CCM Sign Off

November 21, 2018

CCM Send Off

General Información

First off a Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! At the CCM we are having a 2 hour devotional over here in Mexico City to celebrate, and it´s an open invite so feel free to stop on by if you want. In other news, I never thought it would happen, but the time has come for me to say goodbye to the CCM, and hello to Querétaro. I just had my meeting of when we are leaving, and all the guys in my district and I am taking a bus at 4 am out of here. It´s a 3 hour ride, but I have learned that I get very motion sick in the buses because of all the bumps in the road so we could be in for quite the morning. Hoping the Dramamine I packed from home comes in handy, that or it just knocks me out for the whole ride. I guess only time will tell. I am sad to say goodbye to the CCM though. A lot of missionaries I have talked to in their 6 week just say how ready they are to leave, but the 3 meals a day and people who speak at least a little bit of English are things I am have definitely appreciated. That being said, I am also ready to get out and start doing. 9 hours of a classroom a day gets a tad bit repetitive, but I am going to try and take advantage of these last few days and be as prepared as possible. The biggest thing I think I have learned here is that the Holy Ghost is a reminder, and He can´t remind you of things that you haven´t first studied. I won´t be perfect out in the field, not even close, but I am going to try and work until I can´t anymore. Broken Spanish is more powerful than perfect Spanish if you have the Spirit behind it, and I am going to be relying on that big time. 

El Distrito De Poder 

One of the saddest parts about leaving here though will be saying goodbye to my District. We have come to all be really close, and I feel so blessed to have been able to spend the CCM with them. Elder Baker, Ludvigson, Willemin and my companion Elder Blazzard are all going to Querétaro too so we may see each other, but we will be having to say goodbye to my other roommates Elder Slocum and Drake. They are off to convert all of Bakersfield California, and I wish them best. Also wishing the best to the lone Tampico missionary in my district, Elder Williams. We have all been working really hard, and I am confident they will all be incredible missionaries. This past week we had a goal to learn 280 per person, and we ended up getting 307! I got 291 so I was below the curve a bit, but my companion Elder Blazzard went weird and pulled in a whooping 427. I got to report our numbers at a district meeting on Sunday, and I felt like a Dad talking about his kids. I am just so proud of them all. And best of all the President of the CCM had chosen to sit into our meeting that Sunday out of all the other branches so it felt good to tell him our report too. Diligence brings blessings, and we are living proof of that. 

Yo No Hablo Ingles 

All that about our numbers being said, I still have a long way to go. On Monday as a district we decided to take a fast from English and speak only Spanish for the whole day. The first few hours were pretty good, but I found out very quickly what I could and couldn´t say. It´s also exhausting translating everything in your head, so by the middle of the day my brain was melting. I knew it was bad when I went to the little store they have here at the CCM and started talking to a Spanish Hermana. I was struggling in the conversation, and so finally she asked me what week I was. I told her this was my 6th week and then she kindly said "This is your 6th week? Your Spanish needs to be way better!" Not what I thought I would hear when I walked in to buy some water and some Ritz, but I will take the constructive criticism. You can never get complacent, and that was a nice reminder that I need to stay humble and keep working. The rest of the day was good though, and overall it was a positive experience. Excited to have no English be my reality here in a few days. 

El Fin

As much as I will miss the CCM, I am ready to get out and be with the people. I feel like I already love them, and can´t wait to share the joy that is the Gospel with them. The main goal of the CCM is to be converted yourself, and I definitely have over these past 6 weeks. You can´t teach people if you don´t first know it´s true, and I know without a doubt it is. I hope I can now just convince the people of my mission to feel the same. Hope you all have a safe and happy Thanksgiving, and will talk to you all later. 

Elder Jackson 

1 & 2. Saying goodbye to my Zone Leaders Elder Gubernick and Anderson

3. The District

4. The parasite a guy in my casa has (we are all hoping he got it before he got here)