Week 16 - Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve Call from Mexico

This week, Elder Contreras and I have been working pretty hard, but this whole week has been kind of slow.

There's a family of a mom and her two daughters, and i think they all work together so that the oldest daughter can get married to Elder Contreras. They are always calling us, trying to set up noches de hogar, and then they don't invite any nonmembers. They try to spend time with Elder Contreras alone, which I can't allow, and they do pretty much whatever he wants. It's actually super annoying, because they never leave us alone, and the members in the ward have gotten on his case about it. We keep trying to shut them down, but they only get stronger. We are trying to figure out how to deal with this. There's a member lady who gets on their case and ours about it, and she's kindof harsh and gossippy. In fact, the lady and her two daughters said that they'd go inactive if families keep talking about them like that. It's a delicate situation. We'll get it figured out. We're on the verge of calling the mission president about it. 

This Saturday, we went to a baptism in Tlatenchi.  Elder Contreras climbed the ladder up to the water tower and saw an owl.  It turns out the owl was a momma with a nest full of babies.  Elder Contreras, not wanting to be deterred, took out his belt and tried to scare them away. Bad Idea. They got super angry and tried to attack him. From there, he surrendered and climbed back down. I told him it was a bad Idea, but he said he was a better man for it.

For Christmas Eve, we spent an hour at church, and spent a lot of time with the L family. they're a super cool family that has recently come back into activity in the church. They were having a party while we called home. It was fun, but we've been super tired today because of it. And today, we had some Ameyal with orange sticks, and made a Christmas toast, with all our goals and desires. 'Till next August, we said. By then, we'll be home, able to have normal christmas again. With some kind of snow and family. 

Family: I loved getting to talk to you guys, and hearing all about your lives and opportunities. I'm glad you were all there, and It was a great experience. Don't miss me too much. I'll call again in five months.

Be sure to have the Scott family send me some emails, too -even just to say hi. It's always good to get some emails.

Love you, Feliz Navidad!

Week 15 - Happy Birthday, Mom!

December 18, 2017

This week has been pretty cool. 

Last monday, we went to the Stake Center to play some games, and Elder Contreras Sprained his ankle really bad, and it was really hard for him to walk. We actually had to show up late for the district meeting.

I accidentally broke off his tail trying to catch him.

Tuesday and Wednesday, we met with two families that are super accepting of the Gospel. 1st, the Cruz family, who we've been meeting with for a while, and the Juárez family. With the Cruz family, they are truly an escogido family. They are super willing to do anything for the church. We didn't know what was going to be the deal breaker -- Chastity, Word of Wisdom, Tithing; but there was nothing. They are totally chill with everything, and their Kids are super nice, and welcoming for everything. With the Juarez family, they have little money, but really love learning the Gospel. They have 3 kids, but only one problem. They aren't married. We're working really hard to get them to be so, and praying for them to have more success in their buisnesses. I I pray for them a lot.

Thursday, was mom's birthday. And for her birthday, I got...My first Baptism. It was a little girl Ivanna. She was just missing some Church attendance, and she finally got it! She was Baptized by Elder Contreras, In knee-high water, because our Font ran out before it was full. It was a really good day!

Ivanna's baptism on December 14, 2017

Friday, Both Elder Contreras and I were super sick with congestion at night and Post nasal drip in the day. We took the day off to sleep.

Saturday, we had recovered and we had the Ward Christmas party. Mexico Church parties are awesome. There were piñatas and music, and tons opf people and Investigators. We had a great time, and got a couple pictures with members and investigators.

Sunday, there was a Posada. A posada is a weird mexi-catholic tradition where you walk with a candle down a road, singing about the Virgin Mary, and you go to someones house to ask if there is space for all the people walking and singing. Then, you just have a party. Piñatas, candies, and Ponche, and mexican tradtional drink with every fruit imagineable all in one. It was cool, but I got candle wax all over my pants, and we weren't allowed to take pictures of the posada, or even talk, unless it was about the virgin. (Until the party)

Us with the Elder's Quorum president and his family

The Bishop and his family

It was a cool week! 

I got all three of the packages you sent, and they made me really happy!  I love the calendar.  It's actually really nice, because I can write a lot of stuff in the squares.  The pictures made me miss Feridun a lot!

Week 12.5: "I'm 99% sure they robbed you because you're white."

(MOTHER'S NOTE:  I became aware of this little story two weeks after he emailed it to his dad, brother, and all of his friends.)

So, this is a story that, if you have any contact with my mother, you shouldn't tell her, because she'll freak, probably.

So we had arrived for the comida a half hour early, so we decided to sit and plan our day. We had been sitting there for five minutes, then two guys came up to us. I thought they were going to ask us about church, but instead, they pulled out a knife and stole our watches and money. We lost about 70 pesos plus two 100 peso watches. So yeah, we got robbed at Knifepoint. After this whole ordeal, I was pretty roughed up, and upset that there's nothing you can do about it. Elder Ortiz just said, 

"Honestly, I'm 99% sure they robbed you because you're white. They never would have just robbed me." 

So it was kinda a weird day. Just thought I'd tell you in case you thought that you wanted to be in mexico on Saturday, because you probably would have been robbed.

Apparently, we're the only ones for a long time that have been robbed, but, of course, it happened to me, in week 5.

I'm good though, don't worry. Just a fun experience that I thought youd want to hear about. 

¡Nos Vemos!

Week 14 - Divisions and Christmas

These ceramic skulls are called calaveres

So, this week I spent a lot of time in Cuerna. Monday, we spent a lot of time in centro, buying Little things, and going to the Tianguis there. I bought a jacket, because it gets cold in the morning, and at night. 

Tuesday, we had a visit with a family that's progressing really well. All the kids are 12 and under, and they're super cool. It makes me think about the Little kid I have back home, who always seemed super Young. To my sister: you're older than you seem.

Week 13 - Just a SOLID Week!

So, this week has been kind of uneventful, but very productive at the same time. We've been spending a lot more time Focusing our efforts. We have been working really efficiently this week. We have 9 péople with fecha bautismal, and our weeks are packed with investigators and lessons. We almost never have to plan time for finding because we have so many referrals from the Christmas Events, So we have a lot of contacting to do. We hardly have time to teach all the people sometimes. I know it won't always be this packed, but we're loving all the work. 

So, this change, I was a little nervous about getting a new companion. Elder Contreras is actually super cool. We are super focused, and we work very efficiently. He and I get along really well, and we work in similar ways. We both hate spending time doing nothing, we both play píano, and he's hyped by the thought of playing board games that are more difficult/fun than Sorry, Clue, or Monopoly. He's going to BYU, so there will be plenty of opportunities for game nights. I'm super excited for this change.   I think that Elder Contreras is exactly who I needed for my mission right now, and it feels good to work the missionary grind.  It feels good to be where I'm at.

We had to spend a lot of Saturday in Centro, because we didn't have enough time  to go home and do anything between our Christmas activities. So we went through the Tianguis in Morelos and picked out some cool stuff. We got some Ceramic Skulls, Magnets, and a dope Mayan-themed chess set. *shhh*  We've had a lot of fun with that one.

Also, sorry for no pictures. Computers here are trash sometimes.

Family: I'd probably expect a letter home in the next 2 weeks to 2 months. You never know with Mexico. If you want to send a package, put stickers of Jesus or The Virgin Mary on it. No one wants to steal from Jesus or the Virgin Mary.

I haven't seen a Christmas package yet.  For all I know, it's here. I just haven't been to the offices to pick it up.  We have district meetings there, though. Its the biggest perk of being in this zone!

Glad Trump was in Utah.  I see coverage of Trump all the time here, but I'm sure its a bit more negative here than there.  We play a game called "Trumpspotting" and the first person to spot Trump that day wins. It's actually quite fun.

If you could send me some covers or cases for my spanish Bible and Triple, that would be lovely. I don't want them getting destroyed in my bag.

That's all for now. I miss Christmas at home, but the time seems to go by pretty quick. I hit my 3 month point next week.

¡Gracias por Todos!

Week 12 - Trainer Transfer

So, we only had a five-week transfer this time. I don't know why. But we found out on Tuesday that one of us would be changing. Elder Ortiz got changed. He got called as a zone leader in Iguala. He left this morning, and I got my new companion, Elder Contreras. He's from Arizona, and he's really good at soccer. He even played on Real Salt Lake. He was on the Substitute team, but it's still pretty cool.

Trainer #2 - Elder Contreras from Arizona

So this week has been pretty weird. First, we were supposed to spend Tuesday after our interina and Wednesday in Acapulco, but president told everyone to change their tickets and go home Tuesday. At least we got some tacos al pastor before we left, and went to the beach for 5 minutes.

We went back on Tuesday, and got home at almost 10.

My 5-minute stop at the beach in Acapulco.

Week 11 - Sunny Acapulco

...In Acapulco! We're down here for the Interina for all the newbies. We would usually have Interina in Cuerna, but since most of the newbies are in Acapulco, the church figured it would be easier to send us all to Acapulco! So we're here. I literally got off the bus 20 minutes ago, and now we're emailing. So I have no pictures. It's incredibly hot and moist all the time. Like getting a hug from someone who just ran a marathon and they're not letting go. It's a bit strange.

The beachfront in Acapulco

Speaking of pictures, I can't send you any this week, either. Pretty much every good ciber is closed, or full of other missionaries, so we had to go to one where all the computers have viruses. It's pretty rough, and I apologize in advance. Next week for sure.

So, this week has been really weird. We've only taught maye 2 lessons, and the rest of the week has been us moving houses, and immagration. We went to immigration on Wednesday, ith Elder Paul, the exec Sec., and we bought Street tacos. I idn't even get sick! I can handle Street tacos, but not little ceasar's. apparently. 

We had to change to a different house because our landlord changed. We got all settled in on Saturday, and it looks pretty cool. It has a lot of potential. (Pictures next week)

Week 10 - Happy Birthday Elder Ortiz

So, the 14th is Elder O's B-day, so we've spent the last few hours walking around centro, buying ice cream and hackie-sacks, and going to music stores. We also went to Carl's Jr. with Hno. Uribe. I missed burgers. 

Elder Ortiz and I were pretty pumped for the music stores, butthey're honestly kinda trashy. They have lots of guitars (Nice for Elder Ortiz, not so much for me) and all their instruments were really low quality, except a few guitars and basses. No pianos were in sight, and all the accordions were kept behind the desk, so I couldn't even try one. Interestingly, they only have valved trombones here. They have them so trumpet players could play low notes sometimes, I guess. Who knows?

 

We haven't had a normal proselyting day since Thursday, and we probably won't until Thursday. Friday, we were running to Unidad Morelos,and didn't get to teach anyone. Saturday, all our appointments fell through. Sunday, we had a choir practice for our Monday event.We had the "Ilumina el Mundo" (Light the World) event yesterday, and it was pretty cool. We set up a giant tent in the Zocalo, with tons of booths about the church. We just asked people what they knew about the church, and they were pretty receptive. We got probably 5-6 references just for our area. And today was P-day. We had a loesson planned with Guadalupe at 12, but it went until 1:30. So our day has been pretty short.

Honestly, I feel really bad for the guy who was supposed to direct the choir, because he got to conduct for about 10 minutes, and then the accompanist and the soloist just kinda stole the show from him. They would constantly interrupt songs and give their opinions, or just start conducting us and run rehearsal without asking the guy. He took it like a champ, though. I get the feeling that that happens to him a lot. By the way, in my amatuer opinion, the soloist didn't know what she was doing, and the accompanist should learn what it means to accompany a choir and not be accompanied by a choir.  Needless to say, I was pretty opinionated on the subject.

When we do lessons, everything still goes over my head. I Just smile when the investigators laugh - in an attempt to look genuine. It's still pretty rough, but I'm slowly getting better. Poco a poco, cada dia.

Love you guys, and hope you're all doing awesome! Best of luck, Millie in future performances, because you were very fun to watch. 

Sounds like you guys are all set! Have a great time, and know that I'm really gonna miss doing Christmas with the family this year. I've learned to really appreciate those Christmas memories. It really is going to have a new meaning from now on. I Love, yall, and Nos Vemos.

-Elder Scott

Week 9 - Heat and hills everywhere

November 6 - We had divisions with one of the AP's on Tuesday, Elder Kerr. He schooled me and my trainer. He put 3 of our investigators with baptismal dates, and he contacted everyone. He's really a great missionary, and we learned tons from him. So, using what we learned from him, we now have 6 invstigators with a date. We've  had a pretty productive week.

Today was P-day, and Our zone leader invited us all to go bowling. We had a blast, and we got to go downtown to central Morelos, take a taxi, and went to the Temixco tianguis(Market) where Elder Ortiz and I bought some new clothes. I actually have a really hard time shopping here, because people only sell what they know they can sell, and nobody wants to sell clothes my size. 

So I'm feeling fine. I'm not sick. But I did get sick Sábado pasado when we got some Little Ceasar's pizza and I got food poisoning. That's about it In terms of health.  We have to walk everywhere, and there's no way they'd let us drive here. Everyone is insane, and the road systems make no sense. There will be five streets called "Cinco de Mayo" and all of them have a house #27.

This week's been a lot easier for me, but there's still lots to learn. See y'all next week.

P-day with zone leaders

Week 8 - We made it through one week. Only 93 to go!

Elder Ortiz and Elder Scott

So I got here, but we had to spend the whole day in the stake center doing interviews and training. We didn't even get our companions or areas. It was kind of a long, boring, day.It was pretty rough, but we made it through.

I got my companion Elder Ortiz, and we're serving in Temixco, one of the largest areas in the mission. It's so large that we physically cannot afford to not take buses everywhere. We end up having to spend a lot of our own money, because we spend twenty to forty pesos on buses alone, every day, each. It gets kinda rough at times. Speaking of rough, the Buses (Rutas) are insane. In fact, driving in general is insane. The roads are bumpy, and everyone drives crazy. If I don't get the opportunity to drive a car here, I'll be fine. The buses are even crazier. They're like a small rollercoaster. They jerk you and turn you, and there's not nearly enough leg room.

We've taught quite a few lessons, but it's usually Elder Ortiz teaching and me listening, or trying to follow along. 

Week 7 - Arrival in Cuernavaca

October 23, 2017

I made it to Cuernavaca, safe and sound! There are so many people here that we don't get our trainers or areas until tomorrow. I'm really tired, but I'm excited to be here! I'll probably have more time to email tomorrow. Adios!




October 24, 2017

I made it to Cuernavaca and my first Area is a place called Temixco. I'll be here for the next 12 weeks at least, with my trainer, Elder Ortiz. He's from california, and, thank goodness he speaks English. I'm excited to be here, and I can't wait to get started.

We had to leave the CCM at 6:00 in the morning and spent all day doing orientation and interviews. It was honestly a really long day, and I'm really glad that I'm at least in the field at the moment. We've already been fed by the members and we taught a fake lesson to a member just to test my Spanish. Sorry I don't have more to tell you. I'm sure Ill have plaenty to say next week

Love you!

Elder Scott

Q&A with Elder Scott

• Tell us about Cuernavaca and Temixco (also, how do you pronounce Temixco?)

Cuernavaca is dense and crowded. Sidewalks are for decoration, and nobody uses them to walk on. They're too small, and they plant trees right in the middle of it. Our area is pretty big and covered in hills. Some streets are so steep that there is no way they'd fly in america. It's been cool so far. We already taught 2 lessons and have been fed by members. Salsa here is muy bueno.

It's pronounced Teh-mee-sco

• Do you have roommates besides your companion?

No other roomates. Just me and Elder Ortiz. I'm also the only Elder from my MTC group in the multi-zone area. Most of them, like elder rice, went to acupulco.

• Have you met the rest of your district yet?  Any other greenies in it?

I'm the only greenie in the greneral area. There's one other sister, Hermana Garcia.

• What is your mission president like?

My mission president is pretty cool. He mainly speaks spanish, so I haven't gotten to kow him a ton, but he's really quite nice. He'll be leaving sometime next year.

Most missionaries are just getting to their missions today. I'd say that everyone should get an email by tomorrow, and if they dont, then they have a stickler companion. Best of luck to you.

Week 6 - Last Week at the MTC, BOOOOOOI!

I am super psyched to get out into the field. Disregarding the fact that Spanish is still difficult because there are 3 past tenses, a hypothetical tense, a command conjugation, plus additional endings for -ing verbs, future, and conditional. Other that keeping those straight, and not knowing how to understand sometimes, I think I'll be fine! 

I ran into a friend from High School here on Tuesday. It's Jon Soto! I'll try to send a picture with him later. Sending pictures can be difficult, because I can only take them on P-day, and emailing is the very first thing I do every P-day. I'll try to send some pictures later, but I don't know. 

You asked what is my favorite thing about being here. I like the people in my CCM group the most. They're super funny and we're probably the coolest district in the CCM. We have a lot of fun, and some of them live really close to me, so they'll be a must have hangout when I go home.

P-day at the MTC with Elder Butterfield

I would love to hear from Dan or Joey.

Oh, yeah. It gets cold. If the sun isn't out, it's cold. We're 7,200 feet in the air. It gets really cold at night, but really nice in the day. It's really hard to get up at 6:30 every morning when its so cold at night. And it doesn't help that we're in a valley, so we don't even see the sun till 8:300 or 9:00. So it can be pretty chilly.

Thanks for sending the Jellybeans and DR. Pepper. You can-t get cola down here, so Dr. Pepper is a life saver. I'm glad everything is going good for you guys. Love you, and I pray for you.

Model of the Mexico CCM Campus

Boundaries of the Mexico, Cuernavaca Mission and stakes

Classroom building at the Mexico City CCM

Week 5 - One Month Today

Elders Scott and Park right after haircuts. It's not the
haircuts that make them look blurry.

So it's week 5/6 and it's flying by. We were talking last night, and decided if every month goes by this fast, we'll all be fine doing this 23 more times. It really goes. Days are so quick and routine. I like being here, but I can't wait to get out at the same time. Next week we get our "Last Week" dots for our tags. I am pumped.

No specific scripture has stuck out to me, but the scriptures take on a new meaning as a missionary. They are very unique and specific in ways I hadn't seen before. I loved reading the last bit of Alma, because of the specificness of the scriptures and strategies of war.

I probably write 5-6 emails a day. Not a ton, but it keeps me occupied for an hour.

I've gained about 7 pounds while here, but this is some greasy stuff. It's no suprise everyone gains weight here. In Cuernavaca, a lady was telling me that there are tons of Mangos in everything. I'm excited to get out and eat nothing but mangos for 2 years!

We get to go to the temple again today. I'll probably buy some more ties and tie clips at the store they have. I'm excited to go again because  going through the temple in spanish is Awesome. You get to read off a spanish card to someone who is forgiving if you sound like a gringo, and you get headphones for the video in english.

Our district with our teacher. She is getting married
Friday, so this is our last day with her.

I'm pretty excited about it all, I'm just tired of teaching fake investigators. I want the real deal. But I also want to learn spanish, so, It's kindof a toss up at this point.

Love you guys, and I can't wait to hear what's going on with all y'all. I love getting your emails, so keep em coming!

~Élder Scott

Week 4 - Time is Flying

He's adorkable.

So Dad wanted me to talk about the daily grind a bit. We have classes from 8:30 to 12:15. Right now we're learning about future and present progressive conjugations, which are the easiest by far. I'm excited and also not excited for those. We have more classes from 3 to 6, and then we do computer work for an hour or so. We have gym time from 1:30 to 2:30, and our district plays some mean volleyball. We had a district tournament and won. We play a lot of volleyball and foursquare on p-day and during gym time. But on the days I want to take it easy, our district leader lets me go on splits with Elder Muñoz. He's writing a short story, and always wants me to play some mood music for him, with which, I am happy to oblige. 

Week 3: Earthquake Sirens

Earthquake damage in the city of Zacatepec

So there is this giant earthquake alarm that goes off whenever the slightest earthquake aftershock goes off, but that's only gone off once since the earthquake. It's scary in Mexico, though, because buildings are made of solid concrete, and not earthquake proof. Whenever there is anything over a 4 quakewise, they have to shut down everything and go in for inspections. Schools get a lot of days off here.

Yes we get to watch conference. It's the only thing on the schedule for Saturday and Sunday. I'll keep you posted on that.

Week 2: Mexico City Temple Visit

As P-day came to an end, we received a second email from Elder Scott:

We just got back from the Temple in Mexico City. It was a really cool experience to go through the endowment in Spanish. During the last part, I had to read off of a card, and the member was very suprised in my ability to read Spanish so well. It was a really cool experience and it was a really cool temple.

Here are a few pics from then.

Week 1: Earthquakes and Jamming Out to Hymns

This keyboard is in spanish and I'm in English, so sorry for any errors. (NOTE: Gabe's Mom is not above editing)

The earthquake was pretty cool, first of all. It felt like waking on a bouncehouse that's being shaken by a bunch of unruly preteens. it was pretty sick though. I havent heard much about the volcano. 

I love you guys, but I'm not feeling homesick yet. After about 4 days, the days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days. I can't believe I've been here for 10 days already. My Spanish speaking is better and better every day, but my comprehension is still kinda trash. I imagine it will get better with time, but as long as I do a little better each day, I'm satisfied.

Week 1: Quick Email from Elder Scott

We had an earthquake drill at about 10:00 this morning, for about a minute. Not 2 hours later, Puebla, (about 2 hours away) got hit with a 7.2(?) earthquake. If presidente Bennett hadn't run the drill today, we wouldnt have known what to do to be safe. The church is true. I'm fine. Write to you on Jueves. Love you guys!

All Missionaries are Safe after 7.1 Earthquake in Mexico City

Following this morning's 7.1 earthquake near Mexico City, the Mexico City MTC posted the following:

Mexico MTC / CCM Mexico 

15 mins · 

All the missionaries are safe!

We can see the Lord's hand protecting our missionaries. We had a practice earthquake drill this morning and during lunch a real earthquake hit. Here are photos of the missionaries gathered safely outside after the earthquake. Many knelt to pray for those who were impacted by this quake.

Todos bien aquí en el CCM de México. Interesante mente tuvimos un exitoso simulacro hoy a las 11 y durante el almuerzo un verdadero terremoto. Ningún daño ninguno herido. Todos bien.

Arrival Photos

The following photos were posted to the Mexico CCM Facebook page.  The first shows Gabe's district on the day they arrived in Mexico City.  The second shows all incoming non-Spanish speaking missionaries who arrived on September 12.  

I made it!

After a long and hot bus ride, I have arrived at the CCM. I've been assigned a companion, Elder Park. I get to live in a casa on the grounds. I love you guys, and I'm pumped to be here.

This is all I've got time for today. My p-day is next Thursday, so I'll email you then!

T-minus 3 days and Counting

It is the weekend before Gabe flies to the Mexico City Missionary Training Center (MTC) and mom is stressed.  You would think, with Gabe being our second missionary, this would all be "old-hat" to us; but, no.  Gabe is more laid back than Sam, and this has been the source of much concern and hand-wringing as mom makes sure there isn't something he's forgotten. (It won't be as easy to send things to the Mexico MTC as it was to send things to Provo for Sam.)

Gabe has a gathering with friends tonight, and his "Farewell talk" is tomorrow in Sacrament Meeting at 1:00.  Monday will be his last chance to get any last minute items.  He will be set-apart as a missionary Monday night.  Tuesday morning we will drop him at the airport for his flight to Mexico City.

A quick NOTE: about the blog: Mostly the posts will be from Gabe's weekly letters home.  Some personal communications may be omitted as "not for public consumption".  Occasionally, mom and dad will post their thoughts.  The intent here is to share his experiences with a large group of interested people, without the need for Gabe to manage a distribution list while serving the Lord.