Week 5 Adios CCM September 16, 2015

Hola!

Another week down and it's my last p-day in El Centro de Capacitacion Misional and that's a great feeling. I have to admit that I can't wait to leave this place in 5 days. The only thing I will miss is the moderate temperature of Lima, playing soccer, and being with my hilarious district every day.

My hilarious district

Highlights of the week:
So I finally got an Hermana soccer team together (which is a flat out miracle considering Hermanas don't usually play soccer). Once a few came out the join then every joined. Those Elders walked onto that field with so much confidence that they were going to kick our butts. False. We had so many girls on the field that they didn't even stand a chance. It was hilarious....kicking and screaming is the best way to describe it. Moral of the story, the Elders really hated soccer that day and whined about it. But the Hermanas had tons of fun.

In the CCM we have Spanish words to describe problems with the digestive system. They are "siempres" and "nuncas". Siempre means always and nunca means never, I think it's pretty obvious what means what. We'll be sitting in class and an Elder will get up and sprint out of the room and the teacher will look at us a little confused and we'll say, "Oh, he has the siempres" and our teacher will say something in spanish like "Oh poor thing". I've heard that when you get the nuncas really bad Hermana Gonzalez will give you a magic pill that cleans you out. But I'm proud to say that I've made it 6 whole weeks without getting sick. No siempres or nuncas for me!

Success!

The other day my rooms and I decided to peek up into the ceiling panels and take a look around. Much to our surprise we discovered a note and 2 packs of cookies! The note was from the Hermanas in our room that left August 10th to the field. (That's the same day that we left our respective homes to journey to Peru) The note talked about all of the legendary stuff they did while they were here. But my favorite part: "Last but not least, don't be afraid of anything. Don't be afraid to open your mouth, don't be afraid of your comps, don't be afraid of Spanish, don't be afraid to ask your Elders for blessings. Your time here will go fast and you'll soon be writing your own legend to the next group of Hermanas! Go forward with faith! Love your Savior and share your testimony and time you get the chance!"

Letter hidden in the ceiling

So I'm off to the field soon and I'm super excited. I know it's going to be hard but I feel like I've hit a point where my progress in the CCM has plateaued and there's nothing left for me here. I love the feeling of progression and I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Love,
Hermana Ingram

This is Elder Obrien. I think he looks a lot like my brother Harrison.

Week 4 Proselyting September 9, 2015

My district at the temple

One whole month down!

So the highlight of this past week was definitely proselyting. Everyone in the Lima CCM gets the opportunity to go proselyting on their 4th week. On saturday we boarded big old dusty tour buses and drove about 45 minutes out to the Lima South Mission. Preparatory to leaving we were told not to wear any jewelry and to dress simple. Apparently Lima South is the most ghetto mission in Lima and there are a lot of areas in that mission where sisters aren't allowed. I'd say Lima south is definitely on the ghetto side. It was a complete concrete jungle and very dirty. No offense to the residents in Lima South but the place was an eye sore. If you made it the whole day without stepping in dog poop it was an accomplishment. There wasn't ever a point where I felt nervous but one of the Latinas seemed to be really protective over my comp and I. She made sure to always walk behind me on the streets and made comments that the Latino men like our blonde hair and light skin. That was very apparent by the amount of catcalling that we were so "happy" to receive. Guys would whistle or make loud kissing and hissing noises, some yelled out of cars "sweetie I love you!" It was irritating to say the least and I always looked straight ahead and pretended to be completely unaware.

Hermana Ingram and Hermana Spainhower

So my comp and I were with 3 Latina missionaries. Two were from the CCM and the other was a sister who had been in the Lima South Mission for 6 months. We spent about 3 hours walking the streets and contacting people or knocking on doors. It was honestly super difficult because I understood maybe 15% of what was said. The spanish at the CCM is not real spanish at all. But I did get to bear my testimony a few times and I only broke out into a small sweat. When our leader missionary looked at me and raised her eyebrows twice I knew I had to start talking and it took a lot of courage because the spotlight is on you and you don't even remember how to say Hola. I was never completely sure as to what the leader missionary was teaching the people so I was afraid to bear my testimony on something and for it to be completely off topic. But I bore my testimony and it came straight from my heart. It doesn't sound as terrifying as it is in reality.

I drew this in my spare time

In a talk given by Elder Holland he stated that the adversary does not have the power to take our lives. When Joseph Smith was praying in the sacred grove to find out which church he should join the adversary would have very much enjoyed taking Joseph's life. But he does not have that power, so he did the next best thing. He bound his tongue so that he could not speak. I know that fear is not from God and that if I do not speak because of fear I am a waste of space in the mission field. So I might just have to steal Hailey's motto and use "20 seconds of insane courage" as my own.

Being able to shadow a sister missionary in the field was an awesome experience but more than anything it was a wake up call. We are definitely babied in the CCM and I don't know how ready I am for the real world in 13 days, but Im excited.

I miss music, the Wasatch front, the view from my house, and being with everyone that I love! Im super happy to be here it's a ton of fun and a lot more work but I love the opportunity I haver to serve.

-Hermana Ingram