First Week in the CCM!

Wow! There is so much going on down here! I just can't even believe how crazy it is to jump right into spanish nearly 24/7! So far we have only sung one hymn in english, prayed once in english, and asked a few questions in english! We have amazing teachers, amazing leaders, and an amazing branch presidency! There are so many different and new things that I was able to learn this week, both spiritually (in spanish of course..) and new spanish words!

The plane ride here was great, and I actually became pretty good friends with an Elder Powell, who we met at the airport, going to Lima North, we walked together bought breakfast, and now he is our District leader!

So week one is over and I am already Zone leader for Zone 11! District 11C (And no not in the hunger games, we do not have any hunger here!) We have an amazing little district 11C, which is super fun to say in spanish by the way! And I just feel like it is such a great opportunity to be able to help out our zone and district as best we can!

My companion Elder Webb is so funny! We get along really well, and have a blast! While learning with our district, we all have taken about two-ish years of spanish, and we have been so amazed at how we were able to learn in the first few week! And even crazier, is that we have been working so hard and learned so much the first few days! In our district, we have Elder Christopherson, who is super funny, big, and kind from norther California. His companion Elder Banks is 6 ft 7 from Utah! Who is awesome! Elder Webb, my companion who is so fantastic from Gilbert Arizona! Where Rebekah is! Us four share a room together, and get along great! We have two Hermanas, Thurgood and Hutchetson which the Latinos here love to try and say! And the other awesome Elderes: Day, Adams, Nichols, Powell, Olsen, and Morris. Hermana Thurgood is going to Florida, Hutchetson Chile, and all of the elders except Olsen and Morris are going to Lima North! The two elders are going to South! We are all pumped and I really feel like we have an awesome district!

The food here isn't as bad as I thought! The fish here you kinda need to avoid... But whenever they make Enchiladas! SOO Good! The drinks here all stink, but they have their own water system, so I have been drinking plenty! It rains every night, and is the perfect temperature right now! Playing Volleyball is so nice! I am just glad there is a sport I can play other than Ping Pong here! I don't think I want to try futball with the Latinos here.... haha!

The meetings are a little hard to stay through... yea... Thats a good way to put it! They are sometimes a little obvious, and some of the clothes we bought before we came here hopefully are acceptable! Especially since we had an hour meeting on what you are allowed to wear! But it's not like we could pick something different now! Haha! It's a little late for that! But the devotionals here are so marvelous! Our President here is just the most fantastic guy ever! President Bennett! He served his first mission in Mexico! He seriously brings everyone's attention, gives us stuff we never thought of, pumps us up, and tells us how much he loves us, and we can all feel it!

Day 3 we were introduced to Claudia, an "Investigator" who we have go give all of our lessons in Spanish, and I feel so bad for some of these people, but they are so fantastic! Every Day, but Sunday and today we had to teach her, and it got so much easier! I just am so happy with the progress we made! She is our evening teacher, and it is actually Hermana Sausedo, and our morning maestra is Hermana Correra! She is just my favorite! She is so pumped up, helpful and so nice and understanding!

We have had a ton of funny jokes and stuff, and it's been a little hard to stay on track, but we have all come to realize the reason why we all came here.

"Invitar a las personas a venir a Cristo, al ayudarlas a que reciban el Evangelio restorado mediante la fe enJesucristo y su Expacion, el arrepentimiento, el baoutismo, la recepcion del don del Espiritu Santo y el preserverar hasta el fin!"

I haven't been able to memorize a lot of things in my life, and this one came so quick for me. I know that I have been helped in my studies here, and I can focus on all of the fantastic opportunities I am given, and really work hard. Learning spanish is so important, and I am feeling so good about everything so far!

Thank you guys for all of your prayers, and for being such amazing examples in my life! Anyone reading this! I could have an eternally long list of people I am thankful for helping me get to this point in my life. I couldn't have got here without my friends and family! I love you guys so much, and I am just having a blast!

Gracias! Cao!

Elder Ball

Peru Lima North Mission

P.S. Sorry for the long first email, It might not be as long next time, I set the bar pretty high didn't I! Haha!