P-day

P-day

Monday, September 24, 2012

I made it!! & Last letter home before I leave


I made it!! 9/24/12

Well we are here Mexico. Our flights were good, no problems. Going through security in Leon was kind of scary. They had some weird buildings and procedures. We had to fill out a bunch of forms, and then they checked our bags through an x-ray. Then they also hand searched it, going through every bag, book, and piece of clothing. The drive here was kind of crazy; I saw lots of different things. But they also had lots of American stuff, like McDonalds, KFC, Starbucks, Blockbuster, Chiles, etc. Drivers here are kind of crazy.

I’m not quite sure what else to say. I am here, I am safe, and I am a bit confused. It was fun to talk to everyone today! I hope you all are doing well!

I love you,
John

Last letter before I leave, 9/22/12

Hey family!

So today we have some time to pack and get ready to leave on Monday! It’s super exciting how close it is getting. I can’t explain how I can feel so excited and nervous and anxious at the same time. I can’t wait to get to talk to everyone while I am at the airport! Hopefully I will have quite a bit of time that morning!

It seems kind of unreal that I am leaving here, and the country. It’s been odd to say goodbye to people and teachers. Our teacher this morning Hermana Contreras said that she has seen a lot of districts leave and never until now has she had a whole district where she wasn’t worried about their Spanish or how ready they are. I thought that was pretty cool, it kind of shows how hard our district works and how we all kind of grew together. No one got left behind; we all helped each other progress. Tonight we will have our last lesson with Hermano Mitchel, he said he has a short little speech for us before we leave, so i am kind of interested to hear what he has to say.

Yesterday we had our in-field orientation. It was like the awful workshops that we have for an hour on Saturdays, but it was 14 hours long... It had some cooler stuff and I learned some good information but man I am glad I don’t have to do it again. They kind of talked about some of the things we would be doing in the field that we don’t do here. There were some really good video clips by Elder Holland, Bednar, and President Hinkley. One good thing that it did was make that fact that we are leaving a little more real. It’s becoming more real each day that we really are leaving. I am so stoked!

I know this email was kind of short but we can talk about whatever else on the phone on Monday. There is one thing I would like to share that I have learned from the MTC and a little from past experiences in life. I think I wrote home about it to someone (maybe Mary) but I’m not sure. God puts us in situations so that we can learn, we adapt and become better at whatever it is, learn, and become comfortable. Then as soon as we are comfortable or shortly afterward He pulls us out of that comfort zone and puts us in somewhere new where we are uncomfortable. He creates change so that we can learn. It is human nature not to like change, to have to adapt. But I know that that is the only way we can learn. Heavenly Father knows this and so he will throw something new at us, not to punish us or make our lives hard, but because He knows we can take it and that we will grow from the experience. After all that is why we are here: to learn and grow and then to return to our Father in Heaven. I know that as we face these changes and trials we will become a better person and more Christlike. We can’t do it on our own but with the Lords help we can do anything He requires. The last week or so I have been really comfortable at the MTC, I am good at what we do here, my Spanish is good enough to get by here, and we worked things out in our companionship. I am ready for the change and the challenge of Mexico. It won’t be easy, but as I trust in the Lord I know I can do it. It is the same in everybody’s life, no matter where you are in life; you will not be comfortable with your situation for too long. The important part is how we deal with these trials and changes, and our attitude as we go through them. We can always choose to be happy. In class today I heard something I really liked: Life is 90% Attitude and 10% Events.

I love you all and can’t wait to talk to you on Monday!
Elder Utley

1 comment:

  1. What a great perspective on trials and change in our life. Now if I can only remember that during the trial...that is the trick.

    Thanks for sharing your wonderful missionary with the rest of us!

    ReplyDelete