Week 1: La CCM

Dear People of The World,

I made it to Colombia! So, let me tell you exactly what happened when I got off the plane. So, I get off and immediately we go to find our bags and then go to the CCM. We get in at like midnight, go to sleep and wake up at like 7am because they told us we could sleep-in a little. Then this is when it all starts. NO hesitation we just start going at it learning Spanish and everything! We get all of our study stuff and then we move to our classroom for 5 minutes. Then, we leave to another spot and learn Spanish in the hall way. Then, we go upstairs and start memorizing the missionary purpose in Spanish, at the same time they are pulling people out to get their hair cut! So, in case you all were wondering yes, I had to get my hair cut even shorter. YA! So…Sister Cottle was kinda right. Then they said it still wasn’t short enough, but they didn’t make me cut it anymore thank goodness! Also, everyone was like ya the first day is terrible. It totally was I literally felt like after every meal was one day. It was like 3 days in 1. I learned more Spanish in one day than I have learned my whole life. Absolute mayhem! So, after the eternity of a day I get to my bedroom and we get to talk with our roommates who are super cool. Elder Lister, Elder Peck, Elder Duran, Elder Chamacha and my companion Elder McConkie. They are all great and the 2 weird names are the Latinos in my room and oh my gosh I love them so much! I love all the Latinos here! They are so funny and full of energy and they love me and I love them! So, the rest of the week went a little bit quicker. We just sit in this classroom that's half the size of my bedroom at home and all 9 of us just learn Spanish for like 6 hours it is very stressful. Especially when you have a companion who literally can just see a word once and memorize it. He helps me out though and I am so glad he is my companion, because I learn a lot from him. The food here is good. A lot of people are getting sick with diarrhea though and it es no Bueno! But I like the food sometimes. We even get American stuff like French Toast!! OH, y’all would be so proud of me, because on Sundays and P-days they don’t serve breakfast. So, guess what I get to eat? My least favorite food in the world! CEREAL! Yep, I’ve had to eat it twice now and I am not liking it!  But, what can you do?!

Ok so can we talk about conference?!  Wow!  What a rich Cenferencia General!! Seriously, Utchdorfs talks were great! I also loved Hollands. I loved how he talked about how too often we judge others and their decisions even when they are trying to walk back towards Christ. How often do we judge what someone does and don’t reach out?! As a missionary, it stuck out to me that we need to reach out to everyone even if they are on the drunken path towards Christ. I thought this conferencia was super rich with a lot of references about having faith in our leaders and Jesus Christ, and studying The Book of Mormon, as well as, looking for miracles in our lives. I could talk about it all day, but I only have like 30 minutes left sooo ya. Presidente Hansen is amazing! Talk about a super cool spiritual guy! Man, I LOVE THAT GUY! I think he truly gets me and understands how hard this is for me. I am really struggling with the language! Yesterday was tough on me because we had our second lesson with our fake investigator Felipe. So, what happened was I was saying everything I could, occasionally looking over at my companion for vocab help and then I turn to him for his part and then Felipe says "Yo voy en dos minutos". So, we stress because a lot of our time was taken up by him wanting to just talk to us. So, when we finally got to start we didn’t have a lot of time. UGH! Then, Elder MCConkie just goes and is basically speaking fluent Spanish and I literally just sat there. I felt so helpless and the rest of the day was just a drag for me because I felt like I was falling behind. But then my encouraging Latino friends in my room shared a story with me, because I think they saw I was disappointed. They told me about an Elder they knew who could only speak a tribal language, and then he went on a mission to like Ecuador or something and became fluent in Spanish, but not until he got in the field. He did not learn to speak Spanish in the CCM. They told me lovingly that I won’t learn a lot here at the CCM and not to worry, because I will learn it in the field! They were talking in Spanish but I understood and I felt the spirit testify of this truth! One last thing! There is a teacher here at the CCM that is the same guy I went on splits with in Paraguay during HEFY!! If you go onto the HEFY account, you can see him and me in a group picture!! That made me so happy!!  He totally remembered me too! That really made my day yesterday a lot better too! SOO COOL! I’m not home sick yet, but I did need to seek my Dad’s help last night. I’m not gonna lie! I read the letter he gave me when I graduated and the Ten Demandments he gives to all of us, and it totally helped me feel better! I love you all!!

 Sorry if you all were hoping I would speak some Spanish in this email, but I can’t think that fast with this short amount of time!

 Elder Weaver signing out!

I LOVE COLOMBIA!!

If you would like to keep in touch with Preston you can email him at preston.weaver@myldsmail.net