Well, the time has certainly passed by fast! As of writing this email, I will leave the CCM in 11 hours and fly to Dallas, then to Salt Lake where I´ll be shipped down to Provo and begin the actual mission! Thus my P-Days will be Monday from now on and I will be at a different address, I´ll let everyone know next week where I´ll actually be.
But yes, how the time flies! Last night I said goodbye to my district, and when I woke up it was only Me and Elder Jones left, and he left today a few hours ago. It was a rather heartfelt goodbye to everyone, more than I thought it would be, and particularly to Elder Jones, who I have become very close to. My time here at the CCM has been short, just 5% of my mission really, and will be way different from everything else I experience, there won´t be anything like it again for me. But after being around so many people, and some of them nearly every waking hour, I have made some new friends that will probably come up again. Indeed, since my last newsletter, nothing much has happened beyond the usual, other than the classes became more chill, and yet more important. The field is waiting, and that´s where the real test is. Six Weeks, and all the years before, of talking about a mission is finally going to start being put to the test in a matter of hours - I cannot wait.
We watched the Joesph Smith, Prophet of the Restoration Video last night, and I was surprised to see that the part that affected me the most was the scenes of those first Early Church Missionaries preaching in the United States and England: That´s going to be me soon! Granted, I don´t think I´ll find myself on too many soap boxes, but regardless the message will be the same.
And so, as many have asked, how was the CCM? It was a once in a lifetime experience, and a necessary step into the missionary life. But it´s time I moved on, any longer here would be a disservice to everyone involved. I met many other missionaries, learned of their lives and testimonies, and then saw how they lived and acted as missionaries. But now, it´s time to throw myself into the fire, make mistakes, and get forged. I will admit that coming into the CCM I thought it wouldn´t be as important, the friendships I would make not as lasting as those in the field, and the things I learned not as important as those I would learn while actually going and doing, both language-wise and gospel-wise. All have been thoroughly disproved, and I am really glad that I was able to spend time here, cherishing even the day to day routine of everything.
But now, it´s onto Provo and the work. I really don´t have much to say, which is an ironic situation: Here I have all the time and nothing to say, and in the field I´ll have no time and everything to say. Thank goodness I´ve been doing well with daily journal updates, but expect the emails to be a lot shorter henceforth, but letters will be entirely possible and much easier to send. Many pictures to come this evening. By my next email I´ll have much more interesting stuff to say. And so, Onto the Winter and Snow!
Elder Martin
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