Email #3 (Mexico City)

Hola mi familia marvillosa!

It was so great to hear from all of you this week:) 

I absolutely LOVED all the pictures! They made me tear up a little, just because I miss you all so much and it was great to see your beautiful faces. Sounds like everything is crazy busy as usual in the Lattin home! I guess that´s just how we roll.

This week has been fantastic! I am really coming to love el CCM. I love my companera, my district, the language, teaching lessons, learning about the Gospel, everything! Being a missionary is the greatest. The biggest lesson I've learned this week is definitely how to better feel and listen to the Spirit. Our teachers always tell us that when we walk into someone´s house, three people should be entering: you, your companion, and the Spirit. The Spirit is SO important while teaching. And ironically enough, it was while I was teaching that I had the hardest time feeling the spirit. I was focusing so much on the language and the specific things in the lessons, I was forgetting that we really aren´t the teachers. We, as missionaries, are instruments through which the Lord teaches. In order to help someone become converted unto this Gospel, you have to let the Spirit teach them not you. And that requires the ability to listen to the spirit and know what the Lord wants you to say. That means that you cannot be afraid of silence. Times of quiet are the most effective times in which the Spirit can touch whoever you are teaching. So I´ve been working really hard on that this week, and it feels so much better to teach by the Spirit! I’ve learned a lot from Hermana Lui, because even though my Spanish is a little better than her´s, she is so much better at bringing the Spirit to the lessons than I am, because she always, ALWAYS speaks from her heart and listens to the Spirit. Le quiero mi companera!

We went to the temple again today! It was fantastic. The best part is that I could understand a lot of what was said! Speaking is another issue, but at least I´m starting to understand Spanish a lot better! I´ve discovered that I really love to learn. I’ve always known that before, but I´m also really lazy so learning in school was sometimes a burden for me, haha. But now that I´m here learning Espanol for the Lord, I´m realizing how much I love to study and learn! Spanish is a really fun langauge:)

I sent a letter to you guys last Wednesday! I was so frustrated with the timed email time that I was like, "I´m going to write a letter without a time limit". So that´s what I did. Hopefully you get it soon.

I´ll answer your questions now, Mamita:)

1. No, Hermana Hymas and Grondel (from the picture last week) are not going to Gilbert, AZ. Hermana Hymas is headed to Witchita Kansas and Hermana Grondel is headed to Honduras. I love them!

2. The only time we get to leave the CCM is when we go to the temple. And si, we do take a bus. It's about a 45 minute drive to the temple and every time it is probably the most terrible ride of my life. The roads are ridiculously bumpy in Mexico City and everyone drives loco. It´s horrible. I thought we were going to die several times. But it is really interesting to see what life is like outside of the walls! Next time we go I'll take some good pics from the bus.

Oh some other random things about life here!

First of all, it is not hot here. It´s warm sometimes, but mostly it rains a lot. At about 4ish everyday it starts raining. Good thing I bought that rain jacket!

Also, I´m really missing American food. I am so excited to eat a big, juicy cheeseburger when I get back to the States. Yesterday in the comedor (cafeteria) apparently we ate some meat that was a lovely combination of cow tongue, stomach and colon... I wondered why it tasted so strange while I was eating it. Luckily I only ate a tiny little part of it, but I still wanted to vomit once I found out what I had just ingested.

One thing that happens occasionally is we have earthquake warnings! It´s a little scary, but we all just go outside and gather in these green circles in the streets. I´ll have to send you a picture of that next week. They´re all over our campus. It´s only happened twice where the siren went off, but both times we didn´t feel anything. I think Heavenly Father is protecting His misioneros!

Oh and also, did any of you see the picture I was in on facebook/pinterest?? We took a picture last wednesday with the girls from our casa and one of the girls sent it to her mom and somehow it ended up on a church facebook page! One of our maestras, Hermana Valdez saw it on facebook and told us that a lot of people liked and shared it! Hahaha let me know if you saw it. It´s a picture of us in front of the CCM sign and then it has a quote above it.

Anyways, I´ve gotta go but remember how much I love you all! Also, I know the family life can get hard once and a while, but something that has helped me a lot is prayer. Praying for humility, the ability to love more, to be happier and more positive. I have a firm testimony of prayer and how much it helps me get through tough days. Yo se que nuestro Padre Celestial eschucha y contesta nuestras oraciones. (I know that Heavenly Father listens and answers our prayers.) 
"When life gets too difficult to stand, kneel." I´m not quite sure who said that, but I really like it.

I love you all more than you´ll ever know! I pray for you individually every single night!

Le quiero MUCHISIMO!

Hermana Lattin

P.S. Mother dear, when I get to AZ, will you please PLEASE send me some CDs of you singing hymns? I miss hearing your beautiful voice. Being here makes me realize how many hymns remind me of you and singing as a family. I miss that!