He's in the mission field...for real! Complete with real Spanish!

I made it to the mission home! Waiting for my interview with president right now, he seems like a really good guy - like relaxed but real spiritual. His wife is nice too. The drive to Puebla was so pretty, like super green and saw the volcano and it's snowy which is awesome. So far all of the Elders I've talked to are really happy and positive. Can't talk much right now but my pday will be Monday so I will talk to you then. Sorry that I can't read any of your mail right now. HYPED though!


Hey so I met my trainer, Elder P from Monterrey, good guy. He's been a member for two years, one of which was on his mission and he's 26! Kinda crazy cuz like 8 year difference but he has been really helpful so far. He speaks a bit of English but I'think he'knows more than he's telling me. Our area is Teotlaltzingo Puebla area, there's a volcano near by which is cool. So far we took a bus to our casa where I talked to an Hermano D and we are gonna teach him and'his family on Sunday I think. Then we went to get groceries which was exciting, got brown bread for you mom. Our area isn't in the big city but there's still lots of people to talk to outside and the people seem very friendly. I'm excited to be here even though it is harder than expected to understand what people are saying. I think my vocab is pretty much only good for teaching lessons but I will learn. Our house is clean and we have hot water to shower with. It's in this cute little gated off community where like 3 year olds are walking around alone so I think we're safe here. Lots of dogs everywhere. 

I had some really good talks with President Nelson and other elders in our mission and I am pretty excited about it all. I could really feel the spirit when he taught and I feel like he knows exactly what he's doing here. My travel was all good except my alarm stops after 1 minute and I had to'get up at 4 so I didn't even notice it and we almost missed the bus this morn! I got ready and finished packing in 7 minutes. It's been a long day but I feel like my Spanish is already getting better quicker than it was in the mtc. 

I'm healthy, happy, safe, got a good trainer, what more could I ask for? I feel like I will have to rely on the Lord more than ever for these first few weeks because he's literally the only one who understands me right now for the most part - haha. Elder P said my Spanish is better than the other white guy he trained though. 

Hyped overall. 

Love you all,

Elder Lethaby

Righteous Anger

That's right, I made it to the 6th week, it's kinda like making it to grade 12, lots of social hierarchy in here. I got my filter bottle (first sign that your almost leaving and you're going to a cool mission) and tomorrow we have infield orientation which idk what that means but you get a sticker on your tag that means your almost out of here. So excited.

This week we didn't see any live talks from apostles but we watched old ones from Elder Bednar and Elder Holland on Sunday which were both awesome. 

The big thing from Elder Bednar was to "turn out", to stop thinking about yourself and purely just serve others like Christ did. I hope that by the end of my mission I will have the words "me" and "I" out of my vocab. It is hard but I just don't want to let my internal circumstances effect my external actions because that could be the difference between someones salvation. He also taught a new definition of conversion that I hadn't considered before: Your ability to stay true to the testimony you have gained or the things you know. It makes sense too that if we want to be effective teachers, we have to be converted, meaning that we live every single thing we teach. We need to be examples of what we know - hopefully that makes sense. 

Elder C was a great example of that to me this week. It was his birthday on Monday and he didn't tell anyone it was his birthday because he couldn't handle making a day be focused on him rather than the work of preparing to teach. So humble! Elder M remembered his bday though and so we did end up getting him a card and some treats and singing to him. Some elders in the district got pretty distracted by this and kinda stopped studying and were all fooling around. I was pretty frustrated because our goal of Christlike attribute this week was dilligence AND we had all had a very spiritual experience with Elder Bednar less than 24 hours before. It was getting really bad, like nobody would listen to me and they were like climbing on chairs and stuff so I finally got up and threw down. I experienced righteous anger for the first time in my life, I yelled at my district and it brought the spirit, SO WEIRD! I felt like Elder Holland! I pretty much asked them why they were on their missions if this is what they're gonna do with the Lord's time and reminded them of the conversations we had had the days before. At first I felt kinda bad for it, but then almost every single person in the district individually thanked me for it later on. They said that they could feel the power of the spirit working with me as I was doing that as well, it was a super cool experience. It is ok and very necessary to call people to repentance if you're doing it in the right spirit. They need to know you love them and that you are doing it for their benefit. It is rare to yell at people and then have them thank you, but I am so grateful to have been the means whereby the spirit could work on the hearts of my district in that moment. It was very powerful. I hope that didn't come across as prideful at all but it was a very cool experience for me. 

We have a great district, I will miss them all so much, and learn so much from them every day. Wish I had time to talk about them more. I will be in Puebla 4 days from now - can not wait. 

So grateful to be here and to be on the Lords errand

Dios nos ama,

Elder Lethaby

Classic!!!

Almost done at the Mexican MTC (CCM) - pics

First things first, next week my pday is THURSDAY so if you want to send email do it before then. That's a sign that I'm almost out of here; I've been out a month now. 

Yesterday or today (I think kinda both) are independance day here and it is such a big deal. The whole CCM is decorated for it, like flags and stuff everywhere and the meals were very traditional this week. Turns out Horchata is really good if it's not at costa vida. Last night when we went to bed the fireworks were literal nonstop, just a constant stream for hours. Slept pretty good though still cuz always tired. The CCM presidency hooked up big time though for independance day though! They got this dance troup thing to come perform for us last night and it was awesome. They built this HUGE stage in the gym and we filled the rest and they had like spot lights and live meriachi and everything you could want. It was very loud and I almost felt like I shouldn't be there as a missionary but I guess that's the only way to truly show the Mexican ways! The Latinos were so hyped, like singing so loud and starting the wave and stuff. It was awesome. Weirdly enough I still felt the spirit during all the excitment though because I was learning about MY people through the traditional dances and costumes and stuff. I LOVE THEM!!! 

Today we got to go to the temple again which was nice, met a guy in there who was there for the first time and he's from Puebla and he's coming to the CCM on Tuesday. 

SPIRITUAL

We heard from two more apostles this week, such a dang treat.

Elder Ballard

He was talking a lot about how we need to simply smile more, we need to RADIATE, and if we do that, we will have no trouble at all finding people to teach. That should be a very small part of our work. He was talking about how he wishes he could serve again as a young man and he said, "I would be absolute dynamite!" He was very funny, but also really inspired me to be more Christlike in my feelings I give off to others because the first impression you make on people can completely change their view of the church. 

Elder Cook

Miracles come when we can be trusted, but they also come only when they are needed. I have not had any crazy experiences with suddenly knowing the language or anything like that, but that is because my Heavenly Father knows that I will work hard enough to learn the language on my own. I do feel like I am taking the lead in most of our lessons now and it is very exciting. Elder M used to do almost all of the talking and now its really switched. Not that his Spanish or scripture knowledge is bad, I just think I am getting way more confidence now. After Elder Cooks devotional we were talking and I shared the idea that we are not the only people in the world trying to follow the Saviours comandment to feed his sheep, but the other people who are trying to feed his sheep are giving them people food, the food of man. They are trying to do something good, but we have the food (priesthood authority, and revelation and the B o M) that they really need. Thought that was pretty cool. 

Anyway, ya this week started off kinda rough cuz I think Elder Mayer was a bit cranky but the last few days have been great and Im just really happy and excited all the time. 

I keep having super awesome experiences with very visible answers to prayers and I know that God hears and loves every one of us. I feel closer to Jesus Christ than I ever have, and my understanding of His atonement is growing very quickly, I was able to teach that a lot this week. We teach about 4 lessons a day now but Hermana Aguirre (my teacher) said in my mission it will probably be about 10 a day and that some people in that mission baptize every week! So that is something to look forward to. 

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!

DIOS NOS AMA!

Elder Lethaby 

P.S. Get more people like Velazquezs and caleb and stuff to write me please!

Visitor's Centre - Mexico City Temple

 Elder Lethaby's Home away from Home - Yellow dorms on the left

Someone's Companion loves Mexico!

Sorry to all of Elder Lethaby's fanbase

Note from mum: As I manage this blog, and we had difficulty accessing google while away, the blog is a bit behind. Sorry! Prepare to be overloaded!! Also...his birthday is October 7...cards and letters would be appreciated!

Hi mom and everyone!

Today we broke the wall yet again and went to take care of some imigration stuff where they fingerprinted us and stuff. It was pretty cool because we went downtwown and it's actually super modern looking and clean down there. Very cool arcitecture. Very excited about all the family travels! And yes I really am falling in love with the culture here; it's so awesome how carefree they are and happy most people are kinda. Haven't been writing Scott but if you would send me via dear elder thing his weekly updates, and Ben's too, that would be great! Miss those guys. Hope Scott's not getting destroyed by the language too much. 

Yesterday we got to teach nonmembers kinda. There are these construction worker guys that are probably my age all over and our teacher told us to go teach them and try to get a referal, but turns out I still don't speak spanish :( getting there though, we had a solo español day earlier this week and nobody really did it except me, classic our district, but I lasted until around 3:00 without any English :) I think once I'm in the field I will start learning way faster so I really just wanna get out there. Pretty ready for that even though I don't speak the language too well yet. 

This week our devotional was a broadcast from Provo mtc of Elder Christofferson which was really, really good. The quote that stuck out the most was a David O McKay quote that said, "It is greater to be trusted than loved." At first I was super confused, like doesn't that go against everything our church teaches? But then he explained it - God loves every single person, but does not trust every single person. In fact he trusts very few people. So pretty much if He trusts you, you are killing it. I am trying so hard to be the missionary that he knows will never compromise the rules, who will never slack off and who will always be willing to, and humble enough to listen to the spirit and teach by its power. I know that as I strive to be trusted, I will be blessed with so many more oportunities to teach people because God knows I can handle it. Another quote, "You carry in your hands the kingdom of Heaven." So extreme! Love the guys and I think this week we get to hear from 2 more apostles! 

The Mexican independance day celebrations are already starting here even though it's not untill the 15th! On the weekends there is always mariachi concerts blasting from the mountain behind the ccm all night long which is really fun. We also fall asleep to the sounds of fireworks a lot (we tell ourselves it's fireworks). The food is sometimes amazing, sometimes awful but overall it gets the job done. 

I think Elder Muirhead (idk how to spell) sent a picture of him and I the other day; try to track down his mom for that, but that's the guy you met in the temple. Good guy but don't see him much. Also I seem to have misplaced my camera cord so no pics this weeks but I'm sure it will turn up soon. 

Oh also tell Shane I met an Elder Francis who was Spencer Miller''s mission companions brother and his brother was at the wedding too. Good guy also. 

I found some socks at the tienda here so I should be good without but if you sent some already thats even better! 

My challenge to everyone this week is to read Alma 26, really felt inspired by it this week. 

DIOS NOS AMA!

Elder Lethaby 

He broke out twice!

Hello!

What a week, broke out TWICE! The first one is a pretty funny story. Elder M can not stay awake to save his life, like over an hour a day spent sleeping in class despite me pouring water in his ears when he does so. SO Hermana A, our teacher said he should get checked in the infermeria so we went there and the doc couldn't find anything wrong with him. So he said come back tomorrow at 7 30 with some tests and well figure it out. So he had to pee (amongst other things) in a cup, highlite of the week! (you can choose whether or not to include that). But when we came back in the morning, they said we had to go to the hospital, which I think was lost in translation. So we went for like 5 hours, but it was awesome because we got to go to crispy cream and go to the mall because the bus driver was feeling it, and got to see a bit of the city which is crazy traffic, stop signs exist but nobody notices them I guess. Anyway I, think he's doing a bit better now,  but it was exciting!

 First trip out....

On the way to the temple...

Which brings me to the next point, the temple today! Its much much bigger than Calgary which makes sense, but ya it's super pretty and amazing! They don't let you go without a translater because they doubt our abilities but I was glad I had it. Very cool to be there with all the other missionaries though, especially when you hear them pray for the missionaries and think about how everyone around the world is praying for you every single day! I think I said that last week but seriously love being on the other side of those prayers.

"Loved seeing those words on the temple in Spanish" (Holiness to the Lord: The House of the Lord."

The most spiritual experience I had this week I think was when we sang EFY medley in spanish as a choir! Same as my farewell but even more meaningful and more than half of the mtc is in the choir so it's very loud and powerful! I love it so much! I saw Elder Low walk in for the first time right before we sang and I just got chills from how excited I was for him to be here and start this work with me! So many people were brought to tears by it. 

This week has been all about showing faith for me. Like just constantly looking for ways to show faith whether it's going to choir, fasting, asking for or giving blessings, praying nonstop, and setting goals. Goals are so important. As I've started following specific ones I've seen a lot of progress. I've been trying to memorize a scripture every day and have done so mostly since then. Spiritual experiences are coming way more often as I humble myself and give thanks for everything. One quote from this week that isn't exact but hit me hard was something like, If you have the spirit, your language skills do not matter at all as long as you can still show them your pure love and service, they are just as likely to listen to you and be converted. Gives me lots of hope :)

I also met this Elder from Calgary that knows Tyler Steele and Morgan Hodder and Danni Carter and he said he did sealings with you (mum) in the temple a few months ago, can't remember the name right now but cool guy (Elder Muirhead). We played his district in soccer the other day. We won. The Velazquezs will be happy to hear I have started playing almost every day, and I think I'll buy shoes for it in the field. I'm not as bad as I thought either!

Another experience this week was with an elder in our district who said he was thinking about going home! He has a huge testimony and always is funny and seems happy but the language is just destroying him. Like he is sooo far behind even though he tries. Just feeling so discouraged that he doesnt know if he can handle it, so he said he's leaving on Wednesday if things don't turn around. I am praying and fasting for him so hard today for him. Last night he asked me for a blessing and that was actually the most spiritual experience of the week, I lied before. It was incredible to feel how much God loves him and as I gave it I felt of the people on the other side of the veil praying for him and hoping for the best. There are so many people in his mission just waiting for him specifically to come to them. We ended the blessing with the whole room in tears and it was so awesome. That is one thing I'm learning, just how to love people. 

My prayers are about 4 times as long now as they used to be and almost entirely in Spanish. I pray for so many people back home by name every night. There's been a bit of disobedience in our district which stresses me out because it's my job to help them with that but then other times we just have such spiritual times together like today in the Celestial room of the Temple. It is so awesome here and I can't believe I'm almost half way through! 

Dios nos ama,

Elder Lethaby