The Fall of Elder Haddad and Elder Haddad's Arc

A very interesting week here at the MTC. We got to do some de-stressing activities this week, and one of them was getting all of our energy out. We headed over to the cafeteria, where there's a nice courtyard and some grass. Our whole district lined up, 4 Elders and 4 Hermanas, to do some sprints. The Hermanas were all in skirts and the elders were all in dress shoes. I booked it right from the start, cruising past my larger companion and the other elders. The Hermanas didn't run because they were in skirts. I was close behind Elder Crocket (who was a high school track athlete), as we sprinted toward the finish, I stepped in a large ditch and before I knew it was was tumbling on the ground. There had been a hidden sprinkler head covered by grass that I accidentally stepped on. All I remember is my tie flapping in the air, running my heart out, desperately trying to beat Elder Crockett and then I take one wrong step, my legs give out on me, and I'm down running into the ground. After a couple rolls on the ground and many laughs by my district I picked myself up to finish the race. Everyone was dying of laughter.  To keep running, my companion jumped over me and just pointed at me. I walked away with only a minor grass stain and a new nickname.  For the rest of the evening my district laughed about not the Fall of Adam, but the Fall of Elder Haddad.

Though my running skills have not improved, my luck did turn around. On Monday I got a package in the mail, it was such a fantastic surprise. When I was walking out of the postal office, I read the return address on the package. It wasn't from my parents, or my ward, or my friends, it was from a Mr. Matthew Schaffer.  As I read the return address, I looked up to see Hermana Schaffer walking by. It's kind of a crazy story, but I randomly met Hermana Schaffer the day before she left on her mission. I ran into her at the Oakland temple and we made some small talk, and she told me she was going to the Mexico MTC before she serves her mission in California. I didn't think much of our conversation, and I didn't think I would ever see her again. It wasn't until I arrived at the MTC that I saw her again and she was in my zone. A zone is compromised of 3 districts, each district is on a different week, that way the older kids can help the new kids on their first couple weeks. We spend a lot of time with our zone, it's who we go to church with. There is only 26 of us, so we all have gotten pretty close. Hermana Schaffer had told her parents that I was in her zone, and her parents sent me a welcoming package to the MTC. The Schaffers also sent their daughter 7 letters and 2 packages, they love her so much, they sent me a package too. It was a box of oreos and a note. That evening we all grabbed some milk from the cafeteria and had a delicious taste of America for dessert. 

As the week continued, we got better and better at teaching. It's not the same as in English, but we have fantastic teachers. The classes are super small, there is only 8 of us to one teacher and most of the time we have a couple of teachers helping us out. On Tuesday, we got to use the computers for some language software. We always use the weather widget on the computer and it forecasted some rain for Mexico city. But it was really God's wrath. It started off with a wind storm and then came the rain, pouring down like a blanket. I had never seen larger quanites of water leave the sky. The rain then combined to form half inch hail, so much hail that it looked like snow. It was so loud we couldn't hear. Everyone ran from their seats to look out the hallways, the rain had been coming down sideways and had blown all through the hallways. Our zone gathered in amazement and watched the storm, a few brave souls ventured out into the rain. In under 10 seconds, my entire suit and pants were soaked. We decided to call it a night, because the power kept going out, we figured it would be best to go back to our homes. All the streets had flooded and there wasn't any way of getting home without getting at least ankle deep in the water. The water was even knee deep at some points and it was FREEZING!  After getting home, we threw on some different clothes and headed out for some swimming in our cul de sac lagoon. What a day, what a week!
I love it here at the MTC, we work hard, but we also have a lot of fun. I survived the Fall of Man and Noah's Arc, and I'm sure tomorrow will be another great week.

This is my district. These are the people I spend 10 hours a day with in class. 

We are super close, I love them all to death.

 

Photo of our houses. I'm the one of the right, casa 47, 

The pictures of the night is when our entire cul de sac flooded.  

We were up to knee deep at some points, and everyone's suits got soaked. rain, hail, everything.

Another elder from my zone, Elder Collins

Love you all! 

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Elder Haddad