Made it to the Mission Field

We received this email today from Ted's mission president

Dear parents,

Your missionaries have arrived in the Chalco mission. We are grateful for your help and support to get them here. We are happy to have this new generation now

Love,

President and Sister Crickmore

Chalco Mission Missionaries

We received this one from the CCM today also.

District 10A day of departure

Last P-day in the CCM

Today is my last P Day in the CCM! I leave for el campo this Lunes (Monday) and that’s when the real deal starts up! 

 We went to the gym for the last time today.  Here are some pictures of our last gym time.

I want to let you know that I'm still doing well here, I still have good days and occasionally I have a bad day... But I haven't forgotten who always has my back, The Lord!!  Whenever I need help, I pray! 

I'm honestly ready to leave the CCM!  I’m still a little nervous for the field. It's an undaunting task I have before me, but I’m up for the challenge. I will be getting my first trainer in the field, and I’m nervous about who it's going to be.  PLEASE just say a little prayer for me, I need all your prayers! 

My Spanish is mucho mejor, porque yo practico muchas horas cada dia y yo oro con Dios por la don de linguas cuando yo voy a el campo. (much better, because I practice a lot of hours every day and I pray to God for the gift of tongues when I go to the field.)  I work hard, and I try to talk en español con los latinos diariamente.  (in Spanish with Latinos everyday.)

I try to work as hard as I can down here, but honestly sometimes I slack off because it feels like school and I didn't like school, so I get kind of lazy sometimes.  But I truly want to change, I have the desire to change and I work hard to change my attitude daily.

 As my day of departure arrives I try to imagine what it will be like in 6 months.  I know I said this before but, this is my last P-Day in the MTC, I leave for the field this Monday! So pray for me!

I finally got my green card... So I’m now official and I can no longer tell racist jokes.

I try to focus on the positive down here so much; I pray tons for strength and blessings. 

As for my companion, we have gotten along pretty well thus far, but lately...I’ve wanted to kill him, and I have been planning the deaths of a few other people down here!  Another thing I pray to God daily for. So just know, that hasn't changed about me.

My health is good, my knee is 100% and I still haven't gotten sick!

The other good news about my mission is that I now know I can make it 2 years, I have the strength and the desire!

I found out there are 2 volcanoes in my mission, one is dormant and one is active, crazy huh?

I will definitely be playing LACROSSE when I get home!!  Everyday down here I wish that I could do just that, I'm honestly sick of basketball...

I gave a talk last week on Sunday, in Spanish, and a native Latino told me, it was better than most other missionary  talks here, My Spanish is coming along very well!

Your advice keeps me going, and I read your letters a lot, they help me tons. 

I can't wait to hear from you again and I'll be needing your prayers mucho! 

Oh and just saying, if you felt so inclined as to send me some goodies, or something, that would be alright with me. :D

Elder Ted Galbraith

Mexico Mexico City Chalco Mission

Calle Porvenir No. 8

Colonia Centro

C.P. 56600 Chalco, Estado de Mexico

Mexico

Write me when you can!!  

I love you all so much.

TED 

Four weeks in the CCM

I miss you all so much.  It's always a little hard to do emails because it always makes me feel just a Ted bit homesick. Haha, get that.  A Ted bit homesick.  I crack myself up.  Anyway...I miss you guys, not a day goes by that I don't think about you in some way! I love you guys, and as hard as it sounds I try hard not to think about you because I have other stuff to think about. I have read the part about Gordon B Hinckley and how his dad told him to forget himself and go to work, in Our Heritage book about 10 times and I pray so many times everyday to try and help me focus more. I have also been praying mucho to have the spirit as my constant companion, because that's who really teaches lessons, that's who really converts people. I am trying my hardest to give it everything I got down here and sometimes I get so frustrated because I can't do things right or I get corrected and again, that's when I turn to the Lord. I've grown to love praying. I love praying!!  I've learned a lot about myself from it. It's truly one of my greatest tools at this time in my life. 

This week has been nuts...My friends in district 10B left for el campo, the field. and now it's just us, until last night when we got our new district in, and boy are they awkward. I hope I wasn't that weird when I got here. There's a couple kids from Utah and one from Idaho who played lacrosse!  I feel very comfortable with life at the CCM now, and we leave in just under 2 weeks!! Is that nuts?! I can't believe it, I feel like I got here yesterday and I still feel absolutely not ready for el campo.

It's blazing hot down here so I bought some mesh garments and they seem to be doing pretty good, I like them a lot actually. 

This week my companion has been having some health problems, he's had a couple anxiety/panic attacks and he's been in and out of the emergency room all week. He's also been riding my last nerve pretty hard, again that's another thing I pray for constantly. Lord gimme strength!!  I'm healthy as a horse like usual, my leg is almost cien porciento (100 percent) I have regular bowel movements, thought you'd all like to hear about that one, I still constantly lift my leg to fart, and I'm still class clown. 

This week when all my zone friends left one Elder, had to stay an extra day and I had to stay with him in his casa and I got absolutely no sleep. His name is Elder Finch and I freaking loved that kid, so flipping funny!! 

Last week there was a large group of latino missionaries here at the CCM and one Elder, who is in the picture, Elder Vaca, who is from Bolivia was getting bullied by his companions and it got to the point where he was outside one night just balling his eyes out. Now for those of you who don't know, Bolivia is one of the poorest countries in South America, so the fact that his family could even send him on a mission is indeed a miracle.

When I found out about his treatment, my heart ached, we talked it over in our district and I personally made an effort to be more of a friend. I gave him about 5 of my ties and he gave me a hug and his face just lit up, ear to ear, I didn't understand the feelings i felt until now that the spirit was there and the spirit was touching me strongly, Elder Vaca is now in the field and I hope and pray he is doing well, I don't know him well but I love him. 

Make an effort to reach out to those around us. 

I have been just living it up down here and loving it. The food is starting to suck though... It all tastes the same. It all tastes like beans. Even pizza on pizza night doesn't taste the same. I miss home cooked meals, pretty bad.  Mission life is super hard but it's super rewarding, I've gained an enormous testimony and my Spanish has improved mucho. 

I love you guys so so much and I pray for you all so much. You're all amazing and I know that Erin is with us all. I love that girl, this is probably the first time in a long time I've felt like I'll actually get to see her again. 

Here are some pictures for your enjoyment...

My new bike...HAHA!

Elder Brewster

The view at the CCM

We cleaned the kitchen and made brownies with mi amigo Esteban the chef!

The gang cooking

The brownies

I love you guys so much. Keep me in your prayers!

Love,

Ted

P.S.  To all my lame friends that haven't emailed me yet...I can't email you until you email me first! I don;t have your email address!!!  So be a friend and email me at ted.galbraith@myldsmail.net

Another Week in the CCM and a Trip to the Mexico City Visitors Center

Hello to all my amazing Family and Friends!!

My Spanish is coming along, slowly but surely! I write down all the new words I learn and I am working on Bishop Tenner's advice! I want to be fluent! That's my goal! I'm gonna take Bishops advice and replace the words I know. 

Remember me telling you about Hermana Vargas..haha about Hermana Vargas, Well I think I scared her off because she hasn't been back in a while.... haha I'm not too upset about it! And believe it or not, I have the pleasure of having 6 teachers. You heard me. They all kinda rotate days. 

My knee is back to functioning status! I can run full speed and I can do everything like normal. Except for kneel. It still hurts to do that but it's coming along nicely.

General conference was awesome!!! It was probably the first conference I actually looked forward to and enjoyed the most. I loved Jeffrey R Holland of course and Dieter, and i really liked the one about the sailor in the plane crash, L Whitney Clayton maybe? 

The Director of the CCM President Gates sent a photo of me in the classroom to my Bishop who showed it to my mom.  I'm glad the CCM director knows who I am, I feel as though I've got some serious hookups here. 

I'm relieved to hear about my pants, (My mom is sending me another pair to replace the ones that got ruined when I tore them) I miss them. They were my homies! haha just kidding, I do miss them though. 

Spiritual Stuff

As you know I have a serious temper sometimes and I beat myself up pretty bad, and sometimes when I struggle with Spanish or with class I get pretty upset.  Monday night this week I was feeling super upset and I was hot and frustrated and it was just a bad experience, so I did what I know is best and I hit my knees, well my bum cause I can't kneel, And I seriously just opened up my heart to the Lord and before I even finished my prayer, I felt so good! I felt so happy and full of the spirit. I've had some real awesome spiritual experiences here and I'm learning so much everyday! 

I know that no matter what is going on that The Lord will help you and raise you up, Go to the Lord with everything!

Today we were able to go see the Mexico City Visitors Center and the Mexico Temple.  The temple is closed but we were able to spend time in the visitors center.  It was a great day.  Enjoy the pictures!!

I love you all! Your'e the greatest!   

Love Ted

April 1, 2015

Hey guys!

How are you??? Whats been going on??

This week has been pretty good, working hard everyday. I go to bed super tired every night. I have been sleeping actually really good,  I am getting up everyday at six thirty, sometimes earlier, and I am doing a lot better than I thought I would. I'm not really that tired when I first get up, but I struggle staying awake in class. However I’m working very hard to improve.  I still don't like waking up early, but at least I'm the one that actually gets up, my companion struggles trying to get up and usually sleeps in all the time.  My Companion and I are getting along quite well.  He's from Bentonville, Arkansas and he's a really great guy!  He's going to the same mission as me! 

I seriously pray probably close to 10 to 15 times a day, sometime more, it insane, but it's the only way to talk with God and receive the answers and comfort I need.

I actually have a lot more time to myself than you'd think, obviously not alone alone, but I get a ton of quite time to study and pray and read scriptures every day and that's awesome!

We had a devotional last night and we watched Elder Russell M Nelson and it was super good! He told me to tell you thank you for letting me go on a mission, He knows it's a huge sacrifice but that it will benefit us all in the end. Sunday we watched Elder David A Bednar and that one was amazing,!  He talked about putting off the natural man and turning yourself outwards instead of inwards. It was super amazing. I felt the spirit pretty good that day, Sundays freaking rock out here. They're super chill, with tons of spiritual experiences, however they're short lived cause come Monday we're right back to work, Not much rest here at the CCM. I'm starting to like it here and I'm starting to have a ton of fun. The Spanish is actually coming along muy bueno! I'm making a ton of friends here and this place is full of good times. 

CCM

Struggles do happen here, I have a teacher her name is Hermana Vargas and she can be compared to Tina or Ms Young,(teachers from school I struggled with) and I struggle with her... But I pray constantly that I will be able to work it out somehow.

Another struggle is that when I have a hard time focusing I get down on myself and beat myself up pretty hard. You know how it goes.

I'm writing today because they switched my P-day to Wednesday just for this week because we had to go to the Mexican Consulate for our visas.  

Downtown Mexico City

We got to experience Mexico for reals. We walked the streets, bought street tacos, met some crazy people, and then waited in lines for hours. 

But from here on out at the CCM my P day is Thursday.

I get my stitches out today! At 2 o clock. So say a little pray for me ! 

I miss you guys all so much and I pray for you daily. 

The lord is the only way we have happiness in our lives, remember Him always. 

Love Ted