12-29-16 last email before leaving the CCM (MTC)

Hey everyone. this week has both crawled by and flew by. I have no way to describe it, it just is. You'll understand when you're older. Or when you're on a mission. Either one. Elder Martindale, the one with arm grabbing and pigeon noises left this week. It was pretty sad to see him go since no one will ever grab my bicep again and exclaim: "Me gusta!". He was a funny guy, and will be missed. Also, check out my comp, Elder Lloyd, with the killer pose. He is great. The 3 of us all have whale ties on in this picture! It is awesome haha, we just had to take a pic. Friday and Saturday were great! They were filled with the spirit, I got the prettiest tie I have ever seen, and the lessons were super powerful and I learned a ton about how to teach investigators. The food was bearable, the nights were long, and the days weren't like 2 years. I really enjoyed it! But of course, if a missionary in the CCM is having a good time, it is necessary to put him back in his place. Sunday was quite terrible. It started early, as always, and I fell back asleep during my morning prayers. Oops. We were super late to breakfast cause of me. Then we went to our sacrament meeting, which was the birth of baby Jesus. Then we went to a CCM devotional, which was also about the birth of baby Jesus. Guess what? Then we went to priesthood meeting and talked about baby Jesus. I am pretty sure I read Luke 2 fifteen times. Then, we went to a devotional, again, with the regional president of Mexico. Who talked about baby Jesus. I can not accurately describe how many times I heard Cesar Agustus' name. But it was stilll okay, cause it was Christmas! No one is ever sad on Christmas! Well, the food was uncooked Turkey. So I guess my new rule is: Never eat the chicken OR the turkey. My day was made better when I opened my Christmas present from my mom, which was a cute little stocking with 'Elder' on it. And that's when it got terrible. I had to call home. It was me crying for half an hour while my family awkwardly told me about how many cool things they got. I actually had a great time during that call, but it brought back all the sad feelings I had when I originally said bye to them as I entered airport security. Sad time. Everyone cried from my district. Then for dinner we had reheated, uncooked turkey from lunch (awesome, right?) and ended our day in solemnity. The next day felt like it wasn't even Christmas, it is still 75 degrees out here and nothing has changed. My week flew by, I studied the book of Revelations (which is great by the way, read it) and had some good laughs with my district and friends. Eventually came P Day! I finally had the opportunity to attend the Mexico City Temple!! It is a large, beautiful Temple with definite Mayan roots. The entire building looks like a pyramid and only gets more ancient as you walk in. Needless to say, sitting through a session in Spanish was the most difficult thing I have done yet, I swear they speak another language. All I know is that is wasn't spanish. The Temple was a great time to relax in the Celestial room and take a break from the busy everyday schedule that missionaries have. I loved going through and feeling God there. There isn't another feeling like it. This week I found this really cool thing in D and C. Section 129. Super cool stuff! Other than that, we've just been preparing to leave the CCM and learning as much as we can, since I hit the real mission field on Monday! Don't send anything else to the CCM since I won't be here to get it. My next email will be super long for sure. Wish me luck in the field, and I'll talk to you next year!

December 22, 2016

Christmas is right around the corner everyone! The CCM is doing a spectacular job hyping us up for this season of our Lord Jesus Christ with a tiny nativity scene way in a back corner of the compound. They also decided to put some lights on a few small bushes. They are really trying to bring us into the Christmas spirit. I can feel it. The weather is a balmy lukewarm degrees, just cold enough to put on a coat and just hot enough that you sweat. But if you take it off, you're cold again. The food reached it's pinnacle, we had hamburgers on Monday and Corn dogs on Tuesday. Since then, let's just say I've been fasting daily. There will be no pictures this week since I got my hair cut, and they made me look like Dobby from Harry Potter.... I will be sure to send some pictures next week when I have hair on my head. In other words, the CCM is still terrible. However, I am really grateful for the spirit that resides over this place, because the spirit testifies new truths to me, every. day. I'm also really digging into the scriptures (in English, you try translating 2200 year old writing in spanish) and I've been learning so much cool stuff. In the spirit of Christ, I invite you guys to read 3 Nephi 12-19, where Jesus himself teaches. As it says in 3 Nephi 26;6, the ministering recorded in Nephi are less than a hundreth of what he really said. so take heed to those verses as you realize, only the best 1% was written in a book that was meant for you. I have had a temporary companion switch. I went from Elder Lloyd, the gentle giant farmer from Washington, to Elder Jones, the ginger from the hood in South Virginia. We really get along and we teach really well together. Would you like to know why? It's because we poop together, stall by stall and we plan our investigators lessons there. We take our scriptures and pamphlets into the stalls and come out with some of the best 15 minute lessons you'll ever hear. This week, we've started a tie trading fiasco. It's pretty much an olden day auction, with so many ties flying everywhere. Needless to say, through my Wilson charm, I have aquired several great ties and almost got a really cool llama tie. We trade just about everything right now, it's almost like we don't have anything to entertain ourselves with....(weird, huh?). Also, Elder Lloyd purchased some really slick looking green capris. He rocks them every other day during gym time. They really compliment his white legs. I like my companion haha! On a real spiritual note, I have loved being with my district. We have had a few district meetings, where all we do is talk about spiritual things, and to see everyone grow , and to see someone grow from my words (that the spirit gave to me, no pride), is absolutely amazing. It's quite easy to see why we have the MTC/CCM. Because over time, sure, you pick up the language. Most of us already know the lessons by heart. Heck, most of us can already teach the lessons in Spanish. But the real point of the CCM is to give the missionaries a testimony of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. To strengthen them, and to convert them. You cannot ask someone to walk down a path that you yourself aren't walking. The MTC is terrible, I pretty much hate it here, and I think my district is planning my accidental death, but I enjoy it so much, on account of the Holy Ghost accompanying me daily. As we enjoy these last few days of before Christmas, I urge you to get on your knees and pray a prayer of gratitude to the one who gave you your chance for eternal salvation. I urge you to stop concerning yourself of the pointless, worldly things and focus on the one who knelt in the grove for everything you will ever feel. I urge you to spend time with your family, cause the next thing you know, you'll be on a mission in a foreign state, wishing you had more time to spend with your family and loved ones. Remember who you are and what Christmas is really about! I hope you all enjoy an amazing holiday, and I bless you all with the spirit, that he will pour out blessings upon you and your families, that you will feel the love of Christ within your lives if you will have the desire to feel him!! I send my best wishes from mexico and I love you all so much! Merry Christmas!

Hey everyone! The weeks are really long here but for some reason i wrote december 13th in my journal 3 times so i dont know what day it is or how long i have been here. that is probably a good thing, since the mtc is getting to the point where it is super super slow. i do the same thing all day every day, in the same seat of the same classroom of the same schedule. the only difference is what color of tie i wear, and i dont really notice that. it is alright though, i know that the mission doesnt have a huge amount of variety. its just getting tiresome. it also makes almost anything funny since i so bored that i can be entertained by literally anything. even dust bunnies on the ground of our floor. im to the point now where i cant remember if i have told my district a story or not and i think i have told everyone the same 6 stories like 10 times. they are good sports in my district and really fun people. in our casa, there are 5 rooms. my district takes 3, another room is with elder martindale, the bicep grabber (who has begun also making pidgeon noises. hilarious), and the last was with some latinos who speak so fast i am pretty sure they arent speaking spanish.... every night we have been singing songs with them, once in english and once in spanish. they are great guys even though i dont understand what they are ever saying. it has been getting pretty cold down here, overcast and maybe 60 degrees. i need a blanket when i go to bed and everything! my sweaters and coats are always on, it is always chilly here. but i am extremely grateful to not be in utah right now!! i have been playing a lot of volleyball since i arrived, you get a super specific, like, 48 and a half minutes of gym time a day, and we play vball. i attempted soccer and gave up instantly against those latinos, i swear they were born with a soccer ball in their hands (or feet). it will be a long 2 years if i have to play soccer with latinos every p day. the food at the cafeteria is... delightful. basically, every missionary who goes to mexico has bowel problems, and now i understand why. because the food here is.... less than mediocre. they serve things like chopped up hot dogs, half cooked fish, TONS of beans, powdered eggs (and then use the left over eggs to make a 'dessert'), chicken that every single person, even latinos, avoid, and other various animal slabs of meat that have like, arteries and stuff poking out. lots of bones too. its great, they have a wide selection of salad items here too. the list is; lettuce, ranch. they do, always, however have unripened pineapple or seeded grapes. the food here is so weird and i would kill for a nice meal from mcdonalds right now more than anything. dont take the safe american food you have for granted!! this week we began trc, which is basically where real people who are members come inside the ccm and we act like they are real investigators. i almost peed myself i was so scared but when i got in there i realized my spanish has progressed so much that i can understand the members when they speak, and they speak almost as fast as the latinos in our casa. it is fun to see people besides my teacher and district members, to see fresh face and hear a fresh story. it is pretty easy, but at the same time kind of hard since they arent real investigators so you dont really teach them the same. other than that, i am getting along really well with my district, id say. my companion is a farmer who never had a phone but thankfullly he has seen nacho libre and napoleon dynamite, so we bond over movie quotes as he demonstrates, with sounds, what each of his tractors back home are like. what a unique and awesome guy. also, i saw elder max pullman, an old friend of mine from springville in the mtc!! he looks great and always makes me laugh. i am glad he is here with me. . there are 4 of us, who share a room, and we are all going to the city south mission together! it is awesome to know that the guys who i have become such close friends with will be coming with me on jan 2 when i depart from the spirit prison and out into the new world.... you make be asking why i said this is spirit prison. the compound is a large, compound where everyone wears the same thing, we are easily identified, the food is terrible, we never leave, there are tons of rules, the level of protection here includes armed guards at the gate (not with machine guns or bazookas, just small handguns, but the point still stands), and there is barbed wire fencing around the entire compound...facing in. which means it is designed to keep us in! but it is a beautiful place with tons of trees and cool flowers and stuff. they spend more money on the landscaping than they do on the food. overall, i give this place a 3/5 stars since my teachers are freaking awesome, they make the long days better. okay i dont know if it is just this wave of missionaries but i am by far the youngest kid here. most missionaries are 20 and my district leader is 23. i am so so young compared to everyone else! here, we have started using english phrases in spanish that dont translate really well. Santa Vaca, traegarlo, and other phrases, (holy cow and bring it). mexicans are a very literal people with no such phrases and use the same 50 words. good, well, happy, fun, excited, content, okay, so so, and more all mean 'bien' here, and the only exclamation they have is 'wow'. and they dont have sarcasm here, dont say anything sarcastic in spanish. i learned that the hard way. the days are long, the weeks are long, the months are even longer (i havent even been out a month) but that is okay because i am serving the lord my god! i do miss my old lifestyle and family and friends and work though. but i know i am absolutley in the exact right place i should be. it has been a great time, even though i say the days repeat. my favorite thing to do is read the scriptures, because they testify that there is a christ, yea even the planets in orbit are a sign of a christ. it teaches you more than any other university or professor or book can teach you. it saves your soul and brings happiness to your life. read the introduction of the book of mormon. i testify that it is true and that the words spoken in those lines are spoken by god. and that he means them. i love you guys, and i am so so so grateful for the support i have! (if you want to email me but want it to get to me the same day, go to mtcmexicocarepackage and use the free letter option for same day mtc mail delivery!)​​​

Wow! That is all I can say! The past week here has been an amazing and yet crazy time for everything! I am officially a Mexican Citizen, it only took me about 6 hours to do it, and a very bumpy, anxious bus ride there. People here just kind of go when they please and change lanes like it isnt a big deal. Cars here somehow are really clean, so somehow no one gets in accidents. the motorcyclists blow my mind. they should move to the US and take up professional racing. they bob and weave inbetween cars and swerve so fast. i even saw one guy do a wheely onto the sidewalk and drove through the people. they are so so so good at riding! My spanish is flying, and I no longer really need to learn anything but conjugations. the only problem i have right now is that latinos speak so freaking fast that i just pretend like i know what they are saying and say "si". other than latinos, i understand everyone. i got to give my companion, elder lloyd a blessing. the blessing was so dang powerful my fingers were twitching, and everyone cried (except me cause i am getting over my crybaby self). i get along with my companion, except he calls me elder smith... which is not my name. so when he does, i make fun of his canandian accent! we have riot in the mtc. in the missionary handbook, it says to wear plain socks, and to not talk to sister missionaries unless you are supposed to. so i walk around and call out people on it all the time. nothing like busting a rule breaker who is wearing two tone socks. the mtc itself is beautiful, and i love it! there are trees everywhere, and they spend more time on ground maintenance than i do speaking spanish. so a lot. the food here is straight nasty, they serve chicken, which gives you diarreha every time you eat it. they serve uncooked, choppped up hot dogs, and desserts which are jello mixed with that morningsleft over eggs. i eat cereal a lot. it sounds like i am a picky eater but no one laughs at me when i am the only with solid poop. the store here is dirt cheap, a bag of chips is 7 pesos (35 cents), and we get 5dollars a week. we save our money and buy 8 bags of takis rolled corn chips and eat them on p day. fiesta! singing hymns in spanish is so dang hard cause they even changed the rythym to fit words so it is like learning new songs and lyrics. oh, and we sing at least 8 hymns a day. i dont want to brag or anything, but i am officially 1/50 of the way done. time flies........ mexicans are hilarious, they have an extremely different perception of humor than us. their version of fun is ... uh.... not sure. all i know is that i laugh all day. part of that is from my district. they are so fun. apparently, here at the mtc, if you put your name tag halfway up, it means youre taken, dating wise. so we joke around and push them up every time a hermana talks to us. awesome times! however, i feel like the days blur by, and the weeks crawl. i swear time stands still here. but whatever, i still have a good time here. the mtc is good cause i can read the scriptures all the time! and they have taught me SO MUCH! i encourage everyone to read the last few chapters of 2 nephi and also to read the book of mosiah. my favorite prophet is king mosiah. he is the bomb. what a guy! the elder in the picture is elder martindale. every day, martindale "sneaks" into our room, and feels our biceps, and says "me gusta". once he has felt everyones biceps, he yells "run away!" and flees the room. it was awkward at first but now we have grown to love him, and haveeven adopted the bicep grip as our new handshake. he is a simply reminder that god wants us to have fun every now and then! every night we sing songs with the latino missionaries in our house. i will send a picture once i get it from another missionary in my district! i hum "families can be together forever" all day now, because it is awesome how a simple primary song can teach the most powerful truth that we have as a church. that our gospel can enable us to live with those we love, forever. in short, the food is nasty, the days are long, i miss the heck out of my family, spanish is annoying, there is never any time to relax, and i feel overwhelmed 100% of the time. but the spirit of the lord makes long days short, gross food bearable, sad feelings happy, spanish understandable, and heavy loads light. i still wear argyle socks. take that, mtc presidency. Yo se que nuestro padre celestial is verdad, y el amoroso todas la personas en el mundo. Yo testifico que Jose Smith fue un real profeta de Dios, y que nostros tenemos un viviendo profeta hoy, TSM. Jesucristo es un luz, y un vida de la mundo, y nos puedemos vivir con Dios con nuestra familias otra vez. El Evangelio is verdad. Jesucristo es verdad. Y el solo camino ser feliz para siempre es con El, El Salvador, y Redentor, El Rabbanah, JesuCristo. Thank you for the love and support! i dont lie when i say i can feel it! i hope you all have a wonderful week, and next p day i will bring my journal so i can actually tell you what happens in the next week. much love!

Letters from siblings ❤

This exchange between these brothers is awesome! :)

Mon, Nov 28, 2016 at 8:03 PM, Toby Wilson wrote: Hey kyle!!! How's it going!!! Baptized anyone yet in the mtc?? How many? Your gonna do great!! Just listen to the spirit and you'll do awesome. Hows mexico? I bet it's awesome! !! Make sure to bring me back something for a souvenir! I love you Kyle have a good mission. I'll email you every week. Love you!!

hey t man. whats up? now that i am not there you gotta be the man of the house dude. i know you can tho. no toby you dont baptize anyone in the mtc hahahah. mexico is crazy dude, they build their houses on the sides of the mountains, literally, and there are gunshots all the time around us. i love you too bud! i will bring you a souvenier, i promsie. i have been having a great time. love you lots

First Email :)

Hey everyone!
the keyboards in mexico are layed out really weird so i am not going to bother with any grammar or capitalization.
i arrived here late tuesday night. it is an 800 acre compound full of beautiful plants and trees. we are surrounded by mexico city, where the houses are literally built on the side of mountains, and gunshots are our white noise. no joke. we feel really safe here so its all good. when i arrived i was told p day was thursday but they wouldnt let us have our first weeks pday which sucked!!. the days were really long, about 17 hours and i havent stopeed working until today. everyone speaks only spanish so talk about immersion. however, the gift of tongues is super strong and i can speak really realy well. they threw me right in and on my 3rd day here i taught my first investigator. it is really fun but also really hard becasue the language barrier keeps me from saying what i want to say most of the time. i love my district and teachers so far, my companion elder lloyd is a farmer who has never been on a date, had a phone, or played a video game. hahahahahha. the spirit here is unlike anything i have ever felt. i cry like 8 times a day becasue the spirit testifies to me of truth and i become overwhelmed. i have grown so much in 10 days in spanish and in spirit that i know the lord is hastening his work because there is no way a white boy from utah could speak 70% fluent spanish after 10 days. i love it here but i really miss home. and music. i can literally feel your prayers and support and it helps me throughout the day. so much has happened here that i cant remember it all. hopefully next week i can remember what i did. here is a summary of what i remember
arrived on tuesday, with parker smitth and i saw josh probst.
started working like crazy, teaching investigators and learning all day
i gave elder crider from my district a blessing
i got in trouble for making cheesy jokes
my teacher dabbed
i cried like a baby all sunday cause the spirit was so strong
i got in trouble for wearing argyle socks cause the distract from the message i guess
i learned a bunch of pointless words in spanish, like savage. un salvaje.
anyway i love you guys and i will email next week!

And here is his personal email to me (his reference to dj being hilarious is in response to this picture I sent him, haha)
hey mom!!!!!!!!!
so good to finally email you. they wouldnt let me have a p day on the first week but it is fine. 10 days was just a long time to wait to say hi. i love you a lot and the kids too. the spirit is super strong and i have gained so much more to my testimony since being here. i love it. it is super fun. but i miss you guys a lot. dj is still hilarious, thats good. \i pray for you every day and i love you so much



: