Week 1: Bienvenidos a Mexico

 

Bienvenidos a la Ciudad de Mexico!

B is for...barrio??

Now where to start? So many things have happened. So if it's random sentences, I'm sorry.

So my first companion is elder Carlson from Enoch Utah. When I first saw him I thought he was about 22 because he his a pretty big guy, and doesn't quite have a full head of hair. Now if I  was living in AZ he might not be the guy I would be hanging out with, regardless I enjoy him a lot. He is a little bit shy, and his Spanish accent is terrible, but he is always in a good mood and camehere for the right reasons. He is a computer/videogame guy. I like him especially because he wants to keep all the rules exactly and helps me in doing so. We share a dorm with 6 different elders.

On the right starting from the right: Elder Carlson, Elder Budge, and in back is Elder Jones
on the left; Daines, Crook, and Packard

Four of us are going to Kansas, Elder Carlson and I, and then Elder Budge, and Elder Jones.

I like Elder Budge a lot. He is actually Shane Hatch's cousin, so Roy Hatch is his uncle, and I have become very good friends with him. He is the Utah state tennis champion for doubles two years in a row. His companion is Elder Jones, from Idaho, who is not having such a good time. He is homesick, terribly, and on top of that has diabetes, so is very uninterested in any studying like we do here, because he is always sick. I admire Elder Budge a lot for being incredibly patient with Elder Jones. Hopefully Elder Jones makes it another week. The other two guys in our apartment are from here in Mexico. I like them a lot too. They are really fun to speak to Spanish to. Elder Torrez is from Mexicali and  he has 5 older brothers who all served missions.

Our district includes 10 people. The four of us going to Kansas that I have already described, and then there are Elder Slavens from northern Cali, going to Idaho. Elder Butterfield from Cedar City going to Minneapolis, and Elder Crook, and Elder Daines, both from Salt Lake/Provo area that are also going to Kansas. So, a total of 6 of us going to Kansas here. The two sisters in our district are Hermana Vance, who is one of 16 children, and Hermana-can’t- remember-her-name.

We are all only the second group to come here to the Mexico MTC. There are only about 250 to 300 people here now, but by the time I leave there are supposed to be something like 3000. This property is incredible; it sits on 90 acres of green grass land. All the buildings here are awesome, but most of them are unfinished, and they are still doing furniture and stuff in all the classrooms. I love all the members of my districts, and we all have become really close. It rains everyday here at about 5or 6 o'clock, and the thunderstorms are awesome, but I forgot a rain jacket. During the day the air is incredibly smoggy and terrible, but at about the time the storm comes in it all clears up, and Mexico becomes surprisingly beautiful.

raining in Mexico

We live in the ghetto, and all we hear all day are police sirens and fireworks. I don't

know why, but i'm not even kidding when I say that the Mexicans in the city light off fireworks all day long, and all night long, I have heard it is because they are celebrating their patron saints, but for a week straight??

the weather here is awesome too. All staff here is pretty much from Mexico so, all I do all day is speak Spanish. I love all the Latinos here. Our language instructors here are Hermana Runyun who reminds me  lot of mom, she served in Argentina( I think she

is 25 years old?). Hermano Osorio, who is about 30 and is a Latino. But Hermana Runyun taught at the MTC in Provo for 2 years before this, and said that we are learning Spanish, so incredibly faster than those in Utah.

The food here is all Mexican food, and is pretty good. we eat alot of beans and rice, and chicken, and flan, and horchata. Our dorms have plenty of room. Everyday we get a little bit of gym time, where I usually run a mile with elder Budge, while our two companions time us and talk about zombies and video games. Then we play soccer together as a district, and other elders, or we play Frisbee. There is only one other elder here from Arizona that I know of, he was the one we saw the in the airport, Elder Nelson from Mesa, he is really cool, I like him a lot. He and I were waiting in Dallas for our plane to come, with two other elders, and we thought that there might be a few more on our flight o Mexico with us, and we turned around and there were 40 coming down the escalator! our plane to México was full of missionaries. We also have a fake investigator that we have to teach only in Spanish, which is pretty hard. By the time Sunday came along, I thought it was going to be normal day, and would not be very relaxing, because we had a lot on our schedule, but it was incredibly relaxing, and was a good break for all the study. My companion and I were asked to do the sacrament, in Spanish of course. For church it is just our district and another, so only 20 of us, but wee all have to prepare a talk, and then we find out who is actually speaking that day.

The spirit is incredibly strong here, I feel it mas fuerte cara dia. Especially today, because we got to go to the temple. it was very beautiful, and we get to go every other p day, which is awesome. I guess the most spiritual experience that I have had here so far was at the temple this morning. I walked in and felt and incredible rush of peace, and then when I passed the guy who checks your recommend, he told me, “Bienvenidos a la casa del Señor”.

Bienvenidos 

I knew at that moment that temple is very much the house of the Lord, and I could not stop thinking about it during the whole session. And although the session was all in Spanish, I felt the spirit very strongly. It is such an honor to wake up every morning and put on a name tag, and to be able to serve the Lord. I am having an incredible time here, and although I miss home a lot, I am very happy to be here. Say hi to everyone.