Mission Field is Next Week!

So, Ive been here for almost six weeks now. This Monday morning at 530 am, I'm headed to my actual mission. Im excited for all its going to bring, but Im keeping in mind any challenges that might come up. Last Friday, I started getting sick, and I still have a slight cough, ugh, so annoying, but estabien. Our trio companionship is better, our district is great, we act like siblings. Its going to be hard to say goodbye to everyone, and the CCM. Today, we started packing, didn't take very long.

The time has flown by, but, most importantly, I was able to call home for Mother's day. That was super nice, it was 30 minutes, probably the fastest 30 min of my entire life. I'm so glad that I'm able to do emails every week at least. It was so nice to hear my family's voice.

So I found out that I'm taking a bus, all 7 of us, to Queretaro on Monday. Its about a 3 hour drive, only a couple more days. Its a big blessing that I don't have to fly, or else I would have to pay extra fees for my luggage, because of weight for a carry on. It didn't matter coming here, but now your carry on has to be under 22 pounds. Glad I'm not flying, my luggage would've been way over cuz I only have one suitcase and one carryon.

So on Sunday night, at 2:37 am, the earthquake alarm went off. It wasn't very loud for us, but I immediately woke up and grabbed my companions, and our whole casa went outside. We waited for about 15 minutes, actually we locked ourselves out, oops. But nothing happened. Apparently there was an earthquake in Oaxica that triggered the alarm. Elder Vea and I were hoping for some action, but nada. 

So for these last two weeks, we were supposed to be speaking solo español. We tried, but its too easy to speak english with each other. However, I have learned mucho español, and I feel like I could survive if I had to converse with only latinos forever. Our teacher thinks that within 1 to 2 months from now, well have the language down, he said our Spanish is good. 

Also, so far, Ive already gone through two whole brand new pens, Ive been writing a lot, especially in my journal. There is so much that happens on the mission. Also, another missionary (hermana), had to leave home, thats the third one now, just goes to show how much pressure there is to serve a mission. 

Something I thought about, It can be hard to grow up in the church, surrounded by mormons everywhere. You don't necessarily experience anything but the church, so its hard to determine between the good and the evil, because all you've known is life in the church. It is so important to develop your own testimony. Just because you grew up in the church, doesn't meant you automatically have a testimony. It's something you build, and have to find for yourself. I think that's what happens to a lot of teenagers, but we can always pray with faith to know the truth for our selves, and search the endless teachings from the prophets, scriptures, etc. The gospel is true. I Know it is, but it is so vital to gain a testimony for yourself. It may take a while, but if you have faith, I know God will answer you on His time, which is best for you because He is perfect, and Knows all.

Thank you guys for all your support, I love the letters, keep them up. If any of you have questions for me, feel free! Love you all, and have another great week! Next time I'll be in Queretaro!

Gaining a Stronger Testimony of the Gospel

This past Sunday, we had a testimony meeting as usual for fast Sunday. Elder Vea and I blessed the sacrament, in Spanish, and that was great. There were about 20 missionaries in our ward (3 branches) , so pretty small. We got right into testimonies, and majority of everyone got up. After about 4 people went up, my heart and blood pressure were pounding. So I got up, and immediately the spirit testified through me. I said some thoughts and bore a powerful testimony. By the end, my eyes were teared up. That was a sweet experience. Many others testified, and I loved hearing them. 

At the end of the meeting, we sang All creatures of our God and King in Spanish. Everything we do is in Spanish. I almost started crying, it was way powerful. Some said they felt like angels were singing with us. This was one of the best sacrament meetings Ive ever had. Its important that we testify of what we KNOW to everyone, it strengthens our own so much. Everything this week is basically the same schedule. We went to immigration and got out green cards for Mexico. I was able to talk to a guy in Spanish for about 5-10 minutes. It was bien, everyone there seemed interested in who we are. 

Our teaching as a trio is becoming much more unified and better. Ive learned so much, and I continue to learn much more. On Sunday, we said goodbye to our closest district who left this last Monday morning. Most people leave at like 3 in the morning, crazy early. I cant believe I leave a week from this Monday.

Today we went to the temple again for the second time. We just got back 2 hours ago, and it was another great experience. The CCM is awesome. Im getting more used to Mexico, but I will be very happy to return to America, it truly is so much better than down here! Im getting super excited to get out into the mission field of Queretaro!

Cookies! All right!!! Muy Bien!

Exact Obedience

There is no doubt in my mind that this gospel is true. I Know it deep. It's a simple choice for people to accept it or not. Some are ready, others are not, but the work of the Lord will press on, and every tongue shall hear it. But, once we come to the realization that its true, its up to us to have exact obedience in all of its teachings. The gospel is everything, and we have so much to be grateful for. Life is amazing, and we should enjoy every second of it. If anything, know this, study the scriptures and pray with real intent, having faith, and God will testify to you of the truthfulness. 

This week has been good. We're into the week-to-week rhythm of life at the CCM (MTC). Its a lot of work, and it almost doesn't matter how much sleep I get, Im always tired during the day. Our district of five is pretty good, were all pretty close. Sometimes one of the Elders and one of the hermanas can really get annoying, but its bien. We work together. Our teaching skills are really coming along. We can teach much better, we teach in unison as a trio, and help each other. Theres tons of room to improve, but its coming. My Spanish is pretty good, Ive memorized the 5 good sized things were supposed to in Spanish, like the first vision, etc. Ive learned way more Spanish here, then I did in one year of high school. I can understand and speak what I want to say pretty well, but theres a ton more I need to learn. 

Life is great down here, I spend 24\7 with two Elders, and we're having a lot of fun. The mission is peaceful. Its like putting your life on pause for two years, stress free. The sole focus is to preach the true gospel to everyone and forget yourself. It sets a firm course for the rest of your life. On Sunday, we learned about sincere prayer by president Tenorio (former seventy, general authority who lives here and is the mission president.) I know if you sincerely pray to God, with faith, he will answer your prayers according to his perfect will for us. Too often we pray like we are ordering things from a grocery store, we need to be more sincere. 

I think I said this before, but the more I look around at companionships and districts, the more I realize how our perfect Heavenly Father leads and guides His church. It is impossible for any man to assign these companionships so perfectly. Each companionship matches each other with personalities, looks, and characteristics. Every new district that comes here all look so perfect together, they fit each other. Something cool, Elder Vea, my companion (best friend out here, were tight) put his papers in way back in August, but wasn't ever assigned till late November. So it took three months for his call. We're all needed at certain times and certain places. Just goes to show how God Works. Side note, Elder Vea was actually offered a scholarship to play football for BYU, but lost it to someone else. So he can walk onto Utah state, but he is a super humble guy, and Im glad he's in the trio!

On Tuesday this week, we watched a live broadcast from Elder Dallin H Oaks from the Provo MTC to all MTCs. It was really great. He used a lot of scriptures and we studied PMG a lot. It was about a 45 min talk, but it literally felt like 5 minutes. I wrote a lot down in my study journal. Life at the CCM is great. You get into a routine quickly, and everything is busy, fun, and spirit-driven. Time is moving fast. Also, our teacher showed us a video of one of the other teachers who workds here, in a mormon message. Its like: Im a mormon, recovering addict, (his name is Valentin). You should check it out on youtube. I really like all my teachers. Hermano Guerrero, Ortiz, Hurtado, and three hermana teachers. They are bueno.

If anyone reading these emails has any questions about the gospel in any way, shape, or form, please shoot me an email and aske me, Id love to hear them. But, if you have problems, or are wondering what your purpose here on Earth is, I know the only way to get help is through the gospel. Check out LDS.org.

Spanish: El CCM es magnigico! El espritu es muy fuerte aqui. Tenemos much trabajar a hacer. Mis compañeros y distrito es muy bueno. Yo se que la iglesia es verdad. Yo testifico de la verdadero, y yo se que Dios es real. El libro de mormon es la palabra de Dios. Cosas son bueno, hasta luego!

Thank you everyone for writing me and emailing me, I really appreciate them, dont quit! I love you all!

From,

Elder Russon

 

Hola from Mexico! The Gospel is Amazing!

I testify to anyone and everyone reading this that, THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS IS TRUE! Being down here in the CCM (MTC) is very spiritual packed and amazing. I love and miss you all, but prayers are truly answered. All except for the first day, I havent even thought much about homesickness. Right now Im doing great and Im not worried or nervous about anything too much. Ill be back before I know it. Tips for future missionaries worried about homesickness: Dont worry, God knows you personally and will help you through anything. Also, the intitial transition into the MTC and becoming a missionary is hard, but after a few days or so, everything is great! You also just need to have a great mindset to  realize what youre doing for the next two years, be prepared and everything works out perfectly. The CCM is big, in comparison to the Provo, the Mexico is 90 acres while the Provo is 30 acres. But the Provo can hold 2,500 missionaries while the Mexico can hold about 1,200. So the land is huge here, and there are tons of apartments. I dont exactly feel like Im in Mexico City exactly, not sure where exactly, but its pretty sweet, the campus used to be a highschool. Right now, there are only about 200 missionaries, but in the summer, there will be a flood coming. 

The weather has been wonderful! Sunny, 70 to 80 degrees, and sometimes a small stormy clouds at night. Loving the weather right now. The food has been pretty good. Mostly tortillas, enchiladas, mexican food. But they definitely have a good share of American food. Weve also had pizza, hamburgers, and cereal. I eat pretty good. The gift of tongues is real! Already Ive learned more in this first week than I have in a year of highschool, haha. The lessons with our investigators are completely in spanish, and Ive done pretty well. Weve been able to get the message across. And after five lessons, yesterday, we committed our first investigator to baptism yesterday, so, booooyeeaahhh! Getting to bed on time has been a struggle, especially the first few days because theres so much to do that you need and want to do, especially writing in my journal, so far I have about 20 pages written, its a lot! But Ive been pretty tired in classes because of all the work and somehwhat lack of sleep.

Most importantly, Ive played basketball five times now! I also saw a basketball court on the way to the CCM. Every other night, our room says a prayer in spanish with the several Latinos in our apartment. Then they say a prayer in English the other night with us, I love it they are super nice! Theyve asked us a lot if we need help with anything, and thats the whole reason why were down here, to serve others, it really just opens your heart. The flight down here was just over three hours. I sat next to two nonmembers and really talked a lot with the one on my left next to the window. I just told him I was an LDS missionary and jst befre we left, I told him if he was interested about the church, to check out LDS.org. I hope he does. The plane was a smaller size and we had some turbulence, but it was cool. Just watching the land pass as we flew to our destination made it seem not so far away from home. On a map it can seem like Im really far away, but Im really not, in my mind. After the flight, we went through customs and met the representatives from the CCM. We got on a bus, all 15 of us, thats our zone. We took the bus ride to the CCM for about 30 to 40 minutes. It was very eyeopening to see everything. Its so different. I heard Mexico city is the second biggest city in the world, and I believe it. All the buildings and houses are jam packed next to each other. Driving is terrible. There are all kinds of cheap vehicles driving fast and kind of crazy. At some places, there arent even any lanes to drive in. There were a bunch of taxis, street vendors and people. Also, we saw a military truck with 3 guys standing in the bed with jumbo guns, that was really eye opening as well,I really wanted a picture, but no go, haha. Everything in America is so much nicer. It was very eye opening to see what the other part of the world is like. The standard of life down here is so much less, but dont get me wrong, its a nice place too, and there are good people out there. All I was able to see of mexico was from the bus, and since then ive only been in the mtc. Right after this, Im going to the temple, well be able to go about three times in the mtc, i hope more in the mission field. I learned the elevation here is 7350 feet, so a lot more than Utah. 

My companions...are pretty great. Right now there is Elder Loosle who is my companion, and also Elder Vea who joined our companionship. Then there is hermana Aden and hermana Masapua, and thats our whole district. The other 15 that flew with us is our zone, and there all going back to the states. Elder Lossle and hermana Aden are serving in Oaxca, and Elder Vea is serving in Vera Cruz. Hermana Masapua and I are both serving in Queretaro, so thats cool that someone else is going there too. Elder Vea is going to play football for Utah state and weve played basketball together every time, hes really good and athletic. Him and I get along really well, and weve all been able to bond really well and become really good friends. It feels like weve been here for about a month. Also, my companionship is a trio, which has its own challenges, but I like it. My p day is thursday, and they give us one hour for emails. 

Each letter, I want to try and say something in Spanish without any help: Yo se que la iglesia de Jesucristo de los santos de los ultimos dias es verdad. El CCM es muy bien y la comida es muy bueno. Nuestro Padre Celestial es nuestro salvador y yo amo esto evangelio. Use google translate. My spanish is coming pretty good, and Im continually amazed at the endless miracles I see here.

Sorry for my typing, Im just trying to go fast so I can say everything I want, and the keyboard here is spánish...

Hasta luego!

From,

Elder Russon