The Rich Life: The Mission

Last week, Jeanell and I took a trip to Cabo with Devin, Kareena, and Caleb. We had a great time and I was able to use my long-dormant Spanish here and there. It was the first time I had been back to Mexico since I served there as a missionary from 1996 to 1998. I used the flights to and from to take advantage and read through my missionary journal and was reminded of various aspects of my mission that I had forgotten. I thought I'd write about some of my experiences, quoting entries from my journal, and adding additional commentary where appropriate.

To start I wanted to get the basic facts out of the way. Lyle Lawton (Lyle is our neighbor across the street and currently serves as my mom's Ministering Brother) was my Bishop when I prepared to go on my mission. D. Brent Rose was my Stake President. I received my call to the Mexico City North Mission on April 11, 1996. I went through the temple on May 11, 1996 (Jeanell and I would be married four years minus one day later). My farewell was on June 23, 1996. I was set apart on June 25, 1996.

My mission was exactly 106 weeks. I entered the MTC on June 26, 1996. Exactly nine weeks later, I left the MTC for Mexico City on August 28, 1996. And 97 weeks after that, I returned home, on July 8, 1998.

I had 12 companions (including my MTC companion). Nine of them were Mexican and three were American. The longest I was with a companion was one day short of three months. The shortest was one day short of one month. My companions were as follows:

Elder Robert McCrae (from Georgia), June 26, 1996 - August 29, 1996 (MTC)

Elder Edialberto Inda (from Mexicali), August 29, 1996 - November 25, 1996 (Villa de Las Flores)

Elder Javier Olvera (from Matamoros), November 25, 1996 - December 31, 1996 (Villa de Las Flores)

Elder David Hope (from Pennsylvania), December 31, 1996 - March 14, 1997 (Tlalnepantla)

Elder Edgar Galvez (from Tijuana), March 14, 1997 - May 26, 1997 (Tlalnepantla)

Elder Ricardo Hurtado (from Campeche), May 26, 1997 - July 7, 1997 (Linda Vista)

Elder Eduardo Gutierrez (didn't record and don't remember), July 7, 1997 - August 12, 1997 (Linda Vista)

Elder Moises Lozano (didn't record and don't remember), August 12, 1997 - November 11, 1997 (Tlalnepantla)

Elder Jose Zepeda (from Sonora), November 11, 1997 - January 7, 1998 (Arbolillo)

Elder Sam Sturgeon (from Arizona), January 7, 1998 - March 17, 1998 (Arbolillo)

Elder Carlos Morales (from Chihuahua), March 17, 1998 - June 8, 1998 (Cuautitlan)

Elder Hugo Hernandez (from Veracruz), June 8, 1998 - July 7, 1998 (Cuautitlan)

My Mission Presidents were Donald and Virginia Cazier for the entirety of my mission. I believe President Cazier arrived in Mexico just before I did.

Some general impressions as I read through my journal

I seemed to enjoy the MTC much more than I enjoyed the mission field. I was struck by how many days my entries expressed discouragement (incidentally, that's not how I remember my mission).
Mail was king. Seems like I always noted how many letters I received and from who.
The average length of my entries decreased rather drastically over time, but I was never especially wordy. I believe my shortest entry was "Good day. Good night."
I wrote to my journal as if it were a person, which I guess people do, but I would sign off with phrases like "See you tomorrow!"

Some Entries (my commentary in bold):

July 1, 1996 (Elder McCrae)

...

The rest of the day was pretty normal. I did not receive any mail (mail!). Since I pick up the mail for my district, it was pretty frustrating (can you imagine having to pick up mail for everyone and everyone getting mail but you?). Oh well, maybe tomorrow.

During the closing prayer of our evening class, one of the elders passed gas and everyone laughed through the whole prayer. I tried hard not to, but I could not help myself (you can set apart 19-year-olds to be the Lord's representatives, but they're still 19-year-olds).

July 29, 1996 (Elder McCrae)

Today was not a good day. I felt very frustrated all day and got in a shoving match with Elder Dyer. I hope a good night's rest will do me well (I remember this, but not too well. I remember something was said and Elder Dyer, I believe more jokingly got in my face. I did not react well and shoved him as hard as I could. Felt bad about it).

August 28, 1996 (Elder McCrae)

What a day! I awoke at 1:45 this morning and finished preparing to leave. We left the MTC at 3:45. We arrived at the airport at 4:45. I was able to spend an hour and a half with my family and friends...

The plane left for San Francisco at about 7:15 (this was the first time I'd been on an airplane)...

...The flight to Mexico City was awful! I was so sick! I know that it was only through the Lord's help that I made it (I remember it was raining very hard and that we initially made our descent but the pilot pulled up at the last minute because the runway was covered with water. We circled the city for a while before attempting to land again, which wasn't ideal for those of us who were not feeling well).

...

We then piled in a suburban and drove for about 2 hours with our driver trying to find the mission home. It was quite an experience.

I'm finally settled in and starting to feel a little bit better (I remember Sister Cazier had prepared a nice meal for us at the mission home, but I did not eat a bite). I am very humbled and know I desperately need the Lord's help. I know he will.

October 14, 1996 (Elder Inda)

...

At Septien's we ate supper tonight. Lupita offered Elder Inda a napkin. Kristina said they didn't have any and Lupita said "Yes, I know, but we can use toilet paper." As she went to the bathroom to get it, Elder Inda said, "Clean, eh?" I laughed pretty hard at that one. All in all it was a good day.

November 3, 1996 (Elder Inda)

Today was pretty good. We finally baptized Ernesto. That kid's a punk. I just about threw him. He was driving me crazy (way to love the people Elder Mouritsen)...

December 23, 1996 (Elder Olvera)

Today was pretty fun. As a zone, we went to Xochimilco and rode around in a boat for three hours (I remember that a random couple from Canada was on the boat with us. Other than them, it was all missionaries). We sang some hymns and played some games. The man that was rowing for us said, "Trabajo todo el dia y no me canso (I work all day and don't get tired)." About four elders yelled back, "Eso!" It was pretty funny.

January 7, 1996 (Elder Hope)

...We talked to one woman who said that many went on missions to avoid Vietnam. Another man asked if we were Mormons and then told us to repent. Thus it goes with the mission life.

May 2, 1997 (Elder Galvez)

Today went pretty well. Yesterday, we ran out of matches and so we thought we'd have to shower with cold water (we'd light the boiler, heat up the water, shower, and then turn the boiler back off each day). I managed to light the boiler with the electric stove and newspaper (thank you Church News!), but I didn't tell my companion. I guess he felt cold right before showering and said a little prayer that the water wouldn't be too cold. He then turned on the water and after a few seconds of cold water, hot water started to pour from the [shower head]. It was a miracle!...

May 5, 1997 (Elder Galvez)

...[We ate dinner] with la familia Reyes. The told us that there's a rumor that we're flirting (moi?). I really feel bad.

May 10, 1997 (Elder Galvez)

...We had the junta (meeting) with Noe. It seems that people say I'm a big flirt. I told my companion that I'm ready to leave the area.

May 17, 1997 (Elder Galvez)

Today was a pretty good day. We worked with the young men in the area of Elder Andrewsen (Elder Andrewsen received a "Dear John" while we were in this zone together. We came home at the same time and the night before we returned home, we put together that the girl who had "Dear-John"'d him had married someone from Grantsville. That someone...Cam Jefferies. That girl is now my sister-in-law)...

June 8, 1997 (Elder Hurtado)

Today was a terrible day. At church, I got in a fight with my companion. I get so stressed and uptight at times. I've got to learn to relax (Jeanell can relate). I felt bad for what I did so I let my comp sleep all day and then watched the entire Jazz game (this was when the Jazz were playing the Bulls in the NBA Finals). I feel about as bad as I've ever felt. The good news is that we had a baptism today. Raul was baptized. Also, the Jazz won (well that's something).

August 5, 1997 (Elder Gutierrez)

An interesting day. It really didn't go that well. We practiced for the program this morning. On the way back, I had an attack. I thought I'd never make it to the bathroom. I did...almost. I arrived to the bathroom running. The toilet seat was down. In desperation, I flipped it up, turned and sat. Unfortunately, the seat fell back down. There was crap everywhere. The rest of the day wasn't great (honestly, how do you really recover from something like that?).

October 13, 1997 (Elder Lozano)

Today went alright. It rained about almost all morning, but we still played some basketball. I cut my lip shaving this morning (I laugh because that's all I said, but I remember that I had to put a band-aid on my lip and Elder Lozano started to make fun of me, telling me how pretty I looked. I wasn't in the mood and grabbed him and threw him to the ground. Not my finest moment)...

November 8, 1997 (Elder Lozano)

...Afterwards, we visited Maria. She went into her room to get her Book of Mormon and found that her brother was trying to hang himself. He was pretty purple when we found him. My companion and I helped to keep him breathing until the ambulance arrived. It was pretty scary (sounds like an understatement).

December 21, 1997 (Elder Zepeda)

...My comp got punched in the face. A car passed and intentionally hit a dog. My comp [yelled], "Que le pasa, mi chavo (what is wrong with you dude?) and so some guy got out of the car and came over and hit him. Of course, we didn't retaliate or anything (there were 2-3 other guys in the car that were starting to get out, but I love how I made it seem that as missionaries we would never retaliate. If I'm being honest, I think I just didn't want to get punched). The rest of the day was so-so (probably better for me since I'm not the one who got punched)...

January 13, 1998 (Elder Sturgeon)

Today was interesting. My comp wasn't feeling well so we went to the doctor. Next thing we know, they were taking out his appendix. We spent the night in the hospital.

February 12, 1998 (Elder Sturgeon)

...Last night, my companion [and I] moved our mattresses upstairs at about midnight because the assistants were snoring. It was pretty funny.

(The time I served with Elder Sturgeon in Arbolillo was probably the most enjoyable part of my mission. We had similar personalities and worked well together).

March 20, 1998 (Elder Morales)

...We also had a baptism today. Jose Luis was baptized. His cousin, Abinadi, was also baptized. Abinadi was a little nervous about going into the water. He screamed and cried and ran away. It was pretty funny. (At one point he ran out of the church building. Then, as his dad caught him and was carrying him back to the font over his shoulder, he yelled, "Bishop! Help me!"). Finally his father had to bear hug him and force him under the water (Not sure if that was valid or not. Only time I've seen a baptism done in that way).

(My main memory with Elder Hernandez was watching the end of Game 6 of the 1998 Finals and seeing the Jazz lose. We had a baptism that day and after we went to visit them and I not-so-innocently asked if they liked basketball. They turned the game on and I saw Stockton hit his three, followed by the collapse that culminated with Jordan's famous final shot (he pushed off)).

July 8, 1998

I left Mexico at 7:00 this morning. We went from there to Dallas. On the way to Salt Lake, I spoke with a Christian Scientist about the Church. At 12:30, I arrived in Salt Lake. My family was there, as well as Uncle Jed and Uncle John, Shelly, George, and Jim. We also went and ate at Sizzler with Grandma and Grandpa Nalder, who were alos there. We went to Brent's All-Start game and then returned home. I was able to say hi to Tripps, Allreds, Barb Fawson, Nelsons. I feel really weird!

And thus ended my two-year mission to Mexico City. Those who have been reading know that I am no longer a believing member of the Church whose message I spent two years teaching. Jeanell has asked me if I regret having served a mission. I feel I can honestly say that I don't regret it. While I'm somewhat ambivalent about having taught and baptized people, I consider my mission one of the molding experiences of my life.