Max's District
(minus his companion & another elder who were taking a bathroom break. Lol)
August 21, 2014
So I can't believe I am finally getting to say this, but things are wrapping up down here in Mexico City at the CCM. Today is my last official P-day here and the next time I have one, I'll be back in the greatest country ever and in the best mission ever! I got my flight information and I leave Monday morning on a 10:30AM flight on AeroMexico directly to the Las Vegas airport. When I get there I'll be back in the same time zone as you guys, so that will cool! I am so excited to get out in the field, and now it is literally right around the corner! I have absolutely loved seeing the pics of Ashley in Thailand and talking to Jake and Elder Carr and other missionaries in the field and now it will finally be my turn to get out there and do what I came here to do!
Yesterday they had my District fill out questionnaires about our experiences at the CCM. The thing is, if they had had me fill out those any of the first four weeks here, I would have had some pretty negative things to say. However, that wasn't the case, because my last two weeks here have actually been pretty good. The best thing that has happened is that I have gotten really close with my district. We all just sort of clicked recently and now I truly look forward to seeing them every day. Elder W is like my best buddy here. We get along so well and have very similar upbringings and personalities. Everyone else is super fun to talk to and they all have great spirits and testimonies that have helped me to grow as a person and as a missionary. I knew this was going to happen, though. Those first couple weeks here I hated it here and could not wait to leave, and now I am actually saddened by the though of not getting to be in this district ever again. I never thought I would have any regrets about leaving this place, but I truly will miss the friends I have made here.
Regardless, Vegas is a coming and oh boy am I excited! We taught our final lessons this week and both Elder S and I felt really good about both of them. In fact, for our last lesson ever we taught two younger missionaries (in their 3rd week here...hah I remember being that far from leaving) but anyways they posed as investigators for us and after we were done teaching one of them told us "Man, if I could be half the missionaries you guys are when I am in my last week, I would be happy." That was a HUGE confidence boost especially for Elder S who could not believe someone had told him that. All we have left now are meetings all day tomorrow. Then Saturday the people leaving on Monday (and therefore me) have to do all our packing so we don't have to do it on Sunday. Then we just have to get through Sunday and next thing you know I am on a plane to Vegas!
I made even more progress in El Libro De Mormon this week and now only have 87 pages left until I have read the entire book out loud. My goal is to have the whole thing read before I leave the walls of the CCM and I am well on my way to reaching that goal. My Spanish is still steadily getting better, but I truly feel like I have learned everything I am going to learn here and that I will only improve once I am out in the field. Hopefully, that's the case!
As for my Spiritual Thought and Testimony this week, I had a really cool experience from this last Sunday. We watched a devotional that Elder Holland gave at the Provo MTC and, as you would expect from that man, it was phenomenal. What I took away from it, and what I have come to realize here at the CCM is this: It is awesome that I have so much support from family and friends. It is great that my motivation to press on every day has been thinking of family, or thinking about some milestone, or thinking about some good thing I have to make it to. Those are fine. BUT, what I have come to realize is that there is only ONE thing that needs to be my focus and my motivation: My love for Jesus Christ. I hope this never happens, but if I logged on one week to my email and saw that no one emailed me or if I didn't get any letters in the mail (despite me being in America and it being very easy to mail letters here...hint, hint) or if I had a really crappy week and didn't feel like I had support or success, I would still be happy because as of right now, I am doing everything I can in my power, to make my Savior happy. I am spending two years of my life solely trying to prove to Christ that I love him. After asking him three times if he loved him, Christ told Peter to feed his sheep. It doesn't matter what kind of a week I have, it doesn't matter if I don't get any letters from family or friends, it doesn't matter if no one will accept the message that I cherish so deeply, ALL that matters is that I am grateful for this opportunity to prove to the Man who is the source of my happiness and eternal salvation, that I love him, by doing all I can to try and feed his sheep. And that is all I need. (But in all honesty, it's still really nice getting emails and letters from all of you! :)
I believe that Jesus Christ is the only way we can have true happiness and joy in our lives forever, and I testify of that in his holy name. Amen.
Todo Mi Amor,
Elder Alley
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