Ready or Not Here I Come

Well hello there everyone! So guess what, I LEAVE TO BOLIVIA NEXT WEEK!!! AHHHHH!!! I cannot explain the emotions that are running throughout my body - excitement, nervousness, and AHHH! It's just so crazy to think that my time here at the CCM is coming to an end! It really has become my home! But I feel way too comfortable being here and once you get comfortable is when you stop growing, so I guess it's time for me to fly away! Which holy cow I feel so inadequate, I asked a lady on the bus what her name was and she pointed outside and said "si" soooo either she didn't hear me or I actually don't know Spanish BUT it's all good haha. Ready or not, here I go!!

 

So this week was pretty normal! Except for on Sunday we had the chance to watch the Trujillo Peru temple dedication and it was AWESOME!! The spirit was so strong and it just made my heart super happy that Peru was getting another House of the Lord. They were all so excited it was so cute! My favorite was when Uchtdorf would try to speak Spanish and sounded just as bad as we did hahaha so thank goodness he just talked in English and had a translator. It was awesome though! They gave us all white handkerchiefs with the Trujillo temple on it and it is so precious! Like holy cow I am so spoiled here!!! We had our hopes way high that either Bednar or Uchtdorf would make a stop here at the CCM before going home - they haven't had a general authority here for the past year and a half, so I think it's time! But I'm pretty sure they're already back in the good ol USA... but I'm still not losing hope! I'm just hoping for them to come surprise us hahaha. Plus our president speaks German, so Uchtdorf would have a really fun time! Hahaha. Anyways, so that's always a good time!

 

Nothing else really super exciting happened this week. One of our teachers, Hermana Carillo has been sick since Friday so she hasn't been here which is way sad! And our other teacher had to take a test on one of the nights, so our schedules have been really weird which kept things exciting!! IT WAS SO CUTE! Hermano Janampa bought us m&m's and it was so fun! I definitely have the best teachers ever that's for sure!! We're trying to convince them both to come live in America so we can all just hangout all the time, so we'll see if that happens! Hermano Janampa wants to start a company that does wedding decorations so I'm like bro, I can help ya with that haha. I can't believe I have to say goodbye to them next week. Ahhh I can't even think about it or I'll start crying. SO MANY GOODBYES ALL THE TIME AHHHHH.

 

Anyways, so i finally decided to play what the cool kids call "soccer" and it was actually kinda fun! Oh and no big deal I, Rebecca Higham, queen of uncoordinated feet, scored a goal. And NO it wasn't because they went easy on me. It's because I truly am a fabulous soccer player. Hahaha. We get way into sports during physical activity, I'm going to miss it for sure!

 

Oooooo so two SSunday's ago we watched Ephraims rescue and holy guacamole MOM you have to watch it you will just CRY. I had never seen it before and I don't know if I was just way emotional that day or what but I was like a waterfall the entire time. Stupid allergies. But for reals family, watch it for me!

 

Nothing else really happened this week, just a whole bunch of classes, FOOD, and hooplah. Speaking of the food, I am going to miss it so much. My favorite thing in the entire world here is their CHURROS. AHHH. They're just a regular churro, but with DULCE DE LECHE inside and it is the most beautiful thing I could ever put into my body. I always try to make it way noticeable that I like them - I always tell the food people "me gusta churros.... siempre churros por favor" and they just laugh. Hahahahahaha. I hope they make them for us again before we leave. AH. BEFORE I LEAVE!!

 

I still can't believe my time here is up. I've absolutely loved every second I've been here - some days are definitely better than others - but it has been great. My district, my teachers, the food, my weird brown blanket we have on our beds, everything. But I am so excited to go and put all my training to good use and I cannot WAIT to go and serve those beautiful people of Bolivia. That's why I'm here - sure all the other things that happen and the people I have met are awesome, but I'm here to go and spread the light and truth of this beautiful gospel. This gospel is my life, i have been so lucky to have been raised in this church and have it throughout my life. And now "because I have been given much I too must give". Thank you all for your love and support! I love you all! Have a wonderful week!

Last temple picture

All of us avocados!

We are so cute!

Our attempt at a funny picture

I love my district!

Oops.. I ruined such a cute picture haha!

No One Told Me

NO ONE TOLD ME I WAS GOING TO MAKE SO MANY GREAT FRIENDS HERE AT THE CCM!!! IF I WOULD HAVE KNOWN I WOULDN'T HAVE COME!!! This week we had to say goodbye to SO many wonderful hermanas and it broke my heart! Goodbyes are my least favorite thing in the entire world,  so if I would have known I would have to already say goodbyes, I wouldn't have come! Just kidding. But still, it was way sad to lose them,  but we're all going to have a barbecue with a blow up slide when we get back so it's not like I won't see them again. Maybe by then we'll actually know how to speak Spanish. I can't wait for that day!!

 

So like I was convinced that I had gained like 20 pounds since I got here because they feed us SO MUCH RICE AND BREAD, but last night I tried on my jeans to make sure they still fit and they do!! So if you are looking at my pictures and thinking I look chunkier, I'm not, okay. The jeans don't lie. Hahaha so I guess you could say it's been a pretty good week. Go me for not gaining weight! I always try to do workout and I run a TON during physical activity, but it doesn't feel like it... we have a big problem of snacking in our district haha whoops. But seriously, if you want a good snack, you should buy some salsa flavored tortilla pringles, they are fabulous and you'll eat the whole can in about an hour hahaha.

 

Anyways, enough about food, haha holy moly my emails are always everywhere. So this week was great! Just a pretty typical week for the most part - class, food, class, food, teaching, class, FOOD. But on Saturday, we had a chance to go proselyting and it was NOT what I was expecting at all! Usually when people go out and proselyte for the day, they get put with an actual missionary and you just go and help them teach lessons, knock doors, etc. But not this time, I guess they decided to switch it up! They decided to keep us in our companionships (so I was with Hermana Park) and they put us with 2 members and we went and visited inactive members which was AWESOME except before we left the ccm, they told us not to prepare anything because we would be going along with what the missionaries had planned and just bear our testimonies. So we had nothing prepared, I only had my Spanish Book of Mormon, and a Liahona to give them. Soooo we get with these two members thinking that they had a message to share for the inactives right? Well, we get to the first house, we start small talking, and then the member turns to us and says "these two sisters have prepared a message specifically for you" and me and Hermana Park just BLANK STARE at each other and it was the most awkward thing in the entire world. We had no idea what was going on, who this person was, and it was sooo awkward. So we both just talked about the importance of the gospel in our lives, etc and then the lady had to go finish her lunch. Then, the members ask us after if we had anything prepared and we were like no!! So pretty much it was just an awkward time. There were a lot of people that weren't home when we went to the rest of the houses and a lot of the people we went to visit were young 15 year old girls that we could tell felt way awkward as we tried to speak our broken Spanish to them. Hahahaha it was definitely not what any of us were expecting. I was hoping we would get a missionary!! But it was still a wonderful time visiting with them and seeing how they were doing. And it was nice to see what a more poor part of Peru looks like - definitely humbling that is for sure! Except I guess me and Hermana Park are just too friendly cause the members kept getting mad at us for saying hello to every person that walked past... hahaha, and also I wanted to give every dog on the street a hug because they were all so sad and one had a broken leg and rubbed up against my leg. I may or may not have petted a puppy beagle - don't worry mom, it was a house dog and I used hand sanitizer right after. Even though it was an awkward time when we had no idea what was going on at that first door, it was still a really neat opportunity and got us all excited to get out in the mission field and start helping people! I know my Spanish is still MUY mal, but I have no worries about it.

 

 I can't believe I only have 2 more weeks here at the CCM before I depart to this magical place called Bolivia. Whenever I tell a Latina my mission is Bolivia Santa Cruz they always say "mucho calor!!" but they also say it's pretty so yay!! I'm just going to be way sweaty all the time, so cute hahaha. Hmmm what else is new about this week... I don't know. Pretty much I am just having the time of my life - I'm always exhausted, constantly working, and never have time to breath, but I absolutely love it and my district is absolutely fabulous. They really are my family! This week Elder Riddick said something way precious, he said "guys, if you ever feel like you're really homesick and missing your family, just remember that you're family is right here" it was super precious and is so true! They really are my family and we bicker like siblings, but it's awesome. And my teachers are even better! Hermano Janampa was having a hard day this last week, so we all wrote him a note and he said in his silly English "I love you guys!" and we said "we love you too!" and he just says "so cute" then shuts the door and walks away hahaha. He is so awesome! There are certain words I will forever say because of him - que en el mundo and "jup" (yup) hahahahaha. It's so fun.

 

I have some very exciting news!! I BOUGHT SOME SPANISH SCRIPTURES!!! They gave us the floppy ones in the mtc and mine are pretty hideous looking so I decided to splurge and get myself a nice pair from the distribution center and I couldn't be more excited to have them!! They are still in their nice wrapping and I just can't wait to start using them! Ah! It's the little things that make you happy, you know!

 

Well, that's pretty much it for the week! The days are long and the weeks are short and soon I'm going to be in BOLIVIA! I can't believe it! I can't imagine life out of the ccm, but I'm also way excited about it! This gospel is so true and I cannot wait to share the light and joy that it brings to the people of Bolivia. This week I encourage you all to look for opportunities to serve others or reach out and tell someone about the gospel! And report back to me! Hahaha. I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week!

 

Hermana Higham

 

P.S. Shout out to the best dad in the entire world! I hope you have the bestest fathers day ever! I'm sad I'm missing it, but just know that I'm sending my hugs and kisses your way! Love you Daddy!

Going to miss these girls!

I got new scriptures!

Love these girls

Taking a picture with them is a struggle

ESPANOL PALABRAS

     Well hello there everybody!!! Sooooo pretty much this week was just like any other week here in the CCM, but it was a great one none the less! This mtc is probably one of the best mtcs to come to because they let you take siestas whenever you want, they have a movie going on constantly, AND they have a cotton candy machine! Hahaha psych! That was all a lie and very far from the truth! But I love it here even if they don't have those things haha. It's been a great week for sure! I finally feel like my Spanish is coming along and that I can keep up a very awkward and broken conversation with the Latinos so yayyyy! Except sometimes they ask me random questions and I don't know what they're saying so I just stand and smile at them and say "mi espanol es mal". It's pretty funny. But all the Latinas here are really nice so they just laugh along at me haha. Its a good time!

     
     Ahhhhh! so today we had the chance to go to the temple again like we do every week and after we went to Totus to get some snacks- I bought some pringles, oreos, and powerade and I couldn't be more excited to eat them in a very short period of time... hahaha - and stuff, and while we were waiting in line to buy it, there was a man in front of us so me and my companion just saw it as a chance to practice our Spanish so we started talking to him AND HE SPOKE ENGLISH so pretty much it was the best days of our lives! We told him a little about the church and he seemed way interested! He asked when and where we meet, he asked for contact information, and we gave him a pamphlet so yay for us! We also got his number! He was honestly the nicest person ever and I am very upset we didn't have a Book of Mormon with us. He was so nice - he says he likes to travel to America and wants to go to Idaho someday and just eat potatoes which is funny because they have like a thousand different kinds of potatoes here in Peru. But he was awesome. So yeah, we felt pretty awesome after that and just talked to so many people when we were done! The people here are just so nice!! It's crazy! I hope Bolivians are this wonderful! haha. Except there was this one guy on the bus today that wanted nothing to do with us and it was way awkward. He didn't even laugh at our jokes... but we slipped a pass along card on his lap before he left. It was just a great day. AND THE SUN IS ACTUALLY OUT TODAY WHICH NEVER REALLY HAPPENS! So yes, there is mucho sunshine in my soul today!! Also, I got to the laundry first today so you could say that it has been a stellar day.

     
     Anyways, what else did I do this week... ooo! We were able to watch Elder Tom Perry's funeral live which was pretty awesome! Usually we watch stuff like that on taped delay, but the 12 made sure that everyone had the chance to watch it live so that was a good time! Heaven sure gained a fantastic missionary!!

     
     So one accomplishment this week was that me and Hermana park went into a lesson with absolutely no notes to teach a lesson and we totally rocked it! The spirit was so strong, we were able to say everything that we wanted to, and it was just overall a great lesson! It's crazy how the spirit works through you and allows you to teach in a language that you only know like 3 words in. The gift of tongues is so real!! Except I only really know how to bear my testimony and pray in Spanish, so when people ask me about real life things that aren't church related, I get way confused haha. But anyways, it was a great lesson! But hahahah kay so this last lesson we started fresh with a new investigator named Jorge and we were teaching him about God and prayer and such and when Hermana park was demonstrating a prayer,  he started copying everything she was saying in this creepy whisper and we both just LOST IT! Hahaha it was bad!! And I looked up at him and he was just smiling from ear to ear he thought he was so funny. Sometimes it's hard to have our teachers as investigators 'cause we know them so well and he's just such a funny person that it's hard hahaha so that was bad, but don't worry, we were able to bring the spirit back before we left. Silly Hermano Janampa. He really is one of the funniest people I have ever met. One time he told us to meet outside by the tables and so when we walked out there he was just sitting and humming the star wars theme song and when we got to him he just said "Luke, yo soy tu padre" liiiiike I was laughing so hard! He makes learning Spanish fun and it allows us to not be serious missionary robots all the time hahaha. My district is honestly so awesome and we are constantly having a good time! We have this new hobby where we just have like a half hour where we just sing hymns and primary songs, and Elder Riddick is like a pro at beat boxing so he beat boxes while we sing primary songs and it sounds SICK!! Like we're going to have a YouTube channel when we get home, get discovered, and make a CD it's gonna be tight. We're gonna be called District 110. Except we don't have the primary songs in English so we struggle to remember the words, but its still a good time. We kill childs prayer every time. You could say we're pretty cool I guess. Hahaha

     
     Oooo! Another random thing that happened this week is we had a very VERY mini earthquake which was exciting. Hahaha. What else... oooo Sunday was testimony meeting and it was absolutely amazing! I said as much as I could in Spanish and finished it off with some English. It was great. The spirit is so strong here and I am definitely surrounded by a bunch of amazing people! I definitely wouldn't want to be anywhere else!! I LOVE it here! It breaks my heart that a lot of my buddies are leaving me next Tuesday and that next week I'm going to be advanced (avansados.... we call them avocados) so weird. Time is flying by, I'm always tired, always hungry, and Spanish is hard, but I absolutely love it. It's definitely tough,  but I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve and be a representative of Christ. It is honestly the best thing ever having his name over my heart at all times on my name tag. Ah. The work is great and I am loving it. I love and miss you all! Keep writing me and sending me pictures, I love hearing from you!!! Have a wonderful week!!

Hermana Higham

Gotta love temple pictures!

More temple pics

We finally found a bus where we didn't have to squish together! It was a whole new experience

La Lucha Es Real

     I hope I spelled that heading right.... if not then just know it's supposed to say the struggle is real hahaha! Soooo pretty much I feel weird that I've been here for exactly 2 weeks! Like it hasn't felt that long, but then if feels like I've been here for a few months sooo that's crazy! I'm officially an intermedio now instead of a beginner! YAY!! 

     
     We got a fresh batch of Americanos today which we were WAY excited about since we lost a lot of people that left on their missions on Tuesday! I had to get up in the middle of the night to use the restroom and they got in at like 4, so I saw some of them and I think I scared them a little bit 'cause my hair was chaotic, I was half asleep, and I got way excited to see them hahaha it was funny! When I woke up I thought it might have been a dream... but then I saw the girl today so it's good to know I'm not loco hahahaha. I love this little mtc, you get to know everyone here and they are just so wonderful, it's awesome!!

     
     This week was pretty great, I'm still loving it and happy as ever!! We have just had our regular week of sitting in class ALL DAY LONG (I struggle with that hahahaha) and teaching our investigators! We got new investigators this week which was a fun switch... but they're still just our teachers so not that different haha. My teachers are honestly the greatest ever!! My Hermana teacher is just so sweet and speaks such broken language that it's sometimes just easier to try to understand her Spanish, she's adorable! And then my night teacher, Hermano Janampa is just a goon! He just still says que en el mundo all the time and does this weird laugh hahahaha. We just have a hoot in room 110 with my crazy district and my awesome teachers! Which is great, but also a huge distraction since we're all just going crazy 24/7 hahaha. But we have learned SO MUCH here which is a relief! You know you're improving when you know you can speak more in the language than you did when you came haha. Even though I still speak muy mal espanol. It is so broken... BUT I know how to bear my testimony and pray and that's all I need!! Haha. 

     
     Sooooo mom don't freak out but I may or may not have already gotten sick. I'm good now, it was just a little bug and I'm pretty sure it was something we ate cause last Thursday people were dropping like flies!! It hit me in the morning and they put me on bed rest for the day with some other hermanas and we slept ALL DAY LONG. I was worried I wouldn't be able to sleep at night, but it wasn't even a problem. The next day I was better so it was just a weird but, but it was crazy! It felt weird just skipping a day, I was so behind! But no worries, I got caught up on everything so yay! But I'm good now and everything is normal!! Well mostly. My body is still having a hard time adjusting to the rice and rice and more rice and RICE! We eat it every meal and they give you SO MUCH. Even when you ask for a little, they still give you a TON so I've learned you have to say "poco poco arroz" hahahaha it's fun. 

     
     The food is actually pretty good here! This week we had a PASTA day where they just only had pasta and different sauces, it was awesome!! It was a great change! And one day they made us pizza! it was weird, but pizza none the less. I've decided that my good and bad days are dependent on the meals. Like if it's a bad food day, everyone is having a bad day. If it's a good food day, everyone is just crazy. I've never looked forward to meals so much in my life. I'm going to gain like 20 pounds that's for sure and I'm a thousand percent sure I already have hahaha. Me and Hermana Newbold run 2 miles and do other workouts each day but I feel like it's not enough. HELP! Hahaha. They have volleyball nets here and we all go crazy pants when we play! It's so fun, I love volleyball! I have yet to play soccer yet, I'm not much of a soccer fan (sorry Paula) and the Latinos intimidate me when they play haha. 

     
     I feel like my emails are just all over the place, I really need to gather my thoughts before! haha. We had the chance to go to the temple again today which is awesome! I love that place and it's just a whole new experience in Spanish! And getting there is fun too, those bus rides get pretty squishy and the elders and sisters no touching rule does not apply during that time because everyone is just smashed together. It's an awkward time hahahaha.  After that we went to another store called "metros" which is like a Walmart.... ish.... thing haha. Then we went to a place and got some wicked cool pants! I wanted to buy like 50 pairs!! I'll send a picture of them, they are awesome! its the little things that make your life that much better here in the ccm. The days are long... but fast... good... yet bad all at the same time. But I absolutely love it here and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else! This work is great, the spirit is strong, and I'm loving every second of it! I love you all and I hope you have the best week ever! Adios!

Hermana Higham

The houses that we teach at.

The CCM!

Me at a house that we teach at!

Me and the other Hermana's.

My buddies and I.

My name tag!

Weird fruit that we have to eat. It looks like fish eggs!

Me and the South America map.