Spanish, and everyday get better at speaking back, with the new vocab i continue to gain. and while i write it is harder already to switch back to thinking in English, and my spelling is even worse in English, who thought could be even worse! But yep! 

The CCM is right in the middle of Mexico city, we never go out of the gates, and all day long we hear sirens, dogs barking, and gun shots. My favorite part of being here is looking up and seeing all of the colorful casas in the hills surrounding me. 

My companion is Hermana Harmon! Funny, it is a small world! We taught our first lesson on friday, the third day we got here, and it actually was not too bad. It is amazing that even though I know little about the language that after a prayer, i am calm, and know what to say. 

I really like my district, we are all good friends, and we always are joking around which helps break up the hours of studying we do. All the Hermanas with me are going to Hermosillo too. 

Everyone has been telling us that Hermosillo is SUPER hot, and that the people are tall there, and talk with a deeper voice, and have Texas accents. So we imagine a tall Mexican Rancher with a deep voice with a lasso swinging around his hear saying super deep: HORNOsillo (horno= oven) I know that sounds dumb, but just try to reenact it right now, and you will laugh, I promise! haha but maybe it is just funny because after studying all day, pretty much anything is funny. 

Probably the hardest thing for me has been the fact that i have to wear shoes! I just want to walk around bare foot! Also, the next thing is that finally on Saturday we got to work out, which was good because I felt disgusting!! And I was so excited to run, but forgot the fact that my companion would not run like I was running with Maddy in the mornings. We could say it was a slow canter... in a nice way! So on Monday we machines so that we could go different paces. 

The food is good here, but I never really know what exactly I am eating. But so far it is good, and has not hurt my stomach! Bonus, more than i can say the morning I left. LoL

And the CCM is on a private well, the the water is pretty safe. The other thing about being here is the hoards of Mosquitoes. When we open our door to go out of our house there is a swarm of hundreds that we run through. My companion had 27 bites, but I have two. She is allergic slightly so they swell up huge on her arms and face...guess she just takes the hit for both of us, which is so charitable! 

Oceans of love to you,

Hermana Barton

ps. When people ask me where I am from, and I tell them Santa Cruz, California. They say, oh yeah, I thought you might be from California! Guess I am not really "Toning down the Santa Cruz!" Which is a good thing! I take pride in being a California girl! They are " unforgettable" right??!! I guess the starfish earrings from Anya that I wear everyday, and the fro thang don't help, but they will keep making their appearance! Don't worry! 

This is was what we imagined the people to be like in "Horno"sillo

June 24, 2015: Just Arrived!

June 24, 2015

Mom and Dad,

I made it! This has been the longest day of my life! I have never felt so cornfused and calm at the same time!

I kept the tradition alive and definitely found a yogi who led me in some breathing exercises as ""I pulled the energy of the earth into me to energize my soul""

{ps i have no idea how to use the symbols on this keyboard so they are all wack!}

I will email you again on Tuesday!

Oceans of love to you,

Hermana Bomby

Here's Mi Casa away from Mi Casa