MTC Memories

 My First Note Home: July 16, 2014

Well, I have made it to Mexico MTC safe and sound. There were a ton of missionaries arriving at the same time. me and tyler have been together most of the time and i am about to go and find my room and see who my companion is. All is good, the Lord is great.  Know I am safe and I love you. 

I borrowed a pic from my companions camera. So here you go. please forward it! 

Me with Elder Aaron Eggbert from Las Vegas my 1st day at MTC!

July 22,2014

Hey everyone, jad...... I mean Elder Roberts. Still a weird adjustment. I am loving it here so far and it is so amazing to see the lords hand in my life. I know that he is blessing all of you through my prayers, and I am so grateful for all of the love and support.  The prayers do make a difference, I can honestly tell.  So I guess I will begin with the first day. Flying in and everything was super cool having Elder Kraupp with me. It was nice having someone to talk to. We had to wait at the airport for almost two hours, but there were a ton of elders, so it was okay. On our way, I found out there are almost 50 guys from my exact same mission. We got to the MTC and got settled in our casas. Sorry, these Spanish keyboards are different so I cant find the apostrophe, so i have to press on each word and fix it with spell check. As I was unpacking, I found out that I left behind a contact case and the charging cord for the camera. hahahaha so i guess no pictures till i can get to Peru and find a charger. I also found out we can recieve packages here, which is cool. I will shoot you the address next time. Anyways, I was unpacking when my roommates came in. Elder Taylor and Elder Johnson came in first. Neither of them was my companion, but i talked with them a bit. They are both super cool guys from up north in Utah. Elder Johnson is my favorite though,  he is really athletic and we get along super well. Well anyways, as I was unpacking waiting for my companion, I started to wonder what he would be like, then he walked in. HIs name is Elder Seguin and he is from Alberta Canada. At first he seemed like a pretty chill, easy to get along with guy. So we went to all our first class, and the instructor would only speak Spanish to us! It was so crazy! We could barely understand a word he said. But luckily we have the gift of tongues, so I am able to pick it up pretty quick. Dont get me wrong, i still talk like a saint george hick, but now its in a different language. I know that through continual prayer the lord will help me.

After our first day of meetings, I began to realize that Elder Seguin is almost a clone of the guy from the best two years! hahahahahhaha, thats right, the nerdy one. He has to be EVERYWHERE exactly on time, or else he will lose it. I know that the lord is trying to teach me patience, and I think we have already made a lot of progress. Yeah, he is the kind of guy that sits in the bathroom waiting. hahahahha But don't worry, I am having an amazing time. Elder Johnson is the District leader, so he can go on splits with me and give me a break every once and awhile. 

The second day was just a bunch of Spanish. I felt so overwhelmed, but I wasn't worried because i felt the spirit helping me. We also had to have our first discussion with an investigator, just me and my companion, for 30 minutes. Oh yeah, and did i mention that she doesn't speak English? yeah, so it all had to be in Spanish, which was super crazy, but luckily the Lord put words into my mouth that allowed me to speak with her and get our message across. 

The third day was just meetings on meetings on meetings, along with a little Spanish. It is nuts how much Spanish I have already picked up. Also I really enjoy how much time I have to study the Gospel Works and other church books. I have never had this much time to just read and study, and it is amazing how much i can accomplish. It is so amazing because it is almost as if the lord and i are constantly having conversation. It isn't a whole question and answer thing, but just conversation all the time. It is so great to feel his holy spirit so strong. Oh, and we also taught our same investigator again. We have made amazing progress with her. We have met with her 3 times and she already wants to be baptized. I know that she is just a member that is assigned to do this, but it still teaches you so much and the spirit helps even though she is already converted. 

On satuday, they told us that for sacrament that it would all be and spanish, and that they werent going to tell us who was speaking until right before you had to give the talk. So I sat and prayed as hard as I could on sunday and was blessed with the opportunity not to speak! hahaha but seriously, I was so happy! I am picking up the language, dont get me wrong, but I still need a ton of work!

P Day is on tuesday, so everyone know this is when I will be writing my letters as long as im in the CCM, or MTC as its called up there. I will have to see if it changes when I go to Peru. 

Know that I am doing amazing and that there is no need to worry! Everything is great and I am so happy that I get to serve the lord, but truly, Im not even getting to serve much, its all just the lord blessing me. Thank you for all of the prayer and love and support you are to me. Please pray to help me with the language, and know that my prayers and love is with you!

Your Favorite Elda

Elder Roberts....

the Third

P.S. I figured out how to make a contact case, so don't sweat it!

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  July 29, 2014

What is up everyone! Week two coming to an end. It is so weird to think i have already been here two weeks. I feel like I am in a entire new world. All of the days are starting to blend together, it´s nuts!Every day lately has been the same routine. We wake up, study, breakfast, go to class, learn Spanish, (or attempt), learn about the gospel, lunch, gym, more learning and teaching people, dinner, then just more learning on the computers then personal study. I have been playing soccer on the basketball courts, it is way fun. I am actually pretty good at soccer, even though I am huge and lanky. I got a 4 goals and an assist yesterday, I was wreckin. I love the gym time here. it feels so good to work out then to play sports every day. 
I dont really know what to tell you all about, so i will kinda do all the odds and ends. 

The presidents name of the ccm (mtc) is president pratt. He is actually a kinda stiff guy, but i am sure that he is a softie under the tough exterior. He called out one of my friends in the auditorium that fell asleep. I was asleep too, so I thought he was yelling at me! After the meeting, Elder Kraupp came up to me and asked if the president was yelling at me, but i told him it was my friend. He said he totally thought it was me! Dodged a bullet there! 

I finally decided to stop driving my companion insane and went and bought a watch and hymn book with Elder Johnson. Me and Elder Johnson are now way tight. I feel like I am with him more then my own companion. He is super good at soccer and is going to play for BYU. His great passes are why i score so many goals. I had to splurge and use my debit card, but all together the watch and hymn book were like 10 US dollars. Its crazy how cheap everything is here. Also, Elder Johnsons companion is Elder Taylor, and he dresses exactly like John Dad with the blue jeans and his blue striped collar shirt. I started laughin the first time I saw him in it.  

I traded some of my ties already. My new ones are pretty fresh. One of them is a zip up, and I am reppin it right now. It was Elder Johnsons, but I moved and shaked on him and got him to give it up. 

The food is okay. Everything here is cold, cause they let it just sit out for way too long. But it is still pretty good. I haven't told anyone, but there is a microwave that i use everyday and it makes my food way better. I don't want there to be a huge line. My stomach has held up pretty well considering all that i have put it up to so far.

Oh and I might have also spent most of the money they gave me on snickers..... They were so cheap that i couldn't stop myself! It was still a great purchase though!

I just thought about it and realized that it is almost my birthday. That is so weird to me to think about. 

Our first investigator became our teacher, and that really made me mad. She totally played us, but its all good. I love our morning teacher, his name is Hermano Cardenez and he is probably one of the best guys I have ever met. He just got home from his mission and came back here to teach. He is now one of our other investigators, and he is being super tough. My spanglish isnt workin out too well with him. I know that the language will continue to come. Im not stressin bout it though. 

I dont know what else to really tell you guys about. I have got to know a bunch of new guys and have made tons of friends. I still struggle with the language, but that expected. I cant wait for Elder Rich to come, I think he should be coming in today or tomorrow. It will be good to see one of my good friends. Know that I love all the letters from everyone and that they mean a lot for me to get. Even if i cant write a huge message back, know that I am enjoying reading them. you guys are so good to me. Shoot me any questions that you have, cause i love talking about it, i just cant remember to write everything. I probably wont do a day by day because they all blend together. If you could make sure and send me gavs letters too that would be great. I want to hear about how everything is going on up in Provo.

Sorry again about not having pictures, I am going to try and get a charger cord once im in peru. Oh and by the way, the CCM (mtc) has a wall like a prison. Its kinda funny. 

I love you all and am so grateful for your thought and prayers. Know that I am all good and that I am doing great! I am going to borrow some of Elder Taylors pictures, so we will see what he has. Hopefully my mom will forward one or two of the pictures.

The first picture is of the landscape and the ccm. It is a pretty cool place in the middle of such a trashy part of town. 

The second one he caught me eating. That is the only one he had with me in it. 

The last one is Elder Johnson. He kills me man. Gotta love him though. 



The Boy You Know and Love,
 Elder Roberts

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August 5, 2014

Welp, week three just wrappin up. It is so strange I have already been here this long. I hope that everyone is doing amazing and I absolutly love seeing all of the letters! I am so grateful for all of you in my life and getting to hear so much about your lives.

The past week was the fastest by far. It is super nice to see Elder Rich all the time. He is kinda my reminder of home. I got to ball out with him on saturday (play basketball) and we were wreckin. There is always that one kid though, callin fouls on everything, but I made sure and put him in place. Dont worry, i didnt say anything, I just kept scoring on him. Soccer has been a lot of fun, but I find myself wanting to go back to the true sport. I have been lifting and doing push ups everyday, so i dont think you guys would even recognize me. I think I have put on a whole 3 kilograms, hahahahhaha. 

I have been getting a lot of time to study, which i absolutely love! I have finished Our Search for Happiness and am also almost done with Jesus the Christ. That is just under a thousand pages, not including my scriptures. It is so great to be able to read about Christs ministry and to gain a better appreciation for what he has done for us. I challenge everyone to read this book, for it truly has helped me in a lot of aspects of my life.  He is the perfect example for all of us.  Also getting to read about how influential faith is in our lives has absolutely astounded me. It is incredible to see what the power of faith can really do. 

Thanks for the package mom, I got it yesterday. I popped a hole in the chips trying to open it, but luckily I had some ziplock bags. The candy was and is bomb! I have shared a lot of it with the guys from my district, and they were all super grateful I have had to do a bunch of eating lately to compensate for my lifting, cause i dont wanna get to swole. hahaha 

My district is super cool, and i love them all. We have this one pair of hermanas in my district and the one is super sensitive, but at the same time kinda a brat. She got hit with a volleyball and had a minor concussion, but all it did was hit her in the back of the head. Now she wears a hand written note on her name tag that says I have been concussed. I just got a kick out of that. One of the Elders said he would give anyone 20 dollars if they would shove grapes up her nose. That is just the kinda kid this is, he is a complete goofball. Anyways, she heard about it and she went up to him and said that she would not appreciate some stuffing grapes up her nose. I literally busted up, cause the kid was totally kidding, but she has no sense for a joke. 

I have had some sick dreams as of late. I have been writing them all down. I have had dreams about a lot of people from home, and it has really go me thinking about everyone. 

I about lost it on my companion this week, but luckily I remembered to pray. He is just getting more and more difficult. I say if i can live with him for six weeks, then I am sure that I can overcome any challenge coming my way. I had an amazing experience giving Elder Johnson my district leader a blessing. HIs eyes have been killing him lately because he has terrible allergies. The blessing was absolutely amazing and I am so grateful for the lord using me as His instrument. It really reminded me of the experience with Ginger. Mom, if you could get me her email that would be awesome. I want to let her know how grateful I am for that church history trip, for it truly got me prepared to come on a mission. 

Well, I dont have a ton of time this week, cause my companion makes sure we leave right on the dot, not a second late. Everyone else stays longer, but not us. I am grateful again for all that everyone has written me. I sent my mom a picture of my room up on the roof of our house, so hopefully she can send that. 

Your Favorite Missionary,

Elder Roberts

                 

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