Uruguay Montevideo Mission: Elder Watts: Come What May, and Love It

May 16, 2019

Hello everyone,

It's been a wild week and a half. Just last Tuesday I woke up bright and early to board a plane headed for the CCM in Mexico City. The flight was relatively uneventful except for a brief 3 hour delay in Phoenix, which turned out to be a blessing as two missionaries showed up late and may have missed the flight had it left on time. I was alone on my flight to Phoenix from Reno, but I joined with a large group of 17 other missionaries at the Phoenix airport. Five more missionaries joined us at the Mexico City airport bringing our arrival party up to 23.

After a somewhat scary bus ride from the airport to the CCM, I arrived, arms sore from lugging around my suitcases. Thanks to our delay, we were rushed to register, eat, and unpack before we had to be in bed. Despite being in one of the sketchier areas in Mexico City, the CCM is very beautiful. The campus is wide and spread out and the walkways are lined with flowers and palm trees. Outside the campus walls lies a beautiful mess of colorful houses and narrow streets which light up brilliantly at night. The missionaries live in casitas- little houses- with five rooms each with four people. The casita also has a kitchen, common area, and laundry room. The rooms are tight, but comfy with a table and desk to study and a decently sized bathroom.

In the beginning, the schedule was a little overwhelming. Our fifteen hour days are packed with classes, workshops, meals, and devotionals. However after the first few days I have settled into the regimented schedule and the days are going pretty quick. My district includes myself, the three other elders in my room, and seven sisters, two duos and a trio. Aside from me, all of them are going stateside, with Spanish speaking mission calls ranging from Boise Idaho to Tallahassee Florida. My companion is Elder Toupin, going to the Layton Utah mission. He is native to Santa Rosa California and is already pretty fluent in Spanish.

My teachers are all pretty excellent. In the morning I have Hermano Cruz and Hermana Valenzuela. In the afternoon I have Hermano Sosa. They are all relatively recently returned missionaries and are awesome.

One of the things that Hermano Sosa shared with us was the final talk given by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin. The talk is titled "Come What May, and Love it". The talk emphasizes how to best react to adversity. The Lord, in his infinite wisdom has prepared for all of us to experience great happiness and joy, but also fear, disappointment, sadness, and pain. Through it all, we need to keep an eternal perspective in mind and try to keep our heads up as we strive to find peace. The talk also emphasizes the importance of laughing, and finding joy in the small things. This talk stuck out to me because, while this past week hasn't been the easiest or most comfortable, I know that it will be of great worth to me as I prepare to consecrate my time and effort to the Lord.

One final thought that Hermano Cruz shared is that "the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is now." What a great thought.

I love you all, and I pray that you will take this time to begin planting your own trees of testimony.

Sincerely,
Elder Watts