It's Hot!

My first week was so awesome and it was really hard.

 Elder Holland came to Culiacan and I got to shake his hand and hear him speak.  It was so amazing. I was smiling so much before I shook Elder Holland's hand and he said to me, "Your cheeks look a little pink, are you okay?"  I said to him that I was doing great.  He spoke with so much power and he was so bold when he spoke. I even took 6 pages of notes.  My hand was really tired of writing after that. I felt so lucky to get to hear from him.

Mexico is awesome, I love the people even though I can not understand hardly anything that anyone says.  When people speak Spanish to me and I have no idea what they just said,  I just smile really big at them.

It is really hot here.  I have never sweated this much in my life before.  Our apartment is good. The greatest thing in the world to me right now is a cup of cold water.

I am only reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish now.  It takes me quite a bit longer to read than in English. Spanish is a lot of fun.   I improve every day. Everyone says that the first three months of your mission are brutal, I can not wait until I am fluent in Spanish.

Talk to you next week.
For Dad--I did whip out my Merrell shoes.  In fact I am wearing them right now.  What was your first week of your mission like? Was it hard, because I am not going to lie this is hard. I have learned and grown so much from my first week, and I am loving Mexico.  Do you have any words of advice for me?

I'm here!

I am here!   I made it to Mexico.  It is really awesome.  It is just what I expected it to be like. The name of my companion is Elder Blood.  I know it is a cool name. He is really nice. Elder Holland is coming to Culiacan to speak to the missionaries.  I am so very excited!   I am serving in a town called Rosario.  I cannot talk very much now, but I am safe and happy and I will tell you all about my adventures on Monday.   Love,  Elder Cannon

Here is a little info on Ryan's first area:

El Rosario, a small town about 31 miles (50 km) south of Mazatlán, is famous for the altar in the town church. The altar alone makes a visit to El Rosario somewhat worth the drive. El Rosario was once the richest town in Southwest Mexico because of the local mining operations. This small town was the home of the famous Mexican singer, Lola Beltrán. They have built a small museum in her honor although the museum is open only sporadically. The local economy produces pottery, furniture, and leather goods.

Rosario Sinaloa is the town referred to as Tres Camarones in the writing of Luis Alberto Urrea. The area now is known for growing amapola (flower below)  and marijuana in the hillsides (joy) considered now the new gold mines for the area.

I'm heading to Mexico!

I got my Visa!  I am going to Mexico in five days!  It is so crazy. I can't wait to go to Mexico.   I am so excited.
 The MTC is awesome and I am kind of going to miss it and I am going to miss my district but I can't wait to leave. Being a host was so much fun.  The person that I hosted was from Middleton Idaho and knew two of my roomates at BYU Idaho so we got along really well.
 Spanish is still really hard, but I know once I get to Mexico I will learn a lot more and I can't wait to meet people and to talk to them in Spanish. It is 90 degrees in Culiacan Mexico right now. Everyone in my district are going to see the Consulate to get their Visas.
 Dad, I thought that it was kind of crazy when you said to that man if he would be baptized but that is not crazy at all.  We are supposed to invite people to baptism by the second lesson. My testimony has grown so much in the MTC and I can't wait to fly out. We had our first fast Sunday in the MTC.   I bore my testimony in Spanish for the first time at Sacrament meeting.  I said a lot more than I had planned that I was going to say.
 I think that I can call you guys at the airport.   I don't know how long that the phone calls are though. Thanks for all of the letters.  They help me a lot.  I really liked the quote you sent by George Q. Cannon.  Another quote that I heard in the MTC that helped me so much with Spanish was "God doesn't expect perfection, but he loves improvement." I improve everyday, but I still have so much work to do.
Isaac that is so awesome that you are starting a chart with the Book of Mormon. One of my favorite parts of the day is reading the Book of Mormon. My testimony has grown so much here and I can't wait to bring this happiness of the gospel to others.  I still can't believe that I leave in only five days, the MTC has gone by so fast!

MTC Daily Schedule

(We asked Ryan to tell us what a day in the MTC is like)

 

My schedule is a little bit different now, but here is an average day at the MTC for me. Wake up at 6:30 am shower and get ready for the day, eat breakfast at 7:10, then at 7:40 we would have class from 7:40 to 10:40, then personal study time at 10:45-11:45, then eat lunch at 11:45, at 12:30 we would do some online work that we needed to do at the MTC, then from 1:30-2:15 we would do this language learning software called TALL, I think that TALL is so awesome but a lot of the people in my district don't like it a whole lot.  Then Language Study in the classroom from 2:15-3:15, then from 3:25-4:15 we have gym time, then we would shower and get ready for dinner which is at 4:45, then we would have Class from 5:30-8:30, from 8:30-9:00 we would have additional study time, then me and my companion would have a daily planning session from 9:00-9:30 and then would go back to our Residence Halls at 9:30 and we would get ready for bed and study a little bit more, then at 10:15 it is quiet time and most people write in their journals and reflect on their day, and then it is lights out at 10:30.

Days would vary and we would do things in different order from this but this was what our Mondays were like. One of my favorite days of the week is definitely Sunday.  It is so awesome. We all have to write 3-5 minute talks in Spanish and then the person conducting randomly calls up two speakers to give their talk.   I haven't been chosen yet.

 

Loren is only right across the hall from where I am staying-- it is crazy.   During a devotional the speaker called up a row of people to tell what they had to give up in order to go on a mission. Whitney Nielson spoke in front of the entire MTC and said that she gave up her family. 

 

 My week has been really good.  Today I am also going to host which I am very excited to do.  My schedule has been changed and now my P-day is on Wednesday. I am going to try and send you some of the pictures that I have taken either this week or the week after. I really need a hair cut and I am about to get one in an hour.

 

 It feels like I have hardly any time. I can't believe that I only have two more weeks of the MTC. Spanish is hard and it is really hard to teach in Spanish, but I am definitely improving every single day. My testimony of the gospel has also grown a lot, and I definitely understand my purpose more fully as a missionary.  Thanks for the letters.  They make me really happy.