First email from Mexico City

In this letter:

Jessica tells about her trip and safe arrival at the Mexico City MTC Jessica uses her Spanish language skills to rescue Graigry's suitcase from customs Watch for her next letter on Tuesday July 30th.

I had good intentions to write a long letter, but it`s going to take some getting used to this keyboard and I may get too frustrated to finish. I`ll do my best!

So I eventually stopped crying as we waited for our flight to Dallas and by midway to Dallas I recovered myself. I`m super excited to be here at the Me`xico CCM (Centro Capacitacion Misional) and everyone has been really nice. I haven`t found my compañera yet but right after I send this email off I go to the casa I`ve been assigned and I have a feeling I may find her there. Most of the people that flew into Mexico City with us had companions within the group (there were 59 of us! So many misioneros!) but mine wasn`t within the group so I haven`t found her yet. Her name is Hermana Broadhead but I don`t know any more than that.

We also met a lady on our flight to Dallas who was going home to Georgia after spending a week at Snowbird for a family reunion! She was a grandma; she said they stay at Iron Blossom every year, like we stay at the Cliff every year. Just by looking at her I could tell she was a member of the Church. I used to hear people say stuff like, `You could just tell who were members of the Church and who weren`t,` but until today I wasn`t sure how that could be. I think it was the light in her eyes. We had a good time talking to her.

Graig and I ate at a Popeye`s in the Dallas airport before catching our next flight. Yummy!

 

The whole plane from Dallas was full of missionaries headed to the Mexico City MTC

When we landed in Mexico City, all went smoothly until customs, where Graig accidentally left his big suitcase near the tables where they search your luggage. He didn`t realize he was missing it until everyone had already gone through customs and met two hermanos holding a "Mexico CCM" sign. We enlisted the help of Hermano Sanchez (I`m not sure how he`s affiliated with the CCM yet, but he`s very kind and I hope we see more of him), who doesn`t speak hardly a lick of English, and I explained in very broken Spanish that Graig had forgotten his bag in the customs area. Luckily Hermano Sanchez was very perceptive. :) He took Graig over to an airport official and they spent probably 20-30 minutes explaining the problem and talking the guy into letting Graig backtrack into the customs area to retrieve his bag. I felt very proud of myself for helping Graig make himself understood - although he actually didn`t do too badly on his own.

Les amo mucho. I really am glad to be here, although the caliber of tears shed in the airport this morning may have suggested otherwise. It still feels a little surreal, even though I have a name tag hanging from my lapel now and I`m IN MEXICO! but I`m determined to stick it out even when the reality of what I`ve done crashes down. haha I don`t think you can really know how leaving on a mission feels until you`re doing it. I definitely had no idea.

Looking forward to Spanish classes! I`ll keep that list for you and send it next week.

Con mucho amor (and some bewilderment),
Hermana Jessica Henrie

Oh, I almost forgot - so far I`ve met five other misioneros going to my mission! Three hermanas (including me) and three elders. I`m sure I`ll meet lots more in class!

 Arriving at the airport

 Walking to the security entrance

 Reality sinking in.

 One last family picture.

 Headed through the security maze.

One last glimpse of her.