week 6

Home safe in Honduras. Love it here. Teguc is pretty awesome. Just went contacting. 

I can't write today, but next Monday I will send a big email. 

Sorry for a disappointing week 6 but others have to write too.

Love you.

Week 5

Aaaaaaand we´re back at you, live from Mexico City, I´m here in the MTC or the CCM, as they call it here, with my companion, THE ELDER ANDERSEN! WOOOOHOOOOOO! A big round of applause for Elder Andersen everybody! No? Ok, cut to commercial...

A lone missionary... With his companion versus the 90 acres of the CCM... Will they survive the next 4-5 days until their departure dates? Tune in next week to Week 6/7 to find out... Depending on whenever I arrive to Honduras and am able to email next.

Anyhoo! This week has been super fun. LET ME GIVE YOU THE PLAY BY PLAY.

Friday... A day that began seemingly like any other... UNTIL! Elder Andersen's alarm goes off! BOOP BOOP BOOP. At 5:50. Yep. 5:50... So after Elder Andersen's funeral later in the day we went to dinner, when it began to pour. And I mean POUR. And the water has absolutely no where to go so the streets were rivers. BUT! Good news is, is that my shoes ACTUALLY ARE WATERPROOF. Who would've known right? So as long as I stay in water beneath the ankle I won't get my feet wet, WOOHOO it's magic.

Saturday I couldn't tell you a darned thing other than that Elder Andersen (whose alarm now goes off at 5:55) went to the TSM building... Thomas S Monson building, the main building here, to do a service project where we cleaned up all the doors while Zone Mom Swept and told her stories. OH I HAVE TO TELL YOU ALL ABOUT ZONE MOM (at the bottom after all the week is done). Anyway we signed district 10A's transfer journals and stuff and took a big Zone picture because the left on Monday for their missions. Couple to Chile, couple to Pocatello, and one to Des Moines.

Sunday, we watched a couple short movies like the church movie about the Stonecutter. 5:55.

Monday was a day of regrets - I ate bad meat. Lots of Classes. 5:55.

Tuesday we had a devotional that was fun. Lots of Classes. 5:55 Alarm again.

Wednesday. OH BOY WEDNESDAY. 5:55 alarm. Yesterday was a day I won't forget. Outside of our classroom, like literally outside of our classroom there is a water dispenser, and everybody goes outside to get water alone, because you can still hear your companion and you can actually see the dispensor from most parts of the room. WELL I GUESS I NEED TO BE MORE OBEDIENT AND STICK WITH MY COMPANION. Because I went and got water, and Hermana Silva sees me and yells "Elder! Where is your companero??" and I told her he was just inside, (Like 5 feet away.) And so she grabs this gauze like cloth and ties Elder Andersen and I together for the next 30 minutes until she told us we could be freed. Yes. We had to go to the bathroom with it on. Anyway, I probably should take my companion with me, but it is the MTC, what is going to happen when we are 5 feet away? I guess it's just a good habit to set before I go out into the field. I like Hermana Silva, but I don't like being tied to my companion with a maximum distance of 4 ish feet of cloth between us... 

Then our afternoon classes came, and Hermano Galicia was teaching us, he taught some Spanish, then we went outside to practice contacting in the MTC and getting referals. I went off with Elder Durham and we were walking past the computer labs to talk to some Latino Elders when we see President Tenorio, President of the MTC, in his garage unpacking his groceries. Immediately I look at Elder Durham and I say, "What are the odds?" and then he said "Nah, we HAVE to." so we run over to Presidente Tenorio and Introduced ourselves as missionaries of La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Dias... And he gives us the most confused look of his life. Then Elder Durham tells him that we are practicing contacting and getting references, and what was supposed to be a 5 minute activity, turns into this. President Tenorio invites into his home. On the outside it looks like every other house/building in the MTC. On the inside it's actually pretty well furbished, he has nice paintings/pictures on his walls, and he asks us to sit down on his couch in living room with a huge flat screen TV.

He sits down and we begin asking him questions to get to know him to know what to teach. USUALLY, you pretend to have problems or be some one else or a non member. He obviously didn't get the memo. We ask him about his family, he responds as Pres. Tenorio. We ask him about pretty much everything and get to know him pretty well. About his kids, one of which is at BYU, about his 15 grandkids, about his wife, everything. He responds as Pres. Tenorio. Then he says "Wait. Am I supposed to be a non member or member?" And at that point I could only just chuckle. We decided that we needed to get back to our class because it had been a while, so we close with asking him for references. He had 0, hahaha, and so we asked if there was ANYTHING we could help with. And he finally opened up and said "Yes." he told us that he and Hermana Tenorio were starting a diet and so they had to get rid of a few things and guides us to the freezer, where he hands Elder Durham and I two Vanilla Popsicles dipped in chocolate with assorted nuts embedded into the Chocolate. It was Christmas morning. Then he hands us a big bag of regular fruit popsicles and we leave on our way. We walk outside to find our wandering district and teacher looking for us. They were pretty mad until they saw the popsicles.

Today we got up at 5:30. Ate breakfast at 6:30 and went to the Temple to do a session. It was super cool and they didn't give us headphones so everything was in Spanish and we did surprisingly well. There was so much traffic though that we left at 7:15 and did not get back to the MTC until 1:30 at which time we ate lunch and did laundry up until now. I don[t exactly know when next I will write because Pday in the field is on Monday and I leave Tuesday to El Salvador then to Honduras. I'll miss the CCM and my district but I am pumped to get out there.

NOW. Zone mom. Zone Mom left on her mission nearly 8 years ago. In her final week at the Provo MTC she tore her shoulder playing Volleyball. Now she is returned as a missionary to serve as a 29 year old Hermana in Washington. She pretty much HATES all Elders and preaches them the rules that she herself breaks. Zone Mom Patrols the hall going class to class making sure everyone studies... But where is her studying? Oh yeah, she has been preparing for the last 8 years so she "Doesn't need to."  Although I promise you she NEEDS TO STUDY SPANISH WHICH IS SO IRONIC BECAUSE SHE TRIES TO CORRECT EVERYONE ELSE. I don't understand that or her. There's always more to learn. I don't hate zone mom. I just don't get her. I think she's just uncomfortable being 100 years old around a bunch of teenagers. She's a good pianist though and I think it's super cool that she's going on a mission still after a million years of surgery. It's just a little weird just how much she embraces the name "Zone Mom."

And now I bid unto all, farewell. I soon go to play in the field of Volleyball, until my hour hand and minute hand shall again reunite at 6. And I am brought forth triumpant in Volleyball. To play my last time for many years. Amen.

week 4

So you know, I´d really love to send you all a really long email... But if I am going to be completely honest. The days now are a blur, and it feels as if I had just written week 3. So I'll try my best, just know that I love you all.

Thursday after writing, I did laundry with Elder Andersen. If someone leaves their laundry in the machine finished after a long period of time, it's free game to move. There are only 8 washers and 8 dryers in our apartment building and so we have to keep it flowing. I moved an Elder's clothes nicely into a basket and began to wash my clothes. I come back 40 minutes later when my clothes are almost finished, and Elder Causey comes in and sees his clothes in a basket. He yells (mind you it's been 40 minutes at the latest since his clothes FINISHED) "WHO THE HECK MOVED MY CLOTHES, WHYYYYYY WHO DOES THAT?" and everyone in the laundry room just kinda looks at him and says nothing. I raised my hand and told him it was me, and he rolled his eyes, let out the loudest sigh and went to pout in a corner to wait for a washer to wash his whites. Once my clothes are finished washing I immediately moved them to dry. The dryer was full of finished clothes, I walked ever so awkwardly to the corner where Elder Causey was pouting to grab a basket, and then, with him watching, I moved the finished clothes into another basket and started to dry my clothes. He could only stare, and the room just started laughing. I don't know why he was so angry. If he had only been there on time to pick up his clothes (and not 40 minutes late) he wouldn't have to worry about it. Anyway, I guess you just got to have a good attitude. There's a huge difference in people here. There are a lot of us, like a huge majority, that love it here and are having a great time... Then there are those are aren't so happy, and I think they hate it when they see us doing so well when they feel miserable. It goes to show that how you look at the situation really changes everything. I've never been late to switch my laundry, but I seriously doubt I would even care if I found my clothes in a basket. Everyone's got limited time on P day, and everyone has to do laundry.

Friday, I seriously have no recollection of. But I'm sure it was a great day.

Saturday we did TRC and I taught two people from Mexico City. I taught Jocelyn, who was recently converted almost 2 years ago and is now 16, and Itzel, a woman whose boyfriend is a member and she is investigating. We Jocelyn wanted to learn how to prepare for a mission, and just came to TRC mostly to help the Elders with spanish, which was super nice. There's just one issue. Jocelyn has braces, and for that she tends to have a lisp sometimes when she talks. She was incredibly hard to understand and what little of it I caught I had to translate to Elder Andersen. But I could never remember it all because she would go on forever talking and it was crazy. Itzel was very nice and she has been to church a few times and read the LDM so it wasn't really difficult to teach her, I think she is joining the church anyway. But her Spanish seemed really proper, she talked very clearly, still fast but it was easier to understand. At night we watched the cultural celebration for Mexico which was rad. So much more Culture here than in the states. It was a really fun night.

Sunday was the rededication of the Mexico City temple, we got to particpate (via satellite.) here at the CCM. It was a pretty cool experience, I've done it before, but it was cool that all the himnos and talks were in Spanish. (cept Eyring and Holland who were translated into Spanish.) Then we watched a couple movies. John Tanner story and some other movies. I've seem them before and there very good, Movie Night is always fun.

Monday I also have no recollection of, but maybe it was just a mediocre day.

Tuesday was like most days, but we watched Legacy, which was cool I guess. Just another day of studying studying studying, which I actually rather enjoy. THEN IT WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE INDEPENDENCE DAY. So all throughout the night there were guns and fireworks and it was insanely loud and overall it was a really fun night.

Wednesday was yesterday... Still don't remember much. Besides the fact that we had a huge rainstorm. That in itself isn't rare at all here in Mexico City. It rains every night and there's always lightning. But Yesterday there lightning was on the MTC. Lightning would strike and we would hear it instantly and it was deafening. It was a really fun night. I guess the Elders who arrived yesterday might've had someone who shouldn't be here. Chiste.

Today! We went to the temple! And so I had to obtain a recommend because I left it at home, so I had to interview with President Tenorio. He asked me to pray, and to pray in English (no idea why) so I did, and I guess I said in the name of Jesus Christ Amen really fast because he didn't look up when I finished, and I kind of just waited. Just as I was about to say it again though, he peeked up and saw that I had finished. SUUUUPER AWKWARD. And In the middle of writing this, Elder Pisciotta passed our computer lab, so I ran out and took a picture with him that you'll have to send to Zack and Camden's mom, because moms are crazy about pics of their missionaries. (This part is for mom not any of you guys, sorry.) Anyway, have a super week, because I have had a super week. I love all you.

-Elder Anderson

Week 3 BIG EMAIL

"Soy mucho inteligente." -Elder Stewart

"I really like this scripture from 2 Nephi, where Nephi pretends to be Isaiah, and it says..." -Elder Sayler

People say funny stuff at the MTC.

In all honesty, this probably won't be a very big email, so I apologize for the misleading subject line. I don't want to be Eryn, JAAAAAAAAA Chiste. But I probably will be. Since I have given out my out lines, all I really need to say is. Every day is the same as last week. This week we did study a little bit more Spanish than normal and we have had more lessons with our "investigators".

On Saturday we had a real person with real problems come talk to us in this tiny little room. His name was Hermano Ivan, he was a member and a returned missionary but he was just having some problems so Elder Andersen and I taught him and it went really well. I gotThe Revenge again on Tuesday which was lame, because it was pizza night and I was really excited for pizza but, oh well.

When all the new Elder's came in, all we heard about was Taysom Hill, so that, (and BYU football) has been what everyone talks about at meals, (so there's not much good to say at meals.)

Elder Gerratt, who is going to the Juarez mission, and I have a 30 something second long handshake/highfive which is too long to send, but I promise you all it's the coolest thing on the planet. We call it "The Ramses."

I'm starting to get really excited for Honduras, it feels like we've been at the MTC forever. And I'm really pumped to start teaching people and making a difference. I really really like the MTC, but I can't wait till I learn more Spanish over the next few weeks, and gain a little bit more ability to teach, and leave for Honduras in 19 days, (I think.)

Sorry for the short email, but "Brevity is the soul of wit."

... doesn't really apply here but someone famous said it so it's good enough. (Probably Shakespeare.)

Elder Anderson

week 2 at the Mexico City MTC

"Yo quiero sentir el almuerzo de Dios." - Elder Stewart

"I like to maintain a positive mental attitude, I call it my 'PMA', it's much better than PMS, I PROMISE."

^such are the quotes during testimony meeting.

Let me give you a basic rundown of the days here. Someone is playing the Inception music in the other room and it's super cool... one sec...

... back. Sorry. I now have 5 minutes less than normal to write. Sorry!

Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays all have basically the same schedule. I wake up at 6, hop in the shower, make my bed, clean my room up, pack my bags, talk to the Latinos for a bit, then head to the classroom at 7 for personal study time. We study for an hour in the classroom until 8 when we head over to breakfast.

The food here isn't the greatest, and that is especially true for breakfast. It's usually either some kind of weird omelet, some kind of meat (and no matter if it's chicken, turkey or whatever, it all tastes the same here.) or some kind of mix of whatever they can find. Like today it was this weird meat juice and Nachos... So I ate cereal. First time actually eating cereal, usually I'm not picky but today it just did not look appealing, especially since the meat here will mess you up 70% of the time.

After breakfast we have class time for 3 hours. 8:40 ish to 11:30 ish. We usually divide the time into 3 different groups, whether they be Coaching (where they teach us how to plan and study, etc.), Progressing "investigators" (Like Brenda, who is actually our teacher now. What a surprise. But now we have to call her "Hermana Alvarado."), Companion Study time, or whatever. It's honestly a little boring every now and then but we get two 3 minute breaks during this 3 hour block.

Following class time (11:30), I usually go on "splits" (self-explanatory) with Elder Gerratt and he and I go the weight room. For the last 20 minutes of Gym time (12:20-12:40), we meet up with the rest of our district to play Volleyball, and it's usually pretty fun. I think I mentioned this before, but we can't keep score so It's really laid back.

1:00 is lunchtime and lunch is usually pretty decent. Just gotta be careful and use good judgement when deciding which plate to eat, because you will, as I said before, get messed up if you take the wrong dish. It's a Russian Roulette of sorts... But instead it's Mexican Murder.

Following lunch time is a decent amount of free time to do personal study or companion study, then at 2:30 we go to do TALL. Technology Assisted Language Learning. It's pretty much the worst thing on the planet. I don't really know how to explain it, but you can pick Grammar lessons or Words and then it'll give you flash cards and challenges and it's insanely boring. I usually finish in 20 minutes what we have assigned so then I just study whatever random words are in TALL. You are not allowed to email in TALL time or do anything other than TALL in the lab. (well you can study other things.)

Then we have class time again (3:30-6:30) which is basically the same thing, except the progressing investigator time switches. So if you taught in the morning you prepare to teach the next day and if you prepared that morning you'll teach in the afternoon. Otherwise, it's basically the same. OH and there's Language Study.

Dinner is good here, and Tuesday nights are Pizza Nights, which is super, for the rest of the night, it's study time and the teachers go home.

That's the basic day schedule. Tuesdays are a little different because we have a Devotional (And as previously said before, PIZZA) and then Thursday is P-day so we work out, play volleyball and do Laundry. Sundays we have Priesthood meeting, Sacrament, Testimony meetings and all that great stuff.

I really enjoy the MTC and my time here, the mission so far is great. Don't send me anything, because I can't receive it. BUT you can send me doughnuts though like missionary websites like Dear Elder or something, and people get Doughnuts here all the time, and I'm jealous. so if you feel like you love me. Take a few minutes and figure out how to send Doughnuts.

Lots of Love,

Elder Anderson

ps only took one picture and this was on the way here because I forgot to take pics. Sorry.