Hooooly cow. Life is incredible here. I don't even know where to start with this email, but I'll do my best to explain all the amazing things that are going on in the 20 minutes that I have.
The CCM is located in Guatemala City, probably southeast of the mission where I'll be serving once I finish training here in about a month. It's pretty darn small. Like there are probable only 200 or so missionaries here, maybe less. Most of them are Latino from places like Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, etc. Those guys are amazing. It's super fun to sit with them at meals and talk to them about all kinds of stuff. Almost none of them speak english, which makes it hilarious when they try. We give them all kinds of tongue twisters and see if they can say all these dumb english words that don't make any sense (My companion and I spent like 15 minutes trying to find the words to explain what a peck of pickled peppers is haha.). And they do the same to us, with all their tres tristes tigres and stuff, and I learn so much spanish talking to them when they literally don't understand English.
There are probably like 20 gringos that came on my flight from LA (there were so many of us) and we are divided into two "districts." A district is a group of about 10 missionaries who do everything together. My district is amazing. There are six guys, or Elders, including me who are in my room, and we are super close already. They are some of the funniest people I have ever met, and I haven't laughed so hard so often in a really long time. We all have different and unique personalities, and we fit together so well. There are also three girls, or Hermanas, in our district. They are super funny and great also.
So when I said last week that it was a long day...it was literally the longest day of my life. Without question and by far bar none nothing else even close. And so was the next day, and the next. Not because it's boring or sad, but because we do sooooo much everyday. In band we used to rehearse for like 9 hours a day with some free time here and there. This isn't like that. It's a different lifestyle. Every single hour of the day is planned with learning spanish, learning teaching, planning, teaching, eating, going to meetings, doing sports, and like everything ever. It's mind boggling how much stuff we get done everyday. Any free time I have, I spend it reading the Book of Mormon or sometimes talking with my district. It's life, and I love it a lot. So we always joke like "yeah it's crazy that we've been here for three months and haven't even left the CCM yet." It literally feels like time is warped here; we all swear we've been here six times as long as we have. It was pretty great trying to get our Guatemalan teacher to say the word "warped" by the way.
I've already learned soooo much more spanish. A lot of the day is spent with people who don't speak any english, and I'm getting a lot better at having conversations with them. Our teachers are pretty much all from Guatemala, and they have varying levels of English ability, ranging from pretty good to almost none. It's soooo funny when they do speak in English though. Like they'll be funny by inserting english words into their sentences, and it's like the funniest thing ever. They teach pretty much all in spanish, and I am learning an incredible amount. My district's classroom is in this little casa right next to the CCM, and we love it a lot.
This country is so cool. It rains pretty much every day after lunch, and the jungle is so green and beautiful. The air feels incredibly fresh, and it never gets about like 85 degrees. I love it.
So I have some really great pictures, but it doesn't look like I'll be able to send them while I'm here. I'll see what I can do, but there probably won't be a way to send pictures until I'm out of the CCM in about a month.
So I've got to go, but I'll say more next week. I'm loving life, learning a ton, and becoming much, much closer to God. I know that the church is true, and if you pray to ask God if he's real and loves you, I know that you will feel him there.
I love you guys!
-Elder Cloward
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