Happy Fouth of July!

Happy fourth of July! Its funny- I'm way more patriotic now that I'm in another country. Its also interesting to me how much little things are so much more exciting when you're a missionary and you have to go without them. Like ice cream. Now, before I came here, yeah, I liked ice cream, but it was nothing to cry over, but now, after being in a class for 6 hours, and  you get out to see that there's ice cream for dessert.... I have to admit I have shed some happy tears.And Ive never been able to not fall asleep on July 3rd before, because I was so excited for Independence Day, but I couldn't fall asleep last night.

Anyways, I'm not sure why I started out my letter like that-

Mi familia!

How the heck are you all? I hope you're doing wonderful! I would love to sit down and be able to read all of your emails and what not, but since the computers are so slow, I really don't have the time. I am going to take pictures of them though, with my camera, so I can read them throughout the week.

First off- my apologies for the email last week. Was it hard to read without laughing? Its funny now, but at the time I couldn't even believe what was happening. Ha ha, it was a necessary trial I suppose. I need to remember that this isn't the USA, and we don't all have 100 ft internet towers in our backyard like Grandpa Leavitt does. I'm attempting to attach some pictures onto this email, and if it works, Ill send more. I'm scared to do more than 2 though, because of the internet weakness.

Hmm, what to say.... Well- I love it here! Its really an amazing place. My days are all filled, with every minute planned out, and I know that I am here doing the Lords work and His will, because there's no other way that I would be able to deal with this schedule. I didn't even like EFY that much because it was all scheduled out. So, there's miracle number one for ya. A basic day in the CCM involves waking up at 6:30, making my bed, getting ready, eating breakfast (which consists of runny eggs, toast, and a mystery yogurt surprise that keeps you guessing. Sometimes I put these flake things in them and if I close my eyes and forget what I'm eating, then its almost like I'm eating Frosted Flakes. Almost.) an hour of personal study, and hour of language study, teaching coaching, more language, language class, comp study, lunch, personal study, physical activity ( I play sand volleyball every single day and LOVE it) more language study, and then we teach our "progressing investigator" (which is really one of our teachers pretending to be an investigator) and then dinner, more study, and then bed. I don't think I realized that this really is a TRAINING center until my second day here. But its not hard, I mean, some moments, yeah, its rough, but its nothing that I cant do. Along that same line...

Spanish is hard. And the way they teach it here is interesting. Its all context, so we dont get to really learn the basics, we just learn how to say a prayer and the vocab words associated with that, and then we learn how to testify. So I can do all those things, but I don't really know the basics of Spanish. And I think its because this is a time for me, more than ever before in my life, to rely on my Heavenly Father. I know I cant do this without Him, and I don't think Ive ever prayed for so much help before in my life. But, even though there's no don de lenguas (gift of tongues) yet, I have been blessed with the gift of understanding, and I'm able to understand what our teachers are saying for the most part, which is good, because they ONLY SPEAK SPANISH. Talk about baptism by fire. I'm really humbled though, like, more humbled than Ive been in my life. It doesn't matter that I did all these things before I got here, and I don't know what I was thinking that I could do this all on my own, but I'm completely at His mercy now, and Ive come to see that more and more each day,

Also- so you all know how I used to read Harry Potter in a day, but when it came to the Book of Mormon, I would never just sit down and read it for 6 hours? Well, I'm not sure exactly when it happened, maybe after I taught a lesson in broken Spanish and realized that I don't know how to listen to an investigator and even more than that, I don't know nearly enough about PMG (Preach My Gospel) or the BOM (Book of Mormon), but I suddenly was filled with this desire to read everything I could get my hands on. And I wanted to finish the BOM once before I left here, and after getting this desire to read, I covered 1 Nephi to halfway through Alma in about a week! Ive never really understood what "thirsting for knowledge" meant until now, until I knew that I couldn't teach the word until I obtained the word, but I have it now.

Alright, Ive gotta go- email me some more simple questions, and Ill try to answer them next week. I love you all, and pray for you everyday. I went through the temple today and you were all on my mind so much. Mom, hows your back feeling?

Hasta luego!

Hermana Leavitt

Melissa in front of the Lima, Peru temple