Your Holiday, Not Our Holiday!

Hi friends!

This is my first mission email, and wow. I'm here! I've spent 18 years wondering if I would go on a mission, and now I am on my first week! This week I was at home doing online MTC, and I will be in the Mexico MTC (the CCM) by the end of next week. That might also mean that my P-day will be on a different day next week. Anyways, I will try to keep you all updated as often as I can.

Sunday

I was set apart as a missionary today. I was able to have my immediate family members as well as some grandparents be with me as I became an official missionary.

Monday

First day of my mission! For some reason this day took two weeks to complete, and it was TERRIFYING. It is a big jump going from few responsibilities to many responsibilities, and I have no idea what's going on. 

I was able to meet my first companion - Elder Cushing - today. He is from Murray, Utah and will be going to El Salvador for his mission. I am very excited to get to know him and spend time with him for the first 6 weeks or so of my mission.

Not only did I meet my companion, but I also met my district! I am in district 13G, which is composed solely of Elders (no Hermanas to be seen), and a third of those Elders (including me) are going to the San Pedro Sula West, Honduras Mission. There are twelve of us total, and all of our teachers so far have commented about how we are their first district with 0 hermanas. (Hermana means sister by the way)

Tuesday - 4th of July

My first holiday on my mission! Luckily, this week is home MTC so I was able to celebrate a little bit with my family. 

I have a morning class and an afternoon class, and my morning class is mostly English class, being more focused on us learning Gospel topics and being in my district's native language so we understand better. Hermana Uribe is very nice and looks out for us.

We had a devotional in the evening, which was like the Mexico MTC saying, "The 4th of July is YOUR holiday, NOT OUR holiday." It sucked a bit to have to wait a little bit longer before seeing the fireworks, but the devotional was very nice to watch.

Today has definentally been the scariest day of my mission so far. It just hit me today that I will be leaving my family behind for two years, and I love them so much, I don't want to say goodbye! Luckily, I am able to look forward to meeting my MTC family and my Honduras family soon, so I won't be alone for very long.

Wednesday

On Tuesday we (my district) were told by Hermana Uribe that our meeting would start later than usual. We were not expecting to be waiting an hour and twenty minutes later than usual!😱 After over an hour waiting for her, we were sent to a substitute teacher, and were told that we were going to get a NEW morning teacher.

Even though it is only my third day, Elder Cushing and I took on a Helping Others activity. A Helping Others activity is a roleplaying activity where a volunteer pretends to be a non-member and we teach them a lesson. Our activity was in English over Zoom, and even though we are still novices, we chose to take on this task because once we are in the Mexico MTC we will only be doing Spanish ones.

I got shaved ice with my fam. Shaved ice has never tasted this good before.❤

In the afternoons I have a Spanish class, taught by Hermana Flores. She is very nice and has not left us yet. Learning Spanish with her is very fun and I've already learned so much from her. My parents told me that the first thing they learned to do in Spanish at the MTC was say a prayer, but I won't learn that until Friday. Even though we haven't been formally taught how to say a prayer in Spanish, we have each been trying our best to say prayers in Spanish to get a head start on our learning.

Thursday

New day, new teacher. We got our new morning class teacher: Hermano Salado. He is a very nice person and I love the way he teaches the Gospel, I find myself not wanting to leave his class because I find myself thinking more deeply about what I am learning. I'm not sure if that is because I am now a few days into my mission and am already better connected to the spirit, or if he is just a great teacher, but I love him anyway.

We don't know what happened to our previous morning teacher, so RIP Hermana Uribe 

My sister Katherine is just barely starting her first job at Summit Pizza, and my parents were kind enough to bring some home for me. I'm glad I'm home for the start of my mission because my sister may not be working at Summit Pizza by the time I get home, so I was able to get special pizza today.

Friday

First week of MTC is close to being over. I had my final online Spanish class today, the next Spanish class I will take next week, and in person at the Mexico MTC. Every day this week we have had workshop classes from 1pm-2pm, and today was no exception. These workshop classes are fun because I can see all 165 or so people who are going to the Mexico MTC with me next week. 

Today's workshop was to help us prepare for our trip to the MTC and our transition into being there. It was very helpful in making me feel confident about my flight.

One of the Elders in my group - Elder Hickman - was coerced into making a cheeky comment about mayonnaise during the serious workshop. He is now the Mayo Missionary.

There was an Elder in the workshop (but not in my district) that I recognized from my school. It's nice to know I'm not the only one representing Westlake High School.

Saturday

My first Preparation Day of my mission!  I've had to wake up early each day this week, and I am NOT a morning person, so I was hoping to sleep in today. But, I ended up waking up at 6:30 anyway, and I needed to get ready for my flight to Mexico City. There is so much to pack, I might not be finished packing until Monday, and my flight is on Tuesday! 

I ran some errands today, good practice for these next two years. I will be all good in Honduras if there is a Walmart there.

I had my favorite meal for dinner today (Mega Monster Meatballs (with spaghetti, of course))!

I was able to see my grandparents (and my dad's parents) today and make smores with them. It'll be two years before I can see them again, and their dog might not be around when I get back. I'll pray that I can see them and their dog again when I get back from my mission.

Scripture of the Week

Alma 8:15 - "Yea, I say unto you come and fear not, and lay aside every sin, which easily doth beset you, which doth bind you down to destruction, yea, come and go forth, and show unto your God that ye are willing to repent of your sins and enter into a covenant with him to keep his commandments, and witness it unto him this day by going into the waters of baptism."

Spanish word/phrase of the Week

El don de lenguas - The gift of tongues; I will definitely need this for the next two years.

Check out my photos! https://photos.app.goo.gl/g2QAHn4xdMnPx4JT8

Don't forget you can email me for any reason. I won't bite! mgrant@gmail.com

Also, if you know anyone who would like to receive emails from me. Please let me know about their name and email address!

Until next time!

 - Elder Grant