Week 3 - Mr. Patriotic

Hello all of my American people,

Well not too much happened since my last email since it´s only been five days, but everything has been really good still!  Just out here killing it in the CCM with my amigos.  We actually just got back from the temple a little bit ago.  I listened the whole time in Spanish this time and I actually understood pretty much everything so that was good!

We´ve been pumping every day now and eating a ton so I´m probably about 200 pounds.  It's pretty sweet.  Just kidding but we are pumping.  It´s something we take very seriously in our district.

Well Elder Plummer from my room had to go to the hospital because of his ankle that he hurt while playing basketball.  He had to get x-rays.  Nothing was broken but he did tear a ligament so he has to stay in a boot and a wheelchair for the rest of his time at the CCM.  That´s pretty rough.  It´s also rough for Elder Morris cause he has to push him around everywhere but he needs some extra exercise.

Also some of the really cool Latino elders are leaving this upcoming Monday which is kinda lame.  They´re super awesome and we always mess around with them.  They´re fun guys.  I took a picture with a couple of them after the temple so I´ll include that.

Every Sunday here we go to like three different devotionals.  This Sunday all of the devotionals were on Christ.We watched a devotional from David A. Bednar about becoming more like Christ and developing Christ-like attributes.  He said that one of the best ways to become more like Christ is by turning outward and serving others whenever we want to turn inwards and be selfish.  He gave several examples about it from the scriptures and it was really cool.  The devotionals were really meaningful to me because these past three weeks I´ve come to love Jesus Christ more than anything.  It´s just really been made known to me how much he´s done for me personally and I´m glad that I´m able to give two years of my life to serve him.

I´ve also been reading the Book of Mormon a ton lately.  Right now I´m reading about Moroni and he is just the coolest freaking guy ever.  I love how he has no leeway when it comes to people not being obedient or following the commandments.  I´ve got to say he´s one of the greatest leaders in the Book of Mormon.

Anyways that´s pretty much it for this week!  We haven´t gotten into that much trouble yet so that´s good.  Only one time the President came and talked to us through our window because we were being too loud.  We were actually in the middle of singing a bunch of patriotic songs so that was pretty lame.

Anyways I love you all and hope you all have great weeks! Adios!

Elder Warren

Week 2 - Immigration Center Visit

MI GENTE

How are you all doing?!  Well we just got back from the Immigration Center.  No car accidents so far but we got pretty close a few times.  Also everything went well so I´m officially a legal resident in Mexico now!  I´m so glad to have P-day again, honestly this week has gone by pretty fast.  Thank you to everyone who sent packages, letters, and emails this week!  You guys are awesome and everything helps so much!  And no dad, you guys aren´t overdoing it.  Feel free to send me a package whenever you want ;)

Well I´ve finally gotten into a routine (sort of) here at the CCM.  We´re pretty much in class all day when we´re not teaching, eating, or exercising.  But it´s really fun.  I´m always laughing and having a good time with the people in my district and the Latinos are so nice.  A bunch of them are my homies now and they teach me all the Spanish slang.  They´re so cool.

They´re still feeding us really well here.  We actually helped make cheeseburgers for everyone this week as part of a service activity.  If you want to see a video of me making some burgers with my dawgs go check out the Facebook page that I told you about!  I´m pretty sure Esteban put it on there.  If you don´t remember it´s Mexico City Southeast Mission I think for the Facebook page.  Also the MTC presidency is awesome they´re really nice and they always come in and talk to us.

Some funny things that happened this week is that we started calling my companion (Elder White) Elder GOAT cause he ate the biggest piece of chocolate cake this week.  It was ridiculous.  He´s awesome and we teach really well together.  Also the people in my room are me and the GOAT, as well as Elder Plummer and Elder Morris.  Elder Morris is the funniest guy I´ve ever met and he´s the one that´s holding the Book of Mormon with me in the pics in this email.  He fell alseep twice this week while we were studying language which was hilarious.  Also, last night Elder Plummer was snoring really loud so Elder Morris actually took his blanket and pillow outside and slept in the hall on the tile because he couldn´t handle it.  Elder Plummer snore all the time haha.  Elder Meyer from our district is also super funny.  He´s 21 so we call him Elder Elder (cause he´s old).  He´s the blonde guy and we always do stuff together too.  They started calling me Elder Boss this week cause apparently I´m the boss, I don´t really know where that came from.

Our district is still super tight and we´re just getting closer.  I love these guys.  This week on Tuesday we got some frescas cortas (fresh cuts, even though that really isn´t the correct translation) and that´s why my hair is super short in the pictures.  We were so excited for frescas cortas.  We told all our teachers about it.  Also every night we get a good bomba in.  Bomba means pump.  Really we just do tons of pushups and situps to get that good bomba.  I´ll prolly be pretty jacked after six weeks here so stay tuned.  

Some cool things that happened this week is that we had TRC yesterday.  TRC is when people from the city come in and you teach them a lesson.  Elder Craner and I were on splits and we taught this 7 year old boy who was preparing to be baptized in December.  I could not believe this kid was only 7.  We taught him about baptism and he was so excited to be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost.  He had a testimony unlike any other kid I´ve seen.  He even offered an amazing prayer for us at the end of the lesson and we sang his favorite hymn with him: Loor el Profeta (Praise to the Man).  That was the best lesson ever.  

Also these past two and a half weeks have been super humbling for me, which is good because I haven´t been 100% humble in my life.  But being out here on a mission is tough.  You´re away from you´re family, with a bunch of new people, working pretty much 24/7, while also trying to learn a foreign language.  It hit me during the first week that it´s literally impossible for me to do this on my own.  I need the help of my Heavenly Father and the Spirit.  It´s been so humbling for me to be able to just completely submit myself to His will and to just try my best to be an instrument in His hands.

To end I´d just like to share something from the Hymn book that was really awesome to me.  It comes from the last verse of the hymn Yo Sé Que Vive Mi Señor (I know that my redeemer lives).  It says, "Él vive, y yo lo honraré.  A Cristo siempre alabaré.  Gozoso, canto con fervor: Yo sé que vive mi Señor."  Yo sé que vive mi Señor y lo amo mucho.  Estoy muy agradecido por este evangelio y por mi Salvador.  También lo amo el Libro de Mormón y el Espíritu, y necesito estas cosas en mi vida. 

I love you all so much and hope everything is going well!  I´ll talk to you all next Wednesday!

Elder Warren

First Week in the CCM

Hola mi gente!

Well I finally made it to my first P-day.  Honestly it felt like forever!  First of all, thank you to everyone that sent me letters, emails, and packages.  Honestly they made me so happy and without them I wouldn´t have made it through the week.  Mom, your package that you delivered to me was awesome and everyone in my casa enjoyed some of the food and sodas last night.  Also, before I forget, my P-day next week will be on Friday because I have to go get my visa finalized. 

As you all know, my journey began very early on Friday morning.  I was a little bit dazed that whole day and I wasn´t quite sure how to feel about leaving my family, friends, phone, and other possessions for two years.  But when I got on the continuing flight to Mexico from Salt Lake City the plane was filled with about 75% Mormon Missionaries.  Seeing so many people who made the same decision as I did made me feel a lot better.  I sat next to a funny Mexican guy.  He talked to me for literally the whole flight in Spanish.  It was pretty hard to communicate with him but we had a nice conversation and it was good practice for me.

After we waited for 2.5 hours at the airport while our bus driver got a ticket, we made it to the CCM (Centro de Capacitacion Misional) at about 6.  I really like the CCM.  Outside, Mexico City is crazy.  There are basically no traffic laws and I´m surprised we didn´t get into an accident.  The CCM is super nice compared to the outside world.  It rains pretty much everyday here, and when it rains it rains HARD.  I´m not really sure about how I feel about my CCM president yet.  He´s nice and funny, but he´s super freaking strict and he´s so blunt when he talks, almost to the point of being mean.  But maybe I´ll warm up to him.  We get exercise time everyday and mostly I´ve been hooping it up or playing volleyball with my companion and our district.  The food here is also really good.  I haven´t had a meal yet where I didn´t like what I got.  And although it´s mostly Mexican food, they also serve us a bunch of American food and Chinese food and other stuff too.  The churros are amazing.  They make them fresh and fill them with caramel.  

I really like my companion.  His name is Elder White and he´s a tennis player from Utah.  He´s kind of like the opposite of me.  He´s not very big, he´s a little more reserved, and he´s not extremely good at Spanish, but he´s funny and we have a really good time serving and teaching together.  After teaching our first lesson to an investigator (who was really just our teacher), I know for a fact that the Gift of Tongues is real.  When we got in the room and prayed for the Spirit, I understood every word our investigator said and was able to talk decently good Spanish.  Our lessons have only gotten better from there and I love it.

To talk about my district, I first have to tell you something that happened this week.  After our second lesson, our teacher pulled me aside and told me that I was really good at Spanish, and she wanted me to test out so I could be with a Latino group and get out into the field in three weeks instead of six.  I prayed about it the next morning.  That day was Sunday.  On Saturday and Sunday we pretty much spent the whole day watching conference.  That was my first time watching every session of Conference and it was worth every minute.  I loved every talk and every message was so strong, but I am also so sorry to hear about the passing of Elder Hales.  Anyways, after Conference we went to our classroom, and each person in our district said something they liked about Conference and bore their testimony in Spanish.  I felt the Spirit stronger in that room than I ever had in my entire life and I knew for a fact that it was an answer to my prayers.  I knew that this district was where I belonged so I told my teacher that I couldn´t test out.  We have eight elders and two hermanas in out district.  In one week I have come to love them so much and I think of them as family for the next five weeks.  While some people do stuff just with their companions, we do everything as a district.  

Something else that´s really cool is that I see my friend that I met in Vegas at the Mexican Consulate all the time.  His name is Elder Rice and he´s awesome.  I also see the Matthews´friend that came camping at Fort Bragg with us.  His name is Elder Johnson and he left the CCM this Monday.

Today we got to go to the Mexico City temple for our first P-day.  That temple is so amazing.  It´s three stories and just looks awesome.  Thankfully they gave us headphones so we could listen in English while we were there.  We also bought some sweet sock ties from the store there.

I´d like to share some of my favorite things from Conference.  First, leaving was really hard for me and the first week was kind of difficult.  But in Elder Uchtdorf´s first talk, he said something that helped me a lot.  He said, "Just because you are far from home, doesn´t mean you have to be alone or lost".  I really loved those words and it was exactly what I was looking for.  Elder Holland also said something that stood out to me.  He said "Attack me, but do not attack the path I follow."  As imperfect people, we deserve to be attacked.  But the path of the Gospel is always true and nobody should be allowed to attack the pathway to Christ.

I love you all and I hope you´re having an amazing week! I will talk to you next Friday!

Elder Warren