The CCM is the best!!!!! I love it here so much I can´t even describe it...(the keyboards here are weird so hopefully everything is legible) It is sooo beautiful. The CCM campus is huge and the most beautiful place I have ever been. The weather is perfect and I mean perfect. And the spirit is so wonderful. So I'll start at the beginning because there is so much to tell you I could talk for hours. (I hope I can figure out the pictures, I'll try after this)
So the hardest part this whole past week was the first 15 minutes after I left. I sat there alone on the plane and I could see you guys in the window and it was hard to just sit there and wait because I know i will miss you all so much! It didnt help that the flight attendant was sorta crying for me haha. she told me she has two missionary sons so she knows how it is haha. When I got to Salt lake, like you saw in the picture there was a ton of missionaries probably around 40, 15 hermanas and about 25 Elders. About half of them are going back to the states after the 6 weeks here. It was nice to wait with all of them because we were all in the same position, none of us really knew what to do or how to feel. Some, like the Hawaiian Elders had already had long flights and left the night before, others from utah had only left their families minutes ago.
On the plane I sat by a couple that lives in Mexico City the husband was from Spain and he hates it here and the wife was from South Africa and she loves it! They were very nice, they work in the financial district and said they live in a highrise building. Across the aisle from me there was a huge white Hawaiian Elder, an Elder from Brigham City and the Elder from Idaho Falls! The flight went by very fast and soon we were flying over Mexico City. When we were flyng straight all you could see was smog but as soon as we turned and one end was facing the ground all you could see was red roofs for miles. I now know why you never see pictures of the Mexico City Skyline, because its huge. I mean huge. There are probably thousands of sky scrapers and the rest of the city goes on for what looks like eternity. As soon as you come here you know it is one of the biggest cities in the world. When we landed I was surprise how nice the airport was, it made JFK look like a dump, not that it ever looked nice but it might even put SLC to shame. It was so welcoming and clean. One thing I have noticed sense being here is how clean the Mexican people are. Many things may be run down but every where I´ve been there are always people cleaning everything. It feels like disneyland. And not just spot cleaning either, I mean deep cleaning, scrubbing everything from the baseboards to the rafters. The floors sparkle. Even in the streets, that are not so clean there are still people sweeping everywhere. We waited at the airport for about an hour and then some non-English speaking but very friendly CCM workers came to pick us up. We rode the bus for about an hour through the city. Traffic was CRAZY! The city reminds me a lot of NYC but colorful and a little more run down but honestly not that bad. The colors are so great it makes it seem so happy I love it. The people are also so nice, Mexicans are so friendly and welcoming. Everyone I saw on the street seemed so nice it wasn't like New York where half of the people you might be a little bit nervous to talk to, everyone has a very friendly warm look to them.
When we got to the CCM we did a bunch of orientation things and got assigned companions and houses (some people have to live in the dorms but we're lucky enough to have a house) My companion is Elder Te, he´s super cool I love him. He´s half Cambodian and from a smallish town between Portland and Salem Oregon. Our roommates are Elder Willis, also from Oregon and the same stake as Elder Te, and Elder Haggard from Orange County California. Our district includes Elders Haggard and Willis and our house mates next door Elders Tuia, a Tongan guy from Stockton California and our district leader, Elder Turner from Riverside California, Elder Clark from Sandy Utah (I met him at the consulate) and Elder Lightheart from Eugene Oregon. Each house has 5 rooms and 4 people per room. The CCM super cool I'll try to send you a picture of the map and you should look it up on google Earth because its awesome. The CCM is supposed to have about 1200 missionaries at full capacity but its not completely full so I'm not sure how many are here but theres a lot. About half are native Mexican and the other half are from the US and a few from Canada. I have been surprised how many I have met from California and Oregon. There are also a bunch from Hawaii (polynesians are so cool) and several from Idaho and Utah. There are missionaries from all over though I think I've heard of someone from almost every state.
The food is really good but its all very similar every meal. There we always have beans and rice and fruit. Then some type of either taco, enchilada, or fajita breakfast lunch and dinner. There are also salad bars and cereal and all different kinds of juices. Its always different with something new to try but always similar things if that makes sense. They told us the first few days the food would be hard on our bodies and they were right. Saturday and Sunday I was sort of sick not super sick but I just didnt feel good. I prayed and I kept getting the feeling it would be over soon and it was so all is well.
I wish I could tell you everything, its so hard to type and I don't have a lot of time but it is so awesome. I just keep thinking how awesome it is and how much I love it. Our district is so fun and we're great friends. it is just our district in classes so its really great. Our teacher is Hermano Tinoco and he just got back from his mission in Las Vegas. Apart from being an awesome Mexican he is very understanding in learning the language because it was hard for him to learn English but he also has a great testimony because he is so good at English now.
To answer your question about sundays, we have church and lots of study time in the mornings and a devotional and district testimony meeting at night. Church is in spanish (like almost everything else) but it is very spiritual. Our brANCH president teaches electrical engineering at the university of mexico city so he reminded me of dad. Sundays are the best day!
We are also attempting to teach an 'investigator´' named Roke in spanish so thats crazy.
So our average daily schedule goes¨.
6.30 get upand get ready 4 of us in 1 bathroom muy loco.
7.00 go to the classroom for morning study
7.45 breakfast
8.30-9.15 gym (we've done alot of stuff but the past couple days weve played beach volleyball and its been way fun)
9.30-1.30 classes and study time
2.15-3.00 teach investigator
3.00-6.15 study
6.15-7 dinner
7-9 study
9-9.30 district study
9.30-10.15 prep for tomorrow...
Hopefully this email makes sense you´'ll have to send me a grade and more questions. It seems like I've been here for an eternity.
I love you all so much thanks for your prayers and youre in mine. I wish I could write more. I'll do better next time
Love Elder Inskeep
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