1 Week Down

Hey Guys!

I have been doing pretty good here. Leaving home was a big adventure. It was very hard to leave the family, because I have the best Loving Family Ever! I was so nervous of what was to come, I did not have anything on the plan. But when I got the the CCM (MTC) I wasn't nervous anymore. So we went to have dinner, and the food here is amazing! When I finally got to my house I was the only one there for a good 30 minutes. So more people got there and I was put in a trio. So it was Elder Linton, Elder Hansen and I. But then Elder Hatch moved in the next day (He flew down on the plane with us to the CCM, but they were expecting him in the Provo MTC haha) so we split and so it is me and Elder Linton.
The first real day was just a lot of meetings just going over the rules and how a missionary should be act and look. The second day we were just thrown right into the fire! We had to teach our first lesson. Haha. We had to do it all in Spanish, so we wrote our lesson down and all we did was just look down at our papers and tried to pronounce the words as best as we can. We were instructed to take 20 minutes and just try to have a conversations with them for 8 minutes, then teach for 8 minutes, and then invite them for 8 minutes. So we got in there and started asking questions and the first one Besner (the guy we were teaching) just went and said a long answer (at least to me) and it just went right past Elder Linton and I. So after we realized that we were terrible at Spanish all we did was say "Good!" and just went right into our lesson without asking anything else. We still took 20 minutes just to read our papers. So here we teach a lesson everyday so its interesting I'm slightly improving, but I still have 5 more weeks here to improve.
Having General Conference here was such a blessing. I loved every talk that was given, I have never really took notes during General Conference but during the whole 2 days I took a total of 18 pages of notes. I learned from every talk and it was so nice and comforting. It was funny when ever any of the general authorities said anything about Mexico you would just hear people gasp because we were in mexico! I normally just didn't react Haha.
I have meet a lot of cool people down here that are living with me under the same roof. Elder Linton and I have been hanging out with another companionship Elder Harmon from Utah and Elder Her from Sacramento California. They are so fun and we just laugh and have a good time, but when it comes down to it, we can really get down to business and feel the spirit. For some reason when ever Elder Her just says something it just makes everyone laugh! It´s just his personality and I know a lot of the times he doesn't try to make us laugh! It´s probably his accent he is Mong and is learning his 4th language. Mong, English, French, and now learning Spanish haha.

Spanish is still a struggle, I feel like comparing myself to others, but i stop myself and focus on just me learning it. I was really proud of myself yesterday cause I did not loose focus while the lesson was going on and I started to understand how the concept worked. I have found out what to do and what works for me as I learn Spanish and I hope it works out!

I can already tell a difference in my life! I´m excited for the experiences I will receive. I know this is what I am suppose to do and I Know I Can Do This. Brynn gave me a rock with the word GROW in it and she told me i would be doing a lot of that. And Yes i will be. I remember the first couple of nights being hard, and I would just hold that rock for comfort so that I could get some rest. I understand the concept of GROW because I had to do a lot of that before I was out here. I am grateful for that rock to be a constant reminder to me that it is okay to GROW. I´m thankful for my family, I love you guys, I thanks for all the letters you send me, Keep them coming! It really strengthens me and helps me get through the long days. Thanks for your Love and Support!

Elder Stabenow

Mexico City Temple

Elder Stabenow in front of the Mexico City Mission

With his District at the Temple

On a bus heading to the Temple Landon with his companion Elder Liston