"Think Ratchet and Speak Spanish"

We get business cards (sorry for the low quality pic)

Well I FINALLY ARRIVED IN THE PROMISED LAND!!! I know I know its crazy!!!

Where to even begin??

My companion is Hermana Cedeno from Venezuela! She is so amazing and such an inspiration to me I cant even tell you. She is fluent in both English and Spanish and is sadly going home after this transfer. She refuses to be trunky though and we are kicking Spanish booty here.  Also we have a huge house to ourselves. Like normally six sisters live there but its just us two....its really nice though because we each get our own bathroom and our own room for our clothes!

Random helmet we found in the casa?

I am in the Queen Creek Spanish Ward and will probably be here for a while. This ward and area are so so amazing let me tell you. We have already about 5 baptisms set up for next month which is super exciting!!! Everyone here in Gilbert is so prepared to hear the gospel it truly is a blessing. Our mission is one of the smallest in the world but has one of the Highest baptizing rates....so our mission is really the best!!! We have a third verse for Called To Serve and it ends with ARIZONA GILBERT MISSION..GREATEST MISSION IN THE WORLD! Our mission president says its the truth so its not apostate to say....I agree.

Speaking of my mission president...HE IS AWESOME! literally such a kind amazing man. I am so blessed to have President Wheeler and him and I have big plans for the Spanish area here!

The Spanish is very difficult mostly speaking wise but I understand most of it and am trying my darndest to get it down. I've learned though that when its important the Lord blesses me with the ability to understand everything and speak His desires. We visited this couple of who the wife is very active and the husband isn't a member. Turns out it was the anniversary of her nieces suicide. Her niece lived with them and was like a daughter so its really hard on them. At first I didn't understand anything but all of a sudden it clicked and I was able to bear my testimony that we have angels watching over us and that we will see them again. The spirit was so strong and I love that family so much!!!! Our God is truly a God of miracles.

If I've learned anything during my time here its to be not afraid and turn to the Lord in all things. With Him all is possible. I testify of that.

On to the funny stuff:

- I mixed up the word quesadilla and pesadilla. Very similar but very different. One is a delicious cheesy tortilla and the other is a nightmare....DO NOT BE CONFUSED WITH THESE TWO. Hermana Cedeno laughed for like 30 minutes

- We drew out the restoration and Joseph Smith may have looked a bit funny...

- WE LIVE NEXT TO SPANISH SPEAKING DRUG DEALERS!!!! Its my goal to convert them AND I HAVE FAITH IT IS POSSIBLE! I WILL BE THE FIRST FROM THE CCM DISTRICT TO CONVERT A DRUG LORD!!!!!!!!!!!! Not going to lie their mariachi music at 11 gets old but I'

pineapple doorbell for the win!

ll forgive them if they come to church....

Anyways I love you all so much and am so grateful for this opportunity to serve the Lord!

To the Moon and Back!

Hermana Showalter

Hermana Jarvis and I twinning it up our last day in the ccm!

Ready...Set...Go.... !!!(but Like For Reals This Time)

So unexpected bonus happened this week...WE GOT A PDAY!

Since everyone in our generation (all the missionaries that came to the CCM the same week) left today, four of us were left without districts and alone. What were we to do???? So instead of sticking us with another district and intimidating them with our smarts and looks they gave us a P-DAY! Am I living right??? I think so.

This past week has been muy triste (sad for you spanishless folks) and SUPER EXCITING!! I am going to miss our teachers a ton and my district (Doce A forever & Hawaii '19) but I am so so ready to go to Gilbert! I know the Lord has called me for a purpose and I cant wait to fulfill it!

I am nervous to go forth into the very very fast speaking Spanish world but I know that I have progressed as much as I can here. The CCM has been an amazing experience but its time to jump the fence. I love this gospel and the joy it brings me everyday. I know that my Savior lives and I love Him so much.

But on a less spiritual note here are all the random funny things that happened to me this week:

  - Hermana Hutchinsons sister is getting married August 11th as well. They also got engaged the same day as Maddie and Eric so she understood my pain and we have decided sisters who get married without you are the worst (kidding I love you Maddie...Eric you mess with her I mess with you)

   - Elder Lopez and I decided we were going to run the country( I obviously as President) and that Hermana Jarvis would be the House pet.... Hermana Jarvis often reminds me of a crazed squirrel so its pretty fitting

    - My district revolted against me as a travel leader saying crazy things like "the power is going to your head" and " you have absolutely no power". Since I knew they were jealous I ignored them

     - Every Sunday here they randomly call speakers to give talks. Well our branch is really small so I had a 50% shot basically of giving a talk because it was either going to be me or Hermana Hanson since Hermana Coulam had already given one. So when President Machado called Hermana Hansons name I thought I was in the free and clear. I started celebrating and rubbing it in when he suddenly announced my name as well... Moral of the story: celebrate after they are done announcing all the talks

ALSO A VERY HAPPY 46TH BIRTHDAY TO MY FATHER! He may be getting pretty old but his hair is still as fabulous as ever. Love you dad!!!

Well that's all I got for you guys today and I hope you guys can see these pictures but I will for sure send more next week from the great state of ARIZONA!!

To the Moon and Back

Hermana Showalter

Prepare for take OFF!!!!

So I'm just going to forgive all of you for not emailing me today because I forgot to tell you that my P-day this week was moved to Wednesday. Why you ask??? BECAUSE I LEAVE THE CCM NEXT WEEK. Yes this little bird is getting kicked out of the nest and into the real world, where the food is good and the people talk really fast. On the plus side.... AMERICA. Never thought I would miss a place so much and as cool as it would be to stay in Mexico, America is kind of the best.

I will miss this place a lot though too. My teachers are the literal best. Hermana Martinez, Gutirrez, Gomez, Rodriguez and Hermano Orullosa have helped me grow in so many different ways and I am eternally grateful. High key jealous Hermana Coulam will get to see them all the time since her mission is in their stake!

I will not miss the food that much though although #blessed to have had curly fries twice in the past week and a half. God answers prayers guys.

Also i have met my sworn enemy...Hermana Jarvis. By enemy I mean I love her and our ping pong games are lit. They mostly involve us yelling really bad insults at each other as we miss the ping pong. Shes from Alaska and may be the one person in the world paler than me. I will miss all the Hermanas in Casa 10! So excited to see the awesome work they all do throughout the world!

Highlights of this week include teaching two elders in which they understood 0 things that we said and just google translated everything. We asked them who they wanted to say the prayer to which one responded "no you say it!". I have never seen Hermana Martinez laugh so hard.  Also Elder Cornish of the 70 came and gave a devotional and it was so so good. My favorite thing he said was about "Choosing to do the happy list"..the happy list being the commandments!

Also I just want to share my testimony on the Book of Mormon. These past few weeks I have grown to love it so so much. It truly is the word of God and has provided me with so much comfort and love. As we look to it, God will answer our questions and help us come unto Him.  I challenge all of you to read 2 Nephi 4 too! It may be my new favorite although its really hard to choose.

I dont know if Ill be able to email you guys next week because Ill be in GILBERT but I love you so much! Think of me on Tuesday when I HAVE TO LEAVE AT 1 AM to make my flight.

So Hasta Luego my friends! Next time I email you it will be from the states!

To the moon and back!

Hermana Showalter

1 Month in...Say What?

Yes folks you have heard it right. We have officially hit week five here at the CCM. The weeks here fly by even when the days go slow but I love every minute of it!

While the overall boredom in our district has hit a new high we are all so excited to go out to our respective missions in A WEEK AND A HALF!! There are 9 of us in District Doce A and all the missions are: Guadalahara, Ciudad Mexico Easte, Ciudad Obergon, Quernavaca and...Gilbert AZ. Our whole district loses it when we have to introduce ourselves and our missions. I think they are all just jealous that Hermana Hanson and I get to go back to the states. I know I am pumped for some Chick-Fil-A.

The Spanish is definitely coming along. I love this language so much and honestly using English is weird sometimes because Spanish just sounds better. Called to Serve (a song) sounds a thousand times better in Spanish. I will stand by this until I die.

ALSO HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SISTER FROM ANOTHER MISTER (although we have our doubts) HERMANA KATHERINE ANN NASH! Although it will be the longest two years of my life till I see her again I know she is killing it in Rancho Cucamunga California!

This week was full of awesome experiences. We were able to teach a lesson completely by the spirit to our investigator and later I had the opportunity to bear my testimony to an elder in our district and we were just all in tears. ITS AWESOME! I LOVE THIS GOSPEL AND I LOVE THE JOY IT BRINGS!

Other than that not much happened except I told a Latina that I had a son instead of a brother. I have never seen any one's eyes get so big but it got all cleared up!

I am so excited for the next 17 months and Gilbert AZ. I know I have been called for a reason and am so so ready to serve my Lord!

I love you all to the moon and back!

Hermana Showalter

Como se dice... NAILED IT?

I don't know if this title is completely accurate but its pretty close...for one I am officially half way through my time here at the CCM! It is crazy and I don't know where the time has gone but I am loving every minute of it here in paradise. I love it a lot more when curly fries are involved but sadly that only happens every other week.

The Spanish is also coming back much faster than I had thought it would. I know I gave a shout out to Señor O'Donnell last week but for real...he is the real MVP.  That and the blessings from the Lord are real.

So here in the CCM we teach "fake" investigators. They are investigators that our teachers taught in real life. Our first week we taught Francis and prayed for her a lot. Well yesterday we were able to talk to the real Francis over the phone and she talked about how she felt the Lord bless her life. She had gotten some pretty awesome blessings because of our prayers and it really strengthened my testimony of the Lord answering our prayers.

Another blessing was randomly finding a picture of Katie when she was here in the CCM. I freaked out. It made me so happy! and then turns out Hermana Coulam went to school with Katie's companion at the CCM and knew her really well. It was pretty crazy and just verified once again for me just how small the Mormon world is.

Hermana Hanson also decided we needed to work out so Monday we hit the gym. I am now convinced that Satan believes in exercise. My body hurt for days and I have only now just recovered. Literally used muscles I didn't know I had.

This week though was pretty low key. EXCEPT MY SISTER GOT ENGAGED. Yes it's true. I didn't get married when she went on her mission but as soon as I leave for mine she goes and puts a ring on it. But for real I am so happy for her and Eric. They are going to be awesome together and I'm pumped to have him as a brother in law. But other than that everything is great in Mexico City. We had a party for our District Leader's birthday the other week and we are a super tight district. 

It will be sad to leave them but everyday I get more excited to go to Gilbert. I know I was called there for a reason and I'm excited to go out and do the Lord's work.

To the moon and back!

Hermana Showalter

A drawing I did.