Season 1 Episode 4 "Stay on target! You are a disease" (6-29-16)

Season 1 Episode 4 " Stay on target! You are a disease"
(6-29-16)

One of Cassidy's Favorite Pictures of Christ

23 Junio 2016 - Today was  a crazy and totally awesome day!! We got to teach TRC again and this time it was a family with kids!!! I have some connection with about all of the four and five year olds, not sure what it is, but they are incredible!! We also got to hear some more about Mexico City from our teacher and her crazy experiences while living here.. Lets just say that she has had some interesting run ins with people that were not necessarily the nicest or the safest to be around. But remember I am on an island and completely and totally safe..

24 Junio - Today was really long, we spent a lot of time in the classroom studying and that was boring. Dont get me wrong I absolutely love being here and the missionary work but spending all day in one classroom where a lot of time we are suppose to be silent is very very hard... 

The only thing that was interesting was that a bird flew into our window this morning. That was SO awesome!! I dispise birds so that made it much much more entertaining... We also took a field trip to the doctor for Hermana Laney today, turns out she needs glasses, so there will be a field trip outside the WALL this week to go get some for her :) I am looking forward to that probably more than I should be!

25 Junio - Today was the best lesson ever, we taught Iyari and she was actually interested in what we had to say!! We also started to make up stories about our two teachers, that they like each other and should get married. Its like we are the writers to our very own Soap Opera, missionaries need entertainment too! 

26 Junio - SUNDAY!!! We love them so much here because it is an incredible spiritual lift. Some important and incredible inspiration I received from today includes the title for this weeks email... 

We had a class with Shawn Cates- who is hilarious... He mentioned a man that taught him karate that would always say "YOU ARE A DISEASE"  when they were getting too tired or upset.. It is a good reminder for all of us to stay on target and focus on the important things in life, I still don't get the disease part because he doesn't really either, but it is really funny.. (Especially when he tells it)  Tonight we also watched "Meet the Mormons", it is really cute and while watching I remembered that it was the first example that really sparked the desire for me to serve a mission. Because I want to help others and I want to share with them the wonderful gift of the gospel that we have been given... 

27 Junio - The biggest and most important thing happened today, we played PING PONG!! And got to see the outside of the CCM!!! It was awesome to remember that the people outside the wall are the reason that we are all here learning within it... 

Picture of a Corn Dog (just in case you didn't know)

28 Junio - The devotional today was absolutely incredible!! The speaker was Kelend Mills, the international MTC Director and he was awesome. We got to see photos and hear some inspirational stories from around the world from the 15 MTCs around the world. It is awesome to know that there are others learning everyday all over. Also, the CCM in Mexico is bigger than the MTC in Provo... The one here is on 90 acres and the one in Provo is only 34... However, the Provo MTC can hold about 3,000 and once it is remodeled will house about 4,000 missionaries from all over the world. We are ramping up for more here too, by the middle of summer there will be 700+ missionaries. (That's a lot ) And the majority of them will be Elders who will be living in the dorms that we cleaned out for our service project today. They are brand new and ready for all of the elders who are coming to join the force of missionaries preparing to go and preach the Gospel to every nation and in every language!!!

Challenge - President Mills told us today to reach out!!  That is how we grow closer to Christ, stop thinking about yourself and get to work!! We all can benefit from serving others and by realizing how much we all have in life - by being positive!!!

Thank you for all of the love and support, including emails. I love them and I love seeing pictures of all of you too.

Have a great week, Love Hermana Sanovich

Season 1 Episode 3 "When our CCM Island doubles in size" (6-22-16)

Mural in the Reception area

Season 1 Episode 3
"When our CCM Island doubles in size" 
(6-22-16) 

Well from the title of this email you should be able to guess that now is the time to be sent out here to the CCM, Because all of the High School Elders have graduated. 

Thursday 16 Junio 2016 - Today was a bit of a struggle to get going, the days after p-day usually is.. We go from doing our own thing all day to being scheduled every second and that can be an adjustment. But once we got going, it was a fantastic day. We were able to do some thing called TRC, this is when they have members, less active members and sometimes converts come and we teach them as if we were out in the field with them for reals. I LOVED this so much, we really felt the spirit and were able to just enjoy teaching. 
(It also helps that my Spanish has improved and I can carry on conversations with people that only speak Spanish) 

Friday 17 Junio 2016 - Some top moments of our day 

We were playing a game with our teachers and a hacki-sack and Elder Snyder 
(district picture to come) might have hit (her)? in the face. Which was funny because when you are in the same class all day even little and dumb things can make us laugh. Which I was told by Elder Miller that we need to laugh at least 3 times a day while on our missions.  Not hard for me though because I am consistently laughing at myself..  We also taught a lesson today that was the worst one yet. Lucky for us that it is to our teacher and she can give us some constructive criticism so that we can learn and grow from it. 

Saturday 18 Junio 2016 - Today was really good. We were able to teach our other investigator Lyari and it was good to see her understanding and agreeing to meet with us to be able to teach her more. Today, I also got to move on to the next personal goals in the Spanish language, I can now pray, recite our purpose and the first vision from memory, so I feel really good about that. 

Sunday 19 Junio 2016 - Sundays win out as being the best days here at the CCM. It is so much fun to be able to just relax and listen to our leaders teach us about the gospel so that we can learn more and better understand in order to teach others more effectively. Today we got to watch the Restoration Movie about Joseph Smith, even though I have seen this movie plenty of times before seeing it surrounded by missionaries, helps the spirit to be so strong and testify like crazy!! 

Monday 20 Junio 2016 - Our lesson with Pamela went pretty well today, not our best but, I think they are being harder on us this time so that we can improve and realize that not everyone is ready to hear and accept the gospel message that we have to share. That is ok because we are willing to wait for them and help them as much as we can based on their individual needs. Our Latin friends that came to the CCM the same day as us have left now and it is weird not being surrounded by their familiar faces when we are in the comedor.

Tuesday 21 Junio 2016 -  The reason for the title of this weeks email... Today we received over 100 new AMERICAN missionaries alone. Not to mention the new missionaries from Latin and South America. As well as our one friend who is from Spain (we are not sure why exactly they had him come here and not the CCM in Spain, but oh well). The comedor on pizza night is usually crazy but with this many new missionaries it was NUTS!! We use to all fit on about 4-5 tables and the entire room was just packed with everyone tonight. There are so many that they have adopted the Provo MTCs way of keeping track of who is new, affectionately called the "dork dot" ( just a sticker you wear on your name badge) Then after dinner we made our way over to the devotional and there were a bunch of empty rows so we just picked one, but then they moved us to be front row. It was amazing to be so close and to be able to hear and see everything, including watching the auditorium slowly but surely fill up continuously. The speaker asked who was new from toady and the majority of the missionaries stood up. I guess we are now officially 'Upper class-men' here in the CCM. My favorite part of the devotional was hearing the choir sing a Child's Prayer. There is something so powerful when the Elders sing these hymns (in Spanish of course) that just makes me feel the spirit differently than I ever have before. 

Mexico Flag Up and actually flying

Things I know about Mexico: Time does not exist here. We are on our own, specially designed CCM clock. Nothing starts on time and everything ends late but some how they want us to be early to everything (when I figure out how to accomplish that I will let you know). Also that 'Que Padre' means 'that's cool'.. and that Mexico City is now called La Ciudad de México and that México DF is no longer its name. 

Challenge: 
This week we have been talking a lot about challenges and being able to overcome them. So I challenge you to take a hold of your challenges and to push onward. There are so many things going on that are incredible in your life that you need to be grateful for. The perspective that I have already gained from being here is massive. One little example is the fact that in the United States you can actually drink water from the tap and not need it to be filtered and then delivered is such a huge blessing that many people do not have. (not a huge deal but its the little things) 

Thank you for your love and support 

Love, Hermana Sanovich

Season:1 Episode:2 "Latin Culture" (6-15-2016)

Season:1 Episode:2 "Latin Culture" (6-15-2016)
This might be short and boring because the days blend together but that's ok! 

Such a Happy Missionary - Miss that cute Smile

June 9 - Today we went through the normal life of a missionary; language study, personal study and then companionship study so that was fun :) It was hard to get back into the swing of things after p-day but its all good.

June 10 - Today we got to hear some feedback on how teaching our first investigator went directly from her which was really good. I also talked about my Spanish goals with my teacher today and she was able to encourage me that I am capable to speak the language and not just understand if I will only OPEN my mouth and talk more.( I can say that I have definitely never had a teacher tell me to talk more ever ;) )

June 11 - Today was a classroom filled day, it was the same cycle of things together as a district. The best part was when we were doing a practice teaching exercise where we invited another person in our class to get baptized, because there are 9 of us, I was put with the teacher from a different class. It was hard at first to speak in Spanish to him, but when I asked him if he would follow Christs example and be baptized the Spanish words just came out and the spirit was so strong while he said yes and then I testified to him of how much baptism and the gospel has affected my life.

June 12 - Sunday!!! I absolutely love them!!! There are so many different things that happen that just make it so much better than any other day of the week. For one, sacrament is in complete Spanish and there is an opportunity that you might get called on to speak every week. We all prepare talks in Spanish and then as he announces who is speaking we find out who it is...luckily this week was not my turn ;)  But then we had relief society where we talked about being a disciple of Christ and developing Christ like attributes to not only help us but to also help improve our teaching and the lives of those around us. Later on we got to watch a video called "How Rare A Possession" about the Book of Mormon, other than it being really really old it is SOO good!!!!  It testifies of the truthfulness and the positive affects that it can have on everyone that reads it. 

June 13 - Today we got to meet our new investigators, yes there are 2 of them... Iyari and Pamela, we will now be teaching both of them on different days... It is starting to feel way more real than it did before and I am loving it!! Even though these investigators are also our teachers (we have on average about 5 a day) they are real people that they know and Iyari is our teachers' sister so she is recording the lessons and sharing them with her later on in the day at their home. I can not wait to be in Uruguay and be helping others change their lives and come unto Christ because through him all things are possible.

My passport and Immigration papers for the Mexican Visa

June 14- Today was crazy, Hermana Thornock had a bird poop on her head, which was hilarious but then and again kind of sad... We had a really good experience today with a game where we had to run and work together to find all of our name badges together which then related to stress. I learned this week two things about me and stress- I PROCRASTINATE like crazy, not new but a real thing that I use to cope with this life being so different than anything else. 



Also I clean when I am stressed out :) It works really really well and our house is really clean too, double whammy!!! 

June 16 - Pday means laundry, email and pictures

Mexico - The Latin people and culture are so nice and friendly!! 

We made some friends and they enjoy laughing at my very sad attempt to speak Spanish but it is funny 

Our Latina Amigas at Breakfast

Challenge: Read the Book of Mormon.. Like for reals, beginning to end. And then pray about it because I know that there is no other way to learn of God or feel his love for us than by reading and then praying about it....

Thank you for all of your love and support, 

Love and miss you, 
Hermana Sanovich 

She would love to hear from all of you who are following the Blog!!!

My street

The wall that separates us from the rest of Mexico City

Season 1 Episode 1: Hola From La CCM (6-8-16)

June 8, 2016

Blurry - But these are my plane friends.

Hola From La CCM...
(just like the Adele song) 

I had to come up with something fun. 

I have so much to fill you in on because its been awhile, luckily we wont have to go that long 
ever again :) 

May 31- I was able to fly with a group of other missionaries to LAX where we met up with a bunch of other missionaries there too.  Going through customs was not as hard or as scary as I had thought it was going to be, however it was difficult to fill out the form because it was only in Spanish... Arriving to the CCM was really crazy when about 15 missionaries are all new and don't know where to go in the airport it can be nuts. However, we got on the bus no problem...  I actually had to get a shot here so that was exciting, because you know me, I just LOVE  needles... 

My room

June 1- We went to a bunch of classes and got to meet our district... I am lucky that I am able to understand Spanish because the majority of classes are taught only in Spanish. I am in a trio right now so I have two companions, Hermana Wendel and Hermana Laney.  We got a tour of the whole campus and it is massive!!! It does not have as many missionaries as Provo does but it does cover a lot more land and space.

June 2- We woke up to a major down pour!!! I guess that it is the rainy season right now here in Mexico so it will rain every night and sometimes early in the morning as well but not usually during the day, you should never go anywhere without an umbrella (trust me, you just get wet that way)... I taught an investigator today. and in SPANISH!!!! It was hard but really cool, turns out she is just a teacher here but the discussions are real and the spirit I can feel when we teach her about the restoration is too. 

Mexico Temple

June 3- We had to speed teach the restoration to each other in class today and that is really really hard... I also was asked by our investigator to pray today, in Spanish...  That was really hard but also inspiring because I have never done that before and there was definitely a spirit that was helping me speak words that I did not know  until about two days ago even existed! 

June 4- We taught again and had a bunch of classes ... That is what most of this week was, just getting everything figured out and working on learning how to function in the CCM. I also taught our investigator again today, Jordana, and it was incredible to see how even just inviting someone to be baptized in this setting is SO special and spiritual. 

June 5- Made it to Sunday!!! Whoever started the saying that if you can make it to Sunday you will be fine is crazy!!! There is no way that after that it is smooth sailing, sorry to burst anyones bubble but it isnt.... Making it to P- Day feels like an accomplishment but i dont really think that it is either, you have to just take it day by day otherwise it gets overwhelming and stressfull. We get to watch a video all together on Sundays and this weeks was The Testaments. If you have not seen it I reccomend watching it because it is super good. It also relates a lot to the work of missionaries. 

June 6- Language study has become a big part of what we do during the day, as well as preparing our lessons for our investigator. But there was not anything that really happened that was super interesting today. 

View of the Visitor Center

June 7- Today we focused on learning the fundamentals of the gospel, especially the teachings of Christ. It is important for us to look at the teachings again and make sure that we know them so that we can teach them to others that need the help they can bring into our lives... The coolest thing that has happened was when we got to watch a broadcast from the Provo MTC , where Elder Bednar was the speaker and it was amazing !!!! He focused on how we need to teach the gospel to the individual and we need to focus on the people, not numbers or baptisms but people. Then the musical number is a song that he wrote that will published in the New Era next month.  So all of the missionaries in the MTC's from around the world heard it before it is printed for the entire church to receive.  
The title is "One By One" 

June 8- LAUNDRY day...I don't know if any one knows this or not but I have never done my own laundry, (I tried to teach her I promise) yet again had to work out how to use three machines for all five girls. trying to get all of our laundry done... So that sadly took most of the day. But then we were able to go to the Visitors Center of the temple today and that was incredible... 

Visitor Center Mexico Temple

Hermana Wenhel, Hermana Laney, ME,
Hermana Thornock and Hermana Ellingson... are in our District

The cause of Double Dragon ;)

Mexico City

Mexico City

Somethings I learned about Mexico: 

-Dogs bark all night long!!! (more than Tucker)

- Cars are consistently honking all night
- Sirens go off during the night (they say we are close to the hospital so that is why we hear them all the time) 

- Singing is another sound that graces the night as well as a sound we will lovingly call "fireworks"

(don't worry Mom, I am completely safe!!!) 

Challenge:
I challenge you to bear your testimony to someone this week, whether it is simple to your family or to someone you don't know. 
It will strengthen it I promise!! If you don't have a testimony, then I challenge you to pray to "Nuestro Padre Celestial" aloud... 

Love and Miss you all so much, 
until next week 

LOVE, Hermana Cassidy Sanovich