Merry Christmas! 12/28/2014

Responses to letters this week:

 

That's awesome, yesterday me and my comp went on splits and both of us went with a priest and the goal of yesterday was to just visit the member and obtain referencias. We wanted to visit as many as we could so instead of big long lecciones we shared just a spiritual message. Me and Mario (the priest) took turns choosing what message we wanted to share and focused on the needs of the members and what the spirit directed us to share. It was so cool to see how when we put our fe in the spirit, it really is there and ready to guide us and a veces literally puts words into your mouth.

 

Anyways glad life is good back in the state, keep my updated!

Elder Wixom

 

 

 

Thanks! I can make that, and thanks for the books too, I'm really excited, I might not get them for a couple months though because the mail and also the mission home is realllly slow but that's OK, I've learned patience is absolutely key to being a successful missionary haha. And snow sounds really nice right about now,  it's plenty warm haha. Anyways I don't have time for a big long letter but I really enjoyed talking with you all Christmas and I hope you have a fantastic New Years, I'll see if I can take some cool pictures this week for you guys too, anyways, Hasta Lluego!

Con Amor

Elder Wixom

 

​My current companero, Elder Lopez!

 

​This is the family that let me use their computer for skype, they're super nice. 

 

 

 

 

Almost Christmas 12/22/14

From:
Sent:
To:

Ha, Yeah it was crazy, but this week was a lot of fun too. My new companion is a really hard worker and this week we've gotten a bunch of new investigators. Also we have one baptism that looks really promising scheduled for next week that we are really excited about.  It's so fun to teach lessons where the people are actually listening haha. The language is coming, I'm not to stressed out about it, I can say what I need to say in the lessons and the rest will come naturally through diligent study and just by living the day to day here.

For Christmas I'm not exactly sure what the plan is but today there's a devocional here in Ocosingo with the temple president and a bunch of missinaries from our zone are coming and we are going to be doing alot of contacting and inviting today. It's going to be really great, I'm super excited.

Yeah I heard about Jordan, that's rough, I'm sure he'll be fine though. Theres honestly not many days here where you're not dealing with some sort of weird illness but with patience and prayer it always turns out fine. Jordan's a tough kid and he'll be able to deal with that no problem.

Anyways I'm glad you guys are all ready for Christmas! It sounds like you have some pretty exciting stuff planned and I hope it all goes well! Let everyone know how much I love them!  I promise by next week I will be able to send you guys lots of pictures, it's just been really hectic here the last little while. And don't forget what this holiday is all about, with our lessons we've been focusing a lot on what Jesus has done for us and what we can do to for him. If you all haven't seen the video at  navidad.mormon.org yet you need to see it, it is so beautiful. We've been challenging everyone to find one gift they can give the Saviour this holiday season and i want to challenge all of you either as a family or personally to find one thing you can do for Christmas. Anyways, have an awesome Christmas, I love you all!

New Companion- Still no English speaking 12/16/2014

Ayy, sorry for my short email last week, I wasn't feeling well and was um, pressed to find a bathroom haha.  I'm glad the ward is still just as fun loving as ever haha, I freaking love all my leaders, I bet that was great. I'll buy a camera for Christmas haha! That's perfect! and I'll tell you guys about last week.  Monday we went to San Cristobal (so pretty).  I said goodbye to my companion E Acosta :( , In the mission your mission trainer is your dad, or here, your papa, so we bought matching corbatas and we were papa-hijo, it was pretty funny.  I love him to death though, he's awesome. Tuesday I met my new companion E. Lopez. He's super super funny and really good at teaching lessons so I'm really excited for this transfer but in  5 weeks he goes home to his state in Mexico so I'll get a new companion again haha. Because the occ buses were late I had to stay another night in San Crist. Thursday we came back for one day and the very next day my companion got permission for the Mission Pres. to visit some member friends in Tuxtla. While we were there we got to do a session in the temple and it was great. The members are super friendly. We stayed till till Sunday when we returned to Ocosingo and guess what, Sunday night we took another bus back to San Cris for the navidad devocional.  It was combined with 3 zones and it was a ton of fun, I met up with some of my MTC buddies and we had a blast, I loved it haha.  Then me and my MTC buddies went back to Tuxtla to fill out some forms for our green card.  Monday night me, my companion from the CCM(Elder Palmer) and another friend form the CCM Elder Mcdonald stayed at the mission presidents house and got to eat with him.  We had tuna sandwiches and talked for like and hour but it was so much fun.  I love our mission pres, he is so humble. we came back yesterday which is why today I'm emailing you and not lunes. Entonces, life is good, I love it here and I'm happy to be back in my area and I'm ready to teach.  I hope you guys have fun at your dinner and have an awesome week! I think I'll be able to skype you guys oon the 23 and on the 21 I can tell you what time, anyways, hasta lluego!

Con Amor

Elder Wixom

Soon to change companions 12/8/2014

     Buenas Tardes! No. No tango un nuevo companero ahorra pero a la 5 estamos visitando San Cristobal  donde I will find my new companion. He is an old companion of my current companion Elder Acosta and he's supposed to be really energetic and really good at teaching lessons so I'm really excited. He also doesn't speak ANY English tambien so it'll be really good practice.  I'm sad to see E Acosta go I love him to death but a new companion is exciting to so I have mixed feelings. I'm also staying in Ocosingo and will most likely spend another 4 or 5 months here. And yeah, I can get packages they just need to be sent to the mission office in Tuxtla and need to have catholic stickers on them. And yeah I got the card, it was great!(The card was from his ward's Relief Society).  It was the only letter the whole zone received for the month so everyone freaked out and made it a big deal haha.

Our district and our zone leaders (zone leaders bottom and to the left)

All is Well 12/1/2014

Yeah all the members and everyone else here are practically dying of the cold but its feels absolutely perfect to me and that's a blessing.  I'm glad you guys had fun, as you probably know they don't really celebrate Thanksgiving here but we had a little devotional about gratitude last week which was really cool.  Last night we watched 17 Miracles at the church in English but with Spanish subtitles.  It was a big eye opener.  I don't know why.   I've seen it before but it never really hit me how much faith they must have had.  It's amazing the kinds of things our ancestors did for us, we owe it to them to work equally as hard as they did today in our efforts in the church.  For packages they're actually really safe, missionaries get them all the time so if anyone wanted to send away.  And my talk is later this month so I have a little time to prepare.  I'm thinking about writing about either gratitude or about Jesus Cristo and charity but I'm not sure yet.  Our branch president is awesome!  Super friendly and really helpful when it comes to the missionaries, always trying to find new referrals. And no one told me the chicken story but I want to hear it, Justin should type it!  With the food here it's still just a lot of tortillas y pollo. There's a family here who have a lot of sugarcane plants and the kids literally just chew on the reeds to get the sugar out, it's actually really good and it's a good change from the candy here, I miss American sweets haha. but we always have food and plenty of it so me and my companion are happy.  This is his last week before he goes home which is really sad but we're going to do our best to make this week count and work our hardest. The goals we set for the week are the highest we've had them but with work I know we can complete them and more.  I'm really excited. anyways.  I'm glad to hear life is fun and that you all had an awesome Thanksgiving.  Everyday remember all the many blessings you have before you think about what you don't and I know that will make anyone a happier person, and good job mom! you're blessing and thank you for helping me throughout all my life and  I'm sure you are continuing to be a great help to the work!  I love you all!

Con Amor,

Elder Wixom

 

 

Next week I get my new comp! and sadly somethings fell through and we don't have any baptisms scheduled right now.  We spend alot of time helping the members and less actives right now.   It's a lot of work.  I'm glad your talk went well! Want to email it to me? Also you don't happen to have Truman G Madsens the Prophet Joseph Smith on CD or USB do you?  I'm almost done with Jesus the Christ and Our Heritage and I've heard awesome things about that talk and I'm trying to get a hold of it through jumpdrive or some means.  I don't really know how yet, and a trip would be so much fun, Mexico is so beautiful. I love it. Anyways I don't have a lot of time, adios!

Con Amor,
Elder Wixom

Mexico Life 11/24/14

That's awesome!  Way to go Justin!  The first few times are always scary but giving talks are actually really fun when you feel confident about what you re saying.  Next week I've been asked to give a talk in sacrament meeting in Spanish for the first time and I'm really excited, just another motivation to study harder.  Tell Katie I said hi and I miss her and all of you.  And Madi that's awesome! It's cool having a friend who knows nothing about the church because then you can be the one to try and answer all of their questions and watch their understanding and desire to learn more grow.  It's a privilege to share the gospel.  I'm glad Sol is having a good time, I hope singles ward continues to be awesome! The weather is the same, always hot haha but I'm getting used to it, the nights are always perfect too, that's a plus. There's a lot of ants and the entrance to our church is always filled with cockroaches but besides that its not too bad.  Our apartment is clean for the most part.  There's lizards in the chairs in our church classrooms that we have to shew away but they're harmless, and Pollo. Pollo is everywhere, every single meal, I'm not sick of it yet but I try to have other things whenever I can. and yeah they're tons of strays dogs, more then I can describe but I've never seen one that's barked or been aggressive to anyone at all.  They kinda just roam around looking for food.  The families are good, like I said Ocosngo is the town of the drunks and there are a lot and the attitude hear is kinda I can drink today and repent tomorrow and that's been our biggest challenge, explaining the significance of commandments.  I don't have a new companion yet and for that I'm glad, I couldn't have asked for a better trainer,  I love him to death.  He is a patient man haha the language barrier is hard but I'm getting better.  My companion has a bunch of, I don't know what you call them, texts? some writings but mostly pictures from the walls of a bunch of temples and ruins he has visited and a bunch of mormon interpretations of them.  They are the coolest things I've ever seen and the symbolism and accuracy of all of them,   We are in the promised lands.  It truly is amazing.  As soon as I feel more confident with my Spanish and I'm done reading the Jesus the Christ I'm going to buy some of the texts they have here just about the history of Chiapas, it's all so interesting.  So I'm glad to hear you're all doing good, remember to keep me updated!  I'll try to find time within the next couple weeks to send a letter home more about how life is hear and what me and my companion are doing.

Con Amor

Elder Wixom

 

 

When I return I would LOVE to come back as a tourist and just visit all these ruins.  We should do it. Chiapas is a lot safer then you'd think and everyone is so friendly.  Also everything is super cheap so that's a plus.  I'm getting better with the language but I'm till trying to figure out how to get the most out of the little time I have to study.  If I just had another 8 hours a day to read out of the gospel doctrines and to study Spanish that would be so amazing.  There is not enough time for everything here which makes it really important not to shirk off.   I'd love to send more photos but right now my camera is kinda, idk, dead?  It's broken beyond repair and idk why so idk if I'll be able to take any more photos at the moment but we;re returning to the ruins next Monday so I'll be able to send a few from my companion.

And it's kinda difficult because I came to the area the same week a tragedy took place in the ward and the branch president passed away.  It's been very difficult on everyone and its really shaken people up.  There have been a lot of problems with the leadership in our branch but with that said they are still awesome with efforts and they've been putting in and even though it is far from perfect they've been a blessing.

So some notes you can share with the ward, our branch here is absolutely awesome at providing food. Everyday at 2 someone feeds us lunch and not only is it helpful, it is needed for a lot of the missionaries.   With our limited funds, there's not a lot of money for food and it is absolutely the members responsibility to help out as much as they can.  Every members a missionary and feeding the missionaries is only one of many things they SHOULD be doing to support the spread of missionary work.  Another is freeing up time in  their busy schedule to offer a home or to be willing to travel to accompany the missionaries when there're teaching lessons. The added testimony of members is invaluable and also helps to show that Mormons are people to and we don't all wear name tags and corbatas twenty four seven.  Really everyone can spare an hour or two each week to sit in and contribute to the lessons.  Another thing is referrals, don't be shy to give out referrals.  Refer everybody you know, whether it be your best friend or a a coworker you hardly know.  The gospel is for everybody not only those who you feel comfortable recommending.  It is not the members job to determine who is ready to receive the gospel.  The knowledge of Jesus Christ is for everybody and they need to understand the significance of the work missionaries and members alike have been called to do.  The last thing which is important is to be friendly, en tonces don't be cliquey.  If you are talking to the same 10 people at church and during activities you are doing it very wrong. Although you might not be able to talk to everybody every Sunday you need to expand your love and interest. take your friend group and obliterate it.  Everyone is your friend. everyone deserves to feel your light and your warmth.  Don't deprive them of that because you are nervous or you've never met them before.  At one point every one of your best friends were strangers to you.  Extend your hand, extend your home for visits, and sacrifice your time and your energy to just be there for others.  It's really not hard.
Anyways those are the things I have time to write about now.  Feel free to alter or summarize or make any adjustments you see fit. Without the fellowship of the members all of the missionary work were doing  now would be in vain.  We need their help and CANNOT do it without them.

Anyways glad your doing good, keep me up to date on everything!

Con Amor,

Elder Wixom

P Day Fun at the ruins 11/17/14

We asked Aaron what he does all day:

We get up, we eat and study until 12 and then teach lessons till 2, lunch, then lessons for the rest of the day.  I say lessons but we usually end up teaching about 2 or 3 a day and spend the rest of the time looking for houses, it gets way confusing here.  I'm going to have to learn it quick though because my companion goes back to Columbia in 3 weeks.  I'm not sure if that means I'll get transferred out or a different companion will get transferred in but either way it'll be different.  My mission president seems cool, I haven't had a chance to talk with him and he didn't have time to interview most of us so I don't really know. Yeah today we went and visited a bunch of ruins for P day!  It's super hot here.  I got sunburned but it was way cool, there's underground walkways and sacrificial stuff, I think its called Tonina?   At least that's how they pronounce it.  We have a couple new investigators we're visiting this week, my Spanish is still less then functional and it makes it really hard to remember names but there's a middle-aged man and a woman and her kids we will be visiting.  Miguel hasn't been home and wasn't there when we tried to pick him up for church but we'll keep trying to get ahold of him. The Asuncions were kind of at a stagnate, the only reason we go back is for the kids now, one daughter in particular, who are pretty interested in our message. We'll keep trying though, if we can just get them to come to church I am positive they'll be able to recognize the blessings that come with the church.  Anyways keep letting me know how things are back home, I miss you guys!

Second Week 11/10/14

Yeah that kinda blows my mind too, she'll be 16 when I get back, that's even weirder, but happy birthday Madi!  Hope it was awesome!  I know it's two years from now but I'm already excited to bring back a bunch of cool presents for all of us, I'll be sure to find you something cool! For new and different, everything, the food we eat, the way we say things, the hygiene is um different. and the humor, everyone here is so kind hearted, especially in our branch, its awesome!  Yesterday we had dinner at the church and a member made over 200 wings (which is a lot in IF and incredible down here) and anyone who'd pass by everyone would shout at them until they'd join us.  There was about 60 people here last Sunday which I've been told is pretty good.  It's my companionship and one other that teach in Ocosingo and it's just us four in our district.  I love them to death, our district is so much fun.  About twice a week we go out to lunch together and we always go to the same place I'll send you guys a picture.

That's the nicest restaurant in Ocosingo,  Me and Elder Carpinter from Texas usually switch off paying for everybody though.  That's fine because it's about 3 US dollars a person. But eating there is a blessing.  Every other lunch we have is at a members house and the food is usually really good but it never sits well after haha.   Elder Carpinter has been here for 8 weeks and he's still adapting so wish me luck.  The language is coming I just need to keep with my study time and practice more talking to members. It's kind of strange here, we're not allowed to do any door to door it's only street contacting and the people are always really nice and I'd say about half the time we schedule a lesson, but the problem is finding their home.  In Mexico there is no rhyme or reason to the addresses, it goes 103 to 430, to 832, to 204 and it's like that the entire street, and a lot of houses don't have numbers so it makes it really difficult to find people. We spend 4 to 6 hours everyday just looking for houses usually with no success, but we do regularly teach a few people.  This one family, the I believe Ascuncions (at least that's how you pronounce it in English) are my favorite. They're the first family we taught. They have 3 kids but there's always at least a couple more over and they are the best.  The kids are insane and hyper and love giving prayers and reading the scriptures, it's perfect haha.  The parents believe everything we've taught and want to join but they're not married, it's hard trying to explain to them the importance of families in the gospel when I can't speak their language but we will keep trying and I believe we can help them. So yeah, life here is awesome, it's exhausting everyday but eventually I feel like I'll get used to it.  So I'm glad to hear life back home is good, keep me updated!

Con Amor

Elder Wixom

 



His names Miguel, I haven't met his dad yet but his parents are going to sit in with us on a leccion next Sunday so that's great! Pollo and torillas! But I also eat a lot of junk just because it's cheap and easy and doesn't make me sick. and yeah, I've been sick a lot.  The water is all dirty, you have to buy big water cooler jugs from your house and that's all you can drink from.  A lot of members mostly just drink soda.  Tell Mom not to worry, me and my companion are pretty careful.

Con Amor

Elder Wixom

Oh and stories, literally one minute ago I talked to Elder Reyes, one of the general authorities, he just walked in here and started talking to us. I didn't understand much but you can definitely feel his spirit.  That was awesome haha, anyways, adios!

 

Here's just another picture of Ocosingo

Finally in Mexico! 11/3/14

Hey, I don't have a lot of time for emails but I'm happy you guys are doing good.  I'm sure Madi and Justin had a blast at Halloween.  Spanish is coming faster than I thought it would which is really good.  Mexico is way different then I ever would have imagined, I'll send you lots of pictures. My companero es Elder Acosta, el donde de Columbia.  Es el final transfer.  He's way nice but he knows absolutely no English.  Sometimes it's hard but he's really patient.  He's a great guy.  My first lession was taught in the middle of a rain storm outside on a patio, it was insane and I only understood like a quarter of it but it went well. Last night we taught a nine year old and he wants to get baptised next Sunday so that was cool.  It gets dark at like 6 here and we just sat with him on the curb and taught him the restoration, it was different but really cool.  My first area is in Ocosingo which is the city of the drunks haha, everyone who's out past 7 is hammered here, they're all really nice but they're really loud and love talking to the missionaries. The food here is fine, I really haven't had any problems yet, there's just a lot of pollo.  The driving is absolutely nuts, I really can't explain it.  No laws, no lines, 4 lane roads and people just do what they want.  We take the taxi a lot though so I better get used to it.  It's only been a week and I already have a TON of stories but I can't write them all in one hour.  En tonces, the people here are awesome, really nice, every house and every floor is disgusting but you get used to it and it doesn't bother you, our apartment is decent size but the power is always out and no hot water but that's fine.  The computers here don't send pictures but when I can I'll send lots, its so pretty here!  The cities surrounded by mountains and trees it's awesome! Anyways make sure to let me know how you guys are doing and if you want to know anything just ask, the more specific the better. I miss you all!

Con Amor,

Elder Wixom

Dad,

That's awesome! Yeah Derek is the funniest out of all of us, I'll admit it.  I love him to death.  I'm glad you guys are doing good,  I don't have a lot of time but I'll tell you some of the cooler things about my mission.  Maybe not cooler but different.  Well every cop carries a huge assault rifle and you are not supposed to look at them.  I was stuck in San Cristobal for 2 days because the riots wouldn't let anybody through the streets to Ocosinga (my mission).  Ocosingo is known for the drunks and let me tell you, there are a lot. Me and my companion share a little apartment that has a little room outside for people in the complex to just chill, my first night there there was a group of guys drinking and one of them realllly liked my tie.  We kinda just played it off and I snuck into our room real quick, (luckily every window in Mexico has iron bars and every door as well) and we heard shouting.  The next morning we woke up to a huge pile of blood on the cement outside our door, it was insane!  I'm not scared though, we've seen them since and they been kind when they're not drunk. The people are so loving.  There's some amazing individuals here, especially in our church, its a big sacrifice to be a member here so they're all pretty committed.  En tonces life here is good, I don't mean so scare you that's just what life is like here. Also our money goes a long way here, just 10 dollars can get you a pretty nice wardrobe here, its cool.  Anyways I don't have a lot of time I've got to run errands! 

Con Amor,

Elder Wixom

 

outside nuestro casa 

mi amigo (Provo, MTC)

Last Week in the MTC 10/24/14

So our travel plans are US airways 595 to Arizona, then 503 to Mexico City. from there it's Aeromexico 557 to my mission! I haven't heard from our mission president yet but my whole district is taking the same plane the whole way there so that'll be fun! My favorite part of the MTC is probably the volleyball haha, I usually play with the Tongans against the Samoans and it gets really heated real fast but its a blast. They are just constantly screaming and yelling and they make it really fun. Thanks for the package.  The church picture book is amazing and I like the Lamanite action figures. Me and some members in my district made el bano moy festive with some of the supplies too haha we put the christmas tree on the mirror and everyone started singing pacific islander Christmas songs haha.  Every night this week our floor (it's the international one) has a massive pillow fight. literally 30+ guys circling the floor hitting each other with pillows. Our small zone are always the Nephites and all the other um darker skinned elders are the Lamanites XD its alot of fun and I feel like the water guns are definitely going to put the battle in our favor.  So thanks for everything, Todays been fun. I'll call you when can, thanks again!  Oh Alex's older brother, and me and Elder S have been talking alot which is nice.

Con Amor

Elder Wixom

 

Spencer Tolson (works at the MTC) and Aaron.  Thanks Michelle (Spencer's Mom) for this picture.

 

 

4th Week in the MTC

 I got my travel plans today.   I leave at 3:30 am on the 27, It'll cost me about $150 if it goes well, and there's a layover in LA and then I think Mexico City then my mission. I'm so excited, I just want to go out there and start speaking with people, the MTC is fun but I'm ready to go. E Schneider got here yesterday so I know the MTC is going to get that much more awesome! Also I  ran into Alex's brother who I guess works here, that was pretty cool.  It's going to be crazy! Life here is good, the usual, we teach a bunch of lessons and then a bunch of language study then sleep. It's the same everyday.  I got a copy of the Spanish Childrens Story Book about the BoM and I've been studying that and its really helpful haha.  Anyways glad you guys are doing good!

Hasta Luego!

Elder Wixom


On the Left is Elder Maya who is a solo missionary and is from our mission and he's way cool and has been teaching us a lot of spanish and a lot about the area. The right is Elder Correa who is from  Ecuador and he's super funny. Correa leaves this monday but Maya leaves a week after us.
​

MTC 10/10/2014

So I gotta type fast but these last couple weeks were really awesome and really hard. My whole district is coming down with strep so we haven't had a full classroom in a while now.  I've had a sore throat but I think I'm coming out of it so I guess I got lucky.  They have us teaching twice a day in Spanish and sometimes we're randomly assigned to teach people spiritual thoughts in Espangal.  Esta moy difficil. It's hard to teach in spanish when you don't know what you would say in English but I'm learning.  When it gets hard they tell us to always keep it as simple as we possibly can and make it as easy for a little child to understand our message as an adult. I've seen a few people that I know here and that's pretty fun, I've got a buddy from school I've been talking to a lot lately so that's awesome. The hardest part about the MTC is the rules, mostly they're all easy but not listening to my own music is killing me and also I don't think my room has gone to bed before midnight since we've moved to this main campus. Spanish is coming slow but steady, it will take a while but I'm ready to just get down there because I know that's the best way for me to learn. Conference was really cool but I was sick so I slept through quite a bit of it, President Uchtdorf's talk, "Lord it is I" really hit me, that was a good one.  There's also videos we can watch here on Sunday that are only accessible in the MTC and I watched one titled "Charcter of Christ" by Bednar and that was probably the coolest lecture I've ever listened too, it just talks about giving it your all and being selfless in all things you do. Anyways, I'm glad you guys are doing good!

Love

Elder Wixom

 

That's one of our teachers Hermana Estrada, her and Hermano Martinez are awesome, they're both awesome teachers but I dont have a pic of him.

 

 

This is the fort we made a couple nights ago when we couldnt sleep, we found a bunch of pillows and mattresses and really went all out haha

 

Second Week in the MTC 10/1/14

I got your package and let me tell you, my companions loved it haha.  It was really needed because we changed dorms and had to give up all of our old candy so it was nice to have something to snack on, thanks so much! Missionary life is different but I think I'm starting to adjust.  There are a lot of rules haha, but its still a lot of fun. These last two weeks have just flown by but at the same time they feel like an eternity haha anyways glad to hear you guys are doing ok! (to his Grandparents)

Alex told me about his talk and he said he cried the whole way through it haha.  I wish I could have seen it haha.  They teach plenty in Guatamala, he'll have lots of opportunities.  I got the package you guys sent me, it was awesome! We ate just about everything already haha and the binder was cool, I don't know if I'll have much time here but when I get out I'll be able to really look through that, thanks. There was alot that happened this week but I have less time to email today then most so I'll have to tell you next week, but it was a lot of fun!         Aaron is in the back left.

Sept 24, 2014 First Week in the MTC

Hola!

It’s only been 7 days but it feels like an eternity away from IF ha ha.  Time passes differently at the MTC. Thank for the letters, I’ve got them both but I haven’t been able to send any yet because I’ve been super busy but I’ve written some out and I’ll try to find time to send them. Life here is good, the dorms are okay, the teachers are cool and food is awful. Spanish is hard but I’m picking it up a lot faster than I thought I'd be, apparently Hermana Estrada(our teacher) said we're learning it quicker than any other group she’s taught so that's kind of exciting. The cinnamon rolls were an awesome package, thank you! So one member of our district ended up leaving the first day we got here so his companion ended up joining us making me and my companion a three some. There’s Elder Russell from Indiana and Elder Palmer from Utah, they’re both pretty cool, easy to get along with. We also lucked out and were sharing a 6 man apartment with two bathrooms with just our companionship, it’s nice. My district is way cool, everyone in our district is going to the exact same mission so there's a good chance I’ll see most of them again which is awesome. They're downsizing our campus though and this Friday we're moving to the main and my p day will change to Friday and my mailing address will change but I’m not sure to what yet. It’ll be cool though, they’re supposed to have better food. Sorry if I can’t say much we don't have a lot of time, I also didn't want to write 2 emails so I’m just going to respond to this one. Elder Ballard came yesterday, he gave an hour long devotional about being a missionary what’s expected of you, it was awesome, it was amazing to see how focused everybody was when he was speaking. Next week another apostle is supposed to come but we don't know who yet, were all making bets.  So yeah life here is good, glad to see life in Idaho is great! Here’s a picture, Elder Russell is on the left and Elder Palmer is on the right

Love,

Elder Wixom

Before My Mission August 2014

Aaron's temple trip before he left

Aaron and his good friends, Alex and Jordan, visited a few temples in Utah the week before Jordan left for Mexico City.  All three of these men are going to be awesome missionaries!!!  I thought I would post a few of their pictures from that trip.  A big thank you to Jordan's mom for these photos.

Jordan, Alex, and Aaron at the Provo Temple

At the Mount Timpanogos Temple

Mount Timpanogos Temple

Salt Lake Temple

Alex, Jordan, and Aaron at the Salt Lake Temple.

Selfie at the Jordan River Temple

At the Oquirrh Mountain Temple