Hi guys! Sorry I didn’t write an email during my first P Day in home MTC…but it was super fun and it was nice to be able to live as a missionary while still being with my family! I got to go on a mountain bike ride and morning family walks so I was a big fan.
Anyways I got down here to the CCM on Thursday and I’ve absolutely loved it the whole time! The campus is super pretty and the city right outside the gate is massive and so cool and I can’t wait to walk right out the front doors and out into the field.
Classes have been so nice and I’ve already learned a ton about the gospel from my awesome teachers. I’ve learned even more Spanish and I can already understand almost all of what people are saying when they speak only in Spanish which is no doubt the gift of tongues. I’ve been loving learning Spanish and using phrases with people (like ay no manches!) and making native Spanish speakers laugh.
I don’t know if I’ve just gotten lucky, but I actually think the food here is dang good and I’ve liked almost every meal which has been a pleasant surprise. I’ve succesfully avoided Montezuma the whole time I’ve been here and hope (but not expecting) to keep that trend going.
Anyways, heres a couple highlights from the MTC so far:
1 – We had a devotional on Sunday night where we watched a devotional that Elder Bednar gave a few years ago that was honestly one of the best talks I’ve ever heard (but they said you can’t find it anywhere but the MTC which is so sad). He spoke about conversion, and how that is more than just having faith, belief, testimony, or knowledge, its about living after what you believe every day, whether you are around people or not. That was really powerful to me. I also loved when he talked about living after the character of Christ: a life that turns outward in love, service, and compassion when the natural man would turn inward. He said that this is the way we lose ourselves in the work which I thought was so cool to hear. One example he gave was how, right after sweating great drops of blood during the atonement in Gethsemane, Christ turned outward and healed the ear of His own captor. That talk was unreal and really stuck out to me.
2 – Today we went to the temple which was so cool!! We got to do inititories (I don’t know how to spell that) and baptisms & confirmations, all in Spanish, which was so fun. The temple was so pretty and we got some fun district pictures (don’t worry I’ll put a bunch of pictures at the end) and it was just so good. I also sat next to an Elder who didn’t speak any English from Mexico and we talked about like everything in Spanish together which was so fun! I’m sure my grammar was so terrible but it was really fun to be able to use the language and even more cool to realize that God was and is blessing me with the gift of tongues.
Anyways, other than that its mostly just been scripture and language and scripture study, basketball, and some classes which has been fun! The campus of the CCM is super pretty and has lots of sports stuff which has been way fun and I’m loving it so much here.
That’s basically all I got for you for now! I miss you all and I appreciate the emails, you guys are the best.
Remember, it isn’t enough to have a testimony, you need to live what you believe always, whether people are watching or not.
Love you all! Hablare con ustedes mas tarde 🙂
E. Crockett
And now..
Pictures!!
