He's In MEXICO!

Brett was able to send a little message when he arrived to the mission home in Tampico with President and Sister Jordan.

Hello Parents!! I'm here at the mission home and I am feeling very well. I have eaten and am here with President and Hermana Jordan, a new Elder from Honduras, and the Assistants to the President. I will be going to my apartment later to meet my new companions and then it will be off to the work!! I love you!

Estas son las fotos de Elder Gonzalez junto a los Presidentes de la Mision Mexico Tampico.  Estamos muy animados de poder tener a su hijo en esta mission, sera una gran bendicion en esta mission los esfuerzos que El haga, esperamos que siempre puedan seguir apoyandole en todo.

Elder Castro y Elder Agren

TRANSLATION:

[This is a picture] of Elder Gonzalez with the mission Presidents of the Mexico Tampico Mission. We are very excited to have your son in this mission. He will be a great blessing to our mission and all the effort he will put in. We hope that you will be able to continue supporting him in everything he does. 

-Elder Castro and Elder Agren (Assistants to the President)

So cute. His letters to the family will be put together to update y'all about his first full week in a HOT HOT area in Mexico! Please contact me here or on facebook if you need his email. I'd rather not post it publicly. I'll get his snail mail address up ASAP :)

Week 2 of the MTC

So Elder Gonzalez sent this Friday, April 12, on his P-day very excited to be heading out the mission field. Saturday, April 13, Mom and Dad Gonzalez got a phone nice and early in the morning (7:30am) saying that the 'mission' isn't ready so he'll be staying in the MTC ONE MORE WEEK.....I'm sure he's a little bummed but one week won't hurt him. Maybe the food will ;)

Hello!!!

     I leave for Mexico on Monday the 15th at 3:00 AM!!! AHHHH All by my lonesome!! Well I'm the only one that will be going to Tampico....All the other Elders are going to Mexico City, East and Northwest missions. Which reminds me, the other day (Tuesday) I went to the Consulate with these same missionaries. I had heard about the trip about five minutes AFTER I was supposed to be on the bus. They waited for me but I was booking it to the travel office, and my classroom is all the way on the other side of the campus (it's not really that far)! I grabbed my ticket and ran to the bus as well. Little did I know that the Elders, seeing me in my frantic rush, decided that they were going to pretend like I was in the wrong place!! Haha, I went onto the bus and they asked me where I was going. I said Mexico and they said "oh, we're going to New Zealand......" as my head hung down in UTTER disappointment, they all shouted out "NAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Those punks. Haha It was good though, There were some fine Elders in that group! We got back to the MTC just in time to get there for the devotional for Gerald N. Lund, it was pretty fantastic. On Sunday After conference the devotional was held for Vocal Point and that was really cool!!!

 

     I love you all and I know that this church is true! I have been teaching "investigators," all in spanish, and I am getting better every time. My companion is very patient with me and all the elders help me with my spanish when I need it, which is a lot! When we bring the spirit into our lives it makes them so much better, when we remember our purpose it makes life much more bearable, and when we remember who we are we love one another with a closer knowledge of how our Heavenly Father loves each of us.

     I went to the temple this morning and it was GREAT! I really needed it, because even though we have have absolutely fantastic companionship inventory and great meetings and such as a district, we all needed to feel the peace of the temple!!

    I love the Lord and He has strengthened me so much!! I am definitely getting better speaking spanish and my companions and teachers help me SO much! This Gospel is TRUE and I am going to work as hard as I can to let every ear hear the call of repentance from the Lord, whom I represent. Until my preparation day in MEXICO!!! LOVE! -Elder Gonzalez

He's a cutie and one more week gives us a chance to make sure he's totally ready. And to send him treats via same-day delivery. He's got cinnamon rolls on his way to him tomorrow :)

Week 1 of the MTC

From the image above, you can see that my little brother Brett has been ready to serve the Lord since he was a wee babe. Now he has been set apart to be a missionary to serve the people of Tampico, Mexico in the spanish language.

I think his MTC Preparation Day is Saturday because I received his email right before the morning session of LDS General Conference. To see the highlights of Conference, check out that link!

Mom has this countdown.... I can't say I'm a fan.

But just so you know, family feels the time go by like an eternity. His friends and neighbors feel like two years go by in a blink! 

Here's his overview of his first few days in the Missionary Training Center:

Hey I was accidentally placed into the beginner class when I got here!! SO my PO Box is NOT 218 it is now 209!! Please and thank you!!! My companion is Elder Moreno and I and he were called as the zone leaders! There are seven Elders and eight Sisters. We have a trio obviously, but it was new. Oour classroom is so full!! Our teachers are fantastic! Hermana Casares and Hermano Wilkes are very good at what they do (the teachers). My Branch Presidency is fantastic and really appreciate them. So far all of the Elders in our district are very obedient and this I love because of the blessings we have all received the closeness we have as a District and the opportunities we have to better ourselves here so that we may become even better in the Field. Let everyone know that the only way I will write them is if they write me first, not for selfish reasons, but because I have no addresses or emails memorized except my own!!! General Conference is going to be so AMAZING!!!! I am so excited to hear from our Beloved Prophet President Thomas S. Monson!!!!!!!!!!! OOH something really cool is that Elder Martinez is from Puerto Rico and he didn´t have the chance to get endowed before he came. He is in the Trio so they were all able to go to the temple yesterday afternoon! Of all the missionaries in my district I am the only one going foreign from here! Everyone else is going stateside. Some are going to New York, others to Florida, some to Idaho, and many are staying here in Provo. My companion is going to Ogden! He was born in Mexico, was raised in Georgia (the state), and has been in Orem for that past two years! I think it´s safe to say that he was very surprised that he would be serving in Ogden. Any way I don´t have much time left so I need to finish up here. Let everyone know that I love them and that I love the Savior! They only way I have been able to function so far is due to the companionship of the spirit and a very fine and patient companion here. I really do love this gospel and I cannot wait until I am able to preach with extreme confidence in Spanish!! I know that the only way I will progress is when I do my part and I have been doing my best to be meeting the ends in which the Lord can take over. ENJOY CONFERENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ps My companion is sick and so we needed to leave the MTC and go get some medicine for him and when we did that after dinner yesterday I saw Brother Wald (one of the previous teachers I had for Mission Prep) and he was very happy and excited to see me! Haha it was pretty cool!!! I have been able to see many of the Elders and Sisters that I know here and it has been great to see them before they head out and see their progression in language and such!

Isn't he the best? Zone leader?! I'm not surprised except I remember my time in the MTC and I'd really like to hear how this came about to be a newbie zone leader...

Well, I'll keep you up to date as I get his emails and updates. Huge thanks go out to everyone for your prayers and support in his behalf!