Hola!

Hola mi familia!

I'm loving it here! I was feeling overwhelmed on Tuesday and Wednesday before I came in, but I think that's due to the fact I had a lot of time to think about how permanent this change is in my life. But now that I am here and have something to do, I am soaking it all in without hesitation. Wednesday night, they divided our incoming group of elders y hermanas (500 came in on Wednesday, the largest group all summer) into two groups and we each were in a room with practice investigators. We were introduced to them and got to see them in character (investigators came in individually), then the floor was ours to teach and discuss based on their needs that we recognized. It was powerful and the Spirit was there.

We've jumped right in with Espanol. It is so much fun to hear Espanol todo el tiempo y practicar cada dia. Something that frustrated me yesterday though was that we were told we would not be taught the basics of Spanish. The system is for us to have personal and companero estudio based on what we will be teaching our practice investigator, Mario, then learning the Spanish necessitamos ensenar el. Mi companero, Elder Fife de Cedar City, UT, y yo already had nuestro primero meeting con Mario yesterday. We had to speak to him in Spanish which was scary but so much fun. We'll be working with him for a while here. At el CCM, we plan, study, and teach. I believe it's inspired and I trust it will be the best preparation to enter the mission field.

So far we've had gym time twice, both times spent playing futbol. It's a lot of fun interacting with other misioneros aqui. I have run into probably 20 other elders that I recognize, mostly from Utah State but also three from Florida y Georgia. Meals here are good, especially the wraps! I love those! Yesterday at lunch the elders in my distrito managed to tap into my uncontrollable laughter, for all those who are familiar with it.

I'm not sure what else to mention. Just know I'm having a great time and I am excited to be here! My preparation day after this week will be every Thursday. I like everything I have experienced thus far. Please forward this to Carrie as well; I don't know what her email address is. Also if you could check that the other emails are correct that would help. I love you all. La Iglesia is verdadero. Christ is our Savior.

Con amor a todo,

Elder Joshua Gathro