CCM: 4 weeks down, 2 to go!

Alright, so this week (or couple of days) has been very monotonous...but I'll still write :)  The reason we are writing early is every 2 weeks the CCM is deep cleaned and all Elders must be gone...so we went to the market. :) :)  It was super fun...but that's why :)

Oh, fun news of the week...one of my teachers is pregnant!!!  :)  The one that served in Peru :) :)  Super exciting!!  :)

This week has been challenging...the language I feel isn't coming too well and I'm getting a little discouraged :/  Then in talking to Pres Pitcher he told me something that just changed my perspective completely...he said, "One of the many tactics Satan uses is discouragement...he hates, hates, hates that you are here and on the Lord's errand, he hates it...I would take it as a good sign and a strength to you to know that he has to pull out discouragement out of his arsenal of weapons to TRY to get to you...you're supposed to be here and you will be protected!"  It was pretty cool and changed my perspective quickly!! :)  Well, I can't believe that I'm now one of the older Elders at the CCM and that I leave in 2 WEEKS!!!  Ahhh!!

With love,

Your elder toda dia, cada dia,

Elder Cornflakes

The streets of Guatemala City on our way to market

My first trip to Wendy's in Guatemala City...probably won't be the last!

Huge relief map of Guatemala...Can you find Quetzaltenango?

CCM details

So, to answer your questions about the CCM...

What are your surroundings like?
-bedroom==shared by 8 guys, and our room only has 6 closets that's fun...
-classrooms==imagine a small box...cut it in half...then place 14 missionaries in it...that's what our classroom feels like...but really take the yw room with all the dividers open and that's our class room.
-chapel==3 classrooms with the dividers open
-cafeteria==think cultural hall full of 50 sweaty missionaries eating questionable food... :)
-gym==all outdoor and then a small indoor place with like 5 machines
-grounds==looks like a prison :), but I know it's for my safety, and they are very small
-temperatures & humidity inside & out==not as bad as i'd thought it would be...70 degrees is now FREEZING!!!
-smells==like Costa Rica :)
-sounds==lots of semitrucks using their engine breaks and then lots of sirens and honking...
-bathrooms & showers==4 stalls, 4 showers and the shower heads are at 4 foot nothin...

Explain your class setting for us...
-Native instructors?==yes my teacher got back from SLC mission in February and is now teaching...not married...our other teacher served in Peru and learned English strictly from reading the Book of Mormon in Ingles...and she's married
-room setup==a set of bunk beds, 4 closets, a set of bunk beds, the window. then on the other wall the exact same set up except only 2 closets
-room size==they are an okay size, about the size of the class rooms.
-# of students==8 guys to a room, 14 people in my district
-study materials==Spanish for missionaries, spanish for missionaries: grammer and vocab, grammer book, and then pamphlets in Espanol
-suggested learning tips you have found work well===FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS because then you can have fun later :)

My system is finally getting used to the food...all water comes in water cooler jugs and we drink from those.  The water bottles are purification bottles (i.e. drawing from the river) for later use.

I now have a buzz cut, can you believe that!!  They strapped me to the chair and shaved it alllll off... dahhhhhhhhhhhhh ;) haha jk :) but I really do have a buzz cut...

Sorry about the spelling and grammer... I keep mixing up spanish and ingles and then I'm typing fast on an all Spanish keyboard...presents it's own challenges... :)

My companion is a really spiritual guy and is mas o menos good at the language...

Interesting note:  Taylor Shepard from Viewmont swimming is here on his mission and Elder Landon Ward from Viewmont is in my district going to Xela :)

Oh, so fun story...a couple days ago we were out at sports and saw these little fingers poking through the fence...so we went and checked it out...it was a little (7 años) Guatemalan kid, so we talked to him for a little while about soccer and school...that was fun :)

Alrightie, so the market was anticlimatic...but it was good to get out of the CCM :)

Also last week we had a Q/A with missionaries and the area president Presidente Duncan...it was one of the most spiritual meetings I've been in...it was crazy!! :) Then yesterday his first counselor came and spoke as well :)

Well, love you guys lots!! hope everything is going well!

Love,
Elder Flake

Aaaah #7 bottom bunk...home sweet home

My district going to the market in Guatemala City

Pics from Mom at home

Hey Hirschi Family!!  It's the official "Cup Ceremony" at the Hideout
(done while Jaedon was already in Guatemala at the CCM.
But Jaedon decorated his own cup before he left.)

Crazy family tradition...wait, do you mean "crazy family" or
"crazy tradition"???  BOTH!!  (Missionaries hang a cup on the
antlers at the summer cabin for 2 years...Kevan, did you start this?)

"Ingles Fast"

August 4, 2014

We have p-day tomorrow but we're going into town and the market so we have to write today...sorry. BUT, next week I have p-day and writing on Wed :)  And I'll send some pictures.

So this week has had a lot of ups and downs, but I'm still smiling and made it through it! :) Was sick again for a couple days....but feeling better now :) Also, this week we taught ALL of our lessons COMPLETELY in Spanish, that was hard....but I could tell afterwards that I'm starting (just starting) to get the language. Hopefully it's like a bell curve and I hit the sharp incline soon in my progression of learning Spanish...we'll see :)
 

My district decided to set some goals last Tuesday: to memorize the first vision and missionary objectives in Spanish and to spend all Thursday morning until lunch only speaking Spanish! It went really well and I learned a lot! Then our teacher on Friday, who didn't know about Thursday morning, challenged us all to do an "Ingles Fast" so then we spent 24 hours only in Spanish! THAT WAS SUPER HARD! I realized just how much language is a part of our lives and how frustrating it is to not be able to express one's self. But we made it through and I know that the Lord will bless us! :)

Story about the latinos (Central American missionaries)...A couple nights ago i was talking to one of the latinos and he was trying to pronounce my name, Elder Flake, he tried Fake, Flocká, and Fluke! Haha :) I finally pronounced it for him and he looked at me really confused, so I was like "Flake, as in like Cornflake or snowflake..." and ever since I've been Elder Cornflake!! :) haha :)

This week I've learned soooo much about myself and my learning/teaching style...it's been pretty cool!! :) Can't believe it's already been 2 weeks, but it's the Lords time and he knows how to best optimize it!! Keep smiling and being positive!!

D&C 68:6--"Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I was, that I am, and that I am to come."

My CCM district

My CCM district gone crazy loco

First week in the MTC...espanol and the temple

July 30, 2014
Alright! So......Spanish is a VERY challenging yet beautiful language...lots of work this week and prayers and working hard, BUT yesterday I was able to teach completely in espanol!! :) So it's coming...we finish teaching our first investigator tomorrow and she is NO WHERE NEAR baptism...but that's okay :) Mi companero es Elder Haderlie. Nosotros somos misionaros la inglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Dias. :) Haha :) I love the district I've been put with and my companero Elder Haderlie :) (He's from WY)

Thank you soo much for the thoughts on prayer even over the last week I have come to love and appreciate prayer even more!! It is an amazing thing!!

The food is very american with a mexican twist (actually guatemalan). Also, mi companero got sick yesterday...something we ate...but I'm glad for the supplements they have helped me completely stay feeling well!

So my normal schedule...wake up (obviously), get ready, personal study, language study, 6 hours of classes, 3 hours of meals, and then bed :) But it's going well! :) Oh, the temple was very small, but a wonderful experience. It was in ingles...this time. :)

Foto de grupo...see if you can find me!!!

We went to the Guatemala City Temple

My district at the temple.

Mi companero, Elder Haderlie