These e-mails were written in the morning and evening on Tuesday, September 2nd, his P-day.
Hey everyone!
It´s so good to hear from you all, you don´t even know! It feels like it's been weeks since I've seen you guys! The first week of La CCM goes SO slow! I'll be honest with you, I´m sitting here crying a bit and trying to hide it so the other élderes can´t see me. XD
Everything here is going well. We´ve taught the same "investigator" three times already, in SPANISH! His name's Carlos and from what we've heard he is actually going to become our teacher in a week or 2, but as of right now he's tough! Elder Hartvigsen and I have taught him about Joseph Smith and the Restoration, and then invited him to be baptized, but he won't "give up" alcohol! I know he's trying to give us real life examples of what an investigator would be like, but I wish he would give us a break! We've only been learning Spanish for less than a week! Mom, I wouldn´t say I´m fluent in Spanish yet but honestly I´m about as far as I ever got in French.
I´ve already memorized Su Objetivo (My Objective), The First Vision, James 1:5-6, and Moroni 10:4-5 ALL IN SPANISH! It´s amazing what you can do when you have the Spirit and all the blessings that come with being a missionary. I actually recorded all of them on the recorder Mom gave me, but I forgot to bring it here to the computer lab so I´ll have to send it to you next week or maybe later today. ;)
So more about the CCM, it´s actually only been the new Mexico MTC for the last year and a half, it consists of 90 acres, yes 90 acres of land, right in the heart of Mexico City. The boundaries are encased in 20 foot tall fences with barbed wire at the top, and we actually have a well here that is not part of the city´s water system, so we don´t have a problem with Montezuma´s Revenge. (Or at least I think that´s what it´s called). Funny thing is we woke up this morning to one of the Elders in our room puking in the bathroom. He's sick with something awful, but we gave him a priesthood blessing after that so I know he'll be okay. :)
So in case you didn´t figure this out by now, today is my P-Day. All the élderes were freaking out last night because it was P-Day eve, and I didn´t know if I was going to be able to sleep. XD
I´ve been thinking a lot about music and how big a part it is of my life. I´ve been just aching to play a piano here, but I´m trying to be as obedient as possible to Heavenly Father as I can and so I´ve refrained (so far) XD.
My companion is pretty cool. His name is Elder Hartvigsen and he´s from Alpine, UT. Probably the only thing I can complain about is how talkative he is to his friends here and how we´re late to almost every meeting. XD They did choose him as District Leader however so that puts a lot more responsibility on the both of us.
Now for the food... Mom, Dad, when you told me it would be authentic Mexican, I thought it would be spicy or flavorful, but most of this stuff sucks! Almost everything they serve as the main meal is mass-produced, and they put little if no seasoning in it at all! It's so bland and I'm so hungry most of the time, I just eat it to fill up my stomach. XD The only thing that I´ve really liked so far, (much to my roommates disapproval) is the refried beans. They are actually the best refried beans I´ve ever tasted, but I try not to eat them too much so as not to become as Hitler. (wink wink, nudge nudge) ;)
I´ve actually seen Elder Sitterud here once! It was during his P-Day and I was so surprised I couldn´t think of what to say, but yes, I have talked to him and he seems to be doing well.
So it turns out I only played basketball on the first day. There are a lot of people here who I can tell are going to play for Colleges eventually so I don´t feel like getting my butt kicked. XD
Instead, I´ve been playing cage soccer! It´s a basketball sized court with 10 foot chain-link fences around it and a not too big goal but it's been fun! :)
You're right mom! There are a ton of weird symbols on this keyboard! If you didn't notice I just found the correct apostrophe. XD I'll put some of them down for you.
ñ¿?¡ and that's all I can figure out how to do at the moment... XD
So we were told that we can only spend an hour and a half on P-Day emailing, but some élderes figured out how to get around that. If you use the program they have for lds mail you have a time limit, but if you use Google Chrome as I am, you have unlimited. So I'll get back on today around 4:30 so 3:30 for you guys, if you want to send back anything for me to respond to! :)
Probably the hardest thing I've dealt with this week has been the language. The first day you walk into class, there's minimal English and el Maestro talks so fast it's hard to keep up. In lessons with Carlos, I try to keep up but my companion took 4 years of Spanish so he just takes off with Carlos in conversation and I stick to reading scriptures aloud. XD
Hope I answered all of everyone's questions! Let me know if there's something I missed and I'll make sure to answer back. :) If you didn't get that Hitler joke earlier, the key words are "gas chambers". ;)
Hope all is well! Love you all!
Buenas Dias!
Elder Spencer Layne Robertson
P.S. Gracias por the pictures!
Later on that day and we were able to get our e-mails written too so he answered some more things:
(I told him Josh was sick starting Sunday)
That's too bad about Josh... I started a sore throat on Sunday as well but I took one of those green packs you gave me and I felt better by the end of the day. Tell Josh to at least be grateful he wasn't fiareaing (spicy diarrhea--fiarea is what they call it here XD) and throwing up! I haven't heard anything from Elder Hepworth except that in the past 10 hours... I'm just dreading when I have to go through that because it seems like everyone I've talked to here has had to deal with it at some point! :/
Something about the grounds I didn't say was that everything is constantly in tip top condition. It seems like every 3 days there are workers mowing and edging. It's crazy!
La CCM es La Centro de Capacitacion Misional México. Si, Nuestro maestro es native. Este es 12 personas en mi district con 4 hermanas.
I did that all my myself. XD We play cage soccer with 6 people on each team. I don't know... I honestly don't think I weigh enough to even try to play with these guys... Plus I'd rather not get injured. I've seen plenty of missionaries here around the CCM that are in wheelchairs or have crutches.
It would be great if you could set up a blog. I don't know how good my typing is and stuff so if the blog does happen I'll have to make things more interesting so people will actually read it... ;)
I'm so proud of you guys. I'd like to say something. Testificado que si oramos y leamos estamos recevar bendiciones por lo. I know I probably butchered that but I hope you get the general idea. ;)
Con Amor,
Elder Spencer Layne Robertson
Hey everyone!
It´s so good to hear from you all, you don´t even know! It feels like it's been weeks since I've seen you guys! The first week of La CCM goes SO slow! I'll be honest with you, I´m sitting here crying a bit and trying to hide it so the other élderes can´t see me. XD
Everything here is going well. We´ve taught the same "investigator" three times already, in SPANISH! His name's Carlos and from what we've heard he is actually going to become our teacher in a week or 2, but as of right now he's tough! Elder Hartvigsen and I have taught him about Joseph Smith and the Restoration, and then invited him to be baptized, but he won't "give up" alcohol! I know he's trying to give us real life examples of what an investigator would be like, but I wish he would give us a break! We've only been learning Spanish for less than a week! Mom, I wouldn´t say I´m fluent in Spanish yet but honestly I´m about as far as I ever got in French.
I´ve already memorized Su Objetivo (My Objective), The First Vision, James 1:5-6, and Moroni 10:4-5 ALL IN SPANISH! It´s amazing what you can do when you have the Spirit and all the blessings that come with being a missionary. I actually recorded all of them on the recorder Mom gave me, but I forgot to bring it here to the computer lab so I´ll have to send it to you next week or maybe later today. ;)
So more about the CCM, it´s actually only been the new Mexico MTC for the last year and a half, it consists of 90 acres, yes 90 acres of land, right in the heart of Mexico City. The boundaries are encased in 20 foot tall fences with barbed wire at the top, and we actually have a well here that is not part of the city´s water system, so we don´t have a problem with Montezuma´s Revenge. (Or at least I think that´s what it´s called). Funny thing is we woke up this morning to one of the Elders in our room puking in the bathroom. He's sick with something awful, but we gave him a priesthood blessing after that so I know he'll be okay. :)
So in case you didn´t figure this out by now, today is my P-Day. All the élderes were freaking out last night because it was P-Day eve, and I didn´t know if I was going to be able to sleep. XD
I´ve been thinking a lot about music and how big a part it is of my life. I´ve been just aching to play a piano here, but I´m trying to be as obedient as possible to Heavenly Father as I can and so I´ve refrained (so far) XD.
My companion is pretty cool. His name is Elder Hartvigsen and he´s from Alpine, UT. Probably the only thing I can complain about is how talkative he is to his friends here and how we´re late to almost every meeting. XD They did choose him as District Leader however so that puts a lot more responsibility on the both of us.
Now for the food... Mom, Dad, when you told me it would be authentic Mexican, I thought it would be spicy or flavorful, but most of this stuff sucks! Almost everything they serve as the main meal is mass-produced, and they put little if no seasoning in it at all! It's so bland and I'm so hungry most of the time, I just eat it to fill up my stomach. XD The only thing that I´ve really liked so far, (much to my roommates disapproval) is the refried beans. They are actually the best refried beans I´ve ever tasted, but I try not to eat them too much so as not to become as Hitler. (wink wink, nudge nudge) ;)
I´ve actually seen Elder Sitterud here once! It was during his P-Day and I was so surprised I couldn´t think of what to say, but yes, I have talked to him and he seems to be doing well.
So it turns out I only played basketball on the first day. There are a lot of people here who I can tell are going to play for Colleges eventually so I don´t feel like getting my butt kicked. XD
Instead, I´ve been playing cage soccer! It´s a basketball sized court with 10 foot chain-link fences around it and a not too big goal but it's been fun! :)
You're right mom! There are a ton of weird symbols on this keyboard! If you didn't notice I just found the correct apostrophe. XD I'll put some of them down for you.
ñ¿?¡ and that's all I can figure out how to do at the moment... XD
So we were told that we can only spend an hour and a half on P-Day emailing, but some élderes figured out how to get around that. If you use the program they have for lds mail you have a time limit, but if you use Google Chrome as I am, you have unlimited. So I'll get back on today around 4:30 so 3:30 for you guys, if you want to send back anything for me to respond to! :)
Probably the hardest thing I've dealt with this week has been the language. The first day you walk into class, there's minimal English and el Maestro talks so fast it's hard to keep up. In lessons with Carlos, I try to keep up but my companion took 4 years of Spanish so he just takes off with Carlos in conversation and I stick to reading scriptures aloud. XD
Hope I answered all of everyone's questions! Let me know if there's something I missed and I'll make sure to answer back. :) If you didn't get that Hitler joke earlier, the key words are "gas chambers". ;)
Hope all is well! Love you all!
Buenas Dias!
Elder Spencer Layne Robertson
P.S. Gracias por the pictures!
Later on that day and we were able to get our e-mails written too so he answered some more things:
(I told him Josh was sick starting Sunday)
That's too bad about Josh... I started a sore throat on Sunday as well but I took one of those green packs you gave me and I felt better by the end of the day. Tell Josh to at least be grateful he wasn't fiareaing (spicy diarrhea--fiarea is what they call it here XD) and throwing up! I haven't heard anything from Elder Hepworth except that in the past 10 hours... I'm just dreading when I have to go through that because it seems like everyone I've talked to here has had to deal with it at some point! :/
Something about the grounds I didn't say was that everything is constantly in tip top condition. It seems like every 3 days there are workers mowing and edging. It's crazy!
La CCM es La Centro de Capacitacion Misional México. Si, Nuestro maestro es native. Este es 12 personas en mi district con 4 hermanas.
I did that all my myself. XD We play cage soccer with 6 people on each team. I don't know... I honestly don't think I weigh enough to even try to play with these guys... Plus I'd rather not get injured. I've seen plenty of missionaries here around the CCM that are in wheelchairs or have crutches.
It would be great if you could set up a blog. I don't know how good my typing is and stuff so if the blog does happen I'll have to make things more interesting so people will actually read it... ;)
I'm so proud of you guys. I'd like to say something. Testificado que si oramos y leamos estamos recevar bendiciones por lo. I know I probably butchered that but I hope you get the general idea. ;)
Con Amor,
Elder Spencer Layne Robertson