Bienvenidos a Mexico!

Hey guys, I made it down safely!!!  The day went something like this:  I said goodbye at the security station at the Salt Lake City airport, then I met up with the rest of the elders and sisters flying out from Utah.  I became acquainted with some of them, and was able to sit by a nice sister named Sister Lowmax on the way to Dallas Ft. Worth, then next to Sister Page on the way to Mexico City.  But things don`t seem real until now.

We got to Mexico and had filled out all of the appropriate forms to get through Immigration and Customs.  Of all of the missionaries on the airplane, I was the one that knew the most Spanish and ended up translating what the native people were saying to the others, as well has having to translate the signs and the things on the papers that we had to fill out.  But we all got through it successfully and found the representative from the MTC (CCM in Spanish) and were led outside in a single file line until we boarded a bus that would take us to the MTC.

The bus ride was about an hour long, and I sat next to Elder Haws, one of the elders that we saw at the airport.  In the group of elders, Elder Haws and I were the only ones that were under 6 feet tall.  It was kind of ridiculous, but it also made us unique so I guess I`ll take it.  ;)  But we sat next to each other on the bus, and both of us were just ecstatic that we were on our missions!  But it was a major culture shock - I can now see why dad told me that it would be.  The traffic was crazy to begin with, with no rules and everybody just swerving around each other.  It was crazy!  There were a bunch of motorcyclists that would drive in the 2-foot space that was in between the cars in the lanes, and I thought for sure they were going to die!  I also saw a bunch of street vendors, and they literally were that:  in the middle of a traffic jam, they would run into the middle of the street, selling their products, mostly fruit it looked like, to the people who were driving and had their windows rolled down.  It was insanity!  But beyond that, Mexico City is a huge, dirty place as well.  On the flight in, I was looking out of the window at the city, and I couldn`t even see an end to it in either direction.  It really is huge.  But when we got into the city itself, there are just tons of really poor houses along the road, and tons of things that are falling apart.  Graffiti is everywhere, and I`m sure that it is a big part of the gang violence and gang territory out here, but it literally is on every single wall I saw.  There were also a bunch of favelas, like the ones you see in the beginning of the Hulk movie in Brazil.  I felt so bad for so many of the people, because while we were driving in the bus, I didn`t see a single person smiling.  They all have it so rough, and we all have it so great, we really need to see our blessings and thank God every day for the things that we have.

But then we made it to the MTC!  When we pulled up, we knew exactly where we were because it was so clean compared to everything else.  It is so well kept, very large (nearly 100 acres), and very beautiful.  The campus is so great!  And they have a little miniature version of it inside the initiation building.  But we were talking to the missionary couple inside who was going to help get us initiated, and then they asked us where we were from and where we were serving, and it turns out that both of them are OHS Tigers!!!  It is obviously the best school to go to.  Clearly...  ;)  But then we got our missionary packets, which contains our missionary tags and a whole bunch of scheduling stuff.  But the best part about all of that is that when I was looking at the front of the packet, it said the name of my MTC companion!!!  And his name?  You are never going to guess it:  Elder Taylor Scott Stringham!  Talk about a coincidence right?  Hey dad, you need to tell me how I`m related to him again - I forgot.

Anyway, I love you all so much!  Don`t worry, I made it here safe, and I am loving every moment that I am living.  I will upload the photos that I took today on my P-day so that you can all see everything that I saw! I love you guys - don`t worry about me, I am on a mission serving the Lord and am loving the opportunity that I have to serve.

Elder Nathan Hubert

One Week More!

With one week to go, there are so many things that go through a person's head.  It is crazy to think that in 7 days, most everything I know will be changing.  I will be around people that I don't know very well, I will be in an unfamiliar place, I won't have parents there to complain to...  Everything is just so insane, but I am so excited for it!  I feel more prepared now than I did even a little bit ago, which probably means that I am far from ready, but I'm going to go with that good attitude nonetheless.

Today I had the amazing opportunity to go to the Timpanogos Temple with some friends: Melissa Killpack, Ashley Warren, Lindsey Turner, Katelyn Louder, Adam Holderness, and Chris Brousseau.  Ever since I went to the temple for myself, I have always had the desire to go with a group of friends.  And just being able to do that leads me to acknowledge that we live in such a blessed area - to be able to share your religion with so many of your very best friends and to experience something so spiritual while in the company of those friends, it truly is incredible.

Another thing that I found out recently was that my friend Adam Holderness and I will actually be going to the Mexico City MTC on the same day - September 25th - and after conversing with him for a while, I found out that we are going to be on the same flight and that we are sitting super close as well!  We are sitting a row apart (I'm in front of him) and just a couple seats apart.  So basically, all of those people who are sitting in between Adam and I are going to be 'doomed for conversion.'  :)  I just really hope that I can pull the whole "hey, i'm sitting by you on an airplane, so let me share the gospel with you" approach on someone.

But with one week to go, there are so many things that I still need to do as I think about it.  Also, there are so many people that I want to see!  After we went to the temple as a group, all of us went over to the OHS Seminary building to say goodbye to our great seminary teachers that we had over the years, and it was awesome to be able to see some of my friends that are still in school as well!  And if any of you guys are reading this:  I would love to see you one last time before I go!  Meaning, come to my farewell!

But throughout the day today, I was able to go to the temple 3 times!  The first time in the morning was doing a session with my friends.  The second time, I was able to go and take my mission photos on the temple grounds with my dad.  And then the third time, I went up with the Teacher's quorum in my ward and helped them with baptisms.  It was so great - I felt the spirit so much today.

Alright, this is probably going to be one of the few blog posts that I make as Nate rather than Elder Hubert, so this is me signing off.