Week 3

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 3 (6/24/14)

Week 3 is over and I am officially half way done with the CCM. This week was pretty uneventful, so I apologize if it is a little short.

This week the new batch of missionaries came in and for some reason, they all looked so young, like a lot of them didn't even look like they could be 18. But other than that, a lot of them are really cool and they can almost all sing really well so church improved just a little bit.

I get plenty of opportunities to use my talents in the CCM. Two Sundays ago I got to play piano in sacrament meeting and this Sunday I got to play at Priesthood meeting and at the devotional at night. The Spanish Hymn book is really interesting. There are just over 200 hymns and a lot of the hymns have the same tune as in English, but the words have a completely different message. And there are also a few hymns that are unique to the Spanish Hymn book. I don't know, I just find it really interesting.

The way the CCM is built is also pretty interesting. The whole area is surrounded by this 15 foot high concrete wall and there are only 2 entrances into it. Also whenever you leave or enter the CCM, you have to give them your name and some sort of ID so the area is really secure. Talk about being in the world and not of the world. The area inside is still really nice. There's a really nice turf field that everyone plays fútbol on during our physical activity time and there is also a nice voleyball court, some basketball courts, foosball tables, and ping pong tables so we have plenty to do during activity time.

The electricity in the facility is also pretty funny. After you turn on a light switch, you hear this weird buzzing sound and it takes about 10 seconds for the light to actually turn on. Also they have a system where all of the washing machines and dryers are all connected to the same breaker so they all turn off at the same time about every 10 minutes which makes doing laundery even more fun. But all of the computers are pretty nice here. We actually have this program on the computers that we use all of the time to assist us with learning Spanish so it's kinda nice to get a break from the books and study on computers.

Our room has 6 beds, but we only were using 4 before we got Elder Allred so he just moved right in, and we still have an extra bed open. I guess I'm starting to get used to the schedule here but it is still pretty packed all of the time. I miss listening to music a lot because they don't allow any music here in the CCM but I hope I can in the field. Our mission president also visited the CCM to talk to all of the people going to Trujillo. He said that the temple will be done in about a year and we will all have the opportunity to visit it. I can't wait to get out in the field to teach the great people of Perú.

The classes we are in are starting to focus more on teaching the gospel to people rather than learning Spanish which I kinda expected about now. We have a few fake investigators that we have to teach every day to help us learn how to teach more effectively. Spanish is definitely becoming more and more easy to listen to and speak which is awesome to see how fast we are all learning, and I'm even starting to memorize a few scriptures in Spanish and I already got down the First Vision and Moroni 10: 4-5.

To close off this letter, I just want to bear my testimony in Spanish:
Yo sé que La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Últimos Días es la iglesia verdadera en la tierra. Yo sé que El Libro de Mormón estuve traducido por medio del profeta, José Smith y que él fue el primer profeta en los últimos días. También sé que Thomas S. Monson es un profeta en hoy día y que él recibe revelación por todas las personas en el mundo. Yo sé que estoy en el lugar donde debo estar y también estoy aquí por un razón. Yo quiero enseñar a toda la gente aquí y quiero que ellos pueden sentir el Espíritu Santo para saber que este Evangelio es verdadero. Yo sé que misioneros son mensajeros de Dios y digo estas cosas en el nombre de Jesucristo, Amen.

Elder Terry