Power and Productivity

Amada Familia y Queridos Amigos,

*Sister Training Leaders are experienced

sister missionaries who train, encourage

and uplift other sisters serving around them.

 Oh MY the CCM is a powerful place! I can't even describe it. I'll start with the biggest news of the week, my companion and I were called to be Sister Training Leaders for our zone for our last two weeks!! It's a responsibility, but I'm grateful for it. Responsibility makes me work harder. It's actually pretty fun, we just get to work on being really good friends with our Hermanas :) Our zone received a new district of missionaries on Tuesday, and it was surreal for me to greet them. I feel like I was just in their place and I related so much to the overwhelmed look in each of their eyes. I felt so much love for them and testified to them about the power God will give them here- and it felt strange to do so in English! So weird to be in a position now to give advice. I'm in the middle of my fifth week here! Aah!

  Because it's our last stretch at the CCM, President Bennett gave us a devotional about sprinting to the end and making the most of our experience here learning Spanish. My companion and I have really been working to speak in Spanish nearly all day and I've been memorizing a lot of scriptures in Spanish! We'll recite them to each other while we walk, and even while we're working out. One day when I went running with Hermana Fenton this week and we taught each other short versions of the first and second discussions (the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation) at the same time. Sooo fun! Always having goals really keeps us motivated. Time moves more quickly when I'm working hard. 

Thank you to those of you who have sent me some more info about both the solar eclipse and Houston. Please keep doing so! Also a few questions that were asked that are hard to respond to individually: the weather here in Mexico City is really nice! Never too hot, it's often nice and a little sunny outside during the day with a little breeze. So no complaints there! Some people say it's a little humid but I don't think so at all compared to Illinois! It can actually get a bit chilly from time to time because it also rains literally every day. Mostly in the evenings. The other day it rained sooo hard after gym time though and my companion and our casa mates got completely soaked!! It was pretty fun actually :) Wish I had a picture of it but we can only take pictures on Preparation Days :/ 

Other question, the food. Well, the CCM comedor is like a cafeteria, so most of the time the food there is eh. I skip out on the meat a lot and grab salad, fruit, beans and rice. There's always beans and rice haha. But, there's also fun Mexican treats that are a redeeming factor. Horchata and tamales, for one! And these sort of milk-fruit ice cream treats. And from time to time they have fries and burgers night which gets all of the Americans way excited!! Not anything like the US version, but it's the closest thing we can get haha. Oh and the best thing yet in the comedor was definitely the arrechera, or skirt steak. Oh my SO GOOD! Definitely worth a mention.

  One thing I've come to appreciate here are the missionaries themselves. Each one has a story about why they are on a mission and what they overcame to be here. For example, my latina companion in our mixed program, Hermana Moreno, is absolutely amazing. She's only been a member of the church for five years, and she told me her story of how she gained her testimony. It all started with deciding to pray, and now she's on a mission dedicating her life to sharing God's love with everyone! I told her that because of what she's been through she will be a better missionary who can really relate to others. She's an inspiration and an example to me. 

  In other news, my companion Hermana Lindsay broke her finger playing volleyball this week! Ouch! It's all sorts of colors and she gets a kick out of showing people haha. She's really into anatomy so she's been having fun with this whole thing. She's an example of looking for the good in every situation!

  This past Sunday we finally watched the well known MTC talk by Elder Bednar, "The Character of Christ". Soo good! He talked about how Christ, in the middle of his trials, never though of himself but ALWAYS turned outward. He also talked about how if each of us are truly converted, we will never fall away from the truth. I want to invite my family specifically to think about how your trials can help you become truly converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Conversion meaning something deeper than a testimony. It's consistently doing what you know is right. 

  We also got to hear from another apostle of the Lord, Elder Oaks, in a broadcast from the Provo MTC on Tuesday! I loved his powerful witness of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. O death where is thy sting? The grave hath no victory! 

 I'm out of time but I leave you my testimony that God loves his children. I have felt that love. And God has restored his truth through the Prophet Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. Each person who sincerely reads the Book of Mormon and asks God if it is true will receive their own witness of truth! 

Les amo, hasta proxima semana,

Hermana Alley

P.S. Most of the pictures are with the Hermanas who left this week, most of them to Chile. Love them! 

*note from Adison's sister: after the earthquake early this morning in Mexico, we received an additional email from Hermana Alley that said the following:

 "I don't know if you heard anything but there was an earthquake around midnight in Mexico last night. I honestly slept through it, so it wasn't too bad here in Mexico City, even though the earthquake sirens went off. Mas sur, more south of here it was a lot worse. Just letting you know that I'm ok because the CCM presidency wants our parents to know! Entonces todo esta bien porque sobrevivi el terremoto :) Crazy things happening in the world right now, stay safe. And give me news. 

Les amo! Tengan un buen dia"