Week 1

This week from Elder Colby Eyre in the Santiago Chile MTC: 

     Well I had my first week out in the MTC. Its definitely one of the one of the hardest things that I've ever done, but its all good.  I have a lot of fun down here and I feel the spirit all the time.

   Haha, the first thing that happened to me when I got to the MTC was the president told me I had to get a hair cut. They took me into a room and they shaved my head. That was really fun.

     I don't have a whole lot of time to email today, but I love all of you and I know that the church is true.  Have a good week!

Love Elder Eyre

This week from Elder Colin Eyre in the Mexico City MTC:

     This week has been really cool but also really hard. The first day I got here I was called to be a zone leader, which is crazy because normally they call someone with more experience but I have like none haha. Zone leaders are in charge of a whole zone which is like 40 missionaries. I just have to check up on everyone every once in a while, and when new missionaries come in I go out and make sure their doing okay. I also make sure that everyone is getting along within their districts. But, to be honest I do not know how I can go out and help every one when I am having a really rough time with home sickness and totally changing what I am doing every day.

     I am used to hanging out  with all of my friends all of the time and not really caring about other people. Now I have to lose myself in the service of others which is actually an incredibly hard thing to do. Every time I pray, which is a lot,  I can't only be praying that I will be happy all of the time, but pray for the people that I will be teaching. I also need to pray that the language I am learning will come to me so that I will be able to teach the people of Chile in their language. Its also hard, because I'm used to time flying by but to be honest time here goes by really slow.

     My companion and I are bros, but its really hard because he is definitely getting the language much better than I am.  I know you're not supposed to grade yourself on someone else's success, but it is hard not to. We were teaching a lesson to a fake investigator and my companion was really the only reason the lesson kept going. After I could tell that my companion was upset that the lesson didn't go well, so that is a really hard thing to deal with. The language is really hard for me to learn even though its been a week, I still feel like I do not know much. I get frustrated with not knowing the language.

     Every day seems to get a little bit better here though. It seems like the times that I get home sick get less and less and that makes a huge impact on my day. I just need to learn how to work, and I know everything will end up being okay.

     A tender mercy did happen on Saturday. I was in one of the chapels getting taught about new missionaries, and I was feeling very home sick. I started pleading with God that things would get better. I opened my eyes, and one of the Mexican dudes pulls out a Mexican lolly pop and like kinda shows it to me. Then he just walked over and hands it to me out of like 50 other missionaries that I am sitting right next to. Even though that didn't take away all of my home sickness, I knew that I was being watched over. I am learning that God works in mysterious ways.

     I feel like I am getting knocked down so I will be a stronger worker later in life and truly be grateful for god.  I have also learned I need the spirit through out my day so that he can comfort me. I really miss my family they mean everything to me. I cry thinking about them, but thats okay I guess that why I'm here, to help other families be together forever just like mine.

     I also miss my friends muy grande. I need more pictures of them, having pictures is the best. I keep my family picture in my church shirt pocket at all times and it gives me comfort. I also miss my bro Colby more than ever. He told me he points at the Vine del Mar mission all the time and says his other half is there. That breaks my heart he means the world to me almost as much as my parents do. I always think about watching him walk away from us at the airport and thats a hard thought.

     Life is good here even though its very hard every day but I know every day will get better and my friends here are the best. I love you all talk to ya later.

Love, Elder Eyre