1st Baptism

Dear Family and Friends

First thing about Mexico - street contancting here is the easiest thing ever, everyone is willing to hear us and give us their address and such, the hard thing is getting them to actually do anything, or make change

Second thing about Mexico is that its covered in garbage, dogs, and graffiti. There are dogs, all of them filthy and starving wandering the streets everywhere. 

Third - Although almost everyone here has nothing they do not hesitate to give away. We have not had to pay for our own dinner since we got here. We have appointments to eat with a member every day. That is super nice, the food is a lot better than anything at the MTC!

Fourth - What they say about baptisms in Mexico is true. We had a baptism last Saturday (yes my very first Saturday) and have another one scheduled for this Saturday. Not too shabby. 

Fifth - I have been called Wuerito (little whitie) every freaking day, hahahahaha its freaking hilarious. I'm taller than anyone else here, at church this Sunday I got up with the Elders quorum  and I was easily 4 inches taller than everyone else and the only white one and immediately in my mind the song "one of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn't belong" poped in my mind...hahaha I laughed, no one else did. And although people like to joke and make fun they are actually super patient with my attempts to understand and speak and make it fun. 

I have prayed harder this week than I ever have before and feel Gods support and love. I'm doing well overall. 

Forgot to mention my first area isn't in Torreon, its in a neighboring city called Gomez Palacio 

Elder Roberts

Arrived in Mexico safe

Our P-day here is on Mondays so I'm writing a quick email to let you all know I got here safe with all my luggage and Mexico is probably the craziest, but funnest place I have ever been. The city is crazy, cars fly all over the place and no one seems to notice except the new gringo... My apartment is actually pretty big and my new companion speaks only Spanish. His name is Elder S and he in the hour I've known him I already feel like this first transfer my Spanish is going to destroy but he is also really good at talking to people and sharing quick messages on the street. I have very little time today just wanted to give you an update.  

John Denver - Leaving on a Jet Plane

"I'm leaving on a jet plane"

Last week in the MTC. It was hard, not gonna lie, but to be honest it was exactly what I needed. The study here all day every day was a great learning experience, the constant Spanish can be really frustrating at times but it also helps you progress in the language so much faster than just learning concepts and moving on. I wouldn't say I'll miss the MTC but I'm definitely going to miss the people here. I've gotten to know the missionaries in my Zone really well and every one of them has my back and supports me and I do the same.

I'll be leaving this Monday. Should be in Mexico around probably 2 pm their time. We'll see how it all goes. The Lord has blessed me so much when I turn to him. My Spanish is at least coherent, but my teaching has improved so much! I'm actually getting to where I can apply the gospel to peoples lives instead of just reading out of the scriptures and manuals. Thanks to everyone who has sent me packages, letters, food. I've probably gotten 10X more mail than anyone else in my district, and I really appreciate that. If the MTC can help me improve and change this much I literally can't wait for Mexico. My next letter will be sent from Mexico.

Thanks for the support!

Elder Roberts

Selflessness is the way to happiness

This week was alright, we're getting so close to the end of the MTC and it's getting crazy! We've been teaching about three mock-investigators a day for the last week and it's helped us a ton. Our Spanish is progressing but still isn't anywhere close to fluent...and we leave for Mexico in 9 days....yeah. I went to the Mexican Consulate in Salt Lake this week and got my travel plans, me and some other missionaries going to Torreon are leaving on Jan 20th. We went to the temple for the first time since coming to the MTC, the Provo temple is really cool and peaceful. Other than that not a lot has changed here. Life is hard when people are selfish - that's one big lesson I have learn since coming here, when your selfish your life sucks. Every bad day I've had here has been because I've been super focused on myself. Every good day here I've been focused on what others need. I would say in general I'm not a very happy person and it's because I'm ultimately a very selfish person. I'm sure that is one of the reasons The Lord wanted me to come out here so bad, so I would realize how important it is to happiness to focus on others. It's a weird fact about life - the more you focus on making yourself happy you'll never be so, the more you focus on working hard so you can make others happy the easier it is to be so.  Just getting ready to go! 

Elder Roberts

Matthew 10:39

Lessons on Unselfishness

Repent of our selfishness by Neal Maxwell

Meekness

A change of Heart I love this because it is in Spanish!! with subtitles

New Years in the MTC

Week three was alright. It just gets repetitive after a couple weeks. Study, eat, practice, gym, Spanish, devotional, study, study, study. I've learned so much since I've gotten here though! We've only been here for three weeks but they speak Spanish to us 90% of the time so we either have to learn fast or fall behind... so we fall behind.... haha no but seriously some days all our minds just shut off because we've been listening and trying to speak Spanish for 3 hours. The Lord blesses us though and we're pushing through

Nothing really special happened this week. I'm studying a lot about faith in my personal study and by far my favorite chapters are Alma 32, Ether 12, and Moroni 7. Faith is the first principle of the gospel for a reason - it's the first building block to progress to anything farther. 

New Years Eve here was kinda fun, our zone got together last night and we had sparkling cider and silly string and what not. It was pretty cool but it was still lights out at 10:30 so we didn't wave in 2014 til 6:30 this morning. 

I'm progressing here so much and am excited to hit Mexico, we're halfway done with the MTC already! T-minus three weeks!

Faith primary song

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