MTC Week 5

This week has flown by.  It's hard to believe that I have just 9 days left in the MTC.  Well, that might not be true.  My visa hasn't come in yet so there's a chance I'll either stay here or be shipped somewhere state side.  But don't fret!  I talked with the travel office and apparently it is very common to get visas right before you have to leave.  They have yet to have a Mexico missionary not receive their visa on time.  I'm not too worried.

It finally snowed in Provo!  Like a lot.  Which is making all of us missionaries excited to get to the warm weather in Mexico. However, I'm grateful to experience at least some snow this Christmas.  I haven't been able to stop singing Christmas songs since December hit.  I've got Bing Crosby's voice bouncing around in my head and I just know my mom has the Muppet's Christmas CD playing all day, every day now.  

Spanish is slowly progressing.  Grammar is my least favorite thing.  I know a decent amount of vocabulary now so that when I go into a lesson I can make up sentences on the spot.  However, the grammar is horrible.  I just put the Spanish words where they would go in an English sentence and say, "it's good enough!  The Spirit will do the rest."  Reflexives are a pain, not to mention Imperfect and preterit.  But with practice I know I'll get it.

I've got to share this one story though.  Hermana Washburn and I were sitting in a lesson with one of our teacher investigators, Pedro.  We were committing him to be baptized (a question that I had memorized in Spanish by my third week.  Not to brag....) and he said yes!  But then asked how we baptized people in our church.  Wasn't planning for that question, not that it was bad.... I just didn't know the vocabulary.  So time to start playing charades!   "En otras iglesias toma agua y..." and I began to sprinkle imaginary water in the air.  "...pero, no en nuestra iglesia.  Agua..." and I gestured as though there were a large body of water in front of me.  And putting my arm under the imaginary water added, "..todo en agua." And repeated the motion and words multiple times... like a moron.  But Pedro got it... and decided to through another curve ball at me, asking if we baptized in a river or lake.  Well after I explained that it certainly was possible to do so, we also had another place.  Once again, with large exaggerated hand motions, out came my butchered Spanish.  "Tenemos un grande.....uh...grande...."  I could only think of one word to relate a baptismal font to, and I really didn't want to say it.  So I kept miming and saying grande over over again, hoping my teacher would be kind and give me the right word.  No such luck.  It had to come out.  "Es similar con un grande....baño."  I don't know how Pedro managed to keep a straight face.  It was the most pathetic I ever felt in a lesson.  But the message got across.  I have a feeling by the time I'm done with my mission, I could have a professional career as a mime. 

Something that I've been asked most often about my MTC experience is the difference between WC and MC.  Since WC is fairly new, no one knows much about it.  Especially since it's now all Spanish speaking.  So to make it easier on myself to respond to the repetitive question, I have complied a list, with the help of others, about things you will only find at WC.  The majority of the are either inside jokes or about Spanish.  Lo siento.

You know you're on West Campus when:

-"Hola Hermanas" sounds like a cat call.

-People insult each other with, "Como se dice _____" (ex: pride, stupid, etc.)

-You hear "Esta bein" every 5 seconds.

-The most ordinary Spanish words are used as slang.  ex: Cucio! Dulce, and enfermo.

-You play four square in giant bubbles.

-You're greeted with, "Que pasa calabaza!"

-You look forward to getting a tapeworm to lose weight.

-You wonder why someone wont laugh at your joke... then awkwardly realize they are praying.

-Every time you hear, "Vamanos!" someone starts singing Dora the Explorer songs.

-You don't rush to the bathroom after eating cafeteria food.

-You receive napkin roses from apples.

-Everyone wears red on Fridays.

And you know you're not on West Campus when people say "Hello" and you don't understand what they're saying.

So there is a little glimpse into my WC life.  It's rather great. People are great. Life is great.  The gospel is great.  And whoever's reading this, you are great.  

Oh, I almost forgot a very important addition to the list.  You know you're a missionary when you fall asleep in nearly any position.