its been a pretty eventful week!

we had two earthquake drills! one was an actual earthquake in puebla, the city next to us!

we have been in a solo español week with our district, and its awesome how much we have learned!

have you ever thought about your blessing of language? like being able to hear, understand, and reply in a language in matter of seconds? i have found a new appreciation of that this week! it very hard to try to understand and reply in spanish and it takes a long time, but im getting there!!

we also got a new district in our zone! there are awesome! and hma Fifta and I were appointed to be like..their tutors i guess haha so everynight we hang out with them and help them with their spanish!

other than that its been pretty much the same..my thumb feels a bit better but i still have to be careful when playing sports! and this weekend we get to watch womens conference and next week is general conference! we get to watch it in spanish! im super excited! it will also be my last sunday here.

i got to see meet the mormons for the first time haha and everyone was like "youre from utah, why havent you seen it?" haha

and i would like to share with you guys some things i have found in my personal study!

i was reading in Mosiah. and in chapter 4 verse 29 it talks about how there are so many different ways to sin, that we cannot count them. but then in 30 it talks about exactly what we need to do to return to our Heavenly Father. it kinda strengthen my belief of the commandments and our purpose here on earth. there is one way to receive eternal salvation and God has given us that way. and it will never change. all we need to do is obey. then in chapter 5 verse 8,10,and 15 we learn more about this. and i wish i could talk more about this, but im out of time! but i encourage you guys to take a look at these chapters and ask yourself if there is anything in your life keeping you from being obedient.

anyway thank you for all your support! i love you all!!

Hermana Sarah Spackman

so this week i got to experience what mexican medical care was like. 

i hurt my thumb playing volleyball during gym time..but just kinda brushed it off until we were done playing. (because gym time is too important to sit out) haha then after we were done i realized that my thumb was super swollen, so i went to the enfermia in the ccm to get ice..but when they saw my thumb they said i needed an x ray..however it was on monday which was a national holiday here so the lab was closed and they just wrapped it up and told me to come back the next day. 

the next morning me and my comp got to leave the ccm, which is rare haha

we pulled into this parking lot and the "lab" was literallyright next to a mcdonalds haha...we walk in and it was very different than anything you would see in usa.. everyone was in matching "doctor lab coats" and all the girls had high heels and mini skirts on haha... we had to take a number and wait for it to be called. while we were waiting, i was definetly feeling like the minority, and this nurse was walking around with a tray full of like test tubes full of liquid right in front of all the people waiting..it was kinda sketchy haha and i kept thinking of that one psych episode where they have the tubes full of that deadly virus..haha anyway.. once it was our turn we got up to get my x rays taken and i thought our driver (and one of the teachers at the ccm) was going to come with us, but he didnt...he just smiled and gave us a thumbs up. luckily hna fifita was with me!

then i realized that i dont actually know spanish yet...the doctor kept talking to me and i had no idea what he was saying, but i did know how to say my thumb feels bad haha so thats good. and if he wanted to know about the plan of salvation, i was set haha :)

but anyway..my thumb is not broken..i never thought it was..but they wanted to be sure haha

so they gave me some super strong pain meds and i have been fine! haha except all the teachers know and so i got in trouble for playing basketball.. so i cant do too much during gum time...which is sad...but i will get over it haha

so there was the highlight of my week haha...other than that everything has been great! still learning how to preach the gospel in spanish! one of our investigators asked if it was okay to have two wives at once, so i am now learning the vocab for the law of chastity haha so thats been..fun! ;) three weeks down and three to go!! 

the weather here has been crazy!! one minute its summer paradise then next we are running through a windy rain and hail storm!! its awesome!!

i hope everything is going well! and sorry this was kinda long!!

Alma 26 has been my go to chapter this week! i dare you all to read it!! :)

i love you all!! :)

Hermana Sarah Spackman

Week 2

today we go tot go to the temple grounds! it was so pretty! i could spend all day there!! the visitors center was super nice and had so many cool exhibits! it was awesome!

last sunday i gave my first talk in espanol! what they do is just have everyone prepare a five minute talk and then they call you to speak from the pulpit ha...so i was crazy nervous! i spoke about how we need to follow the example of joseph smith when we have questions. we need to study el escrituras, orar (pray), y act on the respuestas (answers) we recieve!

and this sunday me and hermana fifta are doing a musical number! so thats exciting..haha

i am growing to love my district so much! i am so grateful for them! and for nuestros maetros! (our teachers) remember andrea? nuestro investigador? so obviously she wasnt a real investigador, (sorry i forgot how to spell in english haha) but we thought she was just a volunteer, but she is now one of our teachers!! at first it was kinda awkward but now I love her! we now have two more investigadores for this week!

this week, i feel like i have learned a lot about la expiacion (the atonement) which has always been dear to my heart. just as we have been teaching it and seeing how much comfort it brings to people, when they know that they dont have to live with guilt and sorrow. and to know that jesucristo suffered specifically for each of us is just unimaginable. it makes me want to become as close as i possibly can to Christ. 

besides studying we play beach volleyball lmost everyday! and it is way fun! and when we dont do that we go and play basketball with some latina hermanas and they help us with our spanish! its awesome how there are not that many people here so we get to know everyone really well! i love it!

anyway i love you all! have a great week! Hermana Spackman

hola! 

i dont have a lot of time, so i am going to send out one big email and then hopefully have time to answer you guys individually :) Thank you so much for the emails, it was great to hear from you on my first p-day! and sorry i cant figure out how to capitalize on this keyboard..there are a lot of keys that are different than our english ones

so..where to begin?? it has been such an eventful week! haha

 mi compenera is hermana fifita. she is number 6 out of 14 kids in her family!! she is half samoan and half tongan! hopefully i spelt those right! anyway she is amazing and such a hard worker! i am soo grateful for her! she keeps me on task and we have learned so much together! and she is also going to the washington everett mission!! 

We had the opportunity to teach our first investigator this past week! her name is Andrea! it was soo scary teaching her the first time cause it was only our second day! but by the third visit she committed to baptism and i just love the feeling we would get during and after a good lesson! and i cant wait to teach more! yes, it is hard because we dont know that much vocab, but we are getting better and we are able to bare testimony and teach lessons in spanish! 

Its crazy how much spanish we have actually learned! and i know that we wouldnt have learned so much without the help of the Lord and the constant spirit that is here. Our first sunday, fast sunday, all the newbies had to bare our testimonies..i think it went well, but i felt like a little kid, you know? i know the book of mormon is true...i know my family is eternal...the easy things that i knew how to say haha

our teachers are incredible!! all of them actually went to school here and now they are teaching! they are so funny and great at inviting the spirit through their lessons! and even if we dont understand some of what they are saying, we still feel how strong their testimonies are...i love it! and the campus is gorgeous!! there are lots of palm trees and the grass is perfect!! and the people here are all so friendly! its great! we are surrounded by the city and its really cool to see all the colorful houses up on the hills around us! and at night, when all the lights from the city are on, its soo pretty! we also get to hear all the noises from the city...parties, fireworks, music, sirens and fun stuff like that at all times of the day!

sorry this is a pretty long email...i just have so much i want to tell you guys!!

im going to tell you guys about my first encounter with a native spanish speaker haha...we had just gotten off the plane and gone through customs. we were waiting for someone to come get us and some of the hermanas needed to use the restroom so i went with them, there were only two stalls so i was waiting.. this girl probably a little older than me came in and saw that there were no stalls and started dancing around like she really really needed to use the restroom haha...when one opened up i turned to her, she was still dancing haha, and asked "¿usted primero?" (you first?) haha and said something really fast that i didnt understand then said "si! muchas gracias!!" and ran into the stall haha it was such a little thing but i thought it was kind of funny and thought i would share with ya :) 

the food is...pretty good...sometimes i dont know what i am eating but i eat it anyway cause i am so hungry haha...the weirdest thing so far was a breakfast meal. it was like tortillas drenched in spaghetti sauce ha it tasted like soggy chips! but i ate it haha there really isnt much to complain about...i love it here!  i was dissapointed about one thing though...the mexico city temple is closed until september...so we wont get to go inside, but we will go to the grounds and the visitors center! so thats good!

i hope everything is going well!! i pray for you guys more than once a day ( and not just because "please bless my family and friends" was the first thing i learned how to pray for in spanish haha) I love y'all! sorry my roommate is from texas and it just makes sense haha :) love y'all!

2 nephi 31:3 stuck out to me now that i am a missionary learning spanish, in case you guys wanted to know! :)

talk to you next week!

hermana spackman