The first week here felt like a month and the second week only felt like two weeks. Hopefully by the time i leave time will have reverted back to its old self when 1 = 1. I think i'm in the swing of things now, we all have our daily schedule that is upheld by the minute and we find some comfort in the monotony because the subject matter we're learning really does a doozy on our minds and spirits. I feel like a Holy bucket (you can take that physically or metaphysically, however you please). All day I am filled with Spanish vocab and grammar that i do my best to contain, although some of each lesson drips out and I have to go back and sop it back up and try and hold on to it again while the next lesson on conjugations makes me overflow and just makes a mess of frustration all over the room. We then learn more about Christ's Gospel and how we must attain the attributes he lived, and this helps fill in our cracks, or at least lets us be ok with our cracks for a while more. While teaching and practicing we'll ladel out bits of ourselves to others, so they can benefit from our knowledge or love. Then, when our gaurd is down, we'll have a meeting where the spirit is very powerful and it fills up parts of my bucket i didn't even know i had and as a result i realize i'm an even bigger bucket that can hold more Spanish. The trend continues until you blow a teaching appointment and all of your innards feel like they just got plastered to a wall. Prayer and faith then bring a hose and fill you right back up, ready to grow and expand. I think my experience here is helping me transform from a bucket into a well, where i can have enough faith, patience, confidence in spanish and Love in God, my companion, and all those i meet so that i can prove to be a resource for others when they need help filling their buckets. It takes a lot of effort, but we're taught that stress + faith + work = growth. i really want to deepen my well, so i can have a greater ability to magnify my calling and serve the people in San Antonio
I hope you enjoyed my bucket analogy.. I thought of that.. just now. I'm sorry it needs a little more work, i'll try and work out the kinks later.
My roommates left for the missions in Mexico this week, and that was sad, but then we got new ones and that was really exciting! When they were in a meeting their first day we made their beds for them, put starbursts on their pillow and poorly drew them a picture of their 4 American roomates with hearts all over it.. so now they know.. Americans are weird and friendly.
Today is Dia de las Brujas (Halloween) which no one really cares about, but these next two day will be Dia De los Muertos (Day of the Dead) and i just know the city is going to erupt with activity. We're already kept up with the angry traffic that I think picks up in the wee hours of the night, and now the 15 million inhabitants of this giant crazy city will have actual reason to be up making noise at 3 in the morning. It's gonna be awesome. We can't leave the 16 foot wall around the campus here, but it's going to awesome. A note about the campus: it is very very big, and very beautiful. Compared to the gray dirty buildings that are stacked on top of each other all around us, it really is a heaven on earth.
Things in Mexico are stinking cheap. I bought a tie for like 45 pesos which comes to something just shy of $4. I'm gonna stash up while i'm here. Also, on the way back from the temple a man approached our bus with a bag of 10 bananas which we happily purchased for 10 pesos. Match that deal Wal-Mart!
It is fortunate we have a P-day on Halloween. My District is buying a ton of Mexican junk food from the little store they have here and we're gonna spend a few hours later today doing something really weird for us now... knocking doors. However, this time we'll be accepting food from each other rather than presenting the BOM. I think i'll like doing both equally. But if someone were to give me food while i taught them about the BOM, wow, that might just be too much happiness to handle, haha.
My companion was nice enough to let me run around the track this morning, which i wish i had more time to do here, and it's turning out to be a very nice day. Elder Paddock's Spanish is making remarkable bounds and teaching is becoming a lot more fun.
I really like being a Zone Leader because it let's me get to know and spend time with different missionaries here on campus. I've been very impressed with all of them. I had another District leave for their missions and another come in this week so my companion and I will have another opportunity tonight to teach about what it means to be a missionary and which rules are followed on campus that aren't specifically expressed in the missionary handbook. Some examples of this: Elders don't sit next to sisters at meals, Elders let sisters cut to the front of the line at meals, Elder don't walk sisters to their Casa's, Elders don't walk side by side with sisters, Elders don't give sister's high-fives. I don't know how well all of these rules are followed but if anyone is worried about the implications of Elders living so close to sisters... worry no more... sisters are on a pedestal the Elders don't go near.
100% obedience is preached far and wide. At first I felt like the onslaught of missionary rules were just to control an army of 20 year old's, and i don't like being treated like cattle. So it rubbed me the wrong way, for someone to say, if you don't go to bed at 10:30 you won't have the gift of tongues. A little trial and error though has helped me to know that God is at head of his work here. The rules do keep us in line, but they are endorsed from on high and if you want those blessings promised to the faithful, you must now do more to be counted amongst the faithful. I go to bed at 10:30 and i've viewed the difference in myself, in that, my ability to deepen my well each day is increased when i uphold the commandments laid forth by the orchestrate of this great work.
Elder Allen, the managing director the church missionary department spoke to us last tuesday. I am very committed to this work. I have committed to sell out and to thrust in my sickle with my might. I believe doing so will change me, and I trust it will only change me for the better.
With my love,
Elder Tyler Meidell
Attached are my two American Roommates Elder Bergevin form Washington and Elder Ogan from Oregon, then i'm with Elder Cabanas and Elder Polmas who just left to serve in the XOCAM mission
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