First Week - Mexico City MTC (CCM)

1. We have hot water. :PPPPPPP
2. There were thirteen Elders going to Tijuana that arrived the exact same day as me. All are from the US.
3. I believe there were 67 missionaries on my flight.
4. In my departure 360, I want to put in there somewhere my first name is elder now. It's kind of weird though. It's like the church has run out of first names. All the male missionaries have the same first name!
5. I met someone by the name of Elder Elder. It was pretty great.
6. Dad, I'm punning in Spanish. The Latino missionaries got it and thought it was really funny. Spanish isn't quite Korean though. :)

In one of the first meetings, the counselor to the MTC president said that language is not a barrier. It's a tool if you have it, but if you don't, it's not a barrier. Charity does its own work. I thought you might like to hear that. They also told me that my family will never be more blessed than when I'm on my mission.

Elder Brown and Elder Kelson
Mexico City MTC - Companions

Now for the relatively cohesive thought process. Elder Kelson is my companion. He was in Chance's ward. All the Elders in my district are going to serve in Tijuana Mexico. Trevor is in my District too. Tell Chance Elder Kelson and I are companions.

Elder Kelson is amazing. He has a way with people. He connects to them well. He gave me a blessing and it was an amazing blessing. I love my companion. I wish I could explain everything that he helps me with, but it's very difficult to say. He is very different from me, but when we work together, everything works very, very well. Him and I are polar opposites, but somehow we manage to complement each other. He is still homesick, and I feel bad for him. He is having a really hard time with the homesickness, the language, and the scriptures. I feel particularly bad for him because I haven't felt homesick at all, the language is coming easily, and I know the scriptures inside and out. In the time it takes anyone else to memorize Moroni 10:5, I memorize Moroni 10:5 and three other scriptures. The language is really coming.

Funny Story: The first morning here, Elder Kelson and I had our alarm clock set to Utah time. When we woke up at 6:30, we woke up just before breakfast. That was embarrassing. :)

We have taught somewhere between 4 and 7 lessons in Spanish, but I lost track after 2, so I don't know how many we've taught. They have been really fun though. Our lessons were ok, becuase I could speak Spanish very well, but Elder Kelson couldn't speak much. Then I decided to let Elder Kelson teach more EVEN THOUGH his grammar was nonexistent and his vocabulary base minimal. That lesson was amazing. He was difficult to understand, but it was a powerful example to me that the language is much less a barrier than we make it out to be.

Honestly, the CCM has been anticlimactic. It's all really easy. The only two hard parts have been 1. that it isn't hard for me and it is for everyone else, and 2. that I've only been getting 5 hours of sleep. I used to lay in bed for 2 hours before I would fall asleep and then wake up 4-5 times each night. It wasn't very hard on my physical or mental health, but my emotional and spiritual well-being suffered greatly. I got some melatonin and it has been helping me get to sleep so I can get closer to 7:30 of sleep. The food is great. I love it, and I've been totally fine. No sickness at all...ONLY sleep problems.

Food - We like it!

The Spanish, I'm loving it. Loving it. The first day I sat down next to some latino missionaries and talked to them in Spanish. They love me. I love talking to them. I help them with their English and they help me with my Spanish. I can understand Spanish well. I can speak it grammatically correct when I think about it. They said that they think my Spanish is the best in the CCM. They said that I am the only one that practices whenever I can, and that they think I can be fluent before I leave.

It's been really hard hearing everyone talk about how homesick they are or how hard this is. This CCM stay has all been easier than my life at home. I studied more at home than I do here, simply because of time. Everything about home was more demanding of me than the CCM is. They talk about how much more it is for them while I think about how much of a break it is from my pre-mission life. They talk about how the first CCM day was the longest week of their life, and I remember how fun and fast it seemed. For that reason and the fact that I don't keep track of days anyway, I don't know how long I've been here.

Dad, I want your help. I haven't had many spiritual experiences here. Other people receive a lot of revelation frequently. They say that if I have a pen clicked and ready to write then I will receive revelation. It simply doesn't come for me. Maybe it's because my well-being is low and when I am fully rested in a couple of days, I will feel the Spirit, but the CCM is less spiritual than home was. I pray for inspiration and try to think about what I can do to improve and I get nothing. Do you and Mom have any suggestions?

With much love,
Elder Brown