MTC WEEK 1!!!!!
It’s been over a week now at the CCM and it’s crazy. Btw I would’ve sent this earlier but the casa I’m in hasn’t had wifi since Thursday night.
So I left Thursday, August 14th and going through the airport and flying for the first time was wack. So I said goodbye to my family for 2 years which either still hasn’t hit me I think or I’m just a nonchalant demon. Going through security was way easier than I thought it’d be. After a while all of us missionaries got together and there were 26 of us on 1 flight! Flying for the first time was super cool but turbulence is the scariest thing ever but I had Preston Kleiman, a guy I played football with held my hand (figuratively speaking) so we were okay. After 3 hours we landed and immigration was also mega easy.
We didn’t get to the MTC till about 5 though which sucked. I got to meet my district in person finally and we had a ton of orientation. Then my comp, Elder Nickle, and I didn’t get keycards to our room so we had to go to reception which is on the opposite corner of the MTC from us to get them and got dumped on with rain as we were walking back.
Every casa here has about 6 rooms with 4-6 people in one room. It’s kinda crazy but the capacity for the MTC is 1500 and right now is just about or a bit over 1400 which is the most number of missionaries in the Mexico City MTC at one time. The other 3 Elders in my room are going to Salta and the rest of the Elders in my district are going to Bogota, Columbia South, and the 2 Hermanas are going stateside to Las Vegas and Phoenix.
The following few days after arriving kinda sucked just for the sole fact that we had 0 free time but come Monday our schedule cooled down so now we have Gym time and study time everyday. The schedule is still packed but its great having time for personal/ comp/ group study.
The classes have been super cool and I love my teachers but in my opinion they don’t teach Spanish as much or as well as they should. I feel like I’m learning Spanish relatively quickly and learning how to teach the gospel pretty well. It kinda just seems like we are being told to memorize stuff so it’s definitely on you to learn the language. The past few days I’ve been teaching the Elders in my district grammar cause they’ve been struggling with Spanish. Btw my district is super goated. I feel like I’d have a bit of a sucky time if it wasn’t for having a good district.
The food here also isn’t that bad. It’s hit or miss. Like every other day they’ll have street tacos which are amazing or today they had steak and I had 4 plates of it. Dont worry Im not gaining weight. But some days they’ll get creative with the food or idek. Like for breakfast a few days ago they had breakfast caseroll and this Elder, Elder Casperson found a butter wrapper in his portion of it.
On my P-day on Friday we got to go to the Mexico City temple which was super amazing. It looks super cool and I’ll try to attach an image at the bottom of the email. We did some service for the temple and then did ceilings which was super cool! I was scared we weren’t gonna be able to go to the temple as much but it’s such a blessing that there is one nearby.
Mexico City is super cool even though it’s a mega ghetto and crazy. We hear gunshots a few times a day which is kinda nuts. The MTC is just white suburbia of Mexico City and is its own pocket town. There’s even a little store here with drinks for like 20 pesos and the drinks taste way better.
For my cutsie little missionary message at the end I’ll share what I learned from a live devotional broadcast from Provo on Tuesday from Elder Neil L. Anderson. He spoke on the importance of faith. One thing he said was “When you’re doing important things, things get in your way.” And not 2 minutes later every bit of the broadcast shut off, even the mics at the Provo MTC shut off. But from what I’ve been told he pulled a King Benjamin from the pulpit and just kept on speaking even though there was no audio in the auditorium. Earlier in the Devotional he shared the scripture 1 Peter 4:12-13:
12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
As disciples and followers of Jesus Christ we should expect that trials and tribulations will come our way, that when important things are happening, things get in the way. I’ve already seen that with some of the issues that with super good missionaries I know are dealing with at the MTC even though we’ve only been here a week, but if we see that we are going through a rough season and as Elder Anderson also said “are backed up against the wall of faith and there we must stand”. If we hold to the faith and knowledge of Jesus Christ that we have at all times, the promise made in Romans 8:18 is true that the sufferings we are going through cannot be compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us.
Overall this mission has been an amazing experience so far. It feels like I’ve been here for forever yet at the same time it feels like I got here yesterday. I’ve already had some amazing spiritual experiences, met some incredible people and am learning so much about the gospel. I’m so excited to be able to continue to grow my testimony and knowledge of the gospel and share it in Spanish with the people of Argentina in just a few weeks. Love and miss you all!
— Èlder Curtis
