week 7: learning to do laundry

my first day in Veracruz with President Palmer, his wife, and Elder Arroyo

Tuesday-We got up and took Elder Arroyo's old companion to the mission offices, and we went back to the house and I unpacked. We had some study time and then left to teach a lesson to a lady named Ivonne. We went to her house and found out she wasn't home so we contacted in the neighborhood for a bit. We found a guy named Miguel who we visited again later in the week, and we also found a lady named Irma. She has three dogs, and Elder Arroyo and I helped walked her dogs and Elder Arroyo taught her while we walked. We got back and she invited us in to wash our hands. On the way out I saw she had the picture of Christ visiting the Americas and we asked about it. That was pretty cool. I also found out that we almost always eat lunch with members, and because it's the main meal we don't really cook on our own.

Wednesday-We taught a few lessons, one with Miguel that went really well, and another with this guy named Manuel. Manuel is super cool, but it's sad because he lost one of his legs. We invited both of them to church, and to be baptized.

Thursday-Not to much happened there was a lot of contacting and another lesson with Manuel that went well. We also me with a few less actives.

Friday-We didn't do anything different, there was a lot of sun and I forgot sunscreen, but it wasn't too bad. I've been getting used to the heat and I'm literally always sweating.

Saturday-We had a few more lessons, and had to walk really far for our lunch appointment. Then we did some contacting, but we couldn't find anyone.

Sunday-We went to Miguel's house to pick him up for church at nine, church is at ten, but he didn't answer. We went back to the church and waited for the ward mission leader so we could go pick up Manuel. Manuel was ready to go and he enjoyed church. The ward has a lot of people, like 150-200, and it was super awesome. After church we ate with a family, and then we visited a few people. 

I'm done with my first week and it's crazy how much I've learned. I'm really excited to be here, and it's crazy how different it is here. I'm washing my laundry by hand right now, and the house is super hot, except in the bedroom cause we have a swamp cooler. 

--Elder Thompson

Bits and pieces from family phone calls:

Our casa is in a gated community where every house is exactly the same. 

We have only cold water, but with the humidity, you never need a hot shower!

We have a concrete wash basin system in the backyard for doing laundry...so yeah, washing my clothes by hand and hanging them to dry takes so long.

We were teaching an hermana last week and she suddenly had us go hide behind her house. Because my Spanish isn't great, I had no idea why. My comp explained later that the Jehovah's Witness missionaries had pulled up in front of her house and she didn't want them to see us there....so funny! I was so confused!

We really only eat lunch here and the members made really good food.

We did go shopping and bought bread, peanut butter, yogurt, and nutella....that will cover breakfast/dinner for the week. They feed us so much at lunch, we just aren't hungry later.

We walk A LOT. We take a bus from our casa to the area in Veracruz where we knock doors and street contact. It's hot and tiring, but the people we talk to are kind. Manuel spends most of his time in the park. We are hoping he continues to progress and keeps coming to church.

one more cartoon doppleganger from the laundry in the CCM

Elder Caleb Miller from AF...so good to see someone from home!

Elder Arroyo and the rest the trainers/greenies

art in Mexico is just wow.

week 6: hello/goodbye

  So it's been a crazy week so far. Saturday was pretty sad we had to say goodbye to our teachers. We were Hermana Resendiz's first district, so she was pretty sad. Then Sunday was really sad when I had to say goodbye to my district. We all got really close during the CCM because we saw each other all the time. Then during church we sang a musical number and all bore our testimonies. 

    Monday morning me and Elder Miskho woke up at about 12:30 and went to reception. We got to the airport at 2:30 and checked in our bags. Then I saw a Krispy Kremes in the airport and went and got 2 donuts which were amazing. We started boarding the plane at 5:30 and left at about 6:45. We got into Veracruz around 7:15 or 7:25, and the humidity hit like a freight train. That was fun. 

    We went to the mission president's house and had breakfast which was picadas, chicken and beans. Picadas are like mini spicy pizza things and they are good. I met my companion, Elder Arroyo, and he's awesome. Then I went to Zone Meetings which we have every week because we all live close. I got to go, but I'll talk to you all next Monday.

--Elder Thompson

bits and pieces from family phone calls:
I was so tired Monday night, I didn't even bother putting sheets on the bed.
My companion is from a place just south of Mexico city, so we are speaking a lot of Spanish.
We did some knocking Tuesday, and met a woman who had 3 dogs. We offered to take her dogs for a walk. When we came back, she invited us in and we noticed a pass along card with a picture of Christ on her fridge. We asked her about it, and she didn't remember where she had gotten the card...she had never met with the missionaries. We made a return appointment with her!

looking a little dazed after being up since midnight!

all the greenies

My trainer: Elder Arroyo

week 5: shipping out

Well, I got through the CCM, and I'm shipping out Monday at 2:00 in the morning. It's crazy because it feels like I just got here. Here's a quick summary of the week.

Saturday: Elder Miskho thought it would be funny to set an alarm for 3:30 in the morning. That was funny in hindsight, but in the moment it sucked.

Sunday: Elder Miskho was at it again, but this time he set three alarms for 1:30, 2:30, and 3:30. By the third alarm I was so tired I didn't even wake up. Then we said goodbye to another district in our branch. We also watched a video on the building of the Salt Lake Temple. 

Monday: Elder Miskho was too tired to set more alarms, so I got a full night's rest. We also were walking back to the casa when we saw some Elders picking avocados from a tree. The only problem was that the avocados were about 20 feet off the ground, their solution was to tape a bunch of sticks together and put a coat hanger on the top. Surprisingly it worked. 

Tuesday: So everyday in our classes we have this bug spray we have to put on, and my district has gotten into the habit of hiding it from Hermana Resendiz, and we took it to new heights today, figuratively and literally. We got a shoelace and tied it to a cord hanging from the ceiling. 

Wednesday: We had TRC in the morning, and it was cool. Me and Elder Cox were able to teach to the whole plan of salvation twice to the members that came. 

Thursday: It was my birthday and I turned 19. That was fun. I got to call my family and talk with them for a bit. We also had a service project in the kitchen. My companion and I were helping a guy named Estaban, and he had us open a bag of sugar and pour it into a container. After we did that he told us we could go back to our casa and take a nap, but we instead went and played volleyball. It was fun. 

A quote I found by C. S. Lewis that I really love is  “It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship. … There are no ordinary people. … Your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses”.

Everyone is a child of God with infinite potential. We must try to see people as God does. Everyone has worth, and I know it is our job to try bring everyone to Christ.

I'll talk to you all next week,

--Elder Thompson

week 4: breathing=sweating

  Yesterday I hit my one month mark and it's crazy how fast it's gone by. Looking back I can see how much I've grown and learned while I've been at the CCM. This week has been real good. This last Sunday we watched an old MTC devotional by Elder Holland called "Feed my Sheep". It was amazing and I learned a ton. It focused a lot on learning the gospel and becoming converted before we convert others. I loved it. This Sunday I also had to teach a lesson in priesthood with Elder Cox. That went really well. It was on service and we were able to teach it in English. We also said good bye to this one Elder, Elder Jimenez we've gotten to know. He's from the Dominican Republic, and he's so much fun. We'd always say hi to him in the comedor (lunchroom), and played volleyball with him a few times.

    Tuesday night we had a devotional by the Mexico City Temple President, President Johnson, and his wife. It was really awesome, and President Johnson used to be the President of the Veracruz mission. His wife said in her talk that she learned in Veracruz, it's so humid you just have to breathe to start sweating. They spoke on faith and I really enjoyed it.

    Wednesday we had Skype appointments with members. Elder Cox and I prepared a lesson for this lady named Diana. When Hermana Resendiz got to class in the afternoon and was asking each of us who we were teaching, me and Elder Cox said Diana. Hermana Resendiz said "Oof" and told us she couldn't do it anymore and we had to change a lesson for a new person named Marta. When we called Marta, we heard a weird echo through the headphones and had a lot of trouble understanding her. She also was driving a car when we called so rather than tell her our message, we had to yell it at her through the mics so she could hear. It was pretty funny when we asked if we could say a prayer and she said yes, but she couldn't close her eyes because she was driving.

    This morning I was supposed to go to migration, they told me I was going last night. This morning I went and checked in and they told me I wasn't going so now I hope I go next week. If not, they'll figure out that stuff when I'm in the field. 

Have a good week.

-Elder Thompson

week 3: temple day

the Mexico City temple is amazing!

This week was pretty busy. It's been a lot of the same stuff in our classes, and it can be a little tough to keep up. Sunday Elder Bailey wasn't feeling good and I got to help give him a blessing. We also had a member of the quorum of the seventy come speak to us with his wife. Then in the cafeteria we found a sign with a cartoon missionary that looks just like me (picture below). 

This week we also had TRC, which is when volunteers come in and we talk with them, but only in Spanish. Me and Elder Cox were in one of the rooms waiting for someone to come in, when a 14 year old girl walks in. It threw me off. Me and Elder Cox were expecting an adult. It was pretty hard to figure out what to say. We found out her name was Kokob, she liked music, and she wanted to serve a mission when she was older. The second kid we talked to was Rodriguez, and he was pretty bored. We ended up playing a Spanish version of hot potato with him for a few minutes with a piece of paper. 

Then today we went to the temple. It was awesome. The Mexico City Temple is the biggest outside of America, and is one of the only temples where the Angel Moroni is holding the gold plates. It was really cool and when we went to the visitor center after, we saw Kokob and Rodriguez. We played papa caliente again before we left and it was so much fun. There was a lot of sitting in classrooms again, but I'm halfway through the MTC which is pretty exciting. Until next week. 

--Elder Thompson 

bits and pieces from family emails/phone calls:
I felt the spirit really strong this week in priesthood quorum. Our branch president is a spiritual giant, and he shared a story from when he would escort apostles around Mexico.
When I leave the CCM, I'm most looking forward to being done sitting in a classroom most of the day.

it's my twin!!

it doesn't rain here, it dumps

bugs here are huge

attending the temple was definitely the highlight of my week

week 2: english fast or no?

beautiful morning sky

This week has been really busy. We have had class every day and been learning a ton. Things have been going really well. Tuesday we had a devotional and the speaker was the director of all the MTC's in the world. He spoke a lot on how the gospel changes people and showed us pictures of people before and after their conversions or missions. The difference was astounding. We also tried to have an English fast on Tuesday, from breakfast to dinner, and it fell apart quickly after a few hours. We started strong, and the rule was you had to do ten push ups for every word in English, but we all stopped caring and spoke English. 

    There has been a lot of rain and Wednesday night it was raining a ton. We were throwing a ball around the classroom when Elder Cox threw it out the window. Since I'm his companion, I had to go outside with him to get it, and as soon as he stepped outside he went down hard. I was dying. Today I was supposed to go to migration with the other Elders staying in Mexico, but most of our paperwork didn't go through. Elder Cox's did, so he left and I'm with the other two elders in my room. It's been really busy and a lot of the same stuff this week, but I can see that I'm improving a ton. I hope everything is going great for all of you guys, have a great week.

-Elder Thompson

random bird picture so my mom wouldn't complain about only getting one picture!

week 1: solo for a day

Elder Cox and I at the CCM

Week 1 

     A lot happened this week. I got here Tuesday night and got settled into my room. My roommate was Elder Stevenson from Cedar Hills. He graduated from Lone Peak this year. We had a devotional on Joseph Smith and we watched the Joseph Smith Movie. My companion, Elder Rigby, still hadn't arrived when we went to bed. The next morning Elder Stevenson's companion arrived. After breakfast I found out that my companion didn't get his Visa in time and so he was transferred to the Provo MTC. I got put with Elder Cox because he had the same thing happen with his companion. He is from Sacramento and going to Oaxaca. So Wednesday, I got to move rooms after unpacking my stuff which was fun. 

      Wednesday night my companion got assigned to be district leader. My new two roommates are Elder Miskho and Elder Bailey. Elder Bailey is from Indiana and is going to a mission in Mexico north of Mexico City. Elder Miskho is from Arizona and going to Veracruz too. I also found out the shower flooded in my new room, so needless to say, we took very fast showers! But we got it fixed so all good now. The other Elder's in my District are Elder Stevenson and Elder Heiner, my old roommates, and the Hermanas in my District are Hermana Noel, Hermana Parker, Hermana Brough, and Hermana Johnson. 

     I have a two different teachers, Hermano Munguia and Hermana Resendiz. Hermano Munguia went to another part Mexico for his mission and is super awesome. He's a really great teacher. My other teacher, Hermana Resendiz, went to Uruguay. She doesn't speak much English so it really pushes us all to learn. 

     I've been really busy with class and I've been learning a ton. I miss all of you, and I hope you're all doing well.

List of Cool/Funny things

1. Hermano Munguia got hit by car while riding his skateboard and still came to class the next day.

2. There are a ton of fireworks that go off here and at first we thought they were gun shots.

3. We heard actual gunshots Saturday night.

4. On the fourth of July we sang "The Star-Spangled Banner "and "America, the Beautiful" before class.

5. We saw a bird fly into a building and when we tried to scare it out, it flew into a classroom and we left it there.

-Elder Thompson

Bits and pieces from family phone call:

I'm now in district 14E.

I saw Hermana Hopkins from my home ward. She gave me a bag of popcorn which was so nice. The other elders commented that popcorn is hard to get and is kind of like a drug at the CCM, so they have now seen their first drug deal.

I'll be here 6 weeks, so my departing date to Veracruz is August 5th.

My district

my view from the CCM

my house

cement walls and barbed wire fences, along with armed guards...

definitely feeling safe!