Trent's Mission To Chile: MARCH 21 - MARCH 27 CENTRO DE CAPACITACION MISIONAL MEXICO (MISSION TRAINING CENTER)

Hello, my parents and family and friends!!

It's my second P-Day and I've been looking forward to it ever since the last P-Day!! haha. Man, this week has gone by pretty fast, though! I've had a lot of fun and I'm learning so much here in the CCM. About a week or so ago we added another class on our schedule later in the afternoon with Hermano Vargas and Hermano Gomez. Twice the Spanish, every day that we have classes (which is every day except P-Day on Thursdays, and Sunday)! So this week has been super busy but also a whole lot of fun. Right after I had to finish emailing last Thursday, I got a notice from the Servicio Postal that I had got a package..and it was the COOKIES! That was absolutely amazing and I felt so grateful. It's really, really rare to get things here in a short amount of time, at least according to the other missionaries, and that was the first thing any of us in our district had received!! I shared the cookies with all the guys in my district (7 of us elders - Hermana Terranova and Hermana Richins weren't in the casa to get some and I had to keep them safe!), and I still had a couple left over to savor myself. Thank you, momma, and thank you, my dad! They were delicious!! Speaking of mail, I also got the first letter here out of anybody in my district! The day before yesterday we checked our mail and I got mom's letter sent the day I left. Thank you, momma. :) I'm blessed to have such good parents that take care of me, even when I'm in Mexico!! Ok, so after the last P-Day.. on Saturday I got to role-play (as a friend of mine that I chose to portray), and went through a lesson in front of the class with Hermana Salvador. That was really neat, and Hermana Salvador taught in such a genuine way. It was also really cool to be able to understand the lesson and respond like my friend would -- in Spanish! It's neat practice. We do a lot of role-playing here, every day, and whenever we teach "real" lessons, the person we are teaching is always a "profile" of a real person. It's really helpful and a neat experience for us to teach in Spanish and be concerned for a real person. Sunday was awesome and a day of opportunities! In Sacrament meeting, I blessed the Sacrament (Santa Cena) in Spanish, sang "Oh Dulce, Grata Oracion" or "Sweet Hour of Prayer" with three other elders in my district, AND gave my first talk in Spanish!! It was an awesome meeting and such a cool experience to give a talk! Our district's topic this week was Charity, "the pure love of Christ," and I spoke for 10 minutes in complete Spanish about charity and how important it is to have it in our lives. Especially as missionaries -- we need charity, especially! That was an awesome day, and Monday ended spiritually as well. Our district got way off topic for a while Monday night and Elder Archibald and I left to study outside for a while. When we got back and after everyone calmed down, we decided to read the Book of Mormon together. We read Alma 14, about Alma and Amulek. It's Elder Adams' favorite chapter. When we were done reading it, we talked as a district from heart to heart about being missionaries and how much of a blessing it is in our lives. There were tears. We all really hope that we are being good examples to those we love back home. I really hope I am. All 9 of us in the district committed that night to staying more focused and living up to our potential and this amazing calling as a representative of Jesus Christ. Whenever we get too off track now, one of us will say "potential" and we'll quiet down. Ok, I know that might sound cheesy, and it kind of is haha, but we really do understand how important it is that we are out here. Hermana Terranova quoted one of the doctors from Gray's Anatomy and said, "Today is a great day to save lives." I love that, and that's why we're here. Tuesday we had our first TRC. I still don't quite know what that stands for lol, but it's basically an opportunity to talk with real, LIVE, interested people about the gospel. We skyped with two girls, this week. One of them's name was Maytee (Mai-Te, not maytee like ahoy maytee hahaha), and she's been less active and missing church for a while. It was neat to be able to talk with her and I told her straight up that I want her to go to church! haha. I told her that it blesses my life, especially in school which she is also super busy with, and she really appreciated that. Wednesday one of the most awesome things happened. One of the other elders and I were practicing teaching Hermana Terranova about the Plan of Salvation. At the end of the lesson, I bore my testimony that because Christ lives, we too may live. I told her I was grateful to have that understanding in my life, that I can be with my family and those I love for eternity. Tears came to her eyes, and Hermana Terranova does not cry, at least not like the other sisters. That reminder of the Plan of Salvation made her think of her aunt who was killed, and through those tears she said that knowing that was what got her through that. That was really special and the Spirit was there in that lesson. Well, wow, I made it to Thursday! Ok, before I get going to responding to the others emails I NEED to respond to, there's been a few questions about the food here. The food is AMAZING and totally authentic, true Mexican food! There's meat prepared different ways, tortillas, rice, beans, gello, and plenty of hot sauces! There's one here that has a bad reputation and it's supposed to be in a white bottle, but my companions and I still haven't found it! One of the other elders and I asked one of the workers one day and they said they don't have it right now. It's supposed to burn a whole through you hahaha. Oh gosh..the first week and a half I really wanted that bottle. I'm ok now, though! Besides the Mexican food, we DO get American bits here and there some days! We've had pizza and chicken rolls from Costco (on special meals haha), and the MOST AMAZING surprise was Sunday night when we had hot wings and waffle fries!!! Each of us elders got back up to get a second helping!! hahaha. Ok, ok, I'm sorry I can't write even more but I have to go on to sending pictures and responding to as many emails as I can! I love you my family and friends, and this time I can leave you on that funny note. ;)

Mucho amor, from Mexico!

Elder Trent Sellers