Week 3

Hey MOM!

The earthquake was pretty devastating to other areas but we are all good here. Crazy thing though, they never feel earthquakes at the CCM but we definitely felt that one! It felt like someone had just jumped on the trampoline and then you had to walk across it but you couldn't control how it moved, it controlled you. The trees were shaking and the lights were flickering and it was so crazy!!
Both mine and my companion's talks went really well, we spoke after another companionship in our branch did. I was able to speak Spanish fairly well while giving my talk. I spent about three hours the night before translating it all. I was up until 1:20. After sacrament meeting, President Lyons said that we had very good Spanish :)
We have taught lessons with Latino companions and have taught many lessons as a companionship to our investigators. They are going well and we are learning so much!!!
Today we are going to the temple and there is a store where you can buy really cool ties. . . .I got one tie in the little bit of time we had before we went into the temple. I was gonna go back to it for possible souvenirs from Mexico, but it was closed.  Most people go to the temple two times while at the CCM so I hope we go once more!
I am doing well and loving it here :) The CCM down here is literally like heaven on earth. There is chaos in the city but in the CCM its peaceful and beautiful and calm. I love you!!

Traveling through Mexico City to the Temple

Mexico City Temple

 Temple Day together as a District

Missionary Transportation

Earthquake

Hey mom!

Today there was a 7. something earthquake in Pueblo, which is just like 2 hours away.  We were eating lunch and it was crazy!!! The ground was like a trampoline, it felt so weird to walk!! It lasted about 10-20 seconds! The sirens went off and we all went out to the street and stood in the green meeting circles. President Bennett told everyone that we have 5 minutes to email our families that we are okay! We felt it here but it didn't do any damage, except I think something happened to the gym because we couldn't use it today. . .can you please let the whole family know that I am okay?  Have a wonderful day! btw we are going to the temple this Thursday!! I will talk to you more then :-)

Your Missionary,
Elder Acton

Week 2 at the MTC

Hey MOM!

Thursdays are my favorite too!!! :) We were going to go to the temple today but found out our group isn't going.  But we might next week, so emailing maybe later in the day.  That sounds like quite an experience with that pig, haha. Good job Faith!! Glad she did so well! I bet she was a little sad to see him go and you'll have to tell me how he tastes, LOL :)  My week has been pretty good! Thank you for the treats!!! I drank the chocolate milk but I'm saving the treats for when I am over this stupid cold so I don't carry it on longer than it normally would be.  And thank you for the letters! I love them! Every time our district leader Elder Jolley and his companion come back from the post office all of us look at him like he's Santa LOL :) I am progressing in the language but it is difficult. There is so much memorization and it's hard to understand what people are saying. Our teachers are now only speaking Spanish so I have to try even harder to listen. I also was asked to give a talk this Sunday, as was my companion.  It has to be in Spanish and it's on the reformers (reformation/those who helped prepare the way for the Restoration but were not in the church) and the restoration. It is a very difficult topic and I don't know what to do but I will be working on it today and I hope it goes well. Mom I am so grateful for you!! Oh hey that small earthquake I was talking about was just a drill but the next night there was an 8.4-9.2 earthquake(not for sure what size, I've heard both)in Mexico City. We lost 2 members of the church and many were injured and much was destroyed. But the CCM is in the Valley of Mexico which is surrounded by mountains and is the safest place form natural disaster in Mexico. We also had huge rain storms which flooded our outside entry way to our house, the grass, the sidewalks, and the roads. We forgot our umbrellas in the classroom and when we got done with GYM/workout time, we didn't have them to go back to class so we had to run down the street through like an inch of water. Trying to run where it was most shallow and then we watched the storm from our classroom building. It hailed a bit and was super windy and then the storms often just stop within minutes, if not seconds Haha. Anyways, it's great down here, I love it, I miss you guys so much! And I love you to pieces!

Your missionary, Elder Acton

 Photo Bombers

Selfie

CCM District

Elder Isaacson & Elder Acton(CCM Companions)

Elder Acton at the CCM

Week 1 at the MTC

Hey Mom!!!!

It has been a lot of fun down here at the MTC.  Very stressful, but fun! I miss you so much but I know that I couldn't be in a better place than I am at this moment. I can't believe the girls are going to college! That's weird to think about.  I hope Faith does great at the fair! I'll pray for her as I do for the whole family every morning and night as well as other times throughout my day :) Down here at the MTC it has been a little crazy. I've made sure to write in my journal every night and I end it by saying goodnight to you guys every night. My companion's name is Elder Isaacson and he is also going to the Mississippi Jackson Mission. He is from Eagle Mountain Utah and is also 18. We are both fairly quiet guys but we still talk and have fun. We both want to work hard and obey the rules 100%. Our district is made up of only Elders which is rare but our morning teacher Hermana Vite says her best district was only elders. They had a certain feeling to them, a power that was unique so I am excited to see what we can become. Our district does need to focus a bit more though, many of our district members talk too much and get off topic when we study in the classroom without the teacher but we have so much fun and laugh so much and it's great. We, as a district, are improving little by little with being focused but we are not quite there yet. Elder Isaacson and I are some of the few that try to work hard the whole time. Everyone else works hard too but it's just not 100% of the time. The other elders in my district are Elder Jolley and Elder Shkenck (the D'Ls), Elder Harmon and Elder McClellen, Elder Abraams and Elder Eldredge, Elder Maxwell and Elder Hilldebrand, and Elder Powell and Elder Reyes. The food here has been interesting, some of it is good some is just weird. Like this morning we had sandwiches for breakfast. . .but we've also had waffle things, and attempted french toast and spaghetti and so on. The language is hard to learn and we have taught many lessons in Spanish which was very difficult and nerve racking even though it was our teacher acting as an investigator. Though the language is hard to learn, I feel I know so much more. The thing that is hardest for me is understanding what they are saying. . . .our days are packed with stuff to do and it is going by so fast! Talk to you next Thursday!:)

Your missionary, Elder Acton

Arriving in Mexico City

On the bus from the airport to the MTC

Mexico City MTC 

Missionaries entering the MTC on 8/29/2017(from the Facebook page)

Mexico City MTC Campus

Mexico City, hillside near the MTC

First P-day at the MTC

The Send Off

Elder Marc Ammon Acton

Marc had his missionary farewell on Sunday, August 27th, 2017.  He was grateful for all of the family and friends who were in attendance to show their love and support.  Later that evening he was set apart as a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  

He flew out of the SeaTac airport at 6am on Tuesday morning the 29th of August.  He had to be at the airport at 4am to allow plenty of time to get through security.  After checking his luggage (we had to do some rearranging so as not to exceed the 50lbs per bag limit), we walked over to get into the long line of passengers waiting to go through the security check point.  It seemed as though the moment we got into line, it began to move.  Soon, it was moving quite quickly, too quickly.  We had to step out of line in order to have time for our goodbye's.  There were lots of emotions as we hugged one another and then tearfully watched as Elder Acton headed off on his mission for two years.

The Goodbye's

He's off!!