Things here in the MTC are still going good. - Week 2

Hola! 

Things here in the MTC are still going good. I can't believe that I have already been here for 2 weeks now! It’s gone by really fast, the days seem like weeks but the weeks are starting to feel like days though. Tomorrow we say goodbye to a great group of missionaries who leave the MTC to go out into the mission field. I wish it was me but I still have 4 more weeks left in this place. It’s pretty fun here though, my district and I know how to have a good time which is definitely helping with the days.

So yesterday we had a devotional (or meeting) about health and how to stay healthy and safe when we leave the MTC. It felt like they were saying alright here is about 50 different ways to die and your mission is to not die in the 2 years you are here. Seriously! I don't think I have ever been more scared than to go out into the mission field with everything she was saying.  Wanna fly me back home? I've had enough of the mission and don't want to die... Haha just kidding! I know if I stay obedient and listen to my mission president then I will be fine. I'll just almost die and have a cool story to tell afterward! Sounds good to you Mom?

The ''investigator'' we were teaching is done taking lessons because we have a new ''investigator'' that we teach, which is my other teacher posing as a non-member. Preparing for these lessons has made me realize that no matter what lesson you plan, it usually does not go according to plan because there is always something that our teacher throws at us that catches us off guard which makes us need to focus on their need and not a specific lesson we had planned. But whatever, that’s how life works.

So, tomorrow we get to go to Wendy’s! Ya! I don't think I have ever been so excited for Wendy’s before! But after that we get to go the market in the heart of Guatemala City then we get to take a tour of the city. We won't have body guards with us this time but the market is just a huge place where they have pretty much everything beyond belief! Everyone is super excited for it because it will be the first time going outside the gates of the MTC other than going to the temple. The tour is going to be sweet as well. Every two weeks we have a couple who come to the MTC who bring a whole bunch of stuff for missionaries to buy from them. So far I have bought a couple of wallets, a sweet Guatemalan bag, and fingernail clippers. I specially ordered scripture cases from them as well, made of leather with two pictures of my choice on the front and back, my name and my mission on them as well. They will be awesome!

So as a District Leader I pretty much have to make sure everyone is doing what they are supposed to be doing. I have a couple meetings a week with the MTC president and the branch presidency here along with the other District Leaders as well. It's pretty nice because everyone asks me for their opinions on everything, if I can help them, and anything else and it makes me feel important which is always good.

The other Elders in our room are leaving tomorrow because their time here is up but they are all really awesome and will miss them. The Latinos especially! Elder Nochez and Elder Palacios are two of the funniest guys ever and they always brighten up my day!  The food here varies every day, we have a lot of beans, tortillas, guacamole (yes, I like guacamole now) and some meat that half the time looks like an animal I have never seen before, but the food is still pretty good.

Yesterday we had a devotional by Jeffery R. Holland and it was the funniest, yet most powerful talks I have ever heard. We have a member of the Quorum of the Twelve speak to the missionaries in the MTC every Sunday, so getting those are really amazing. We also watched The Joseph Smith movie and that is one of the best movies I have ever seen. If no one has seen it, Watch It! It will change you, I promise!

Other than that, not much else has been going on here. Just class after class after class. Oh and to answer your question mom, both my teachers are native Guatemalans who speak really good English. My teacher in the afternoon, Hermano Romero, is my favorite. He speaks good English but there are a lot of times when he doesn't know some words or how to say things so we get to help him out that way. My companion and I are still getting along really well and I am looking forward to the next group of missionaries to come in on Wednesday.

That is pretty hilarious that Tanner and Taylor got called as Nursery workers! That made me laugh pretty hard! Good luck Tanner! Tell Connor to tell me more next time other than how he is wearing some of my shirts! Haha! Are you still doing good mom and dad? Oh ya Kadie came home this past week from her mission in Slovenia!!! That’s exciting! I am sad I missed her just by a week but I would rather be here (no offense Kadie!). What language does she speak again? I always forget what it is! If there is anything else specific you want me to include in my next letter just let me know! I love you all and miss you all! Colorado is beautiful but Guatemala is DANG beautiful! Haha. Stay sweet mi familia y mi amigos!

                                                 Love, Elder Kahl

First week in the CCM has been great! Week 1

Hola!

How is everyone doing? Tuesdays here are my P-Days (preparation day) so now you know! The first week here has been pretty great! Here are some of the details of the CCM, or MTC, that I know of: My mission president is amazing, he has such a great attitude and wants nothing but the best for us. In the MTC there is about 150, maybe less, missionaries here. So there isn't too many but oh boy are they all awesome. The elders who have been here for a few weeks now know how to entertain themselves alright. Everyday during lunch the wait for the clock to turn to 12:34.56 then they yell and cheer super loud... I hope I don't become that bored in the MTC... So the 3rd day I was here. the MTC president asked me to be the district leader over my district which caught me by surprise but hey, I'm district leader already! Pretty cool right?! 

We went to the temple today and it is a very small temple but it was a really cool experience at the same time. So funny thing, anytime we go outside the MTC gates there are guards EVERYWHERE!!! Each one has a shotgun too. Whenever we go outside the gates one follows us until we get past the gates then a different one comes and follows us until we get past the gas station, then another one comes until we get to the temple. So that is a bit sketchy but at least we get personal body guards here! 

Where we are at in Guatemala it is pretty developed and people here have nicer cars than most of the people in the U.S. so that caught me by surprise that they have pretty nice cars, but thats only in the city. The other night/day my companion, who is Elder Heyrend, was feeling very sick and out of nowhere asked me to give him a blessing and of course I said yes. This was my first blessing and was really, really amazing. The other elders who have been here longer were so supportive in helping me and we had about 10 of them in the room when I was performing it with another one helping me with the blessing. I can't explain how cool it was but it was definitely a testimony builder for me. And guess what?! He is getting so much better and is almost back to normal after a full day of being sick in bed.

My Spanish class is excelente! My teachers are incredible and have taught us so much already. But seriously, I have learned more in a week than I have in 3 years of Spanish class in high school. That just proves to show how hard we have to work and how much the Lord is there to bless us as well. I already know how to pray in Spanish really well and pray in Spanish all the time. Since the 2nd day, we have been giving lessons to an investigator.... all in Spanish.... it is rough! However, my companion and I have been teaching really well and already have a baptism date for him. We taught about the Restoration, about prophets, about dispensations, about how the Book of Mormon will bless his life and so much more! It's crazy how much Spanish is crammed in my brain. 

The weather here is pretty nice actually, but yes it does rain everyday which makes it pretty humid, and the rain just down pours when it does rain. No light drizzles of rain here!

I have been talking to the Latinos a lot in Spanish and we can carry on a decent conversation before it just dies... Its nice cause they help us with our Spanish and we help them know some words in English. One of their favorite words in English is "What's Crackin?!'' They love it and say it to us all the time, the Latinos are so funny here. 

All of the new elders who I came here with are all having troubles with their digestive systems because of the food. Haha suckers!!! My stomach has been totally fine and is treating me with the respect I deserve! Speaking of the food... it is actually really good and they feed us pretty good! Every time for lunch we get ICE CREAM! I love ice cream... You already know that mom and dad. 

All of us missionaries are getting along really well and having a great time here. There is another guy here from Colorado! I was so happy when I found that out but the rest are all from Utah and Idaho. Shocker right? One problem I have here though is the showers. Only because the shower-faucet-head-thingamajig is at shoulder level with me so that makes my life a little more difficult. Another funny random thing is that all the Latinos are super small but there is the token Latino here who is like 6 foot 6 inches and just huge. He scares me, but seems like a really nice guy. We get to go outside and play sports for about an hour each day so thats pretty nice but it just feels like we are in a prison. A nice, clean, good prison with great food. If you were here you would understand. We have 6 elders in my room and we get bunk beds. Just like the good 'ol days right? I have been sleeping pretty well for the most part but mornings are pretty hard to get up for but it's getting better. Oh and next week we get to go out to the market. Freedom! Its going to be so nice to get out of here for a little bit, however, there is a chance I won't be able to email next week for that reason. So if I can't next week then I am really sorry! 

I need to write something in Spanish for you guys! I will write my testimony in Spanish:

Yo se que este iglesia es verdadero. Yo so que Jesucristo is el Hijo de Dios y la Expiaction es muy importante por mi y todos los personas el la tierra. Yo se que Jesucristo es el Salvador por todo el mundo. Yo se que Jose Smith y Thomas S. Monson estan profetas verdadero de Dios. Yo se que nuestra Padre Celestial le amo mi, ustedes, ye todos los personas tambien. Estoy muy feliz en Guatemala porque, estoy servir otros personas aqui.

There you go! A short testimony of mine in spanish.

Send these emails out to everyone who wanted to recieve my weekly emails por favor! You can also seperate that long paragraph up into smaller ones. I accidently sent it before I could do that. Sorry! 

I can't think of anything else to say, but I love you all and miss you all so much!

Love,

Elder Kahl

Mom- I love you so much and appreciate all the support you give me while I am out here and before! You are the best!

Dad- Thanks for being a great example for me to follow and that definitely helped me with being able to perform the blessing I did the other day. So thank you and I love you!

Tanner- Sup bro?! I hope you and Taylor are doing great and thanks for all you have done for me. Keep being awesome and be a great brother to Connor. Por Favor (in a robot voice). Love you and Taylor both.

Connor- How is school going? You need to tell me when you are starting basketball and tell me when you are kicking some serious butt! Love you buddy and enjoy my room!

P.S. Tell me what happens with Under the Dome! I NEED TO KNOW!!! Also I need to know who wins in America's Got Talent. Thats about it. Thanks! Also more emails would be nice... haha just keep me informed with what is all going on there! Love you all!

I'm Here and Not Dead! - 1st Day!

Hola! 
Como estas mi familia.

 I'm loving it here in Guatemala! The other elders here are great and my teachers and MTC president are all wonderful! It has been a very long day but has been very fun at the same time! So we got to Guatemala at 6am then went to the MTC and when we got there we ate breakfast, then they let us take a nap. Ya they actually let us take a NAP!!!!!! It was amazing. My spanish class has been a lot of fun and I'm learning a ton in just the short time that I am here! The food here is delicious and everyone is nothing but positive and uplifting. I'm having a better time than I thought I would which is awesome! The MTC is right next to the temple and we can see it from a few of the windows. At the MTC the weather has actually been pretty cool which is what they say its like pretty much all the time. I feel like in a few weeks I will have my spanish down pretty good because today I was actually able to speak and have conversations with people for a good amount of time. With a little faith and time I'll be a Spanish master! Watch out world! Here comes Elder Kahl! So ya, I made it here, I love it, I'm still alive, and yes its a bit humid here. Love and miss you all!         

Love, Elder Kahl

Photo of the other zone.

Photo of one of the other Zone at the CCM.

My District at the CCM.  I am in the 3rd row, 7th from the right.