Aug 22, 2019, "I like your plate"

This week I found learning Spanish to be a little bit more frustrating. I have started to understand people when they speak and I want so desperately to reply to people but I am just not there yet. I made friends with one of the Latina Hermanas here, Hermana Yaliz (her companion speaks both fluent english and spanish and knew my companion at BYU so we talk to each other alot) and we have had super long conversations in spanish that have really helped me put some of my limited knowledge of the language to work. Hermana Yaliz does not know very much english and so communication can be difficult but it is beneficial to both of us as she wants to learn english and I want to learn spanish. We spent one evening just running around and pointing to different things and teaching each other the name for the thing in our native language. Hermana Yaliz is super fun and i absolutely love talking to her... we have had a few pretty good laughs over miscommunications. 

Speaking of miscommunications, my companion tried to tell our latina roommate that she liked her skirt...but she said plato...meaning plate... instead of falda...meaning skirt!

Being Sister Training Leaders has proved to be kinda difficult because we can not speak the language fluently yet. So Latina sisters will come to us for help and we cant respond or help out as well as we would like to. However we give hugs to all the sisters that we talk to and i have learned to really appreciate those hugs. Before I came out on my mission I had a really hard time hugging people haha, i just never liked hugs, but now i really really love giving them to the sisters we talk to because it is a simple way I can show love to them despite not being able to completely communicate with them. 

We can show love for people in little ways like that all the time. Even if we speak the same language it can be hard to communicate with others, especially those you love most. i have become especially aware this week of the little things people do all the time to show love for others. I am trying to find little ways, like hugs haha, to show love for my companion and people that I teach and interact with.

Everyone working here at the CCM, paid or senior missionary, student or staff, is so kind and loving! This week we had to make a midnight run to the reception desk for a doctor because one of the girls in our apartment was having some issues breathing. As we waited for the doctor my companion and i began speaking with the man working at the front desk that night. We thanked him for being so helpful and patient in the midst of our panic and without even thinking about it he told us (in Spanish so this might not be a perfect translation) that it was no trouble because he loved us and that we and all the other missionaries were like children to him. This really hit me! This man barely knew us but was referring to us and comforting us like we were his daughters. I want to exude that exact type of love to the people i teach and get to know on my mission!

Today we were able to visit the Mexico City Temple! It was so beautiful there and it was amazing to attend a session in Spanish and I got to finish the work for a family name that I started in Seattle so that was pretty cool too! 

ok funny story... Hermana Nelson and I were locked out of our room last night and could not run down to reception because we had just gotten out of the shower and our clothes were in our room... so we just had to wait in the bathroom until one of our roommates found us! Hermana Nelson is amazing and I love her so much!!

Have a wonderful week everyone! I love you all! Here is a scripture that helped me this week: Alma 26:11-12

Hermana Allen