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Tuesday, February 11, 2014

2014-2-10 Primero Semana (first week)
To my dear family and friends!!!
Hola hola!!! Except crazy...people don´t say ´hola´ hear very much...mostly buenos dias/tardes/noches. I´m trying to break that habit.

So...my first week in Mexico has come and gone. On to the second. Man...my first couple of days here were CRAZY!! Like...I can´t go into details...but I wasn´t able to sleep in my apartment for the first 3 nights. Crazy crazy. But I love it. My companions are the greatest peeps ever! I feel so inadequate to be their companions. Hna. Lima is my trainer. She´s from Mexico and has only been here for 6 months. SHE IS SO AMAZING!!! Not only is she training me, but she is the sister training leader, she is opening this area we´re in (been here for 3 weeks), and has 2 American companions!!! She is so crazy busy. I kinda feel like a burden a lot of the time. I know how hard I am to teach...especially Spanish!! (of which my MTC teachers can testify ;) But she has some how found a way not to kill me...yet. Bless her heart.  Hna. Brensaw is also the bomb!!! I think I would have died by now without her. She set a goal to learn Spanish is 7 weeks...and she did!! She is so amazing and is ALWAYS so loving and willing to help me. Always. When I can´t understand what Hna. Lima is trying to tell me, she nicely explains it to me in 2 year old Spanish. She is so great.

The Lord has seriously blessed me!! He just keeps doing that!! He is so amazing. I feel inadequate of His blessings. But I’m glad He keeps sending them.

So my area right now is the mission home area, Ciudad Obregon. It's a HUGE area. So big. I don't think I’ll ever remember all the streets or where anything is. I never know where we are. Ever. But it's a super good thing that my companions know what's up. Since it is a newer area, we don't have very many investigators. But we're trying. We have 2 right now...but we contacted a bunch of people last week and set up appointments for this week. Hopefully some...if not all...will want us to come back! But we are still keeping busy. Siempre. Our ward is great...but there are TONS of less actives. So many. So we are visiting tons of them. They are all super great. I can't remember who is who yet...but I hope to very soon.

I'm loving the Spirit here. It's so amazing how well I can feel it when I'm teaching. My Spanish is so bad...and the people talk so fast...and differently...but my companions tell me that when I talk they feel the Spirit. I hope they're telling the truth. It's one thing if I’m feeling it...but I want others to feel it! So yeah...I hope it's true (:

The people here are so great!! The ninos and the older people are my favorite!! They are so cute!!! We visited an older lady yesterday...she was the cutest thing ever. She was so sweet to me even though I only got like 45% of what she was saying. They are all so loving here Black heart (cards) I just wish I knew what they were saying!!

So question for all ya'll that had to learn a different language...
How do you contact people when you only know like...5 words of Spanish? I'm really struggling. What tips do you have? The goal for our mission is for everyone to contact 10 people a day. It kinda seems impossible for me right now...so any tips or words of wisdom you have would be SO GREAT!!

So this email is super duper long...I’m not sure how many of you will have actually read this far...but thanks if you did. Thanks if you didn't (:  And seriously...THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR LOVE AND PRAYERS!!! I'm pretty sure it's the only reason I haven't died yet...or been killed...yet :)

Love,
Hermana Cook
P.S...President Munive and his family are the best!!! He is SO NICE!!! Love them!!

2014-2-4 
hola de méxico!!

¡¡¡¡Hola!!!
entonces...I made it. It's been a crazy 2 days. Feels more like an eternity!!!
I don't have long to write...but here is a small synopsis :)
Sunday...got 40 minutes of sleep. no bueno...pero i´m still alive.
Got to call home for a small moment...that was great. I love you guys!!
Sat by a really nice man on the plane, he was LDS and yeah...we just talked.

Once we got to the airport in Hermosillo we got to wait there for 4-5 hrs. We didn´t know what to eat...or how to pay for it...so we didn´t eat anything until about 7 that night. But after waiting and doing nothing for 3 hrs, Hermana Andelin wanted to go talk to people. So we did...we talked to a man named Luis. well..I just listened...she (the almost fluent in Spanish) did all the talking and understanding. It was fun.

The plane ride to Obregon was SO PRETTY!!! so so so pretty.  Presidente Munive and his wife picked us up. They are so cute! Their house is SO nice...crazy. We had dinner at their house with the other new missionaries that all speak Spanish. Then they took us to a hotel and we slept...then all day today we did practices and learned stuff/rules. It´s hard not knowing Spanish. but I´m trying really hard to be positive. Trying to remember my missionary plaque scripture: Alma 17:11 “And the Lord said unto them also: Go forth among the Lamanites, thy brethren, and establish my word; yet ye shall be patient in long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth good examples unto them in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls.” 

I have 2 companions, Hermana Brensaw and Hna. Lima.  Lima is from Mexico and Brensaw is from Idaho.  She already knows Spanish...so it´s interesting..but they are both super nice. My apt is really...not nice...and lets just say it was silly to bring a blow dryer, straightener and curling iron. I will not be using them. Everyone was so surprised at how many suit cases we had...so that was embarrassing...
but yeah...I should probably get going...

I love you all so much! I´m getting teary eyed just thinking and missing you all. I appreciate all your prayers...please continue. I super duper need it.

I love you!!! and I KNOW THE CHURCH IS TRUE!! Really really and I love it SO MUCH!!! Please share it as much as you can...because I won´t be able to for a while......so someone needs to ;) hahaha

LOVE YOU!!!!
Love your daughter,
chae-chae

love love love love love love you!!!

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