Leaving the CCM/Arriving in the Washington Tacoma Mission

A picture says a thousand words...

CCM Semana 5

So I'm writing this on my phone. The power went out and there's only a tiny bit of Wi-Fi. There's been some crazy power outages this week. It's been exciting.

This week has pretty much just been focused on getting us ready to enter the field. We've had classes everyday about expectations and whatnot. It's been pretty fun. Pretty much I'm just super excited to be leaving. So that's neat.

I gave my first talk in Spanish this week. It was on families, and the importance of teaching about families. It was supposed to be 5 minutes long, no more, no less, they were very clear about that. So I prepared about a page in my study journal, thinking that it would take about 5 minutes to read through. I severely underestimated how fast I could actually speak Spanish. I blew through my prepared thoughts in about two minutes, and I still had three minutes to kill and it had to be in Spanish. So I just started going, not really knowing where I was going, but I was definitely going. I bore my testimony and closed, then went back to my seat, where Elder Atkinson informed me that I spoke for 7 minutes on the dot, whoops. But the next Elder's talk was about two and a half minutes, so it evened out. 

This Tuesday we had a devotional streamed from the Provo MTC with Elder Soares. It was really awesome. He told about his parents' conversion story, and how he still remembers it, despite only being five at the time. He read some excerpts from the journal of one of the Elders that taught his family. It made it more spiritual that it was almost 54 years ago to the day that these events took place. It was fantastic. He is a man called of God.

The CCM is awesome! I fly to the mission field next week! 

All's well here in Mexico City!

Elder Tobler 

CCM Semana 4

This week, the CCM suffered a power outage. We didn't have power for a good 14 hours. It was awesome. It wasn't a huge problem until night. We had to shower in the dark, which was an adventure, and some of us had to take cold showers, which also was an adventure. Most of the missionaries just busted out their own personal flashlight and went on with their merry way.

We were told to pack flashlights in our packing list. Many of the missionaries here are headed to countries that might not always have electricity or warm water, and they were warned accordingly. Some of the missionaries chose to not include a flashlight in their bags, and I'm sure that they all regretted this decision as we went to bed on Tuesday night. Some were well prepared and brought bright lights, one Elder in our room even had a lantern. But unless you had a lantern, it is tough to share a light.

In life, we are all told that the dark times will come, and it's our choice to prepare for them or not. During the day, we can get by without having a strong testimony, or without deep roots in the Gospel. But when those dark times come, we have to be ready, and we have to be prepared, and have our own testimony to help us through those dark times. And just like it's tough to share a light, it's tough to be completely reliant on the testimony of others in those dark times.

Another week down, Only about a week and a half until we fly out to the field. I love it here and couldn't be happier.

Elder Tobler

CCM Semana 3

Well, this week was awesome!

Pretty much a bunch of classes, just like every week. 

There are so many mosquitos here. After we do our laundry, they ask us to leave the washers open so they can air out. Well it's so humid, I don't know if anything ever dries out completely. We all learned that you can't do laundry first thing in the morning or else you will be swarmed by mosquitos. Literal swarms of 'squitos. Millions of them.

It rained super hard yesterday. And a tree about forty yards from our classroom. The top of the tree is now just charred branches. Our hallway flooded, waterproof shoes for the win tho. 

There's not a lot to report this week. Our Spanish is getting mucho mejor. 

Elder Tobler

CCM Semana 2

This week was incredible! I learn so much every single day!

I'm grateful for the opportunity I had to come to the Mexico CCM, it's so beautiful here. There are parrots flying everywhere. One day there was a moth, about seven inches across, in our classroom. That was pretty cool. And I'm learning so much Spanish. Sometimes it is a little frustrating, but my companion and I work through it.

We were supposed to have a live broadcast from the Provo MTC with one of the General Authorities this past Sunday. Turns out he got sick, so instead we had the CCM president, President Bennet and his wife give us a devotional on The Book of Mormon. In my personal study this week, I´ve been studying Preach My Gospel, Chapter 5, as well as reading some of the Saints book.

This week I'd just like to testify

of the truthfulness of The Book of Mormon. As I've studied it daily, and feasted on the words, my testimony has grown so much, and I'm grateful for the knowledge that I have of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. In the CCM, we talk a lot about our purpose, and why we are here. Our missionary purpose is to Invite others to come unto Christ. But why are you here? I have heard many answers to that question, some good, some alright, and some mediocre. One of the best answers I heard was, "This Gospel has brought me so much joy, how can I not share this Gospel with the world?"

This Church is true! President Nelson is the Prophet, and I look forward to hearing from them this weekend!

Much Love, 

-Elder Tobler

These green circles are all over. They're earthquake rendezvous points.

And some pictures of the facilities here:

CCM Week One

This week was incredible! About forty missionaries were on the flight from SLC to Mexico City. The Lord is surely hastening the work!

My companion´s name is Elder Smith, he is from Elk Ridge Utah, and had to evacuate his house the week before he flew here. He's such a stud. We get along great and are both striving to be the best missionaries that we can be. 

They don´t mess around here in the CCM. The second you drive through the gates, you´re in orientation videos and learning Spanish. Everything here is in Spanish. It makes it a little difficult sometimes. I couldn't have gotten through the first week without Google Translate.

The gym outside of the CCM with a statue of Arnold

This morning we had the opportunity to go to the Mexico City Temple. The session was in Spanish, so all of the missionaries got those sweet little headphones. It was an incredible experience. The Mexico City temple is the largest temple, outside of the United States. It is one of five temples where the Angel Moroni is holding the Plates of Brass.

Elder Smith and I at the Mexico City Temple

I apologize for writing so late today, my companion and I got locked out of our room and had to have a worker come let us back in. It's been a great experience trying to communicate with very limited Spanish. 

A scripture that has been on my mind this week is found in John 1:7-8. It reads

7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 

These scriptures are talking about John. We had a devotional on Tuesday about how we can be a light, and how we can build our light. Where do we get our light? Through our Savior, Jesus Christ. We may be a light, but ultimately we need to bear witness of The Light. As I've studied this week, I've asked myself, How can I bear the best witness of The Light, of my Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ? I challenge you to ask yourself the same question. 

I know that as we strive to bear witness of The Light, we will be blessed with more light. I know this to be true. 

The Church is true! 

Much Love,

Elder Tobler

The Comedor

The clouds peeping over the mountain

The view from our room

Made It There!

He made it there! The Mexico MTC shared some pictures on their Facebook page.

Checking In

He almost hid on this one.

He's second from the right on the back row.