ELDER DREW CARSON: Week 6!! Welcome to Cancun!

Hola, amigos!!!

Thanks to everyone who´s written me - I really appreciate the love you show, and it always makes me smile.

This week is a little different because I´m writing y´all from an internet cafe near mi casa en CANCUN. That´s right! My first area! I don´t know where exactly in the ciudad I am, but I´ve heard that we´re about 15 minutos from the beach!

LECCION 1: True friendship doesn´t come easyy. You´ve got to talk. You´ve got to struggle. You´ve got to confide. This last week en el CCM has been so spiritual and wonderful, but also super sad because el distrito had to go our separate ways. I feel so close to each and every member of the district, and I think it´s because we were all equally dumbfounded and humbled by the process of missionary work for six weeks. All the while living in close quarters with one another.

The last night in the CCM, after our Sunday devotional, Hna Herman suggested that we have one final prayer together before going back to las casas. So we knelt. Right there, in the dark, on the sidewalk, wind blowing rather furiously. It was cold and uncomfortable, but I felt such a strong comraderie with my fellow servants of the Lord. By the end of the prayer, ALL of us were crying, and some of us were all out sobbing. But it was a good sort of pain, becuase we know we´re all going on the Lord´s errand, and we´re doing it for His children.

So, choose your friends wisely, and treat them like real friends. Trust in them. Confide in them. Build them up with the Gospel. Develop a relationship with them.

Choose Christ. Do all these things for your brother who did them all for you. He suffered and died to Atone for the sins of the world, and while he did so, I´m positive that he thought of you. When He thought of you, He couldn´t stand the thought of you not being able to return to live with Him and our Heavenly Father, and that thought gave Him the strength to continue. For you.

LECCION 2: BE HUMBLE. There´s always more to learn. ALWAYS. I got out to the field yesterday. I thought I was doing pretty well in the CCM - I thought I was already a stud missionary. Turns out, it´s easy to talk to people when you know they´re not real investigators and when the appointment is already set up by your maestra and when you don´t have to think about what happens if you fail. Real investigators aren´t necessarily going to stick with you through a bad lesson and then hand you nicely-packaged feedback so you can come back and try again and do it better. They might stick with you for ten minutes (out of respect), but you probably won´t ever see them again.

This is the same thing that happens in all aspects of life. Sooner or later, we´re going to have to take what we´ve learned in school or at a job and we´re going to have to apply it in a way we´ve never had to before. That´s intimidating. Sometimes the stakes are high. But, as we learn in 2 Nephi 32:9, we can consecrate our acciones unto the Lord (that includes the things we do in pursuit of our righteous desires) and, when we do so, we are assured that it will be for the benefit of our soul. Even if we fail (which we will. A lot.) we will learn and progress spiritually, which is all that matters in the end.

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We´ll cut it off at two this time because I only have like ten minutes to tell you about the happenings of the last twenty four hours.

Yesterday, I got up at 1:15am and got ready to leave the CCM. We (E Chamberlain, Hna Flores, another Hna, and I) piled into a van and were shuttled to the airport around 2:30. Two faculty members helped us get our baggage taken care of and then said adios. Our plane left at 6:00, and suddenly we were in the air, headed to our home for the next 17-22.5 months (BTW, I´m already more than 5% done with the mish, which seems nuts. Makes me sad, honestly).

We were received into paradise. We flew directly over the resorts, islands, and other tourist-y things. The ocean was amazing. The sunrise was amazing. All of it. Amazing.

Our mission President, his wife, and the assistants were waiting at reception. They cheered and held up signs for us, and they proceeded to help us get our luggage to the car. We filled up every seat in that little minivan with adult human beings in a hot, humid climate (seriously, guys). It was nuts.

We were driven to the Mission Offices, which are next to a church building in the city. We took photos with the President and his wife, and were then invited into the buiding to eat. To our surprise, upon opening the door, we were met by a zone of beaming missionaries singing Called To Serve!! My smiling muscles ached after that.

Anyway, we were given the rundown and assigned trainers. Mine´s name is Elder Melena. He´s great, and I love him already. He´s super helpful and super native, which means I get to learn Spanish reeeall fast.

Together, we took a taxi to our casa, which was about five to ten minutes away. We proceeded to do a few basics - unpacking and ironing the folded clothes. Then, we went out to work.

Turns out, none of the investigators E Melena planned to see were in when we came to their houses, so we contacted a little and he introduced me to some of the ward leaders. Let me tell you, YOU DONT KNOW FEAR UNTIL YOUVE TRIED TO GIVE SOMEONE THE MOST IMPORTANT MESSAGE OF THEIR LIVES IN A CASUAL SITUATION IN A LANGUAGE YOU REALLY DONT KNOW THAT WELL. Super scary. But, we did it.

Later that day, I shared a spiritual thought with a family from the ward. Everyone seems super friendly and supportive of the new missionaries.

We passed a lot of groups of kids playing futbol in the street, but we weren´t allowed to play with them. It´s one of our presidents rules (probably good, considering my history with futbol).

That was it. We went home and I slept in a hammock. Now, today, we have some appointments. I´ll tell yáll about it next week.

Mucho amor,

Elder Carson