Richie Tackles Reno: Week Five: Can't Wait to Have an In-N-Out Burger!

My District with one of our favorite teachers - Hermano Martinez (in the center)

October 22, 2014

Whats up guys?!? I can NOT believe how fast the time here has gone. i feel like i just got here yesterday. Its weird to think that three months ago we were in Europe...that feels like last week to me!!

Holding my check-out documents....
I'll be back in the USA next week!

On monday they gave us our itinerary and check-out documents which is actually too bad cuz now we cant focus in class!! we are all too excited. i leave here at 5 in the morning next tuesday, which is actually like way nice cuz 90% of the other missionaries are leaving at like 2 in the morning...which sounds terrible!!

So when i saw one of the pictures that you guys sent me i coulda sworn that MJ was Aunt Missy....i had to do a double take!!! It was crazy!! It must be the hair.

The weather here has settled into a consistent pattern, and the rain has become way more common that my first two weeks. Every morning is chilly and cloudy. then by like

A storm rollin in one evening

lunch time the clouds burn off and its beautifully blue and sunny until about 6 when the clouds come back in and it rains from like 7-9 every night. and then it all starts over. i dont mind it, cuz our gym time is always beautiful so we can play kickball or sand volleyball with everyone. Yesterday we found a rugby ball and used it to play a game of football, but we got in trouble so we could only play for like 30 minutes :(.

So Saturday Elder Anderson from the Quorum of the Twelve came!!!! it was awesome. the whole CCM was buzzing with excitement. We were all singing in the auditorium when he came in and we all stood up as he walked in. Then he asked to shake all of our hands so we all went through and shook his hand!! it was so neat!!! i told him thanks for coming and he said that no it was his pleasure!!! we all felt like fan girls hahahaha. but he gave a great talk about the atonement and how we need to apply it to our lives before we can properly go and tech it to others. He brought with him Elder Maynes from the seventy and one of the area presidents from here in Mexico. It was way cool.

On Sunday for our devotional we watched a previous devotional from Elder Holland. It was awesome!! I’ve said this before but all of the apostles are like 10x funnier when its just missionaries. He was talking about how much trust the Lord has in us and he said "Its truly amazing that the Lord has put the future of his church in the hands of a bunch of escapees from the Aaronic priesthood." we all got a kick out of that. At the end of his devotional he gave a dedicatory prayer to some new buildings in the BYU MTC and i could not believe how powerful his prayer was. it blew us all away. it was a good lesson to me that i need to do a better job of saying more meaningful prayers.

oh and one scary thing happened this week though...our house is right on the edge of campus and just over the wall one night we heard a bunch of gunshots and screams and then we heard a bunch of sirens a little while later...we´re not sure exactly what happened but it sure made us grateful for the 10 foot wall that separates us from the rest of the city!!!!!

The Latinos wanted to take a selfie...haha!

We had a trio of Latino elders move into our house this week, so we have been able to get really tight with them and practice our Spanish. they are hilarious. one thing about all the Latinos is they like to use what little English they know with us. they like to call their fellow Latinos "handsome" and they use it like its a bad thing. like when a group of Latinos is introducing themselves with us they will say "oh he is the most handsome out of all of us" and he gets all embarrassed but then we all crack up with each other. the other thing is they are all like WAY short. so even though i am average height for an American, they call me Alto Todd and stuff. its funny. Everyone also calls me Elder Todo instead of Elder Todd, because at first glance a lot of the Latinos think it says Todo. so that is fun.

so i would be lying if i said everything was easy here. At times i have felt overwhelmed but then i remember the little quote in a frame sitting in the family room that says something like "God please help me remember that nothing is going to happen today that you and I cant accomplish." i love that quote!! The Lord is building my patience, slowly but surely. So i can only be grateful for all of my hard times.

Anyways, i love you guys. You give me so much strength, its incredible. I truly am blessed to have such a great, wonderful, strong support system back home. Some of my peers here don’t get to experience the same support. Always remember to read your scriptures; there is so much to be learned in them. i cherish my one hour of personal study each day like its worth its time in gold.

I should be able to email you guys on Monday, just a heads up. but if not ill talk to you when i get back to the USA!!! i have been dreaming about an In-n-Out burger.

Con mucho amor,

Elder Todd