¿Qué Lo Que? (Semana 5)

AYyyy ¿Qué lo que mis amigos? (Dominican Republic slang for wassup)
Well it's been a pretty good week! Nothing too much out of the ordinary We´ve just been here learning some Español y just chilling here in Mexico. It's actually been fun learning the language because it really does humble you. Trying to learn Español in seis semanas is pretty difficult but we have to humble ourselves a lot to do it.
We've also talked a lot about hard work this week. It reminded me of a scripture in 2 Corinthians 9:6 which says that if you only work sparingly you only get a sparing reward. But if you work hard and put in everything you got your reward will be great. You really do get out what you put in. SO you have to put in your ALL if you want to be successful.
This week we got to teach with our Latino companion which is always super fun. I've gotten pretty close with a few of them, Elder Parra from Bolivia, Elder Ramirez from Dom. Rep., and Elder Martinez from Mexcio. I'll send a pic of us next week! They are helping me with my Spanish and gave me a few Spanish tongue twisters to help. Also on Saturday we had TRC which is where people come from outside the CCM and we get to teach them. Oh and the fun part is they know no English whatsoever, so yeah thats actually really fun!
So what else happened this week.....well we've played some awesome 6v6 ultimate frisbee everyday this week. MACFACs (many are called, few are chosen) verses Llamado a Servir. We take it pretty serious here lol.
 Also, so remember how there was an earthquake last week. Well there was another small one on Sábado and another on Domingo. So yeah that was pretty interesting.
Next week is my last week en el CCM then I'll be off to Monterrey!! Love and miss all of y'all
elder mcclellan

HOLA AMIGOS (semana 4)

Hola amigos!! ¿cómo están?

How's everyone doing?? I'm doing pretty awesome here in Mexico! The days are blurring together and I probably couldn't tell you what I did on Monday but its all been a blast! So lets see what I actually remember... Ok so last week was Mexico's independence day which was lit...literally. All night Friday and all day Saturday fireworks and gunshots rang out in the city. (lol one just went off right when I typed that...they party hard here in mexico). So yeah we did not get any sleep that night lol. We had to stay inside most the day because of all the bullets being shot straight up in the air and that thing called gravity where they come back down. So yeah that was fun to experience.
Alright so as many of y'all know the weather here is just straight up whack. So on sunday we got hit with another flash flood. I was walking down the street back to mi casa in ankle deep water. I looked pretty good with my pants rolled up to my knees so they didn't get destroyed. And then on Tuesday we got hit with an earthquake. Luckily we are pretty safe in the valley but there was still quite a bit of damage in the city. It was really weird walking out the building because it felt like we were walking on jello. Cool story about this tho is that literally an hour before the earthquake hit we had an earthquake drill so we all knew what to do. Oh and Tuesday was my birthday, so you could say my birthday kinda "rocked". Honestly though having my birthday here was pretty cool. My maestros got me a cake which was pretty awesome and I got tons of letters and notes which was awesome! Probably one of my favorite birthdays! Also on Tuesday we had a devotional which was a broadcast from provo and the speaker was Elder Cook. One thing that he said that I really liked was that "You won't always see the good of your labors. Just make sure you are always doing what you know to be right." I really liked this because whenever we are feeling down or discouraged because it seems like nothing is going right and you aren't making any progress you just gotta keep doing the right thing. You never know who you might impact and how. There was another great quote shared this week that I really liked (it's in español but I'll translate)
"Ora como si todo Dependiera de Dios y esfuérzate como si todo Dependiera de ti"which means; pray like everything depends on God and strive/work like everything depends on you.
I really like this because we have to "confía en Jehova con toda su corazon" (Proverbs 3:5-6) and we need to put our best effort in whatever we are doing, whether it be school, work, church, or mission! I know that when we trust in the Lord He can help us in our labors but we also need to put work in too.
Other than these few things this week has been pretty normal and fun. Except for there was a worker chasing a stray dog on a four-wheeler which was pretty funny to watch lol.
Love yall and Miss yall muchos
elder mcclellan

Estoy viviando

A powerful earthquake jolted Mexico City today measuring a magnitude of 7.1 and causing damage and loss of life.  Thankfully, the missionaries at the CCM were all safe.  

The CCM Facebook page shared the following soon after -

All the missionaries are safe!  We can see the Lord's hand protecting our missionaries. We had a practice earthquake drill this morning and during lunch a real earthquake hit. Many knelt to pray for those who were impacted by this quake.

We weren't expecting to hear from Seth today but were grateful for his quick e-mail letting us know he was ok.

Hey guys we're supposed to email y'all to say we are still alive. So yeah, I'm still alive.

Its pretty weird though, I have been in 2 earthquakes since I've been here. This one we could feel really strong. It felt like I was walking on jello. 

He celebrated his 19th birthday today on the 19th.  One 'rockin' birthday for sure that he will never forget.

We are grateful for his safety but heartbroken for the devastation that affected so many.   

¿Qué Tal? (semana 3)

¡HOLA! ¿Cómo están?

Wow. I can't believe it's already been a week! Time is flying by here in el CCM. This place is pretty awesome especially the gunshots we hear all the time lol. 

Almost everyone in our district has been sick (something is going around el CCM) but everything else has been pretty good! We are all pretty exhausted with our 16 hour days packed full of activities for learning the language and gospel classes but we are trying to make the most of it and have fun with our days. Its been pretty tiring but I am doing pretty well with Spanish.  We try to speak it all the time here which is really dificil when you don't know that much but we are getting there. 

Alright so throughout the week we have been teaching 2 new investigators, Gaby y Alejandro. My compañero y yo have been doing our best teaching them about families and Faith and our Heavenly Father. Its been really cool teaching them, even though we are using very broken spanish but it seems to get across and you can really feel the Spirit. Oh and speaking about teaching people so next week we get another investigator so we will be teaching 3 people all at once. But the cool thing about this is we are going to be part of the mixed program for it! Which means we get a new latino compañero which is going to be awesome. Hopefully he will be able to understand me tho lol. 

On Tuesdays we have a weekly devotional and they are always amazing! Last week we heard from Elder Oaks from a broadcast from Provo. (I saw Alex in the audience for like a brief second). One thing that he said that really stuck out to me was "We all have the challenge to become. This is more than achieving or becoming better." This is actually such an awesome quote. We must not nearly just be better than before we must change. This doesn't just apply to us missionaries. We must challenge ourselves to become the best people that we can be. This week Elder Valenzula from the Mexico Mission area came and talked to us. He gave a really great talk about the Holy Ghost. He talked a bit about the earthquake that had just hit a few miles south of us. It was really really destructive and many families were displaced. (Luckily we we safe in the CCM just rocking in our beds). He told the story of a young woman who was right in the middle of it all. Right as their house was about to collapse she felt an overwhelming feeling of peace telling her that everything would be ok. I know that the spirit can comfort us in times of need and distress which has helped me so much these few weeks.  

So the days here are starting to blur together. Everyday we study the scriptures, learn spanish, share the gospel, learn more spanish, go to bed, wake up and repeat. I have found two things that I have relied on since I have been here; scripture study and prayer. Even though we've had a really busy schedule I love finding time to read the scriptures. Guys let me tell you, the scriptures are awesome. They bring me so much knowledge, comfort and joy whenever I read them. I don't know if y'all have read the Book of Mormon or not but it is such a great book of scripture and I invite y'all to read it. It has brought me so much closer to God than I could've thought was possible. And prayer. Oh what a great thing prayer is. I don't think i have prayed harder in my life than since I have been here at el CCM. Like it says in Matthew chapter 7 "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you". Through praying and reading the scriptures we can feel joy and happiness, find answers to questions, and can feel the love that God has for us.

Love and miss y'all mucho

elder mcclellan

Jesus es mi Luz (Week 1y2)

 Hola everyone!!! ¿Cómo están?

It has been such a crazy first couple of weeks. And let me tell you.... I am loving it! It has been such an amazing adventure so far and I can't wait for what is to come! 

So where do I begin....Well let's see...I guess the best place would be the airport (Which seems like forever ago). So after I said goodbye to my family and friends, which was actually super hard to do, I walked into the airport completely alone, which was the weirdest and most terrifying thing I have ever had to do in my life. To leave my family for 2 full years, but I know that while I give up those 2 yrs others will be able to be with their family forever, which brings great peace to my soul and that fact has been one of the main things pushing me to become better and keeping me happy. Ok, so yeah the airport. I was alone for like the longest 45 minutes of my life when another missionary showed up!! Her name was Hermana Rogers from Houston and she's going to the same mission as Lehi!! So  at least I had someone to talk to as we made our way through Customs in Mexico City Airport. We were picked up by some Missionaries who it was their last day of their mission. We took a bus ride to el CCM which might have been the scariest ride of my life. People in Mexico City don't know how to drive...like at all. 

Ok, so we met our District (all gringos), which is 12 guys, 5 of us are going To Monterey Este!! There are 3 going to Puebla, 1 going to Guadalajara, 1 going to Washington state, and the last 2 are going to Mississippi Jackson!!! (thats where my grandparents live so look out for Elder Acton and Elder Isaacson both Spanish speaking). We have all been getting along really well and its pretty fun.

Some people are probably wondering about the food y water down here. Well the food is pretty good, we have had a bunch of meats for tacos and tamales which is all pretty decent. I don't know how it compares to what Alex is eating at Provo. And the water... Here at el CCM they tell us that the water IS safe but the highly highly recommend drinking from the dispensers that use Ciel water jugs.  

Alright so the first 48 hours in Mexcio had to have been the worst/hardest/scariest two days ever. But I know that my Heavenly Father knows me and was looking out for me. At breakfast I met three of the coolest guys ever. They are all Latinos and going to Mexico City Oeste. Elder Castro, Elder Rivera and Elder Portabanco. They are all just so happy and friendly and hepful....exactly what I needed in that exact moment. I know that Heavenly Father knows our needs and will help us when we ask. The most inspiring of the three and the one I am the most close to is Portobanco. He is 25, and the only member of the church in his family. He gave up everything to come out on a mission to serve Jesus Cristo.

Alright so the rest of my first couple weeks have been pretty busy. We have been trying to learn Español y es un poco dificil. Everyone in my district says i have the gift of ears because  i can understand just about everything being said. My Speaking is más o menos but I can slowly start to see improvements everyday. Spanish is such an awesome language and I love that I'm getting the opportunity to learn. The classes here are pretty fun and hard. The teachers only speak spanish to us which is kinda cool cause I can remember a lot from school which I thought I had forgotten. On our second day here we taught our first investigator....only using spanish, which is quite hard when you don't actually speak spanish lol. He ended up being our teacher and he was pretty funny ( Which is pretty common, all the teachers here are young returned missionaries and they are all super funny). So we taught him 6 lessons and now we are about to teach 2 new investigators.

So our first Sunday here was one of the coolest experiences ever. It was so spiritual and awesome. It was fast Sunday so we fasted for 2 meals but here in Mexico Lunch is the main meal so we fasted Saturday night and Sunday Morning which wasn't bad at all. In sacrament we had testimony meeting and there was a district with people heading to Texas on it and they all shared their testimony and it was pretty neat.     

The last thing I wanted to talk about was the weather here. It is the craziest thing ever. It is sunny/partly cloudy all day then every night it rains. On Tuesday we had just left our casa when it started downpouring. The streets were flooded up to our shins. Everyone got soaked. But like 10 minutes after that it was sunny again. It's just crazy. Oh, we also had an earthquake last night so that was pretty neat to experience.  

This whole experience has been new, crazy, exhausting, spiritual, and fun so far. I know that I am not alone on this journey. Our district loves to sing and our "theme song" if you will it is "Jesús  es mi Luz". It says " Jesús es mi Luz; El es mi poder y con Su amor podré yo vencer....Jesús es mi luz, mi gozo es y cancion y siempre jamás, me guía, sí, as Sión"

I love it because it says that Jesus is my light, he is my power, and with His love I can overcome. He is my light and joy and  I know that through him all things are possible. He can and will guide and help us. He loves us.

I miss and love all of y'all!

su amoroso amgio 

Elder McClellan

Ps. We cant take photos except on Pdays. So here are some of the beautiful view I see and mi casa I took today.   

Oh and mom saying of the week is como loco (like crazy). 

Necesitamos orar como loco. (We need to pray like crazy)

Escriptura favorita de esta semana: "y Jesús le digo 'Si puedes creer al que cree todo es posible'" Marcos 9:23 

We must have faith. 

Bienvenida a la CCM