Third Week

Here's Collin's letter home for this week.

Hola Familia!

Este Semana pasado ha sido muy rapido! (This past week has been very fast!)

 I will answer Mom´s questions first.

We get to go to the temple every other P-day, so I went again for the second time today, and will go one more time!

And they are still playing the old movie here, but it is still pretty cool because I´m busy trying to understand everything. Today I understood most of it too! We do not get to leave the campus besides for the temple, and if we get super sick. And it makes sense why, when we drive out through Mexico City to go to the temple, it is just insane.

I thought I had seen some crazy intersections in the US, but here they just slap down a road wherever they feel like it! The drivers are equally nuts, but there are hardly ever accidents apparently because the people are so good at driving defensively. They are used to people driving in the oncoming lane to pass in heavy traffic, so they just move to the side. At every intersection where you stop, people will run to every car and try to sell bananas or chips or whatever, and some guy will go in the cross walk and juggle fruit or bowling pins or fire or something just for the heck of it. I don't know if they actually make any money doing that. 

I have not seen my blog, I have an hour each week to email, and I don't think I´m allowed to go to any other sites anyways. I´ve heard that it seems like I am the one updating it though, which obviously I´m not. So you could make that a little more clear, but other than that I don't really care too much. Yes, I am healthy. We get to go outside all the time between classes. We walk quite a ways every day just getting around. The weather is very much like Oregon-Sunny or cloudy and like 75 all day. Although we have had like 2 tiny earthquakes that I couldn't feel, and we have a pretty crazy thunderstorm about every other night. :)) I love it.

Well the weeks are all starting to blur together now, so I will try to remember what I have and haven´t already said. A funny story, a few days ago a worker was cleaning out our room and bathroom (yea I know, spoiled) and I started talking to him in Spanish, or at least trying to. He told me about his family and how he loved working at the CCM, among other things. He asked if we liked the food here. My buddy Elder Gerhart, who is in our room, really doesnt like the food here, except he usually likes the meat they serve. He said ¨Si! Me gusta el carne!¨ Yes, I like the meat! The worker, Francisco, replied, ¨Oh si! El carne de caballo!¨ (Oh Yes! It's Horse meat!)  Hahaha Elder Gerhart didn´t figure out what caballo was till later. :D

So I think I mentioned the Elder Holland talk we watched part of in Church last week, well we watched it again This last Sunday. And then, our teacher Hermana Rodriguez, came in Monday morning, and showed it to us again. I don´t think she knew that was the 3rd time we had seen it, but we knew we were watching it again for a reason. To spare you of all the details, Elder Holland mentioned that missionaries needed to remember the story of Peter after the Crucifixion of the Savior. The apostols all wondered what they were to do after Christ died, so they just went fishing again. They then experienced the miraculous catch, after casting on the right side of the boat. The resurrected Lord sat on the shore and asked Peter, do you love me more than these? Peter, after being asked and responding 3 times that he did indeed love the Savior, finally realized what his calling as an Apostol meant. Christ said, if you love me ¨then feed my sheep¨. Peter then became the rock of the church that he was meant to be. The message of this story was that we as missionaries, just as Peter, have been called of God to serve and ¨feed His Sheep¨. We, too, are to leave our nets, and our boats, and our fishes, and all of our old ways, and follow Him. When He asked ME to leave behind MY nets, and my fishes, and my worldy desires, to come and serve Him, He meant it to be forever. Elder Holland explains that we as missionaries are on the same mission as the Apostols today, we are on the Lord´s mission. It is not our mission. He said that we are ¨apostols with little "a´s¨, and we should remember that our call came from God. I love that comparison. I never likened that amazing story to myself.

We also had some great devotionals from Elder Christofferson and Elder Villalobos. I am out of time though!

I Love you all and hope all is well! I love being a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I know that the Gospel is true, and that it is literally for EVERY single person on earth, whether they know it or not. I love my Savior, and the way he provided, through His Gospel, for us to return to Him and live forever in happiness with our families.

Hasta proxima miercoles! (Until next Wednesday!)

Sincerely,

Elder Christensen