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

Week 5!

Week 5! Happy Halloween and its here Wednesday and Week 5! Today is the Start of week 6, Wahoo!!

Well here's the week in rewind! Here we go!

Wednesday - Snow in the morning and it was a good day because it was relaxing and it was cold!!!

Thursday - Woke up early to go and clean. Went outside and SNOW!!! It was coming down!!! It was flying and it was super cold!!!! After making my way through the desert snow in October, I vacuumed all of 10M. Thank you mom for teaching me how to vacuum it was good to know how to do the simplest of things. After that it snowed some more and well it was good cause we are always inside here but it was fun to watch it come down then stop then come down more and then melt! It was good. Sister Savage taught me through D & C 123:16-17 about doing all that's in our power to serve. We got new Zone leaders because one left, Elder Mon. He is awesome such a great Elder, Elder Smith stayed the ZL. That night was the usual TRC!!!! yep it was a TRC like I will always remember. We where teaching about finding answers through the scripture through the Book of Mormon. I taugh the whole thing in both lessons I guided the Volunteers through the Spanish scriptures when I didn't even know the words or the places they where, all in Spanish!! It was awesome! Through the scriptures we can always find answers to our prayers. In Moroni 10 and, I couldn't tell you where else cause, I felt prompted to share a scripture and didn't even remember! So Great DAY!

Friday - Well today it snowed a bit in the morning but it melted as fast as it came! In class we learned about date and time and then taught Monica about the church and how she needs to attend and her faith will be straightened also that the sacrament is very important as well. Then Elder VDG and I had the best lesson with Samuel well that's what we thought until yesterday anyway! We taught Ether 12:6 about having a trial of your faith. He brought up that his friends where persuading him not to follow us. So we dropped the Ether 12:6 verse on him and wow Spirit was there! Friday was good, finished out talking to another District for awhile because they are leaving next week.

Saturday - it was a good day just a normal Saturday work work work! But this is spiritual work and it is spiritually exhausting! Ha ha.  Sis. Heinzen taught us about the importance of church attendance. Bro. Welch taught us about the best way to plan for the week. The day sort of flew by it was a fast day! I got back to the residences to 3 letter 2 dear elders and a Happy Halloween from the Barney's. It made my busy quick day so much better!

Sunday - Well a typical Sunday here it was all focused around the church! haha wait that's everyday! Well we had the least amount of missionaries in our branch at 22 but one was sick in a tripanionship so all three where gone so sacrament was a bit lonely with just 19, it was small for sure. But today (Wednesday) we got 12 new missionaries! 12! That's double! Wahoo! Elder VDG and I taught about repentance and Brother Russen of our branch pres. taught us about baptism. It was good! Here Relief Society is watching Spoken Word and a member of the Relief society presidency comes and speaks so those lucky sister! After that was Sunday walk and Devotional. Brother Stephan B. Allan spoke. It was a very good talk on why we serve and why we serve the lord and not ourselves and that we need to be determined to live the mission rules! It was very good!

Monday - Started out watching a distinct movie with my district then taught Monica. That was a good lesson! It was Ether 12 again! It was powerful to teach her about trails and how they come and that through Christ we can do all things! Bro. Welch helped me with comprehending Spanish and reading Libro de Mormon. It was very good a lot of help too! I went to dinner and my DL told me I had a package and 4 dear elders! I was super excited! I picked them up after playing a mean game of volleyball! It was awesome, I was the jump serving man!! So after that I tore my package open to find things from my family and saw POPCORN! not just any kind of popcorn homemade Ali popcorn! It was so good! Then I picked up my Dear Elders and read about this package I just got! haha awesome day!

Tuesday - Started off having the best lesson with Samuel EVER!!! 2 Nephi 2! yep we read right out of the scriptures again and we could see the power of the Holy Ghost in the lessons! It was amazing!!! We had a workshop about the Book of Mormon and the importance of the first chapter of the Book of Mormon. Look at it! It explains the circle of prophets and it explains Joseph smith and how Prophets are chosen they see a vision. It’s very good! If we can just get them to read the first chapter! It is awesome! Tuesday night devotional by Elder Clarke. He taught us about the word Help and how it is so key to doing the Lords work! It was good! It was absolutely amazing! Next was District review and the spirit was there for sure!!!! It was awesome!!! I got home and had a letter from Ali and it was good to talk to the other Elders and to eat food! yep it was a good day!

Today - Temple, Writing Letters, Emails, And Laundry and HAIRCUT!!! wahoo! i feel free and feel like and look like I just came here! It feels awesome!

Well another Week is gone! It was a great week! Now I’m ready to do it all over again! They just keep getting better and Better!

I Love you ALL!!!!

- Elder Jaymes Monson

PS pictures are impossible to send here!!! so I'm working on it! sorry!