Week One

Top three favorites of the week:

#1 My district

#2 The Mexico City Temple

#3  My Companion

These last couple weeks have been pretty crazy! I'll apologize for the spelling, I'm not used to these Spanish keyboards! On my way to Mexico I ran into a guy from Pasco, Elder Whitbey, he has family in Connell so that's pretty cool! I also ran into the BYU woman's basketball coach at the Salt Lake City airport and I talked to him for a little while! That was kinda cool! My first companion is Elder Christensen from Kentucky and he's a super cool guy, but he likes to sing and so I'll be singing a little more than usual lately! Haha! My district is super small, I think the smallest one here, but I love them, they're all super cool and hard working people! I've had a lot of cool experiences and have met a lot of new people! The Spanish has been drowning me, but I'm getting better and so hopefully by the time I leave the MTC I won't be totally awful! Haha! We went to the temple today and it is so cool! Totally different than the one at home! It's been rough being away from y'all and from my family, but I know this is where I need to be! The Lord has blessed my life so much in the week and a half that Ive been here and I just love feeling the Spirit! Its been a long week and a half, but there's no where I'd rather be! Love y'all!

Love,

Elder Cole

Here are some snippets from his personal letter to the family:

Hey Ma! The MTC is super beautiful and the people here are the best! There's 7 of us in our district. We started out with 8 but one elder went home. We have the smallest district in the whole MTC. Elder Christensen is my first companion, he's from Louisville Kentucky. He's pretty cool. You and dad would be so proud of me cause I've tried like everything we've had to eat except salad ;) I'll deal with that when I have to! You and dad don't need to worry, I'm doing fine and you've raised me right. The chocolate milk just isn't the same here. I met Elder Whitbey on the plane from Salt Lake and we live in the same house. The Spanish is kicking my butt and everyday I'm exhausted when we go to bed and even more tired when I wake up; but I'm so glad to be here and start learning how I can help the people of Uruguay. We went to the temple today! The Mexico City temple is so much bigger than the one at home and is so much different looking! It was crazy doing the endowment ceremony in Spanish, but it was fun! I just got news that I have a package today, but I'll have to pick it up tomorrow. Missionary Package MX is the service that can get me letters the same day. We've been teaching a fake investigator all in Spanish and it has been terrifying! Haha! The first day was awful, but I look forward to it now cause I get better each day! I'm loving my district and my Branch. The spirit is so strong here! Love you guys!