Crazy Week!

And the title ain't lying! This was a week of hard, hard work. But it's good, and I love it. 

     So, I'm gonna give my milestones in chronological order. Last Thursday, Elder Black was having a really rough night, so Elder Burton (from our room) asked him if he wanted a blessing, which he agreed to. I gave my first blessing then. Such a strong spiritual experience. I know it has helped. The next night, I asked my room for a blessing as well... I've been having nightmares for some time now. After the fifth one here, I asked, and my compañero delivered. It was another really great experience. I haven't had a single nightmare since! I know there is immense power in the priesthood. 

     Our 'investigator' became our teacher on Saturday or so. That has been rough because you feel a little bit cheated.  But our other teacher, Padre Muñoz is amazing :) I've begun reading Jesus The Christ, and am about 6 chapters in. I love this book! It is so informational, and just powerful. I've learned answers to questions that have been on my mind for years! Cool :) One of the biggest things here in the CCM is tie trading. I have traded 2 ties thus far. One purple one for a brown and blue one (a bad trade) and one black one for a bright orange one (a fantastic trade)! Pretty fun. Last Sunday, Elder Black and I blessed the sacrament in our ward in Spanish. Pretty neat. 

     Padre Muñoz became another investigator on Monday. We had a great lesson with him. I sang Come Unto Jesus in Español. It was my first time actually showing my talent. The Spirit was really strong! Later that night, Hermana Lance, one of the two sisters in our district asked the 10 of us elders for a blessing. Another Spiritual High for me. Beforehand, we sang a hymn to further invite the Spirit.On Tuesday, I bought a real Sprite! Wonderful! And I threw a frisbee again. Also wonderful! 

     Now for yesterday's story. Half way through class in between lunch and dinner, it starts pouring. It's soaking outside when we head into the comedor (cafeteria). After we finish dinner, they wouldn't let us leave the comedor because the rain was too intense. I'm talking rivers in the streets. Biggest rain storm I've ever seen! After about 45 minutes, it lets up enough that we can run back to our class halls from dinner. When we get to the hall way, the floor is fairly wet. So Elder Montoya from my district slides down the hall on his feet. Everyone is a bit nervous. *Brace yourselves* He attempts a 180 spin/jump, and fails. His feet fly out from under him, and he hits chest first. His face smashes into the ground. He lay there staring blankly for a bit, then the blood. Elder Black yells for an elder to run and grab paper towels and to grab an adult. Pretty soon, everyone is gathered from the hall, and knows what happened. 

     Elder Montoya and his companion, Elder Call were rushed to the hospital. His nos was bleeding like a faucet. His front two teeth were destroyed. One of them was mostly fake, but not the other. Our district had some extreme prayer, and sang hymns for about 20 minutes. We haven't heard from elders Montoya or Call since. Montoya was worried he would be sent home. Lots of worry. It was a very, very somber night. Much prayer. He needs to be out here so badly. 

     Well that's about it! I'm still loving Mexico. The four guys in the room across from mine in the casa are all going to Texas, Houston South as well, so we're planning to meet up there :) I know this gospel is true, and I love it with all my heart! And I love you all! Keep the faith,

-Elder Spjute

1st email home!

    First off, Happy Birthday to Mama and Blake! It's official, this is the best thing ever! After one week, it feels just like home. There was one hermana flying from Boise with me, who I sat next to on both flights named Hermana Ries. Cool gal, somehow knows the Spjute family. There were about 50 missionaries flying from Phoenix to Mexico City. Then, there was a group of probably 120 missionaries arriving in Mexico City. Totally crazy! I thought my 2 years of Spanish would give me a huge advantage. First off, I barely had any basics of Spanish left in me at all. Secondly, there was only one person I've met here who hasn't had any Spanish in high school. But it was definitely a cool experience riding from the bus at the airport to the CCM (Centro de Capacitacion Missional Mexico); that is, as much of that as I could stay awake for. After arriving, I had dinner, met my companion and two other roommates in my casa (5 rooms per casa), unpacked, and basically was a cow in a heard of cattle as far as getting around. The first thing I thought when the plane was touching down was how cool the town looked. So many buildings so close together. There are so many colors as well, which you never see in Boise.  

     So for a lot of the basics: I have a constant schedule of up at 6:30 a.m. and down around 10:30 p.m. Best sleep I've ever gotten. My companion is Elder Black, who is from Payson Utah. He's a bit of a wild child with some serious growing up to do. But I love him, and we get along well. The other roommates are Elders Burton and Alldredge. They are both 6' 3'', while Elder Black is 5' 9' and I'm barely 5' 10''. Elder Burton reminds me SO much of Preston, it's crazy. Tall, and gangly, really funny, glasses. Love that kid so much; his spirit is so strong! My district has 5 elder companions (including Burton and Alldredge) and 1 hermana companion. They are all awesome!!! The whole district except for my room of 4 is going to Chile Conception. Us 4 are going stateside, and all to different places. We are always busy! There is usually 45 minutes for each meal. The food here is so good!!! I love it a lot. And it is pretty healthy. You add the weight room that Elder Black and I attend during most daily gym time, and I'm getting in decent shape. The weather here is generally beautiful. Not too hot. But we've had 2 big rain storms. Not like Boise rain, but real, river-in-the-street rain! There is thunder here like I've never heard before! Elder Black and I were running through the flood to get to our casa for our umbrellas on Friday. Shins down were completely soaked! There is a cool tienda (store) here where we can buy essentials. I got two sweet tie pins for cheap. We get 100 pesos on our money cards here each week. It works out pretty well. We have a LOT of study time daily. My Spanish is getting really good. Not to brag or anything, but after a week here, I'd take on any 4 year high school Spanish student. It is awesome! My teacher is awesome; we work with him for about 3 hours a day. Hey's an early 20's year old guy named hermano Muñoz. We call him Padre Muñoz :) There's a great view of the city on a mountain outside my window. My casa is the absolute farthest away from everywhere, so that means tons of walking and a bit of shin splints. But it's all good; builds character. 

     Now a bit deeper. I have met like 6 Elder Jensen's here, and there are 2 in my district. One is Elder Jensen the younger (who could grow a sweet beard in a week or two), the other is Padre Jensen, who is our District leader. Padre Jensen's companion had 9 years of Spanish! I'm not far behind in skill level. I really am amazed with the gift of tongues. I'm getting good at praying in Spanish :) The water here at first, tasted like straight poop. Sorry for the graphic nature of that, but it's true. So with every meal, you get tons of juice and water, and use filter bottles to be safe when you need water. On Saturday during class, we wrote introductions for ourselves as Nephi did in 1 Ne 1:1. After sharing, Padre Muñoz made us all cry with an awesome testimony... there's another Elder Jensen I just heard...sorry haha... but yeah, that experience was my first time feeling that earth-shattering Spirit I'd been waiting for. 

     There are a couple of traditions here. Such as Costco pizza for dinner on Tuesday. Wednesday is pink tie day (thank you, Chelsea!). Friday is Paisley tie day. Just cool things. After 9 days, I finally had a P-day! It's Thursday for me, if you didn't know. Finally got to do laundry. Played 2 hours of volleyball with the district :D I'm keeping my own ,) Picture taking today. Just awesomeness! We finally got a shower curtain a couple days ago. Before that, our entire bathroom would get soaked with each shower. 

     We have been teaching an "investigator" named Violeta in Spanish since Friday. 2 DAYS IN! So crazy. But it is really a spiritual experience with much growth. There was a sacrament meeting musical number on Sunday. It was a mixed gender quartet. The bass sang a flippin low c sharp! Way cool. 

      Well, I'm a little past out of time, so I gotta go. I want everyone to know that I know beyond a doubt that this church is true. ¡Me encanta el evangelio del Jesucristo! Es la verdad, y es nuestro salvacion. Yo se que Jesucristo es me salvador. En el nombre de Jesucristo, amen. I love you all!

-Elder Spjute

This kid is going to knock em ALIVE and give em Heaven!

The first link is for the musical number, "How Can I Keep From Singing", performed by Rex, his brother Dan, his Dad, and his brothers in law Preston and Blake.
Farewell song

Farewell talk

Elder Spjute and his nephew Milo.

This furry child will miss him too. :)

Adios Amigos!

Hey everyone! Before I go, I want to let you all know that I have a strong testimony in this gospel. I love it with all my heart. I'm on my way to Houston, where I'll be sharing the good word in the Spanish language. Thank you to everyone who helped me get where I am now. Wish me luck, and adios!

-Elder Spjute