Starting Week #3 at the MTC!

Hello everyone! 

Can you believe that tomorrow I am halfway done with the MTC! It is sooo crazy! It has flown by and at the same time has been so slow. I have learned more than I could ever imagine here though! 

We went to the Mexico City temple today! We didn’t get to go in because it is under construction, but we went to the visitor’s center! It was so neat. It reminded me a lot of the Independence Missouri Visitor Center (if anyone has been there). Very powerful things that I learned!! The temple is literally right in the middle of the city. The sisters in the visitor center made me sooo excited to help with the open house when the temple opens!! They are the sweetest. They were from Chile I think and they were working on their English. It is very motivating to learn that we aren’t the only missionaries trying to learn another language!

For anyone that knows Spanish, por y para has been the struggle this week. Learning that grammar point makes me want to throw up. It is so hard.

So this week we found out that all of the hermanas in our district can sing! We sing three part harmony hymns every day and it brings the Spirit so strong. We are going to do a musical number for one of the devotionals here! So excited!

For gym time we play sand volleyball. It is super fun and sooo nice to get out and move.

This week 70+ missionaries came in the MTC! Crazy how much the work is moving forward!

Hermana W and I found out that both of our grandparents have cabins in Island Park in Idaho! We also figured out that we go four-wheeling in the same place! (That huge dust bowl and by the train tracks)! We were freaking out when we found out. We decided that we are going to have our mission reunion there ;)

I love Hermana J! She is sooooo great! 

I have no blisters on my feet! It is a miracle! I thought I would because before I left when I was breaking them in, my shoes were so hard on my feet but Heavenly Father knows I have to wear them every day! Haha. 

I have been a little bit sick from the food. It just took my body a while to get used to it. But I’m ok now!

On P-day: the last 2 p-days we have gone on field trips so that has been fun! It is soooo cool to see the city. I will send you more pictures from today’s trip. But usually on p-days we play a ton of sports, clean, nap, take pictures, study, laundry, go to the store and buy ice cream with our district. It is so fun! We really look forward to the break!

I don’t think I’m going anywhere else until the field! Crazy!

Funny story from today: we were on our way home from the temple and we were sitting by a bunch of natives and we were talking and stuff and then I said ´listen!´ and then I said a super-fast Spanish tongue twister to them and all of them were like OOOOOOOHHHHHHH DAAANNGGG HERMANAAAAA. Hahaha. It was pretty funny and then they all thought I was native (I get that a lot) and started talking muy rapido (really fast) in Spanish and I was like “wait....I don’t speak Spanish very well!” Hahaha. 

The Spanish is definitely coming along! I can pretty much say everything that I want to in a lesson, prayer and my testimony. My companion and I have been great together and we have invited all of our investigators to baptism and most have them have committed! It is such a great feeling!

I know this is where I´m supposed to be and the Lord needs me to be a missionary right now. Yes, it can get very discouraging here, but the Lord makes it work and helps me to be happy when I am down. I know He is there for EVERYONE in the world. Reach out to Him if you need help or comfort and I know He will help you.

I love you all. Thank you for writing me!

Hermana Garner

 Megan's MTC district heading to the temple visitor's center.

Right in the middle of Mexico city streets they have outside public gyms for free! There are always soooo many people on them and it makes me sooo happy! But it is pretty funny looking.

 Meg and her companion at the entrance to the MTC (Spanish = CCM).

 All the sisters going to her mission at the Mexico City temple.

On the bus going to the temple visitor's center. All the sisters in her MTC district.

Week #2 at the CCM (Training Center)

HOLA!

WHAT? How is it my second week almost my third week already?? Time FLIES here. The first week was actually the longest 4 days of my life but now it feels like I just left. But I’m LOVING it here. 

Before I left I would always get asked if I’m gonna miss my phone, my laptop, tv, etc. all that good stuff. But seriously I had such an easy time adjusting. I miss all of that stuff but hardly at all. They are right when they said it distracts you because I have never been more focused on something in my entire life. Seriously. I love it. 

Every Tuesday night is COSTCO PIZZA NIGHT. Soooo I basically love where I’m at.

Something interesting here: in the bathrooms when you go to pull the toilet paper out, there is only one square at a time that comes out. It’s a weird system. We joke about how we get super lucky when 3 come out at a time. 

I LOVE THE NATIVES HERE. We had a group of natives that we fell in love with but they left last week! They came in with us but they only stay here 2 weeks because they already know Spanish. They would always make fun of how we say words and how we can’t roll our Rs. We taught them tongue twisters like ´she sells seashells by the seashore´ and they teach us Spanish tongue twisters that are nearly impossible to say. Its soooo fun. They are the nicest, sweetest, most humble people I have ever met in my life. It makes me SOOO excited to go into the field and teach them the gospel!

So I think I talked about our investigator Carlos in the last e-mail and how we had to teach him 4 lessons all in Spanish? Wellllllllll - on Monday we were sitting in class and in walks Carlos in a suit and tie with a TEACHER NAMETAG ON. He is our new teacher!!!!!!!!! He was just pretending to be an investigator and now he is one of our teachers. Coolest thing ever! Speaking of teachers, I hate to brag but I think I have the best teachers in the whole MTC. They are soooo good at teaching, they are so funny, so honest and spiritual and the best people. One of our teachers (Hermana Vergara) has to write a paper in English for school and we have been helping her. She is the best and I have gotten super close to her. Her favorite English words are ´blank´ and ´puddle´. She is so fun! We have both decided that we are going to be best friends after my mission.

I had the hardest day of my mission this week. Saturday. It wasn’t a good day for me. Spanish was super hard for me that day-  I don’t know why. My companion and I had a first lesson with an investigator (another one of our teachers). I prepared and everything but during the lesson the words would not come to me. I would start to say a sentence and the words would escape my mind and I would just stop. It was so awful. I was so discouraged. After we were done with the lesson I came in and just bawled. It was a moment where I felt like I couldn’t do anything. I felt like I wasn’t learning the language and felt like I couldn’t do what I’m doing now for 18 whole months. After the lesson, hermana Vergara hugged me so much and gave me a scripture that has helped me so much already. D&C 100: 4-8. Look it up! Sooo good. The next day after that I was so scared to teach and speak Spanish. But I prayed a lot and really pondered that scripture. PRAYERS WORK! The next day, I woke up and decided I was going to be the best that I could. And you know what? I taught one of the best lessons I have ever taught. I felt like my Spanish was 10 times better. I knew what to say and I was so comforted. I know that the power of prayer is real and that the gift of tongues is real. Trust the Holy Ghost!

Another powerful lesson that I learned this week: hermana Vergara was teaching us about baptism. She got back from her mission probably 5 months ago. She said ´imagine your first investigator getting baptized´ so we closed our eyes and imagined. She said ´imagine them coming out of the water full with joy on their face´ and we imagined. Then she said (the part that really hit me) ´imagine them coming out of the font and saying THANK YOU´ it hit me soooo hard! I was crying. It was soooo powerful to me. It was so motivating. I thought, I really need to stay on top of studying and learning the doctrine so I can have plenty of those experiences! I have never felt the Spirit so strong before in my ENTIRE LIFE. I know this is what I need to be doing!

Anyone: please watch the Book of Mormon video by Elder Holland. Truly amazing and soooo inspiring.

So our teachers are taking Spanish super seriously now that it is our third week here. So every time we say a word in English, we have to do a 1 minute wall-sit. Let me just tell you that my abs and legs have never been more toned before in my life. 

So we were eating and one my teachers walk by with his girlfriend and we were like ´awwwww! So cute!´ and it looked like his girlfriend was embarrassed with all of the attention she was getting. So I said ´are you embarrassed??´ Like I yelled it. But instead I said ´are you pregnant´? Yeah. In Spanish. Yeah I’m never saying those words in Spanish ever again. Thank you everyone for the prayers and e-mails! I LOVE hearing what’s going on in your life. Sorry I don’t respond to everyone but I do READ all of them! Thank you again! I wouldn’t be on my mission if it wasn’t for all of your support! I love you all!

xoxoxoxoxo

Hermana Garner

The cutest little car wash place I ever did see.The cleaners had towels and buckets of water and the people whose cars were getting washed were lounging reading a newspaper under a canopy.

 My awesome district! We have soooo much fun together! Pointing to our mission - the smallest in Mexico!

I HAVE THE BEST FAMILY EVER! Thank you again! Such a nice and yummy surprise!

Love wearing this name tag everyday! Such a great reminder of why im on a mission!

Here's my cozy little room! It is actually super nice and the bathroom is super nice! I love it and I'm comfortable! I'mthe bottom bunk. It is only me and hermana C! We will probably get another companionship though soon in there with us.

Yep. This is exactly what it looks like. There were about 11 mosquitoes in our room one night and this is how I woke up the next morning. Love missionary work!

If you make your bed the day the cleaning ladies come, you get a nice surprise on your pillow!