Un Poco Salsa!

Hey so our internet has been rough so I’m short on time...questions and reading first then my email. Dad, the CCM (Mexico Missionary Training Center) has been moved to where the LDS school is and the campus can hold 10,000 apparently. It is huge there are so many casas aqi. Every once and awhile they serve American food like burgers or pizzas but mainly decent Mexican food. It’s alright but the salsa could kill a cow! The branch president warned us poco salsa is good muy mexican salsa is bad for human life. The breakfast is nasty (tamalles, burritos, and tacos) so I stick to fruit loops and fruit.

So the trip was long and the bus was the hottest bus I’ve ever been on but we finally got here and went straight to work. The Spanish is kind of coming on but mostly killing me! On day one we sat in on some sisters teaching a bad English lesson and commented on it. I helped lead the lesson with all the new missionaries, most of them are from Utah and have done mission prep but never been out of state, I bore testimony and the spirit was so strong. So after that I was feeling pretty good because I came out thinking I was Elder Holland ;) however then we taught in Spanish the next night and I got wrecked lol! Darian is our investigator and I love her. It’s definitely ups and downs but great over all. The weather has been like Oregon so that’s been amazing!

My district is two hermanas and six elders: me & Stewart, Nelson & Spencer, Swineheart & Child, and Hermana Smith & Homer. Me, Stewart, Nelson Spencer and Hermana Edmonds are going to McAllen. Stewart is from Kaysville Utah but Arkansas before that for 12 years.

One short spiritual message because I have to go. The language is super hard and I have been hard on myself to be perfect but I’m really working on humility and trying to accept we aren’t perfect. In the devotional we watched by Elder Bednar he said a whole lot but the main thing was YOU CAN DO IT, and it felt like Christ said it to me and said He trusted me with this work. God is so forgiving and the atonement plays such a large role in my life. God loves us and hears our prayers.

Sorry again for the length I’ll do better next week it’s these computers and my slow fingers. Please hand write letters as much as possible, time is tight here for reading emails - also if friends ask, same goes - thank you!

Addendum courtesy of my companion, Elder Stewart:

Mexico City is definitely a crazy place. Culturally it is very different from the states. The CCM is surrounded by a really sketchy place. There is graffiti everywhere and lots of people on the streets. We can frequently hear either gunshots or fireworks (probably a mixture of both). On Saturday night we could hear some really loud Hispanic music playing, which was kinda cool. However the CCM is definitely a safe and secure place with many security guards and high walls. It kinda feels like a prison sometimes, but it is a super spiritual place. The traffic in the city is terrible. It took us nearly 3 hours to make it to the temple this morning when it probably should have taken us half that. It is crazy driving down the street, because you see people walking in between cars to cross the street (because there are no lanes). There are also people at almost every stop light selling tacos, drinks, and other kinds of food.