Week 1 8/15 Week 1 Down

THOMAS, YES!!! There are 2 ping pong tables... okay sorry promised I would start my email like that.

Well, when I got to my gate at the airport there was only 1 other elder. His name was Elder L... I think. So pretty much all 257 missionaries in my shipment showed up on Tuesday and it was just me and him on Wednesday. So when I arrived at the Mexico airport we had no idea what to do cause it said in our packet to look for other missionaries... but there weren't any. So we walked around for like 30 minutes until a guy walked up to us and asked us if we were lost in Spanish. Being so nervous at the airport I didn't understand him so I just said no. He laughed and said come with me, I'm from the CCM. He drove us through the city until we got the CCM.

We arrived and were told to email our parents at these computers and then wait for instruction. But after we finished our emails we just waited for like 30 minutes before anyone even came back. They did a little instruction for us and then sent us to our room. Elder L wasn't supposed to be my companion so they told us to walk around the CCM until we found our comps!! We had literally no idea where anything was, but according to our schedule, we were supposed to be at dinner. So we went to comedor and just walked around asking people if they had seen out comps. They weren't there so we went to the next devotional and at the end had the instructor ask over the mic for our comps.. and there he was Elder P. The first 6 hours were like the longest of my entire life.

Sorry, this email is kinda in a weird order and format but ill get better. Sunday and Tuesday we had devotionals that are super awesome and spiritual.

The first day was awkward a little bit. But we are super tight now. He's from Bountiful, Utah. We have the same interest and stuff. We work out in the gym every morning at like 645, so that's good but I'm usually super tired then. We also played soccer with a bunch of missionaries which was way fun. The first day I swear was like 72 hours, but they feel shorter every day.

Also MOM and DAD!! I walked into the class the first night I was there and some kid was like, is that TYLER KOHLERT. And I was said yes, and he asked if I remembered him, but I didn't. But after I saw his name tag it all clicked. It was S.W. from West Linn!! He's in my district and going to the Paraguay mission. Its been like 12 years since I had seen him last, he's changed so much.

Anyways, my District is super dope!! They are all a bunch a goobs who like to talk and have fun. There's one missionary pair that is kinda more serious and likes to study all day, but its good cause they got paired up together. I'm picking up the Spanish pretty well... but I don't really like the way they teach here, but its okay, I'm still learning. The teachers speak okay English, but pretty much all the missionaries are from united states.

We also had like a CCM apocalypse!! Some kid from Arizona brought a norovirus and it nearly killed a quarter of the CCM hahaha. Like no joke they said 170 of the 700 missionaries had it. So pretty much they were pooping, sweating, throwing up, and pretty much dying. They had fourteen zones where the sick people had to eat. And they could only leave there houses 2 a day, for lunch and dinner. Only 1 person in my district got it. But he had it the first day and has been stuck in his house since, but he's almost better now. I'm so glad I didn't get it, cause they were so miserable!! They required us to wash our hands like every 2 seconds, and they would hand us wipes every morning and before and after every meal. We also weren't allowed to shake hands, hug or pretty much make any contact with anyone.

The food here is okay, besides it always tastes like it's been sitting out for like a day. I miss Music and boating so much. Also if you can't see all the pictures, they are in the My Mission Google Drive thing I shared... some of them are super funny!! I'm running out of time... please send me emails and pictures. My teacher was supposed to send us a picture of all our district but she didn't. She was super funny and awesome but then I guess she finished her year teaching here and left us for BYU and her boyfriend hahaha. So know we have a different teacher.

Love, Elder Kohlert