Week #2 Hola from the CCM

Week #2

Hola from the CCM!!                                  1/26/2016  Mexico

Hermana Paredes with her fellow sisters
I´m going to keep the is email very short and sweet so here it goes!

Classes are going well and I am so grateful for the years of Spanish I had...so very grateful! haha!

My district is fantastic! They are the most fun and spiritual group I have ever been with! We are always finding ways to help each other out with the language such as we make up games. Yesterday we played Caliente papa....not sure if  that´s how you spell it but oh well.  Basically we have english words on note cards and who ever the papa lands on they have to say the word is Spanish! If you say the wrong Spanish word you are out!  It got a bit crazy! hahah! My companion is the sweetest thing! She is from Franklin, Tennessee and her mission is Fresno, California! We have seriously bonded over these two weeks! I just love her!!  We are the only ones currently in the CCM going to Cali!! So weird... hopefully we get more Cali people this coming Wednesday! I´m loving teaching our Investigators! Its amazing how even though we don´t know this language really well we can still teach by the Holy Ghost (the holy ghost is how we know if things are true, it usually comes as a warm fuzzy feeling!) I´m so excited for our two new investigators!! Nancy and Ivan! Such sweet spirits! (They are already members but they volunteered to be taught so that we could practice)

Spiritual moment: This week I got to meet the most courageous and Christ-like women I have ever meet in my life. (I will not put her name in this email out of respect and privacy)  She is an Hermana in our zone and early this week she was admitted into the hospital. She had already been to the hospital before because she kept on having fainting spells so I believe this was either her second or third time in the hospital. I was asked to be her companion for one of the days this week... I don´t remember exactly what day. I met her and she was glowing! I didn´t know that morning that this young women was going to change the way I looked at this. We were on our way back from doing a couple of test in the hospital when the male nurse who was pushing the Hermana´s wheelchair started to question us about our beliefs. I told him that we believe in Dois el Eternal Padre, and in his son Jesucristo, and el Espirito Santo. 

He then started to question us how we know god existed and we tried to answer in our broken spanish. It soon became apparent to me that this man did not want to learn, he only wanted to argue so I thanked him for his opinion and bore my testimony thinking that was the end of that but right before he left, he said "you do not know Dois really exists." and walked out of the room! I was so stunned! 

All of the sudden La Hermana started to cry. I thought she was crying because of the huge possibility of her being sent home but the words that came out of her mouth will forever be engraved in my brain. "I feel so sorry for that man, he does know that his heavenly father loves him." This is this girl´s second time in the hospital, in a new country, facing the possibility of going home and she chooses to cry for this man! She had so many other things she could of cried over but she showed compassion to someone that had just told her that she didn´t know God existed! That is when her countenance changed. Though she was lying in a hospital bed as sick as she could be...she glowed and she was (for lack of a better word) beautiful! I was so blessed to feel the sweet spirit she brought to that hospital! She is home now but I know that god still has a work and a wonder for her to perform in Yakima, Washington. She is on the errand of angels!

There are miracles happening her in the CCM. Hearts and lives are being changed for the better and I am so grateful I get to be part of this work

Love you all,

Hermana Paredes

over and out

I love the view of the houses in the background.  Sofia with her Sistahs!

Week #1

1/19/2016

Oh my gosh! It has almost been a week already! Wow! Time goes fast when you are in the service of The Lord! Okay quick summary of the flight here. Boarded first plane : arrived in Huston Texas. I literally had to run to catch my second flight! Its was on the other side of the freaking airport!! (am I still aloud to say freaking?) Boarded second plane to realize that there were only Elders on my flight....well this is going to be awkward. Listened to my music the whole time and then we arrived I headed strait over to the Elders because Missionaries should never travel alone. At first they really kept their distance but when they realized that I was the only one who could speak Spanish all of the sudden the wanted to be buddy buddies. hahah! The would always say we are with her whenever one of the Latinos tried to speak to them! So funny! 

Okay funny moment of the week:  It was our second day in the CCM and we were still all trying to get our bearings. All the sisters in my zone were at breakfast in the Comador trying all this new wierd but tasty food. One of the Hermanas, Hermana Nelson, grabbed this weird pudding concoction and she realized it was pretty bland. So la Hermana, being the creative problem solver she is, she decided to put some cream in it to sweeten it. The thing you need to know about us greengas is that we can´t read spanish...at least not yet so the poor Hermana accidentally put sour cream instead of regular cream but she was cool about it and told us "Nothing a little sugar can´t fix!" So she went back to the buffet and poured in what she thought was sugar. It was SALT! haha! It was so funny to watch the chiefs look of horror as Hermana Nelson ruined his masterpiece. He actually chased her down as she was heading back to the table!! haha! He took the pudding from her and replaced it with a new one and that was the end of that. Oh it made our stressed filled day! 

My birthday was amazing! My companion, roommates and zone made sure I didn´t have a moment of saddness! They spread the word around the CCM that it was my birthday so all day I had random strangers come up to me and say "Oh so you are Hermana Paredes, Feliz cumple anos!" It was so sweet! And later that day we got back from a devotional and our district wanted to study outside but our district leader (Elder Atkins) wouldn´t let us! Was a bit upset about that but we were obident and we returned to our assigned classroom. Not even five minutes into Studying we hear a knock on the door and my whole zone piles into the room. Everyone was really confused...except to for Elder Atkins. He told me to stand up. I was so wierded out! I thought I was in trouble for sure!! (let me say one thing so that you understand...I´m pretty slow on connecting things! haha!) So if you haven´t figured it out already...I wasn´t in trouble, they just came to sing happy birthday to me! Sweetest thing ever! (and I found out later that Elder Atkins had to talked to all of them the night before and told them to spread the word that it was my birthday AND had arranged for them to come and sing to me. BEST DISTRICT LEADER EVER!!!) By they way! thank you all for the birthday wishes! That very much brightened my day!! 

Okay on to the Spiritual Stuff!! Whoop Whoop!!! Our zone got to group teach an investigator and WOW....the spirit was so thick you could cut it with knife! It was incredible! I have had so many experiences that were like that this week. This gospel is incredible! Everyone here has a countenance about them...I have yet to meet someone who doesn´t! Sunday was the best! In relief society we talk about consecrating ourselves to the Lord. I wish I had brought my book with me! I took tons of notes!! Anyways, consecrating. Giving everything, a 110% of your effort to him! It totally reaffirmed to me why I am here. I´m so grateful to be here. I´m going to share some of the things I learned in the devotional I attended by Elder Bednard. A saint reaches out, while the natural man reaches in. Christ was always reaching out! Stretching forth his hand to everyone. Even in his darkest moment, the atonement, he reached at to his disciples who fell asleep while he was in the garden suffering, Instead of reprimanding them he let them sleep. When the guards came to take him away and Peter slew off the ear of that one guard, Christ didn´t let that guard suffer...he healed his ear. He would have been so justified to just not care but he did! He know this was the same person who was coming to take him away to be crucified but still he cared! Our savior is amazing! So selfless! I´m going to take on the challenge that Elder Bednard set forth. Get a book of Mormon. Write a question in the front of the book and then highlight everything that you read in the book of Mormon that answers that question! My question is going to be "How can I better serve my fellow man?" I challenge you guys to do the same! 

If any of you want to send me a letter, send it here. letter@mtcmexicocarepackage.com and put the subject as Hermana Paredes  District #8B

If you would like to send a snail-mail letter send it to: (The address is like a letter by itself)

Sister Sofia Paredes

California Sacramento Mission

Mexico Missionary Training Center

Carretera Tenayuca-Chalmita #828

Colonia Zona Escolar, Gustavo A.Madero

07230 Mexico City, Distrito Federal  Mexico

I love you all!

Hermana Paredes 

p.s. I´ll send pictures of my district next time

Hermana Paredes and ?companion?

Lovely Hermanas in the Mexico MTC

???? It was prep-day...notice the clothes.
That is all I know


.

Safe and Sound

We received this letter from Sister Paredes Wednesday evening.

Hey, I'm still alive and breathing! The flight was good! No problems here!!! Sorry, I didn't call earlier! I had to run from the Huston flight to the Mexico flight! It was craziness!! The MTC is huge!! and I have a district already and two Elders that I met on the plane are in my same district!!! YEAH!! Friends already! So I totally was the only sister on my flight so I have been companionless....hopefully I meet her soon. My P days are on Tuesday so expect to get my next email then! I love you guys! Don't let my siblings take over my room to soon! 

Love, 

Hermana Paredes

P.S. that is so cool to say!!!