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.