Adios Mexico Yuhhhh

Hola Hola 

Update: This was my last week at the CCM. I got my flight plans woohoo!!! I leave for Santiago Monday July 18 at 9 pm and will arrive Tuesday July 19 at 7am. So stoked. It is even more fun because so many other missionaries are leaving the CCM this week and going to Chile as well so it will be a plane full of over 20 missionaries all traveling to different parts of Chile! 

Besides being sad about leaving my district and being constantly surrounded by a bunch of 18-20 year olds dedicating the next year and a half to two years to God (IT IS SO UPLIFTING AND FUN), I am ready to go. I feel too comfortable here and feel stuck in my growth. I am so excited to progress, but know I can't grow or fulfill my purpose as a missionary in my comfort zone. As my parents have always taught me, "there is no growth in the comfort zone and no comfort in the growth zone". 

I have been extremely blessed to get to know the people that work here. From this sweet little lady named Blanca who serves me fruit each day to doing yard work with Jorge and hearing about his life stories, I have so much love for the people here. I am starting to identify the difference between love and Godly love.      

Today I got to go to the Mexico City Center temple with some other missionaries. It was an amazing experience. The session was all in Spanish which made it even more spiritual. I also understood more than I thought I would. I am so grateful that I have the Santiago temple in my mission boundaries. The temple truly is the house of the Lord here on earth. Even the grounds have such a sweet spirit. 

Anyways... recently worms have been crawling out of the food. There has actually only been two, but that has really held me back from trying everything. Elder Smyth and I cracked one too many jokes about worms and made a Hermana (name disclosed) projectile vomit in the cafeteria. We had mixed emotions of uncontrollable laughter and Godly sorrow. Now my diet consists of Mexican candy, Rice Krispy treats, Japanese peanuts, and melon. A solid worm free diet. I have successfully remained gluten free, however, I have heard Chilean bread is scrumdiddly so I will keep you updated if gluten remains out of my diet for long. 

Scripture: 2 Nephi 31:20 (Book of Mormon)

Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

I feel like I never have enough time in the day to get everything I need to get done finished. I sometimes feel like an inadequate missionary. I have also felt this outside missionary life. It is so easy to lose sight of our purpose and potential. 

I love this scripture because it reminds me to press forward with a steadfastness in Christ. In other words, show unwavering faith in Him and obedience to His commandments. It is essential to put Christ in the center of our lives. Every action should be how he would act. Once we begin to act, we need to continue to have faith and hope that he will guide us to fulfill our purposes. 

After I read this verse, I took studying the scriptures much more seriously. I wasn't just studying, I began to feast on the words of Christ and follow what they told me to do. Our prophet, Russel M. Nelson said, “To feast means more than to taste. To feast means to savor. We savor the scriptures by studying them in a spirit of delightful discovery and faithful obedience. When we feast upon the words of Christ, they … become an integral part of our nature.”

Though I still am looking for ways I can grow to become a better missionary and disciple of Christ, I have found a lot of peace and hope through the scriptures that have led me to 

1. Remember to put Christ as the center of my thoughts and actions

2. Find ways to serve God and others 

3. Remain vocally and internally faithful and hopeful through bearing testimony and saying prayers of thanks often 

Highs- 

• Temple trip 
• Singing I Know My Redeemer Lives in our branch Sacrament meeting and in the MTC choir
• Greeting new missionaries Wednesday night and sharing my testimony with them 
• Studying the Visitation of Christ to the Americas in Spanish with Hermana Opager (3 Nephi in the Book of Mormon)
• VOLLEYBALL ofc 
• Killing bugs in class 
• Eating 7 Rice Krispies in four hours 
• Laughing a lot this week 
• Moufie (aka my mother tracy) sent me and the hermanas in my district the most ugly shirts and we are obsessed with them 
• We keep getting told my the teachers and other districts we are the best overall district 
• Elder Jarvis letting me wear his sunglasses for 10 seconds 

Lows- 

• I keep having the craziest most stressful/realistic dreams so it feels like I never actually rest and then I sometimes close my eyes in class without even realizing and might take a tiny snooze oops 
• VERB CONJUGATION IS SO CONFUSING 

Tell someone why you love them. 

Hermana Pickett