Week 4 - November 6, 2013

This week was awesome, once again.

Thursday- Today is Halloween. It doesn't even feel like it though. I received a couple care packages and that is the only reason I remembered that it was Halloween. We taught our investigator Marysol today. We really dug in deep into the lesson and tried to apply it to her life. It went really well. Elder Baggett finally felt better today. Elder Johnson, our Zone Leader, had to go to the doctor because he was having trouble getting rid of waste... We also had fun with some pescados (fish) today. Elder Brown knows a girl that works in the cafeteria and she brought us 7 live goldfish at our request. We let 3 go in the pond here and raced them down the water falls. It was hilarious. We also met the 6 new hermanas in our zone. They are all super nice and they are Intermediate Spanish speakers so they are already pretty far ahead.

Friday- Today is the month I have been waiting for my whole life. The month I leave for the mission field. November 2013. We taught a returned Missionary from Argentina and he spoke super fast and mumbled. I have never been able to not understand someone since we first got here. Elder Sanderson and Elder Brown had a towel whipping fight after Elder Sanderson got out of the shower. It was hilarious. I also got the nicest compliment ever today. We had a substitute teacher and he asked me, after our lesson together, if my companion and I were intermediate level speakers. Sadly, we aren't but it was a nice compliment!

Saturday- Nothing too exciting today. I decided to put tabs in all my scriptures according to scriptures in PMG. I have colorful scriptures now. They look sweet and they are really helpful. Tomorrow is fast Sunday. That is going to be rough. We also had one of our fish jump into our kitchen sink today but Elder Bagget saved it. We also dug into the story about David, Bathsheba, and Uriah. I never realized how good of a man Uriah was.

Sunday- Today was awesome. I finished another chapter of the tabs in the bible. Brother Williams from our branch presidency interrupted my study by asking who my companion was. I told him it was Elder Baggett and he asked to speak with us. I was somewhat nervous until he invited us to serve as the new Zone Leaders. That essentially means that I will be in charge of the 39 missionaries in our zone. I am super excited about the opportunity. We visit the Elders every night and it will be hard to fill in the shoes that were left by the last Zone Leaders. I also shared my testimony at church. Apparently it was pretty good because I got a bunch of both Sisters and Elders to cry. I had many people tell me how awesome it was after the meeting. Now I get teased by the other elders in my district on how I make girls cry. It snowed today too. Didn't stick or anything but snow is snow and I am a summer kind of guy.

Monday- Today was the first official day of being a ZL. We made our rounds to each room and talked with all the Elders. It is cool to think that I am the example for them. It snowed again today. I finished doing the tabs in the Bible and Book of Mormon and it looks awesome. The other Elders in my district, during our lesson, told us about a firsthand experience of mother nature with a couple birds and for some reason they decided to tell us and our teacher. We taught Marysol today and we had an awesome lesson. I feel like I have the spirit with me so much more now and it is so cool to recognize that and see how it affects our lessons and our lives.

Tuesday- Today was another cold day with a high of 38 degrees. We had an awesome testimony meeting with just the Elders in our district. After that, I studied and dug deep into my patriarchal blessing and the scriptures that it refers me to. It was cool to see how Heavenly Father has a plan specifically for me and my life and how he will bless me according to my obedience. We had a devotional tonight too. It was by the Zwincks. He serves in the first Quorum of the 70. Elder Baggett and I literally had the best seats in the house available for the missionaries. We had front row and middle. We were literally 12 feet away from the speakers. We had an awesome lesson with our investigator Mario today. I felt like I was speaking so fluidly and that it was just coming to me. Brother Mead, after the lesson told us that he literally didn't have anything to say to us. He said that was the best lesson that he has seen from Beginner Spanish speakers at the MTC. That was quite a compliment. He is an awesome teacher.

I am looking forward to receiving my travel plans down to Uruguay this week. Hopefully by Friday they will be here. I finally got my camera to work so I can send more pictures!

Week Three - Halfway Done with the Mission Training Center

This week FLEW by and I feel like I am oddly comfortable teaching in Spanish now! Wednesday- Today we woke up to do laundry at 5:45. After we did our cleaning and laundry, the other Elders and I in my apartment all crashed the couch. We have two couches that seat three people. All four of us fell asleep on them for about two hours. We woke up and went to the temple. On the way out, we met this lady that was from Bolivia. She started talking to us in Spanish. Come to find out, she only spoke Spanish and she had a question. Through broken Spanish, I told her that I could help her to the best of my ability. She told us that she had an international call card and she couldn't figure out how to use it because it was all in English. So we translated the important information on the call card into Spanish and then told her how to use it and what buttons to press on her phone. I had to explain it twice because she didn't understand my three week experience of Spanish. I am actually really happy that took Spanish in high school because just knowing how to conjugate verbs really helps. That was an amazing experience. Thursday- Last night, we pulled all of our mattresses into the family room and had an apartment sleepover. We ended up talking for about an hour before we went to bed. Another weird thing that missionaries do to have some fun. We taught our investigator Marisol and the lesson went pretty well, although we should have applied it more to her and her life. Friday- Today was the first time that we went to the TRC. The TRC is an opportunity that we have to teach members just a short 25 minute lesson. The people that come are all volunteers and they all speak our language that we are learning. Our first lesson was with a couple that were about 80 years old. They were very kind. He served his mission in Guatemala and she didn't speak Spanish so we would have to teach the brother and he would explain to his wife what we were teaching. We had an awesome experience with them and they were very helpful with grammar. Besides that we had a pretty calm day. I was a ball of energy at gym. All the Elders in my district think I am crazy because I have so much energy. I think they are right. Elder Baggett, my companion, got his ten points today. We are the first two to receive all ten points and we are a companionship... Not to say that we are the best or anything. Elder Baggett and I do work really well together. We split the lessons very well and we are both well experienced with Spanish. I feel very blessed. I also counted how many times I prayed today. Final result: 25 times in one day. That is pretty insane but that just ensures that I always have the Spirit with me and that I keep in touch with my Father in Heaven so he can help me. Saturday- Today we taught a new investigator, Marco. We had a really really good lesson but his feedback was really good for us after the lesson. We were the last companionship to teach and he said we were the only ones that really included him and taught according to his needs. I also got chewed out by our building supervisor because I was laying on the table before class started, reciting the first vision in Spanish. The funny part of the story is that he was chewing me out in Spanish. He was talking so fast and I couldn't even understand him. It was actually pretty funny. He came and apologized later and told me he was having a rough day and I guess I was the lucky one that got to hear about it and get his anger out on. Sunday- Today was pretty normal We went to Priesthood meeting, where I got to play the piano. It was pretty cool but I was super nervous. In sacrament meeting, Elder Baggett, Elder Orme, Elder Naea, and I had the opportunity of doing the musical number. Elder Baggett played the piano while the other three of us sang 'I stand all amazed.' The first verse was with the piano and then the third verse was acapella. I felt like the weak link in the group because Elder Naea and Orme are both really involved with choir but a lot of people told me that I did really well. I sang the melody, Elder Naea sang harmony to me and Elder Orme sang bass. It was awesome. Sister Cannon said over the pulpit during her talk, "we have had some good and bad musical numbers from Elders but that was absolutely stellar." After church, we went back to the apartment and took a nap, which was AMAZING. Monday- Elder Baggett didn't feel very good today. We spent the first couple hours in the apartment after going to the nurse so Elder Baggett could sleep longer. Meanwhile, I decided to clean and rearrange some furniture in the apartment. He felt a little bit better after his nap so the rest of the day was our normal routine. We also played a prank on the Elders from our district in the other apartment. We stuck and alarm clock in their vent and set it for 3:30. Tuesday- I usually have a day every now and then that REALLY helps me build my testimony of this gospel. Today was one of those days. One of the Elders was having trouble and he heard news that he will have to join us in Uruguay in about four months from now. We had an amazing bonding time. We started by going around and all saying something nice about this specific Elder. He returned the favor for each of us. He also asked us to give him a blessing. It was amazing to see all these men that are 18-21 years old that have only known each other for three weeks all participate in this blessing. The spirit was so strong during the blessing and every single person in the room shed tears. Some of the Elders even mentioned how they didn't cry when their parents dropped them off at the MTC but how crazy it was that they were crying so hard when we had only known each other for less than three weeks. We sang 'God be with you til we meet again' just before bed. I don't know why we sing that song because it is so sad and it always ends up making people cry. We also had very fine success with the alarm prank. They woke up at 3:30 and had to find and unscrew the vent that had the alarm clock in it. That was pretty funny. We also had an amazing lesson with our investigator Mario! That is about all for this week! I am missing Texas and especially warm weather right now. I really miss football too... It's hard to study for 10-12 hours a day on Saturday when you know so many good games are on and see BYU fans walking up to the stadium for the game. I know what I am doing is the right thing though and I know that it will end up being what matters most. "Successful people are not happy, happy people are successful." I heard that quote and I loved it. I thought I would share it. All is well! Halfway done with my experience at the MTC!

Week Two

Wednesday-We woke up at 5:30 so we could get our laundry done super quick. We went to the Provo temple and did an endowment session. It is cool to see all these temples! The Provo temple is huge and it has a lot of floors. We got lost a couple times. After the temple, we went to Brigham's Landing and ate a burger! It was so good! Fry sauce is the best. Texas is definitely missing out. After our burger, we had a class. What hit me most was how much Jesus Christ truly loves us. Our parents love us more than anyone in the world but Jesus loves us MORE than that. Mind blown. Jesus loves hearing from us and he is so proud of the 80,000 something missionaries out in the world that are serving him 24/7 and progressing the work he started about 2,000 years ago. Thursday- Today was awesome. We had service at 5:45 but with my morning person attitude, it was actually really fun. We just went around to the building and replaced toilet paper, cleaned toilets, and cleaned all the door knobs. Gym time is the best 45 minutes ever. It was really cold but four square never fails to get my blood pumping. We taught our last lesson to our investigator to Francisco because we "baptized" him. We asked for a picture with him since we wouldn't see him again. He told us that we didn't need a pictures because we would see him tomorrow. Long story short, he is now our teacher. Francisco's real name is Hermano Brad Mead. I also got a couple letters and a package today. They never fail to brighten my day. When we went back to the apartment at 10, the whole district was in my apartment. We had someone knock on the door. Thinking it was our zone leaders coming for their usual goodnight hugs, I yelled, "NO ONE IS HOME" just to mess with them. Then Elder Brown looked through the peep hole and saw one of the members of the Branch Presidency standing outside. Luckily, he was really cool about it and he didn't know it was me. Friday- Today flew by. We basically studied all day. We had classes with Hermana Steward and Hermano Mead. They are both so amazing. They will be our new investigators starting Monday. Saturday- Today we had a lot of moments that helped us bond with the Elders in our district. I also got my tenth punto (point) in Hermana Stewards class today. I set a new record for the fastest time to get all ten points. Being who I am, I had to break at least one record at the MTC. We get puntos for being able to answer certain questions, or calling her out on mistakes in her grammar or something along those lines. As a reward, we get to pick out a dessert or something. I chose ice cream sundaes with CAFFEINATED Dr. Pepper. These people in Utah don't believe in caffeine and it drives me crazy. They don't know what's good for them (to an extent). Sunday- Today started off bad because I didn't feel very good. I didn't have to talk today in sacrament meeting so that was a plus. After sacrament meeting, Elder Baggett, Orme, Naea and I went to go find a piano in the church. We started singing some hymns and after two hours of singing, we decided we are going to try out to sing in the devotionals in front of the whole MTC. We also joined the choir that sings in all the devotionals. Monday- Today was really good. We taught our new investigator, Marisol. The lesson went really well. We didn't go in with any notes and we sure benefited from that. We taught her the first lesson (which is really impressive for a week and a half in) and she really liked the message. I felt like we needed to relate it more to her though. The person that observed our lesson was really impressed with my Spanish as well as Elder Baggett's Spanish. Tuesday- Today was the best day here yet. We had early morning study and then early gym time. We taught a new investigator named Mario. Again, we went in with absolutely nothing but our Santa Biblia and our Libro de Mormon. We had another amazing experience and we were able to teach Mario about how God loves us and about families for 30 minutes. It was amazing. We really connected with him. I also memorized Joseph Smith's account of the first vision en Espanol. It is ridiculously powerful. We also had an evening devotional. Elder Robbins from the Seventy spoke. He had a lot of cool stories about how Heavenly Father will help missionaries find people and help them come closer to Jesus Christ. My favorite quote was "Success is going from failure to failure without losing any enthusiasm." This is so true especially in missionary work. We also had a district leave to their mission today so they had a testimony meeting. It was super powerful. They are headed to serve in Argentina. They also changed the dress code here to "winter dress" which essentially means we have to wear a suit coat everywhere we go. Lucky for all the missionaries serving in South America, we only have one suit and two matching pair of slacks. So that night, I packed up the rest of my slacks because I can't wear anything but my suit! I sure hope it holds up for a while! THATS MY WEEK! It seemed like time flew by this week! I am having a great time and I feel like I can talk very well in Spanish. It is so cool how much Heavenly Father blesses his missionaries.

Week One/ October 16, 2013 - Mission Training Center

The MTC (CCM en Espanol) is amazing. I absolutely love it. Such a strong spirit and no temptations. There is no other place I would rather be right now. I am so grateful I can serve the Lord literally 24/7. Elder Baggett is my companion. He is so much like me it is scary. He is very organized, can play the piano, wrestles, and is the oldest of 6 children. He lives in Reno Nevada. We have 8 Elders in my district and 0 Hermanas. I love my district. They are all stellar men. Elder Sanderson and Brown are companions and they are the two I knew before I left because of that website. They are super cool and they are our apartment-mates haha. They are both from Utah. Elder Naea (Naya) and elder Orme (Orm) are companions too. Elder Naea is originally from Samoa and he lives in SLC. Elder Orme is a military child and has grown up on a base in North Dakota. Elder Woodcock(who I met on the plane) and Elder Thacker are companions too. Elder Woodcock is our district leader. He is 21 as well as Elder Naea. The rest of us Elders are 18. Elder Sanderson is 19 but he had his birthday on saturday. We have so much fun together as a district. We do everything together even when we don't have to. We are already so unified. Elder Baggett- Reno Nevada Elder Sanderson- Saratoga Springs Utah Elder Brown- Somewhere else in Utah Elder Naea- SLC Utah Elder Orme- North Dakota Air Force Base Elder Thacker- Somewhere in Idaho. Elder Woodcock- Bentonville Arkansas. Proud home of Wal Mart. These are just a couple highlights of each day from my journal entries. Wed. -The strongest spiritual experience I had today was singing Called to Serve and Army of Helaman with all the incoming Elders y Hermanas. I had a blister today and I can't wait to see how many more I get. Thurs.- I heard the weeks are slow but the weeks are fast. I can definitely attest that the days are slow. We studied for 12 hours today. It was killer. Elder Woodcock is a new convert and he has such great insight to the gospel. I slept like a rock last night because I was exhausted. Friday- We taught an investigator (Francisco) for the first time today. It was a train wreck. Spanish is really difficult. We all fastest today and of course the next breakfast is my personal favorite, biscuits and gravy. We had a speaker that served in Uruguay, Hermano Harris. He said the people are super nice and it is so awesome. The weather is getting really cold and there is usually a slight drizzle that makes me and Elder Woodcock (from Arkansas) tremble. Elder Woodcock and I mess with all the other Elders and say y'all way too much and talk like we are truly from the South. It is pretty funny. i think everything is funny to us because we are always really tired. The funniest thing today was when our investigator asked us, Como Estan Mormones? and Elder Brown responded with, Si Si Si! We also have a fun time trying to sneak spoons in eachothers pockets. It is sad how much fun we have with such stupid stuff but it makes the days go by faster. Saturday- Our next lesson with Francisco went much better. We both were able to testify after without any notes and that was pretty impressive. Someone broke the news about the OU and Texas game because I wore a OU shirt to gym. No one here really understands the religion that is football down in the south. Today went by much faster and I really hope this pattern continues. Sunday- Today was so great. Nice and relaxing. We only studied for 6 hours today and that was quite a break. Elder Baggett and I went into a room and found a piano after sacrament meeting and we just played for literally an hour and a half while we had personal time. I started reading Jesus the Christ and it has such great insight about his life and it is so in depth. We met all the hermanas serving in Uruguay today. They are all super nice. Monday- Today seemed to go much faster than the others. I am so grateful for that. The days are SO long. The food today wasn't very good but after dinner, I got a package from grandma Hickey so that made my day 100X better. Our lesson with Francisco didn't go as well so we are determined to do better tomorrow. Today was just awesome. We had a ton of fun. We play four square (we call it man square) during gym today. We call it man square because it gets super intense. We have also played soccer and volleyball. That is the best hour of the day. I want to just run until I throw up because I am so sick of sitting in a chair for 10-12 hours a day. Tuesday- Today was great too. It started off rough when one of the Elders told us he needed to talk to someone. After that we taught Francisco. We had a great lesson and the spirit was so strong. It is hard to think of all the words in Spanish so we have to go around it a lot of the times. We had the opportunity to listen to Elder Dallin H. Oaks at a devotional. He is such a powerful speaker. This is my favorite thing he said. "I solemly affirm my testimony of our savior Jesus Christ that you have been called to proclaim these truths to all the world. This is the most important message in all of our mortal lives." I thought that was so awesome. We have such a great district. I really love it here. There is no other place I would rather be. I love teaching the gospel and learning spanish. I love and miss you guys! Les amo! Elder Cordy