Personals
This was my last week at CCM and it had me reflecting on some of my favorite jokes that we made over the course of our stay here. The one I don't want to forget is "perfect [name]." One of the Elders not in my district but lived in the same Casa would talk about his girlfriend Jane all the time. One night as he was talking about her one of the Elders snapped and said, "PERFECT JANE! WALK ON WATER JANE!" Then another Elder followed it up with more absurd claims, like "Perfect Jane, first man to receive the Priesthood Jane" and so forth. After that anytime someone talked about their significant other you would pretend to seethe and say "Perfect [insert name]" then [an absurd claim]".
One day me and my companions were talking about Helen Keller who my companions believe is not real (she is by the way), and Hermana LeBaron started talking about Hermana Umaña's boyfriend Boogie by saying, "Perfect Boogie! First blind woman to fly an airplane Boogie!"
Anyways, as I'm leaving I'm just happy to reflect on the good times and all the fun jokes we had. This is one I think I'll be getting some mileage out of even after the CCM...
Sports
Last Playa V :(
We played our last game of Beach Volleyball on Saturday and it was sad. I'll miss playing every day, but at least I'll have the chance to get real exercise, now that I'm not spending all my exercise time standing trying to avoid people moving into my space to hit the ball since I can't.
I did do a lot of ball fetching in the trench. One side of the sand volleyball pit has this massive mud pool that sinks your whole feet and ankles into solid water when you step in it. I went over in the trench like five times to fetch the ball and now I'm regretting it.
Ponds are like a breeding ground for mosquitoes, so when I went to fetch the ball all those times I was stepping right in mosquito territory. I have 5 bites on one foot and 7 on the other. It itches like crazy. Luckily, by my travel day the itching had died down a little, but there was one night where I couldn't sleep at all because I was so itchy.
I also got really sunburned. But you gotta burn before you tan right? I'll come back either a whole new person, or with skin cancer. It will be exciting to find out which.
Final week at the CCM
It's hard to say goodbye, but I'm really excited to enter the field. Everyone in my district was so amazing and taught me so much and I love them all. It's especially hard to leave my companions even though being in a trio was really difficult. I love these girls so much and I've made so many great memories here.
It's hard to believe that this is the part of the mission I'll forget so much about, but I'll always be excited to look back at these posts and remember the good times and good stories. If I had to share a piece of advice it would be to Journal.
Having a time each week and every day to write a little about my experiences has given me a chance to reflect and gives me an opportunity to look back in the future for me or my descendents. I think it's been a help to me to remember to focus on the good times, because those are the ones you'll remember most.
I'm excited for the future and I'm excited to look back and see how far I've come.
Crime
I'm feeling really optimistic for the mission after one of our CCM teachers, Hermano Lozano, shared the story of being kidnapped by the cartel on his mission. He served in Mexico and he told us about the time he was put with a recently new American kid as his companion when he was about halfway through his mission.
He and the newbie went to an area at a time of day they knew they weren't supposed to because of how much cartel activity there was around that time. As they were walking, a large van pulled in front of them and a guy with a gun on his chest who was driving told them to get in the van. So they got in the van.
The guy questioned them about who they were and why they were there and Hermano Lozano told him about how they were missionaries and the guy said he didn't believe him. Lozano said the American kid was really scared, but Lozano was just praying in his head that they'd be okay.
The van eventually pulled up to a "store" where the guy bought a "brick". Lozano said they watched the guy partake of the brick and then get back in the van and start driving again. A couple minutes later the guy told them he believed that they were just missionaries and told them to get out of the van.
Lozano and his companion did and then they walked home. Lozano said he was grateful that the guy had dropped them off closer to their apartment. Also he said he never told his mission president that they got kidnapped because "stuff like that happens."
Anyways Bahía Blanca is much safer, but if I get kidnapped by a cartel I'll let you know.
This Late Entry of my Blog is Brought to you by COPA
We woke up at 12:30 am, took our van to the airport at 2 am and took our first flight to Panama at 5:50 am. They gave us churros and fruit though which was awesome. And I got a window seat so I got to look out over the ocean we flew over which was awesome. I even managed to sleep like 2 of the 4 hours so I felt good after it.
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| Churro plane snack? Delightful! |
Our layover in Panama was so fun! We had almost 2 hours to kill since our next gate was literally the one right next to where we landed. We took pictures in front of the Olive Garden, but ended up eating at a pizza place cause it was cheaper. I got to try a Pepperoni Calzone which was super yummy!
Our 7 hour flight felt ages long, but I got Chicken and pasta, so it was basically like I got to go to Olive Garden anyways. I listened to the whole Saturday session of General Conference when I couldn't sleep and actually got some cool insights out of it which made the time feel productive. Me and Elders Painter and Jensen had fun together, even though Jensen was asleep 90% of the time.
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| Not Olive Garden, but close enough... |
The end of the flight was amazing. For like 10 minutes we were in complete darkness, it was so foggy. Then all of the sudden with no warning the lights of the city appeared under us and we were out of the dark. The whole plane let out gasps and oohs. It was magical, and it feels so representative of the role Christ plays in my life.
Grateful to be in Argentina finally! Bahía Blanca here I come!
Funnies
Hermana Umaña was really scared this spider would crawl in her suitcase. The spider was bigger in real life I promise.
(Spider video link coming soon)
Chocolate Milk Standings (a humble nod to the Olympics)
Grant - 13
Storm - 12
Wittwer - 9
Walsh - 5
Solomon - 5
Swensen - 5
Voss - 4
Brown - 2
LeBaron - 2
Eldredge - 2
Other Elders who helped -
Yeah, Storm threw up so hard he started crying. Lesson learned: 12 chocolate milks is too many.
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