Week 5 - CCM

The End of the CCM...Barely

This is my name tag with my last-week-green sticker.

Hello everybody!

This is my final week at the Mexico City MTC. The last six weeks have flown by fast at least for me. Thank you everyone that sent letters and packages. I have very much appreciated them. This week I have been working harder to finish strong but there have been some good things happen.

One of the elders was possibly going to get sent home this last week. We were all praying for him and we actually had a day of fasting for him. He ended up getting told that he can stay which was a huge relief to him and to the rest of our district's joy. I won't go into too many details but one thing I want to share is that the Atonement is real. As I saw him have that relief and get to focus I saw how the Atonement worked in his life. It was very nice to see and was a reminder to me of the importance of Christ's atonement. The Spirit was felt so strong and I am thankful that this elder in my district could stay.

This last Sunday our district gave a special musical number during our sacrament meeting. We sang "I Need Thee Every Hour". We sang the first two verses normal (in Español), third softer and quiet, forth growing louder to the chorus which we sang in English. It was very cool to see that as we reached the third and forth verses, everyone began to smile and it was person by person. That's why I love music so much. It speaks in a way that words can't. Even though I have had little opportunities to share this talent with others I will continue to hope for times to come that I can share my talents. This moment I will not forget.

While wrapping up my time here I have reflected and seen the Gift of Tongues work in my life. Things have been starting to click, memorizing has gotten easier, and my pronunciation isn't all to bad. That is the power of the Holy Ghost. It works in all of us, shapes and refines us, then we reap the blessings from that hard work. 

Our Tuesday devotional was about Becoming Like God. This is something that we need to remember, especially when we are discouraged. No one has ever been able to be able to do something really well without practice and study. Even Jesus Christ studied and learned from scriptures because he didn't automatically know everything. The same goes for us to. We can get better but it is a process, not an event. I pray that all of you will remember that and continue to strive to get better and become.

So here is the plan for my travel to Ecuador. Me and one other missionary (una Hermana) get onto a bus to go to the airport at 8:00 Monday night. Our flight leaves Mexico at 1:28 Tuesday morning. We fly from Mexico to Columbia to Quito, Ecuador and will arrive before noon Ecuador time. The reason of the title is that they did not have me or the Hermana on the bus schedule. I thought maybe I was staying till the 25th. I was able to talk to someone about it and he got it all straightened out. It would have been interesting otherwise. Elder Frey flies out early Monday morning and Elder Maruyama flies out early Wednesday morning. They will have to figure out something to do with Elder Maruyama. 

I love you all! I pray for all of you. I hope this week goes well and that you will continue to become.

--Elder Ogden--

p.s. We have gotten a ton of rain, most likely from the hurricane that is up north. 

This is basically what every day looks like for me

Week 4 - CCM

Hermana and Elder Ogden

Must Be Nearing the End

Hey there y'all!

I must be getting close to the end because we have not had anything exciting happen this week. 

We are on our second to last week which is so weird to think about. I'm so excited for going to meet the people of Ecuador! The Spanish is starting to come in nicely and we are speaking only Spanish for the last two weeks. I really enjoy that. 

I hope the Solar Eclipse was cool! We were told that we could not look at the Sun nor study outside at the end of the eclipse.

Elder Frey and I got the flu this past week. I can tell I am in the recovery stage and Elder Maruyama and I gave Elder Frey a priesthood blessing just this morning. 

Something unexpected happened yesterday. I was getting toast during dinner and I look up and see this Hermana with a name tag that says Hermana Ogden. I went and talked to her and she had said someone told her that I was here. We have absolutely no idea how we are related. She is from Las Vegas, Nevada and is going to serve in the Pocatello, Idaho mission. If anyone knows how we are related that would be great! (there is a picture included)

One quick lesson that we were taught is teaching people not lessons. It is key and vital that we teach like Ammaron and Aaron taught in the Book of Mormon: through the Spirit and by relating everything to them. Seek for the Spirit. Learn from it. Pray to always have it.

That is all I have for this week. Sorry for the short email.

Love you all!

--Elder Ogden--

Fathers Note:  Stanley informed us that he will be traveling to Ecuador on September 5th.  The best I can tell from observing other missionary blogs, is that his new P-Day will be on Monday's.  He is very excited to finally be getting out to teach the people of Ecuador.  He also got to speak German with one of his teachers who served in Mexico and one of his areas was a German speaking colony.  

Week 3 - CCM

Not Eventful Everyday...However....
Here is mi y mis compañeros approximá de mi casa

Hello everybody! I hope everyone is doing super great!

This week wasn't near as eventful as last week was, but a lot of cool things did happen.

This last Sunday we had such an awesome day of teaching. Our awesome branch President, President Hatch, taught a mini lesson from the allagory from Jacob 5. In it, the Lord of the vineyard (God) sees his vineyard go through different stages through eternities. What the lesson was was what he said after viewing the hardships of his vineyard, "what more could I have done". He then related that to us on our mission. I think we could relate it to all of you as well. Sometimes we are going to get comfortable and just kind of cruise through life rather than living it to the fullest. If you ever feel like this, or feel unproductive, or aren't sure what to do next: contemplate what more you can do and pray to God what more you could do. I know you will be blessed because of it. We also had a surprise devotional broadcast from the Provo MTC. The speaker was Elder M. Russel Ballard from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles! His wife spoke briefly about the importance of the Book of Mormon. Elder Ballard talked to us about keeping our thoughts and actions clean while on our mission. His phrase was "lock your heart". It was a good devotional, but kind of random. Because of the suddenness of this, it makes me wonder why he needed to speak on this at this time. I hope I never found out why.

On Tuesday we had yet another apostle talk to us. This time it was Elder Neil L. Anderson! There were many lessons he had taught but the main one I want to share with all of you is keep your flame of faith alive. We sometimes lose hope because we don't know what is going to happen next. Heck that's all us missionaries do! But if we have faith in God and Our Savior, Jesus Christ, we will be okay. And that is all that matters.

Here is one miracle that has happened this week. On Monday, one Elder in our district (Elder Mendon), we think, received a mild concussion. I say we think because when he went to go and see the doctor, he wasn't in. He received some pain meds and was told to sleep. He hadn't fully recovered even though it had been three days. He asked our district to give him a priesthood blessing. He has not had a problem with his head since. I know that through the power of the Priesthood and through excercising faith, we can do anything. That lesson, I am sure, will be taught to me over and over and over on my mission. 

Now to stop lecturing all of you. I have met a lot of people here that I did not think I would meet and here is the list of them: Elder (Kyle) Ransom, Elder Rasmussen (from Burlington), Elder (Brock) Taylor, and Elder (Joe) Harris. It has been really cool to see and catch up with all of these wonder men of God. I also finally met someone that is going to my mission! I am awful at names so I do not remember hers but she will be leaving the same day I will be! She was explaining to me that most of the people going to our mission did not get their visas in time so they had to go to the Provo MTC. She and I are just happy we finally know someone going to Ecuador Quito North!

I have been asked to tell you more about my companions and daily routine. Elder Frey is from Salt Lake City, Utah. He also just graduated from high school at East High. He has a girl back home that sends him letters everyday so we all give him a hard time about it. Elder Maruyama is from Las Vegas (Hutchenson), Nevada. He is half Japanese and half Hawaiian. I would tell you his first name but I can't spell it let alone pronounce it. My daily routine looks like the following: 6:00 -> work out, 6:30 -> Prep for the day, 7:15 -> Personal Study, 7:45-> Breakfast, 8:15-> Classes, 12:45p-> Lunch, 1:30p-> Study, 2:30-> Gym time, 4:00-> Classes, 9:00-> Return to our casa. We have, during the time of classes, some times that we will teach our teacher investigators.

I am sad to hear of all the people that have passed away. I hope the Barrick Family is okay. I have kept them in my prayers and pray that they will receive peace. 

Love you all and have an awesome week!

--Elder Ogden--

This is everyone in our casa in front of our casa. Mucho amor para todas personas!

You can email Elder Ogden at stanley.ogden@myldsmail.net

Week 2 - CCM

Hello everybody!!

I am sorry for how late this email is. We went to the temple again this morning and it fit our schedule to email right now. The weeks are starting to go by much faster here. It might be because this week has been kinda hectic. Elder Frey and I have played tennis twice now which is so awesome! He has had some time that he has played which makes it fun. I can now say I have played tennis in a different country. My goal here in the CCM was to become a better teacher and I feel that that is happening!

Last Saturday, I think I may have gotten food poisoning. I was in an out of the bathroom all Saturday and Sunday. The rest of the day was fine besides that part. I was worried I would have to get some medical help but I asked my companions for a priesthood blessing Sunday night and once the blessing was over I felt better. Not 100% but better. It was Elder Maruyama`s second blessing and Elder Frey (who actually verbalized the blessing) had me be his first blessing. I felt that he was completely submitting to and following the promptings of the spirit which also helped me be put at ease. The male members in my class gave a blessing to our teacher as well because he was getting pretty sick. 

This last Sunday was pretty Spiritual. We had three different devotionals we went to. One we watched The Restoration video which is always super good. We had a lesson from our president and his wife about the priesthood and the role of women in the church. The last was by President and Hermana Eves (who scared people and talked about being a perfect missionary). They truly are good teachers. We discussed the importance of the Book of Mormon which made me realize how important the Book of Mormon is in the gospel and as a missionary. If you have not read it, read it. If you have read it, read it again, but this time know what it contains. That is what I am currently working on right now.

We had a service activity on Monday washing the walls of buildings. It didn`t seem like we were making a difference because they were already white. We had the opportunity to talk to some of the Latino Hermanas here which was awesome. They were so funny, mainly because we could not speak Spanish but they did not really care. We ended up sitting with them at dinner that night and met some Latino Elders. They totally understand that we cannot speak perfect Spanish. I also found out that my "therapy session" was a check up to see how my studdering was going. I explained that it was bad in my childhood but now was slight. I feel it comes out a bit more when trying to speak Spanish. 

Monday night was the craziest night thus far. When we all were about to retire for bed, one of the rooms in our casa had a pipe break in their bathroom. We quickly blocked the doorway leading out with towels and attempted to call somebody. No one, of course, was working so we had to find a solution ourselves. Luckily the floor was slanted just perfectly to where the water could drain into the shower, but it would not be enough. One of the elders in my district found a shut off valve which we all were grateful for. Now if only this was the end of that night. I got a wake up call at three thirty in the morning by Elder Maruyama. He was asking if I and Elder Frey (rhyme) could give him a priesthood blessing. I gave him the blessing and then he told us the story: He had woken up in an intense amount of pain. He thought he also contracted food poisoning. He went of to the bathroom, sat down, and then passed out. He said we was woken up by the feeling of blood flowing out his nose. He cleaned himself off and then woke Elder Frey and I (man I am on a role). We took him to the infirmary later Tuesday day and the doctors were, interesting. The nurse that saw us first forced Elder Maruyama to speak Spanish (we spent five minutes trying to look up the word faint). Elder Frey and I could understand what she was saying and helping Elder Maruyama out (like what I thought was a good companionship), however she wanted just him to speak and listen. After another five minutes we see the doctor. He obviously was not very happy to see us because I think he was going on his lunch break. In the end, Elder Maruyama is fine and is feeling a lot better. 

Not much else has gone on. It has been pretty much classes every day with a few of these exciting bursts. Thank you everyone for the packages and the letters! I have enjoyed them all. Love all of you!

--Elder Ogden--

Elder Ogden, Elder Frey, & Elder Maruyama

Mexico City Temple

The companions at the Mexico City Temple visitor center

Mexico City Temple

The whole district 

                            

Mission President

Mexico Flag at the CCM

Week 1 - CCM

Hello everybody from Mexico City,

The beginning of this first week seemed really long. It was all orientation and it seemed like I should have already been here a week! Things have started to run smoother now. The traffic in Mexico is insane. Everyone kinda just meshes in together. I`ve only experienced it when we come to the CCM (MTC in Mexico). The plane rides went smoothly. I didn`t meet up with any other missionaries until my flight to Mexico City. I sat by this lady that only spoke Spanish which was not good for me. I felt really bad for her. We arrived at the CCM later than expected and only got to see the last thirty minutes of the devotional that night. My companion hadn`t showed up so I got one more night all by myself.

Day One was hectic. We had a ton of orientation classes that we had to attend. My companion still hadn`t showed up so I talked to the reception and they said to talk to the President when we had a meeting with him later that day. Until that point I was just in a trio with two other elders that were staying in my same house. When we had that meeting, I went up, introduced myself, and told him my situation. He was my temporary companion until we found me a new one. We went to reception, asked them, and they showed us some new assignments they made. We then had to walk to the class he was in and find him. Once he wasn`t in the first few classes we called the reception desk and they told us the correct room. I finally got to see him, however, he already had a companion and was a part of a tablet-using mission. So the President took all three of us back to reception and had a twenty minuet discussion with them about how they would handle the situation. Once something go figured out, I was lead into the secretary`s office while he made new adjustments. That took a whole three hours of confusion and worrying. I ended up getting put into a trio with Elder Frey (pronounced fry) and Elder Maruyama (say it like you would in Spanish). 

The rest of the days weren`t near as exhausting as that first day was. The days are starting to speed up and run smoother. Last Wednesday I was assigned District Leader. I guess I was supposed to come the the Mexico City MTC, not have a companion show up, and be put into a trio for a certain reason that I still am unsure of. But, now I`m the district leader of eight other people. 

Church on Sunday was so awesome! It is just a branch because there of course isn`t that many missionaries in each branch. Our branch presidency is awesome! They are such wonderful people to talk to and learn from. They are very in-tune with the Spirit.

The hardest days I feel are behind me. There have been some days that I got very discouraged because of the language. I`ve come to realize that whenever this happens, it is usually because I am not being myself. The Lord called me, not someone else. He needs my personality, talents, and ambitions to help those here at the CCM and those in Ecuador. I have to remember to always forget myself and go to work. That is key. 

Our weekly Tuesday night devotional is when I had to remember this the most. We had an Ex-air force guy talk to us (who is also the first counselor in the CCM presidency) Elder Eves. His talk was basically about if you aren`t the perfect missionary then you aren`t a good missionary. Now there was a lot bad with this. a) Not many people took this too well and ended up not listening to him, b) Everyone felt discouraged because they had done something that Elder Eves said they should not have done, and c) we received brand new missionaries earlier that day. However bad this may sound, this was the surface of his talk. As I had time to think about it, I felt that maybe, it was much deeper than what it appeared to be. It made me think of our investigators. Sometimes when we teach, we are telling them how bad they are doing and what they need to change rather than celebrating the accomplishments and pointing out how far they have come. I may not be as fluent as Elder Eves wants me to be, but having taken zero Spanish classes in high school and yet understand conversations and teach lessons within my second day here, I`d say I am doing really well! 

Love you all! There will be few pictures today because we can only take them on P-Days, but I`ll have plenty next week, even of the temple we are attending today! Keep believing, keep hoping because heaven is cheering you on!!

With mucho amor,

Elder Ogden