Christmas Call!

We just had our very best Christmas gift, the chance to see and talk to Jaymes.  He was able to skype with us this afternoon and we asked him all sorts of questions.  His answers are in RED

How is the food? good we eat a lot of beans and rice with tortillas, some chicken, which is fresh :), some shrimp.  I love the coconut milk, cantalop smoothies, but not the hot chocolate which is made with hot water poured over a stick of dark chocolate.  I like the leche but miss the real milk from home. What is the strangest thing you eat?  armadillo, and we had it for Christmas Eve, also Iguana is a delicacy.  What is your schedule?  We wake up about 6:30 and go running for 30 minutes, shower and dress and have a small breakfast.  From 8-9am we have personal study time, 9-10 is comp study time/prepare/practice, 10-11 language study, I study spanish and my comp studies English.  At 11-12 we watch District Training.  At noon we start walking and we walk a lot!  Once a week we have District planning and from 11:30-2.  2:00pm is lunch.  It is a large meal and we go to someones house each day for that.  They are very generous to feed us. Then we teach, make visits and walk till 8pm and head home.  We are home by 9pm for journal and prep time for the next day.  I'm alseep by 10pm, I'm tired after so much walking.    How are the bugs? mosquitos mostly.  I put on repellent each day, that helps.  They are thick sometime, lots of flies and small daddy long legs.  How do you get around?  We walk or take the moto ped.  That doesn't happen a lot because of cost, my feet are sore most nights.  What is the best part of your day? I love sharing a discussion and right now when someone understands what I am saying! :)  I also have really liked reading lately.  How is the spanish?  Well it is coming, but I wish people understood me.  My companion can understand me but not always others.  They talk very fast and I have to think a lot to figure out what they are saying to me.  You look tan!! I haven't burned but i have a huge watch line. (he showed us and he does!) I think now that I am not so white the kids talk to me more.   He told us about his quick showering... just dump and scrub, dump again.  How is money works... we get 1,300 pesos a month, not a lot if you have to pay to travel but otherwise it is fine.  where he does his laundry... we go to the Branch Pres. home, they have a washer and dryer.  It works well.   Tyler asked what he should do to prepare... read Preach My Gospel more.  If you get called to a foreign speaking mission buy it in that language and read it a lot and start to memorize the discussion points.  What he enjoys most...seeing the moon and stars at night, when it is cool and quiet. He gets a long with his companion and they have actually been able to talk in spanish and english together, his MTC companion is in his district and he has really enjoyed getting together with him once a week at meetings.  He told of being in the Branch Pres. home and him telling the story of his baptism in '96 and told about the missionary who baptised him and showed him a picture of the missionaries wedding announcement he received a few years ago...  Jaymes recognized the women in this picture as someone our families knows from Indiana.  What a small world!!  That made Jaymes feel so much closer to home too.

His smile melted my heart and I know he doing what he wants to do even when it is really hard.  He can't wait to have the language down which will help him not feel so lost at times.  Go Elder Monson.  Continue praying for him and all the missionaries as they learn and grow and teach and testify!!

Week 13 Feliz Navidad

¡Feliz Navidad! or Merry Christmas either way its the same except that today here is noche bueno (night good) and well its just Christmas Eve and well what a great day it is!!!

this week was actually very good!! started the week of like always P day was first and then well i got on a bus and went to tuxtla guterrez. well that was fun the  ride like usual was 4 hours long on two bus the  first one broke down and ya just a big mess got to arriaga and well then we ran and got on another one just In time, it was crazy. then in the morning i went to the temple in Tuxtla Guterrez Mexico and wow its small and it is really different because its so small. but it still is a house of the Lord. it is just as beautiful as temples all around the world but i still like the one on a hill in South Jordan haha, i went and did a session in the temple and while it is the same ordinances it was not the same language! ah!! haha all in Spanish and well you might think its hard to remember things in English its really hard to remember them in a language that well is pretty much that if you say something just a little off it means something else so thank goodness for kind temple workers! haha.  It was a good experience in probably the smallest temple i will ever be in! haha so anyways after that we had a Christmas party it was nice, just great! then we got on buses and went back. it was pretty great! we got a microwave for Christmas it is pretty awesome but we haven't used it yet so we will have to use it soon.  this week has been good except two days. Thursday and Friday were pretty crazy days! we had a lot and i mean a lot of wind!!!! it was crazy and my shirt turned a different color both days because of it! oh man we walked a lot in two days and man i wish i could send some pictures, it was crazy. one of the things here that is not really reliable is the power and well because of all the wind the power went out! and it was in the middle of daily planning at the end of the day!! so i was prepared thanks to my good neighbors the doritys and had a big old flash light, i took a picture and it is pretty sweet!!!!! but i cant send it so hopefully i will soon.

we had another  BAPTISM!!! oh ya two souls so far and as it says in D&C 18 15-16, how great my joy has been cause i have brought many souls unto him. Yesinea is her name and she is super Animal (excited, alive) and has devoured the gospel in one gulp. it just goes to show that there are people out there prepared for the true gospel. she is one awesome girl 17 years old has a little girl named guatalupe and knows that when she was 15 that having a kid was not the right thing to do so she has repented and is just going to do so well in the gospel i can just feel it and hopefully she can find a man that will think the same way. so ya its been a good week for sure.

it doesn't feel like Christmas eve at all. not when you are sitting in an Internet cafe sweating and looking at the blue sky. that's sort of not my view of a Christmas, me in my White shirt blue pants.  christmas goes like this...Study study study oh maybe a bit of Jesus the Christ then study then prepare a talk then well walk around and talk to people. that's my day! sounds pretty awesome. Thats because its not about me you see, its about a man and son and person who we all know. its all about my best friend that i am proud to wear on my white shirt. its about the only man the only person that no one can ever top. its about the son of god, the boy Jesus whom we all celebrate in our own way this time of year and for a lot of people today and tomorrow is about Jesus Christ or here Jesucristo. The boy that was born in a manger and that went around not thinking of himself and how awesome he was he thought of others and went around not with the top kings and priests but with fisherman. and those very men changed and shaped the world as we know it today. those very men once fisherman became disciples of the lord Jesus Christ! now if they could do that in three years who knows who a missionary will baptize haha. and well if you couldnt tell the usuall Elder Holland talk is still playung everyday!

Now let us have a great Christmas! its a White Christmas at home and that's good enough for me! Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and Wonderful week! i know I will! like always Spanish is coming and I am feeling more a part of the people as the people actually want to talk to a big and tall man...well not very big the branch presidents son is like 6' 2" and I'm only 6' 0" so ya, but now they talk to a white guy or greengo in a white shirt and tie. at least i can make sense of somethings they say at times! 

Merry Christmas!!!! 

Love you all!

Elder Jaymes Monson

Week 12

Well Hello! It's a great time to be alive!! Isn't that what they say?

Well this week, let’s see, this week was pretty good I would say! No complaints, here except today it’s a bit dreary and there is a lot of humidity but it’s good. Just wish it could be a nice and cool during the day instead of just at night and in the morning but it’s all good! Now Christmas here in just a week will be a completely different experience instead of the nice fluffy white stuff or nieva (or snow in English) there is lots of dirt, lots of heat, lots of walking, a bit of a difference in my Christmas. What’s funny is I found a song on my ipod that says “I'm dreaming of a White Christmas” all I can see white here are the shirts I wear and even those get a little brown because of the dust. So I will dream it and my family will tell me it is in Utah but here I won’t believe the white Christmas in Mexico.

SO this week, Tuesday I got to go to the capital of Chiapas and where the mission is named after Tuxtla! It was interesting, Elder Van De Graaff and I, so two white boys, I mean Elders, got on a bus not knowing exactly where to go- because our companions spoke so fast, and put us in a taxi to  go to the bus stop and ride it to the end and get on another bus- with the help of our Zone leaders- to Tuxtla.  All in all a 4 hour and 25 minute ride to Tuxtla and with not a lot of Spanish in our heads we ended up in the OCC terminal in downtown Tuxtla with a backpack, a phone and no idea where to go- haha it was fun. We then proceeded to call an assistant to the president who can speak English (cause he is from Texas) but he spoke Spanish to us, as I tried to decipher the language I said “OK Elder Barrow now how do I get to the mission office?” haha he then said in English “Greengo huh?” yes Elder Monson the greengo. He then told me to get in a cab and to give the driver the phone and he would tell him where to take 3 Greengos, so that’s what we did. We ended up in the Mission office where we went to bed- haha just like that we went to bed and oh -we did watch the Christmas Devotional in English and what a great devotional it was! very good!! The next morning we ran first to Wal-Mart to get pictures then to the Immigration building and got all that stuff done for our green cards then we jumped in a taxi that took us back to the OCC terminal to go back the way we came. First we go to Arriaga then to the Reforma of Deminica and then a taxi to Ixuahtan. After a long ride we got back with our companions and started out teaching the true Gospel of Christ.  Oh the cool thing was it was    12-12-12 and at 12 pm we got on a bus for Arriaga so that was cool.

The next couple days just a lot of walking and talking and walking and talking and then teaching. We are teaching a girl named Yessena we mixed her name up haha we have been calling her Jessica which sounds sort of the same but not really. We teach her everyday every night and wow she is really coming unto Christ in all things. She says she feels something that has been our mission, which is awesome!!! Saturday she is planning to be baptized so yay!!! She is an awesome young 17 year old with a 2 year old that is great! It’s awesome to see how the Gospel changes lives! wow!! Oh and its pretty great when some random person comes up to you and says “um hi my name is so and so and um I live just up there and I really don't know why i am telling you this but um could you teach me about your church maybe?” haha ya that's happened a couple times and it was weird the first time but what’s even better is when they say -um what do i need to do to have that light you have, not because I'm white or our shirts are so bright but because we have something that protects us to the fullest the light of Christ. It’s pretty great to see how people just drop everything and talk to you because they see something in you that they don't really see that often. Being a Missionary is a blast!!! Not because of just those times it’s because this gospel really changes lives and once someone gets a hold of just a part of it they are hooked. It’s just like with the opposite- around here there are a lot of bars and they are always full on Friday and Saturday nights and a lot of times every night- for example one drink might get someone hooked on beer but and it’s the same with the church they see their friends come to Christ and they see us and they go crazy! Just one part of the church or one lesson makes sense they get hooked and they come to Christ and give up their sins and they change.

Just like in Alma 5 and 7 when it talks about the people coming to Christ and being perfected in him and giving up their whole self for the church. Or in Moroni 10:32-33 when it talks about coming unto Christ and being perfected in him. This is real when we come unto the Savior and give up our whole self it brings blessings and it’s amazing. Elder Picuasi likes to listen to one talk by Elder Holland last General Conference about becoming true Disciples of Christ. This is an awesome talk and why wouldn't we want to stand in the judgment day and say, “Lord though knowest that i love thee”, now let us come unto to Christ and give up our whole selves in the service of him! wow! This church is amazing!!! 

Another week down and in 8 Days its Navidad  it’s a great time to be alive!!! Merry Christmas!!!! Feliz Navidad!!! Spanish is coming! I can almost understand the people I am trying to talk to and my companion so the lord works in miraculous ways and as it says in Alma 37:6-7 little things make a big difference!

Have a wonderful Week!!!!

Love you All!!!

Elder Jaymes A Monson

Dinner!  Yumm!

Week 11

Well HI!!!!

This week was sort of short, not a lot of things happening so I'll just put

it in the way it was.

so since coming to this great city and on my grand adventure i have been

trying, note trying, to learn a language that is as foreign as i feel

sometimes. haha but on this journey i have had a key or a main gift with me

the whole time well more than one gift. I have the gift each person gets

after baptism, the holy ghost, which one of our investigators Yahir got on

Sunday after Elder Picuasi baptized him on Saturday. Another gift is the

person who's name is always on me, well so is my name, but its the name

Jesucristo (Jesus Christ) at this time of the season we like to remember

the greatest gift the world has ever been given, the Son of God. Now here it

doesn't feel/look like Christmas but it sure is around us. even through there is

no snow the date tells us.  other people are putting on sweaters or

jackets cause they are cold at 62 degrees or something like that. What a

great time of the year!!!! and for missionaries everywhere what a great

time to just go crazy!!!! haha so we are or have been trying to bring the

whole town unto Christ but i don't think that's going to happen for

sometime but i won't stop trying that's for sure!!!. there is actually

a couple of songs that at this time of the year i like to listen and sing

to and thanks to my dad for putting them on my ipod i can. one is Edwin's tal

1862 by Peter Brianholt. this is a great song cause when missionaries miss

home they look up to heaven or to a picture or two of the family back home

and then they see on high an angel choir 8 million voices singing, and then

they look to the one man who's birthday we celebrate even Jesus Christ.

What a great thing to remember the birth of the one who we all look up to

and can rely on. another gift is the gift of tongues. which I have!! and I

have seen it turn me from a full English speaker into a person who has learned a

lot and has listened to what people are saying and can almost comprehend what

they are saying to the fullest but I cant speak it yet. keyword yet. Its

taken a lot and a lot of just focus time but i am going to do it in 3

months or so i will be able to speak a language which 3 months ago i had no idea

how to comprehend. i have a social gift and i thank God everyday for it.

Another gift is the gift of a wonderful family that supports me in all

things i do!! it helps on missions, let me tell ya. another gift is prayer.

through prayer we can all feel close to the ones we love its sort of like a

phone call to the heart of your mom. its pretty nice i feel everyone's 

prayers and when they say bless all the missionaries well we are blessed

and because we have so many people looking out for us when we feel like

being shy a thought comes out and says well maybe the person right next to

you, as you are riding in a taxi with six people and the car is the size of

the little red car at home and you are maxed out in space, the thought comes-

to talk to the person right next to you and well you do it in the best

language you know. Its when you don't know how far you can push yourself or

how many more steps you can take. Its when your back is aching cause your

companion makes you carry the weight because you are new. by the way i make

a good pack mule. haha who knew haha oh wait i did. Its when your companion

complains cause in the morning you ran five miles and he doesn't run. its

when you have all the stuff and your legs hurt and then they don't- its been

a great week!!! its been really trying sometimes and its been good and its just

been new. fun in deed!!! i love this work. Now during this season or

remembering loved ones who are gone or remembering the person who's

birthday we celebrate. let us, like last year and in years past, do as

President Monson says. Help others before ourselves. Its not a day to

remember the presents we get, which thats always nice, but its a day and a

season to be like Christ and to act like him and to think of others before

ourselves. so let us do that. not just because that's what I'm going to do here

in Ixuathan but lets all be a little more like the Savior and help others out

in anyway possible in fact why not do it all year round not just during

this season. i will be out here for two years serving in place of the

Savior and after i am released its not over then it goes on and on for the

rest of my life. its a daily thing that makes us all a little better

inside. so let us be the one who is an example of the believers in all

things! we are all one in the Lords eyes. it has taken a week and a half for

me to figure it out and well here everyone serves each other and they have

nothing. they have bearley enough to support themselves sometimes but i

tell you i have never seen a happier people that take in whatever you say.

We walk up to a person that is the poorest man around and he says hello,

would you like to come and eat at my house. and we say no that's OK but he

insists. its when we walk into a house that has 4 kids and not a lot of

food or drink and they give you some and you just say thank you and share a

message about God. its when they don't have enough money to pay tithing

but they still do and they then have a flat tire or need to get

somewhere but just gave the money they had to their kids so they cant pay

for the mototaxi and they walk to church. God blesses us all i can tell you

that and i have so much to be thankful for and you know what i will

forever be thankful and just the thought of how happy a people such as these

are its amazing!!! this is my week all into one!!!

The picture is of Yahir and Elder Picuasi and I with Yahirs mom and brother

in front of the church. Now Yahirs family doesn't have a lot but he is the

first convert in his family and plans to bring them all unto Christ. What a

great kid!!! he is 10 years old and has a testimony of this gospel like you

have never seen he knows it is true and that's all he needs. we are

actually in like 40 minutes going to go see him and teach him more. he is

what we call an example of the believers!!! he will be an awesome

Missionary some day. oh and Elder Picuasi is wearing my pants Yahir my tie

and my shirt. and the rest is Elder Picuasi's

til next week!!! love you all!!!!

Elder Jaymes A Monson

Week 9 and 10

Hola!!! hope all is well where you are!

 

Well Hello All,

 

The past couple weeks have been very very interesting I'll just skim through the days but its been super interesting to see what i have done in just 12 days! wow!

 

So Thanksgiving we did a service project with the humanitarian part of the church for the people of Mali Africa. we as a whole mtc put together kits for them. It was very good for sure. Elder Holland came and talked to us as well it was good I have been adopted into his family now.

 

That Friday was a whole day in field orientation it was good and i learned a lot about how to deal with ward members, so that was good.

 

Saturday was a lazy day did laundry packed and then said goodbye to Bro. Welch it was good nothing much happened besides that.

 

Sunday Well last day in the US and ya it was good for sure nothing much except finishing packing and making sure everything was ready for the next day and took the sacrament Last couple days in the US quite laid back and nice.

 

Monday the 26th, well this day was super fun let me tell ya about it!!! so at 4 am after going to bed at about like midnight i got up made sure I had everything and then picked up my bags and walked out of 5m at 5 in the morning to load up a bus to the airport.  the nerves were going for sure i really liked the MTC. so we got to the airport checked my bags and then picked up the phone to talk to my FAMILY!!! ya it was pretty awesome to hear 5 familiar voices talking to me. then at 8:20 got on an airplane said goodbye for a bit and flew out to AZ. then got there sat on the tarmacs for like 30 minutes cause we were 20 minutes early. then finally got to the gate ran out called mom again and grabbed my carry on and ran to a plane that would take me out of the land i love. so i said goodbye which was hard very hard and talked to a man from Oregon who is a member of the church and he is very nice for sure. then i found myself asleep like 20 minutes later and then waking up to fill out a immigration card. then we were there!!! holy cow and i was so tired. so we all ran off the plane to immigration. which um took a very long time i might say because there was only a few people working. so our plane was supposed to leave at 5 we got in line at 330 no big deal but then it was, by the time we got to the front of the line our plane had left 15 minutes before. it was not good at all nothing we could do! then a man who is a member speaking English told us to follow him and he would get us a flight in the morning! haha so it was like 6 pm and all of us were tired he got us a room at a hotel across the street and told us to be early the next day. so we went there got a bit to eat cause we hadn't had time to eat at all and we went to bed very early like at 8 when i finally fell asleep. so ya very busy day and my nerves were not good.

 

Tuesday still not in Tuxtla yet. we woke up at 4 am again and ran to the bus that would take us to another terminal. so we ran very fast to the terminal and the people did not help at all they sent us on a wild goose chase to who knows where. then we finally got the right counter which we had been at about 10 times. we got up to it and they said, sorry the plane is full no bags can come through so we said wait a second it leaves in like an hour! can we please get on and they said nope you cant sorry. so then we went and talked to the aeromexico airline people to try and get on another flight. they said that we could and so we got on one at 1030 which was alright. so we told president the night before that we would be there the next morning and we couldn't get ahold of him so we just went for it and we flew out to tuxtla at 1030 we landed at 1130 got our bags a few didn't have theirs. then we waited and called president still not answer and then we called church headquarters and they said they are sending someone right now so we waited for another hour and then they finally came at 345. it was a very long time in the airport. then we got in the presidents secretary's van and raced to President Cardinas's house where we had food! first time in about 2 days! it was good then we got talked to by the Assistence and then ran to see where we would be going. I got assigned a companion ELder Picuasi from Ecuador. he has only been out since july so ya he is brand new as well. we got assigned to labor in my first area Ixhuatan Chiapas Mexico. its all the way at the top of chiapas. then we were told to get on a bus and to stay over at the zone leaders house and get back on in the morning. Ixuatan is 4 hours away from tuxtla so that's what we did.

 

Wendesday we got on a bus and then 2 hours later we got off and got in a taxi that took us to our house. then we planed the day and went out and taught some families all while I was like um where am i? i can't understand them why am I here? AH!!!!! so ya here we cant, well in my mission, we cant knock on doors. we have to have referrals to talk to people. so ya oh also this day we had a district meeting and ya it was good all in Spanish which i need to learn pronto!!!!

 

Thurday woke up did study and packed a bag cause Elder Picuasi going to Tuxtla for a meeting so OK I didn't understand him but ok. Oh by the way Elder PIcuasi Doesn't speak English well only a few words but thats it. so we loaded on the bus and I got off and had a new compaion for two days. His name is Elder Cano. he is from Guatemala. He doesn't speak English either but I Taught a whole lesson in Spanish hah jk I have yet to do that here. but we finally got to the town I totally forgot the name and we talked to one person and went home at 9 haha it was a weird day for sure.

 

Friday all day with elder Cano. it was good we went and talked to many people and we talked with some members for a while it was good just not a big day just two jr comps out doing some missionary work or at least trying. then We spoke to a man named gorge. he is nice. We taught him about the plan of salvation. it was good nothing much did i understand. then that night I got on a bus with Elder PIcuasi and we went back home and went to bed very quickly.

 

Saturday ok this day was the first day that was actually a full day!!! it was a good day as welll. so we started our studying and then went out and did some missionary work. we went and talked to many people and taught a young women and her sister their names are Diana and Dianica. we went and talked about the restoration. We showed them a movie on our portable movie player it was about the restoration. then we watched it and their Little sister came up took my pencil and well it was closed and she acted like she was coloring in my scriptures. it kept her busy at least! haha we walked a lot and talked a lot and I have no idea what we did execpt we drank a drink called holcheta it is very good. other than that i didn't understand anything!!! so ya

 

Sunday well yesterday was good. we went to two churches and in between we went out to find people to come to the afternoon church. it was good but very very very very hot cause I didn't have anything to drink or eat because it was fast sunday. so it was a long day probably because we ate at 8 pm that night so ya. but in church I shared my temtimony to both branches it was good we meet in a chapel its a very small chapel and well it had AC!!! oh ya aren't we so lucky!! well at least here we are!!! so ya we went and talked to a lot of people that day.

 

today just a normal p day well not really we had to go get our money for the month and so we did that studied went to the stake presidents house and did our laundry and ya its been a good day now im just sitting in a little computer station and writing this.

 

well thats been my busy days here!!!! I can not get mail well at least not for 7 weeks cause thats how long it takes to send a letter to utah! so ya its been quite different its been good the food is very different and its a different sort of place like daybrake close houses but a lot smaller. everyone has hammocks and everyone has one big room and a porch or another room to sleep. It is very good to be out here exept for when i study cause i miss home when i study because i feel like i am so far away but that goes away after we start so ya. its a good good place and its going to be a good mission i just need to settle in but its hard cause i have to keep all my clothes in my bags cause there is no dresser so ya its going to be great! I just need to know the language.

 

I love you all!!!

Elder Monson

And he's off...

This morning at 5am Elder Monson boarded an MTC bus toward the Salt Lake Airport.  He was able to call home and we all talked to him for a good long time.  It was so great to hear his voice!  He has grown up in the past 2 months.  He bore his testimony in Spanish to us and said about 10 times how much he loves his family.  He said his suitcases (2 of them) weighed 102 pounds together so he wasn't charged any extra for weight.  How he fit everything in there we aren't sure!  He did say his backpack and carry on was full of a lot of very heavy books, Spanish books.  He was nervous but ready and anxious to get there.  He mentioned the last few days in the MTC, over Thanksgiving, were a little boring except for the surprise visit from Elder Holland but now he is ready to get back to work.  He flew from SLC to PHX, PHX to Mexico City and Mexico City to Tuxtla arriving at 6:41pm Central Time. He is there now... I can only imagine what he is seeing, hearing, sensing and feeling!  Wow!

We are very grateful for the chance to talk to him today.  Each of us had a chance to say how much we love him and a few life events going on here.  He sounds just like a missionary... "for sure", "oh I know", "yep", "so ya" were some common phrases.  Now we just wait to hear from him.  We can't wait to hear where he will serve and who his companion is.  Lots of exciting changes!

Our family has already experienced some special tender mercies from the Lord and so has Jaymes.  We are very blessed to have a Missionary in our family!  Love you Elder Monson!

Week 8 last in MTC!

Hello and Happy Thanksgiving a day early! Haha

Well this week was good! it's been a good last week!

Thursday - it was TRC day! It was the last one! wow! it was a good one though. We taught (Elders VDG, G, and I) about how we receive revaluation through prayer. it was good We taught with the power of a threesome companionship and it was strong! It was a good day only this one highlight but it was good! Got my Travel plans!!! Monday im out of here! 5 am from the MTC.

Friday - Well today was good as well just not very busy and to tell you the truth I am not that busy learning things now its all just a review. It was good we taught Monica about the ley de castidad (law of Chasity) She took it really well. 

Saturday - Wow this week sounds really boring! Sorry. We taught Sylvan and Gunther and it was good. Played a game with the Spanish language and Elder H and I where together and well We won!!! we took GOLD!!! We won 10 to 8 to 6 we only pulled it out for a close win.

Sunday - Prepared Sacrament for the last time. Then Elder VDG and I blessed the sacrament in Spanish and it was good. Spanish is tough but I'm getting the hang of it. We had President McIff the MTC first counselor speak to us and it was very good. He talked to us about personal Fitness. It was good for sure!

Monday - One Week left! it was a good day for sure! this is the highlight of the week. in the morning Elder VDG and I taught Monica for the last time! and let me tell you it was the Number one best lesson we have ever had! we taught her about Baptism cause she is getting baptized Monday and we went through the questions and wow!!! we asked about how she felt and she said she was nervous and we whipped out Ether 12:6 and told her that through our trills we are made stronger. It was great the Spirit totally took the lesson and took it. it was like we where on a highway to the good life. that was just amazing!!!!

Tuesday - It was day of lasts! it was our last Gym in which i played very well in Volleyball and then it was a last with Samuel and it was a last for our Tuesday Devotionals, Elder Peiper spoke to us about agency and so it was good. then it was a last time to see President Mortensen. He is our Branch President and he wont be there Sunday so he came and gave us hugs and told us how proud he was of each of us. it was a good day, got a package of stuff for me to go to Mexico on Monday! the Threesome took on Samuel and we are baptizing him! its going to be great!

Today - last temple visit and last P- Day in the MTC! its been crazy Wrote people had a fiesta with the District now its our last time seeing Sis. Heinzen and its going to be a good one! and i was locked out of my Email so i am just trying to finish up before class here!

the MTC has been great!!!! it's been full of spiritual greatness! now ill get on a plane and take off and not return to the US until 2014! so here i go!!! Hope all are well!  sorry it was a not a lot to do week but next week is going to be a WOW week and ill learn how much Spainsh i don't know. but I know that i can do anything in the world cause I have God on my side!! I will boast in him all day long and I will do it to bring others unto him!

Love you All!!!!

Elder Jaymes A Monson

This is my District right before Elder Simpson Left With Hermana Heinzen

It's E. Hastain, Roberts, Cerdhe, Garcia, Sis. Heinzen, Simpson, me, Sayama, & VDG

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Week 7

Wow how the weeks go by!!!

 

¡Hola from the Grand Missionary Spiritual uplifting place, also called the MTC or in spainish the CCM!

 

What a week it has been! its been super FAST but its been a spiritual ride I wouldn''t change for anything!

 

In just 12 days I will be on my way to a place I don''t know the language all the way yet, a place I have never been, meeting a companion that I never have seen or met before, in a place with people that I have never seen before, and the funny thing is they are expecting me! and they already Know ME!!!  So hopefully my Travel plans come soon!! hopefully today or tomorrow!!

 

Thursday - Started off at service, and again i vacuumed the whole 9m and well it was good, i guess. But on our paper we wrote down "Caused the Extinction of the Dinosaurs".  It was funny the person over us got a kick out of it!!! It was good! after Service we prepared for the day and prepared to teach Sylvan and Gunther. They are good guys, we taught them about the True Church and how Joseph Smith was called by God to do this. so it was a very good lesson. later at night was the usual TRC, this week was our first 40 minute lesson. it was good! Elder VDG and I thought it might be hard to talk for a full forty Minutes! but then we got in there and taught the gospel, a bit of destruction happened so I lassoed it back up and brought the spirit into it and Taught something that I didn't quite know but tried my best and ended up doing really well!!! so ya Thursdays are long  but they are also very very good days! this one was very good!

Friday - Well woke up and saw some clouds in the sky and heard we where going to get some snow but oh man I didn't expect what happened! It started out raining a lot! we went to Breakfast and after we were walking out and then the snow let loose!!! it snowed and snowed and snowed and snowed and by the next morning there was like I don't know, 9 inches, which isn't a lot but it was just enough to get the Tree branches breaking and the Arizona Elders worried for their lives!!! well just like a trace would get them worried! so ya Friday, Sis. Heinzen had us play a game to review our Spanish. Elder Hastain and I where put as companions in the game. We took third but it was a lot of fun and I started getting the Spanish! it was awesome! I then had ZRT's (zone resource training) with Sis. Woulacowski (talk about a name!) and she showed me that i was doing well in Spanish!!! She showed me that I can do it! it was awesome!!! Yup a good Day! snow brought me closer to home for sure!

Saturday - Well Saturday I woke up to... Snow plows? Everyone thought It was going to stop but the snow didn't! it was awesome!!! I instantly remembered Dad and how he taught that Baptism is like new Snow, being pure and clean! it was a good memory for sure! so then Sis. Villalobos taught us about the Book of Mormon and how we shouldn't get down on ourselves for our Spanish. She says, "the lord will help you in every way!" so trust in him! that's a positive thing! she also told me that I was doing awesome and that she was so proud of me and the acceleration in Spanish and how great I am going to be! she is awesome!! Then Elder VDG and I taught Sylvan and Gunther! it was a great lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It made me remember how great this gospel is! Then we taught Samuel about Prophets and how they are Important then I felt like we should go into Word of Wisdom and so we dove into that and he has been keeping his goals of no Coffee and he is doing well with it! Then later in the day Bro. Welch came in and we had our Planning. We planned for this week and the big change that was coming, Elder Simpson leaving for Fresno on Monday and Elder Garcia being Elder VDG and I's new Companion. It was good we found out more about each other and how we are all doing the same thing serving in the name of Jesus Christ by the Spirit. Good Day for sure!!!

Sunday - Well it was a great day! We had Sacrament and then I went and Wrote all about how My dad being bishop has changed my life and how it was a changing experience for my family. He got released that day and It was good to reflect on the great Memories of being In the Bishops office with the best Bishop in the world and having him and I talk about what I am here doing right now. I can say My dad is always on the Lords errand. What a blessing it has been in my life. After writing we had Priesthood on the Holy Ghost. Brother Nelsson taught and he shared how the Holy Ghost has helped him in his life and how he is forever in the lords debt. It was good then My District in Sacrament meeting Sang "Grand eres tu", How great thou are't. It was awesome! what a great District I have! then Elder VDG and I taught on the Holy Spirit of promise and how it is essential in our lives, by keeping the commandments of the lord we can have it. Sunday Night Devotional we were taught about being preoccupied by the little things & keeping the main thing in mind -the main thing, it was good!

Monday - Well Monday was good woke up Helped Elder Simpson pack and then Elder Garcia and I took him to the shuttle and saw him off! yes we turned around and said, "yes he is gone!" now if we could get all of his stuff shipped out to him and to his parents then that would be good. So ya He has been here for 11 weeks it was about time for him to go! I am now in a tri Companionship. Elder Garcia, Elder VDG and Myself. We are the tree amigos! We then were taught about teaching people not lessons and how important it is to do it. Then All tree of us taught Sylvan and Gunther about the importance of the Book of Mormon. It was great! That's about it for my Monday just got some letters, well Dear Elders and read them that Night. 

Tuesday - It was a good day! nothing happened except Teaching Samuel about tithing and the Devotional. Elder Bradly D. Foster came and taught us about the law of consecration and how John Taylor had that back with Joseph Smith. it was good! nothing really happened and well that's it.

Today - Went to temple and wrote home and had a fiesta in Elder Sayama's Room! it was fun!

Well Another Week has come and gone! I am so close to being out of the MTC! 12 Days!!! hope it is as spiritual as it can be!!

Love you All!,

Elder Santiago (Jaymes) Monson

Week 6!

Well it was a good week but not a lot happened it might be short. I only have 2 weeks well two Wednesdays left, that’s nuts!

Thursday - Well we learned like usual and we had TRC it was good i taught about baptism and the importance of Church. it was so good! it was fabulose!!! I shared a story of my baptism when i was 8 and my testimony. It was great! Learned about the spanish language and how we invite others to church through that language so ya it was good. Pretty simple day just like the week. new distict came in last week, and ya talked to them to make sure they were comfortable. The best thing was in the middle of the day got announcement about Monday. oh and we got two new investigators, Sylon and Gunther. They are cool, Elder Sayama and Elder Roberts.

Friday - It was a good day just taught Samuel about the WOW word of wisdom and ya was great. Sis. Heinzen told us that on Monday we were going to welcome in the incoming Senior Missionaries. She said it was a good experience for us to do this so we decided to do it. We learned like usual and well it’s been a nice relaxing week just learning a language and trying to speak it in the afternoon.

Saturday - Played Soccer in the field! oh ya! scored 11 goals!! new record! it was awesome! scored 3 from standing back in the goal! ya I'm SO cool mom! haha then I learned stuff like Spanish and about the Holy Ghost. A good day!  It really has been one of those weeks! Saturday we taught Monica about Kingdoms of Glory and then just found out more about Monday. It was a good day just a lot of class and a lot of running in Gym on the Field.

Sunday - Fast Sunday, It was good I bore my Testimony in Spanish. We had Mission Conferance and well it was pretty darn good!!!! We learned about being guided by the Holy Ghost and about  the root of joy is Gratefulness.  It's not joy that makes us grateful it's gratitude that makes us joyful. We need to constantly be searching to avoid the stumbling blocks of pride and of the world by searching for God. also The Holy Ghost is essential to conversion and we need to promise to always follow him.We need to become more devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. President Brown the MTC President taught us about the Quote "the greatest week in the history of the world is the last week of Jesus Christ's life." He taught that the doctrine of Christ is so essential to our full conversion to the gospel. Later that night we learned from President Seamons of the District Presidentcy that our Name tags are the most important thing we have here on the mission. The "black Nametag shows who we are who's we are and who we represent. it was a very good talk! i was amazed it was fantastic!

Monday - Now this was the best day of the week!!! oh man! WOW! Ok started out serving the Senior Missionaries. We had five elders from our district and 20 couples coming in. so we were on our feet shuttling the biggest loads i have ever seen in my life! thank goodness some of them drove their own cars and we didn't have to take those! Ok i helped 5 couples going all over the world! it was a great start to a day!! then after running all over campus we had a break before we LOADED A BUS FOR..... the Mexican Consolet in Salt Lake City Ut. for our VISAS!!! we went there and signed them! I passed my old life it was pretty good to know I was doing something better. but the best was as I turned to my left as we drove down there and saw My temple way out by my house. I was feeling just like i was at home. it was a good feeling. at the consolet we signed papers got our pictures taken and learned about day of the dead. it was good! fun infact! best day of the week! also learned about home from dear elders and from letters from home.

Tuesday - It was good. we had a lesson on the Holy Ghost and learned about the importance of church like usual. Then had Elder Craig Zwick come and speak in devotional about being disciples of Christ. He said to become a better disciple of Christ I will.... we had to fill it in. one of the main points was forgetting yourself and helping others. he taught about the best way to be more like Christ is to live like the life he did. it was a good talk for sure! not much else to say about that day it just was a good day like usual.

Today - Went to the temple and ya thats about it now that I look at it. Preparerd for Monica because we teach in like an hour.

Well sorry for the length of this but it was a good week for sure hope I can have more like them. The days are winding down and counting down til I leave the MTC and fly to Mexico to serve the people of Tuxtla,  just trying to learn more spanish and trying to rememeber the things I have learned.

Love you all,

Elder Jaymes Monson