Eagle Scout skills come in handy

This morning (p`day) we went and cooked breakfast on the beach with the zone and it was awesome. Guaymas is beautiful but once it started getting hot all I wanted to do was swim (not allowed.) I dont even know if I want to go back the beach while im on my mission haha. This week was great though, we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas with a few different families, lit of some fireworks and ate some good food, but Christmas just isn´t as big of a deal in Mexico. Still though it was great and great to skype the fam. 

The next day though we were walking in the street and there was an old man limping on the other sidewalk so I casually walked over by him to see if he was okay and there was blood alllll over his face and legs and it was a little freaky but he was just an old man who cant walk very well and fell down a hill. (i thought he had been shot or something) I was able to patch him up with my eagle scout skills though and then made him a cane out of a nearby tree and some leather and cloth I found while we were waiting for a taxi (so he doesn´t fall again). He ended up living like 10 miles away though so it was a good thing we stopped to help him. 

Also this week we started teaching an older man and he accepted our invitation to be baptized. woop. So were trying to set a date with Aleberto (his name) for mid to end of January. Conrado is usually reading the Book of Mormon if he isnt working on a car when we go teach him and La Familia Acosta is progressing as well. The youngest kid, Julian, is 5 years old and me and him are becoming pretty good buds. Running out of time lets see...

I almost got hit by a truck full of Tigers.what¿ yeah the circus came to town this week and so they just threw 6 tigers in the back of a big old truck and drove all around down to advertise so that was pretty cool. 

Everybody here pronounces the T like D and the Ci like SH in Tri Cities so that was a good laugh but now I just tell people im from Richland which they also cant pronounce. 

My spanish is improving everyday, not as frustrating as it used to be.

There is a hot dog stand on every other corner of the city and they are waaay good. The wrap em in bacon and then put tomatoes onion and avocado on top, so goooood. 

S/o to Beau and Jarbon, happy birthday! 

S/o to Carter for getting a twitter

S/o to everyone who gave me candy or anything for Christmas I shared them all with the niños so that was lots of fun. 

Love and Miss you all 

Elder Mitchell

forgot my camera cable, pics next week!

Vivo todavía

I survived week one in the field! It didn´t start off so hot but I love it! Thursday and Wednesday my ears were still adjusting to the speed and accent which mexicans speak with so I essentially understood nothing for both of those days which was very frustrating! We did tons of walking around trying to get familiar with Guaymas and by the end of the day I was exhausted and depressed with the spanish and really wishing that I was serving an english speaking mission. BUT the next day I started understanding things a little bit and then a little more the next day and now I already understand most of everything that gets said. Church was a little much though haha Some people who talk extra fast, I cant understand or if they have a funny lisp or something, but I have already made so much progress I know the Lord will continue to help me and teach me! My speaking ability is a ways behind what I can understand but Its also coming along.

Elder Cornejo and I have a huge area to cover, from one end to the other its about 15 or 20 minutes by bus, but we only have about 50 pesos to spend each day so we can.t always take the bus! Guaymas also has tons of mountains so that is a good calve workout. We are teaching a good number of people and one family. Conrado is an older man, that yelled WHITE BOY at me as I passed him on the street, so I talked to him and asked if we could visit with him the next day. We taught him some and he told us we explained a lot of questions he had about the Catholic doctrine and when we went to teach him another day about the plan of salvatoin, before we even started talking he told us he has been wondering where were going, where we came from and why were here...I almost started laughing it was so perfect. The family we teach lives on top of a mountain so they have an awesome view of the Sea and they are just an awesome family. 

A few interesting things that happened this week...

I watched a man deal some cocaine

A 97 year old woman who lives in her bed on her porch held my hand and sang to me for like 10 minutes then gave me a Catholic blessing and slapped my face a few times... yeah idk either

I get called everything from gringo to white boy to blue eyes to captain america haha the kids always laugh when I try to pronounce their crazy names

ALso we woke up early one morning to visit somebody who lives across town and they werent home when we got there which was frustrating but right after an old man ran after us and told us a story about how is wife was dying and asked if we could pray with him for his wife. 

Thats about all the time I have wish i could say more! The work is hard but my Padre Celestial is helping me and blessing me tons! Merry Christmas Love you all!!!

Elder Mitchell

P.s the lady at this cyber is playing JB´s christmas album rn... tender mercies from mi Padre

The Acosta family and beautiful Guaymas!

VIVA MEXICO

I made it to Hermosillo yesterday and I´m already loving it. Although I feel like i´m dying in the 80º weather (this is winter) I might actually die in a few months when it starts to be 120º regularly. I started sweating about 15 minutes after we landed in Hermosillo and probably wont ever stop. 

I was also surprised to find out President Hernandez doesn´t speak any english so our interview was...fun. And then I got my training companion Elder Cornejo who is from Ecuador and also speaks no english- so about 3 hours after getting to Hermosillo I was on a bus to Guaymas without really knowing what was going on. My Spanish actually isn´t that bad and it´s getting better all the time because I dont have anybody to speak English and Elder Cornejo is very patient with me and an awesome missionary. He only has three months left before he is done so i´ll be his last companion. He just got done serving as AP and everybody tells me I have the best papá and I can already see why! 

We´re opening a new area in Guaymas so we don´t really know anything about the area or have any investigators but ater today were going to meet with some members of the ward here and then see if we can find some people to teach. So far i´ve been told our mission is the 3rd hottest in the world but it also has the best carne in the world so those cancel out right? I actually had a quesaburra last night which is just a huge delicious burrito with tons of meat- that was only after I passed up some tacos de ojo though so we´ll see if the food is always that good hahaha we live in a little old apartment in the middle of the city and we´re surrounded by these big mountains- it´s super pretty here! 

It was a little hard to fall asleep last night with the heat and all the city noise (tons of police sirens) but thankfully I was super tired from traveling all day and Im sure I´ll be pretty tired everyday so that´s all okay! This morning we went grocery shopping and I started talking to this 3 or 4 year old girl and she gave me some candy- she was the cutest!!- so im going to start keeping all my dulces in my backpack for the ninos!

The mail here is slow but if you want to send me something you can send it to the mission office in Hermosillo and we get that mail once a month- they say Dear Elder works the best but the mail usually work it is just slow. Or you can just email me! This is all pretty crazy but I love it. Im ready to show my faith in Jesucristo and go to work! 



View from our apartment window





Elder Cornejo and I with our Quesaburros (cut in half)





Love and miss you all!
Elder Mitchell

An Enchanted Moment

Until today I was the only one in the district who had not heard from the Travel Office but this morning I got scheduled to go to Vegas on Thursday to visit the Mexican Consolate for my Visa and then I'll leave for Hermosillo next Monday. I love the MTC but I´m pretty excited to leave! 

This week I got my haircut and She cut off some hair and asked me if it was short enough and I said "Mmm yeah I think so" and then for some reason she shaved off all of my hair. And she didn't thin it out so now it's really short and poofy and it always looks like I just woke up from a nap. Oh well. I'll probably just want to shave it once I'm in Mexico where it's like 70 or 80 degrees. (It's been freeeezing here in Provo) 

Also this week I set a lot of very specific goals for myself. I've been praying a lot for God to help me have more charity, obedience, focus and patience...but I started wondering how exactly He was going to help me be better with these things. So I decided if I set some daily goals that would help me be more patient, focused, obedient and charitable, God would be able to help me in my goals. Sort of following the principle from James 2:26 faith without works is dead. 

Also this week I did some intense scripture study. Everyday I come to love the scriptures more and more. I read a ton of Paul from Acts and Romans, trying to learn how I can teach better. (He was like the best missionary) Also I read a lot about John the Baptist and how he helped prepare the way for Jesus- by ministering and preaching right before him, teaching several of the original 12 apostles many things and then baptizing Jesus. I think he was probably one of the most humble people ever. He saw his influence and following disappear once Jesus' ministry began and some of his followers ended up becoming apostles while he was thrown in jail and killed. So in a lot of different ways that could have been really hard! But John was very very humble through it all. He did minister to 3 different dispensations though which is pretty cool! Also I've been reading the Book of Mormon just starting with the beginning and it's just awesome. I really wish I had more diligent scripture study before my mission, there isn't a single thing in our lives the scriptures can't help us with. 

I've been teaching my "investigators" here at the MTC that because we're children of our Heavenly Father, he loves us, and because he loves us he has given us scriptures with commandments, words of prophets, and guidance- to help us be happier here on earth and gain eternal salvation so we can return to live with Him. And it is so true. My testimony of this is strengthened each time I open the Bible and the Book of Mormon. 

Also a substitute teacher told us Hermosillo is nick named Hornosillo... Horno means oven in Spanish, so that was nice to hear.

Acts 21:13- Trying to get on Paul's level

D&C 123:12-13- Another inspiring scripture about missionary work

Moroni 7:45-48- Just a great scripture, v.48 is like the most beautiful thing ever

S/o to the Robertsons for the advent calender and also to everybody who helped. It is so much fun to check everyday! I love it!

S/o to the guy in the white truck blasting Hoodie Allen at Brigham's Landing this morning, that was a real treat. 

And a real quick story from this week: Thursday night my roommate Elder Jeppsen cut up his fleece bathrobe to make himself a pair of sweats (because it is so cold) and I didn't really believe he could do it. But it was actually working and I became inspired to try and do the same, so I had a bit of a Giselle (Enchanted) moment where I cut up my bed sheets and sewed myself a new dress shirt. I didn't really know what I was doing because I've never sewed before, and because I didn't have any sewing supplies but I cut up my flat sheet with a pair of scissors and unraveled some thread out of it and used a pocket knife to cut holes and as a needle for my  home made thread. I messed up pretty bad on the collar but overall it was decent. Me and Elder Jeppsen wore our new home made clothes (he also made a vest out of bed sheets) to our service project the next day to show them off to the zone and everybody was really impressed/confused/laughing except the Wyview faculty, who recognized their sheets. I avoided most of the trouble but I admitted it to our Branch President who mostly just laughed and was also impressed with our ingenuity and sewing skills but I might have some damages to pay for. Oh well. 

But other than that my goals have been helping me focus! hahaha whoops

Love and miss you all,

Elder Mitchell

Ps I won't get to check mail next Sunday or Monday so if you want to send me something send it early this week!

Pss Go Bears

I am like a star shining brightly

Me and Elder Jeppsen about to FEAST on Thanksgiving

Elder Larsen, Elder Bake, Elder Jeppsen and I.
These are the Elders I live with. Love them to death.

The district saying goodbye to Elder McDougal when he left for the Colombia MTC.
My companion is Elder Bake in the green shirt.

So this morning I found out I actually won't be leaving the MTC on the 9th anymore, but instead on the 16th which bummed me out for a while. But I haven't got my Visa yet anyways so they probably would have just temporarily reassigned me anyways so it's okay. Also today was unbelievably gorgeous in Provo so us and another district had a 2 hour game of kickball with Elder Jeppsen's huge exercise ball which made it pretty hard but it was still the funnest thing ever. Despite my 3 HR's my team lost 16-17 but we demanded a rematch for next week. So that basically got me over the tiny slump I got in after finding out I was being delayed. (again)

So much happened this week again with Thanksgiving and also Mission Conference so i'll try to fit as much as I can.

Tuesday-  Brother Michael John Teh came in and gave us a devotional about consecrating our minds (sort of a theme for me this week) which I loved. He talked about how the more we understand the Atonement the more we will want to spread the Gospel, which I've found to be very true for myself, and also related Ammon's mission to ours. After Ammon became healed through the atonement and converted to the Gospel he had a strong desire to take his testimony to the Lamanites. He gave up his the throne to his father's kingdom to serve a mission because he wanted so badly to share the happiness he found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He left it all behind, just like we have to leave a lot behind to serve missions. However almost right away on his mission, the things Ammon left behind had followed him. King Lamoni offers him to marry one of his daughters and be an heir to his kingdom. Now it probably would have been pretty easy to rationalize that he deserved it, or that it would help him preach the Gospel. But because Ammon's mind was consecrated to his mission and to  the Lord, he instead told the King that he wanted to be servant and went on to be everybody's favorite missionary in the Book of Mormon.  I liked this so much because it's true, many of the things we leave behind follow us on our missions and can be a distraction or an obstacle in keeping the promise we made to devote all our time talents and thoughts to our missions while we're here. The change to becoming a missionary doesn't come all at once. Some of it needs to take place before you leave but a lot of it takes tons of effort and relying on the Atonement everyday on the mission to get to the point where your mind is soley consecrated to your calling. So this week as I've thought about that, I've felt the weight of what seems impossible expectations to get to that point where I'm always only thinking about my investigators and my mission. But I've slowly come to realize that I  just have to improve a little bit each day and have enough faith in Christ that He can help me change! That's another thing we've focused on this week is the Atonement. It's more than just the chance to be cleansed of our sins, but the Atonement is what allows us to change and become more like Christ. It also has made me realize how much more I can use and rely on the Atonement to become a better missionary and a more Christlike person.

Thursday- Russel M Nelson spoke to us on Thanksgiving morning which was great but I don't have much time to get into it. It was a lot about who should be working with in the wards we'll serve in. Also we did a HUGE service project which was AWESOME. It was through a non LDS group called Feed Children Everywhere, basically we made over 350,000 bags of instant soup mix for starving kids which is easily and literally over 1,000,000 meals. I'm sure you can google it and read more about it if you want but it was so awesome to see what a force us missionaries are. There were only just over 1,000 or so missionaries here on that day and we turned the cafeteria from a Thanksgiving feast into a soup factory and back into a cafeteria in a few hours. I've never seen a work get done so fast or seen a group of people so eager to help. And then if you take that workforce and multiply it by 80  you can start to understand the force that is hastening the work (80,000 current missionaries). I also ate tonnnnns of turkey but truly and deeply missed showing up my Dad at the Turkeybowl. :(

Sunday- At mission conference the MTC Presidency talked a lot about Christ and Christmas and it really made me wish I could go back and be in the Woodridge Nativity again. That was such an amazing experience that I'm super thankful for but I'm realizing I took it for granted and probably most enjoyed feeding the goats carrots and cheese. It also made me more excited for Christmas than I've ever been! One thing that really stuck with me was Sister Trost talked about the Christmas Star that the Wise men and shepherds and everybody else saw. She talked about how God had to have very carefully placed that star into orbit in the beginning of time so that on the exact day Christ was born it could testify of the Messiah's birth to the whole world. What an important job that little (idk why I like to think of it as a little star but oh well) star had to do! But as I thought about it I thought about how I (and each of us) are like that little star. God has carefully placed us here on Earth at a specific time to do a specific job. And I'm just super excited to think that everything I've ever done has prepared me to go to Mexico and share my testimony and carry out the job my Heavenly Father has for me. And now that I'm writing this all out I just realized it's a primary song "I am like a star shining brightly." Whatever! I'm excited to be that star and shine and testify of Christ to Hermosillo!

Big S/O to my new baby cousin Kai! Congrats Natalie and Shane!

S/o to Chloe and Quinn (and everyone else who did) for writing me

Anti-Shout out to Carter!!!

Sadly I don't really have anymore time! There was actually tons of funny stuff that happened this week but I decided to finally figure out how to upload pictures and that took some time so if you want to hear about them then just write me...i'll be here for a whole two more weeks -____-

Love and miss you all

Elder Mitchell