Wk 3 - Esta bien!!

Mexico MTC
Companion: Elder Siggard

Elder Spencer Romney arrived June 25th at the Mexico MTC!

family!! i love you guys and was so happy to get a package from all of you!! gosh i was so happy to see familiar faces come to the mtc!! i will have hermana jones send you a picture of all 3 of us probably on sunday, i talked to her about that! at this point we give a lesson every day and we are teaching 2 different people! giving a lesson is probably my favorite part of the day because we learn so much as we teach as to what to expect when we teach out in the mission field!!

i love hearing from jenna and her mission!! reading her letters help me out a ton here!! i also love writing matt!! they both are huge helps to me! i also am emailing brody which is pretty cool!! sounds like he is doing good! i am proud of that kid! gosh it is a wonderful experience here. i feel like my testimony grows every day!! i love kidding the pictures of talias and austins family i love those kids! so you guys are headed to idaho right now? tell the rest of the fam up there hi!! all is well here!! its hard to tell you anything cool that has happened!! i think it is amazing how so many people can learn a language!! i have seen the lords help in my life and i love this gospel a ton!! i guess you dont realize how much he is in your life until you have to rely on him to help you out!! i have been given so much the least i can do is serve a mission for 2 years. i cant wait for all the cool experiences i will have down the road!! i love you family!!

Love,

Elder Smoot

Q & A:

Q: What is the date that you will leave to Chile? 

A: i leave the 15th

Q: Do you speak Spanish most of the time? or just in class? Are there alot of native Spanish-speaking missionaries? 

A: yeah kind of. we talk a lot in class and sometimes me and my companion will talk in mostly spanish and some english

Q: where are your MTC teachers from? American or Native? 

A: my mtc teachers are native and they can speak a little english but i know enough to talk to them. i am pretty good friends with all of them though

Q: have you met missionaries going to your mission? 

A: yeah there are a ton that i have met going to my mission. one kid is from af and graduated my year and flew on the plane with me. he is pretty cool and there are a bunch of others going to concepcion

Q: are those other Elders in your District taller than you?! Man! I bet you guys get alot of attention!? That's a powerful group! 

A: yeah one guy is 6 ft 7 and the other is a little taller than 6 ft 4 

Q: take pictures of your room! How many are in your room? The MTC looks like a beautiful place! 

A: just four and we all get along so its cool

Wk 2 - Another week down

Mexico MTC
Companion: Elder Siggard

yes i am happy
 just it was early in the morning today so i was kinda tired hahah!

This is your sons companion, Elder Siggard.  He wanted me to send you this picture of the super awesome rain storm we had a week or so ago-  the great thing about Mexico rain is its warm and only rains for a second which means then we can play in the water without the rain! haha 

Anyways, here ya go! Thanks for having such an awesome son!

Man it has been crazy!! it honestly is so good to see pics of everyone. i have only been gone 2 weeks and tayton is already wearing my shoes!;) i see how it is haha. just kidding they are pretty wrecked anyway. man the more i am out here the more i love it. the mtc is hard because you always have to be doing something. 

mom i just want you to know i appreciate you especially on a day like today when i have to do my own laundry. no i'm just messing. it isn't too bad hahah. i definitely do miss you though!! i feel like i am learning spanish better and better but definitely very slowly!! the hardest part about being on a mission is the language and being away from family.

i just want my family to know i love them a ton. i miss just being around you guys and i for right now i am realizing how important missionary work is and couldnt be any happier preparing in the mtc to share the gospel to those who are ready for it.

as elder siggard and i give lessons i am able to speak spanish better and i speak english less. we actually gave a lesson to a girl that was a real investigator and she didnt know a lick of english. it was pretty cool to only speak in spanish. i know it was definitely not perfect spanish but she got the main idea of what i was trying to say. it is really cool when you speak spanish and feel the spirit as you give the lesson although sometimes you have to stop and think what that word is in spanish haha. i definitely do eat a lot here. the food isnt always the best but some days it is actually pretty good. but there is mexican food every day and a little american.

i just want you guys to know that my testimony is strengthened everyday. it is a wonderful experience to be around missionaries all the time. it is very cool to see all the people that come on missions. i was in a devotional this past week and they said prophets back in the day had visions of our day now and saw that all the missionaries that we have today. it is cool to think we are fulfilling a prophecy in a way. 

I love this gospel and am very grateful for it. 

Love,

Elder Smoot




so if you mail a letter it takes 11 days exactly is what has been happening to people in my district. i never got the my dear elder letter dad sent which is weird along with other people in my district. the address is

Carr. Tenayuca-Chalmita No. 838,

Col. Zona Escolar, Deleg. G.A. Madero,

C.P. 07230, Mexico, D.F.; Mexico.

Wk 1 - Welcome to Mexico!

 Mexico MTC
Companion: Elder Siggard

Ready to leave from the Salt Lake Airport

Atlanta Airport

Elder Siggard & Elder Smoot

At the Mexico City airport

the bus heading to the MTC

Mexico MTC

The district- Jade is the only one going to Chile

All right-so the first week it a little crazy getting used to everything but each day gets better and better. One cool thing about this CCM is it is the biggest one in the world. I already have had cool experiences and its awesome. 

We taught a lesson to a pretend investigator the second day. Elder siggard and i taught a lesson and it was the scariest thing ever not knowing spanish. elder siggard took a few years of spanish in high school so lucky for us haha. We have already taught 4 lesson in spanish. i am now able to give a lesson half in spanish only when the lord is helping me haha.  the second lesson we taught i bore my testimony half in spanish and the investigator understood and the spirit was way strong and it was an awesome experience for me. 

having new missionaries come this week made me feel like i knew a lot of spanish,which i dont. you would just say something simple and they wouldn't know how to answer you. i am not going to lie it was pretty hard at first but now i have the schedule down and it is time to work hard and just to enjoy the experience. this ccm experience is so much easier when you feel the spirit. its an awesome experience.

i do miss you guys a ton and i know the joy will be so much greater in 2 years. who would have thought that i would miss tayton? ;) haha i love you taytortot!! 

mom i know with my whole heart that this is the lords work and this is the true gospel. i have never been so sure in my life. i want you to know that hard work will pay off. i cant wait for the day when i am speaking spanish fluently and sharing the gospel in that language. 

a few days ago we had a testimony meeting with our district and it was awesome. everyone started tearing up a little and yeah i did too... haha who would have thought? anyways i want you to know mom that i love you and appreciate you. i am so excited for my testimony to grow. i am so grateful for my family. i think i have the best family ever, so family i love you!!!!

Love, 

Elder Smoot

(Answers to questions):

my companion is from santaquin utah and no he is not going to Chile, he is going to ecuador.

yes my spanish is pretty good for one week. i have had people from mexico be like wow your spanish is amazing for only one week.  but my companion definitely knows a lot more than me haha. 

yes i eat very well. i dont really get hungry. i am trying to eat healthy so i am not fat by the time i get back haha. 

i see mrs. jones pretty much everyday maybe even more than once. 

our district is already way good friends with each other and there are 4 elder and 4 sisters. they are all way nice. i am the only one going to chile and most are going to ecuador and peru. 

honestly i am good. i havent noticed anything that i dont have thanks to you haha.

if you see mark tell him this is a way cool mtc. by the time he gets here it will be sooo packed with missionaries. its very beautiful and its pretty much a mini town full a missionaries. 

we wake up and get ready and study and eat breakfast and then learn spanish and how to talk to an investigator and how you should treat them and stuff like that for about 4 hours at least it feels like haha. we go to TALL- its a program on the computer to help you learn languages. then we have a break to go work out then we usually have lunch and then prepare to teach a pretend investigator and pretty much youre just studying and trying to learn different things all the time. it was hard at first but its pretty fun now. then after the investigator thing which takes awhile we will have dinner and go study a little bit after dinner then we sing a hymn and say a prayer as a district and go back to our casas (homes) and go to sleep.

Heard from Sister Jones again!

(Sister Jones was an English teacher from Jade's Junior High! It's so cool that she is serving at the Mexico MTC!):

"Wow - Jade is on fire!!  He's doing so great!  I just talked to him after he finished his third discussion.  He was excited because the lesson was awesome.  He told me that he was able to say things he didn't know he could say.  It's so fun to see him again.  I love it."

"Of course I had to take another picture :)  Jade's class is in the John Taylor building."

Made it to Mexico!!

Elder Smoot & Elder Siggard
 (Mrs. Jones, a teacher from Jr. High, sent this photo to Marcie)
"It was so fun to see Jade!  I promise to take good care of him and send pictures!  
This is Elder Smoot and his companion."

hey mom i made it ok. this keyboard is kinda weird haha. i tried to call you in atlanta and it didnt work.. but i feel very happy to be here! 

Mexico City is the most colorful thing i have ever seen! i quickly became friends with elder siggard and i got here and now he is my companion! i did sleep for about 3 hours total somehow i am still awake from just all the culture shock i guess haha. i love it here a lot. 

i showed up to the mtc and i saw mrs. jones from junior high! it made me happy to see a familiar face. she said to tell you hi! 

everything is going good and i am excited to dive in to everything. my p day is going to be Thursday  so i will write you then! its definitely crazy here and i love it! i feel a sweet spirit at the mtc. the mtc in mexico is very beautiful i love it. i talked to some sisters when i got here and they spoke pretty good spanish and they have been here for 3 weeks which was pretty cool. all the buildings are named after prophets so its all easy to remember.

i love you mom! i have some pics with my companion already on the plane ride ill send on Thursday!! talk to you later

love,

elder smoot

The night Elder Smoot flew to the Mexico MTC

Grandma and Grandpa Smoot with Elder Smoot

Tayton, Austin, Elder Smoot, Kaylee, Talia, Dixie, and in front Lynden & Ruger.

The whole family (except for Jenna in the Philippines) at the SLC airport

Jade loves his Mom!