Thursday, August 27, 2015

First Week in the CCM (MTC)

Daddio & Mahm 

Sounds like it's really busy at the house. I think it's awesome that you are having people over and being cool member missionaries.  That is awesome!!!

The CCM is really cool!  After a while of flying, I got to LAX and to my surprise I found like 40 other missionaries going to Guatemala. It was pretty cool that there where so many of them. The flights were grueling. Once we got to Guatemala its was awesome.  The bus ride to the CCM was awesome.  It was like a Hispanic Korea.... there were pretty much no traffic rules. 

Anyways, I'm in district 'Isaiah' there are 10 Elders & no Sisters. My companion's name is Elder Sv... he is from Tuscon Arizona and he's pretty cool. The food here is a mix of Guatemalan and American food.  Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad. But mostly good. The food and juice here give everyone diarrhea after 2 weeks. I've only had diarrhea once. I do have bed bugs though.  I wake up with little red dots all over me. But it's not that bad.

My P-day this week was Thursday.  It is supposed to be Tuesday but this week Elder Nelson was going to speak to all the missionaries, so it was changed. There is all this political unrest and stuff so he didn't come to Guatemala and we don't get to hear him. Because of the political unrest there are riots in the streets and we don't get to go out much. During our sports time we hear gunshots.  But the CCM has like 12 armed guards and a giant wall so I think we are pretty safe. 

My Spanish is coming along. I don't know much yet but I know more than when I came, so that's good I guess. Elder Sv.. and I have already taught and committed to baptism our first investigator. But it doesn't really count because our investigator, "Alejandro Fernandez" is really just our Spanish teacher Hermano V dressed up in a different shirt. 

Today we we got to go to the Guatemala City temple which is right next to the CCM. It was pretty cool but the session was In Spanish so I didn't understand much.  The last part was in English though so I understood that. Even though I couldn't understand what was being said, the spirit was the same. It was pretty cool. 

I love and miss you guys so much, but I know that I'm supposed to be here. I can't wait to get to my mission. It's gonna be sweet.

Yo se que la iglesia es la verdadera y yo se que jose smith es un profeta de Dios 

(I know that the Church is true and I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God) 

Elder Tagg

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Quick Letter Home

Hola Padres,

I made it to the MTC.  The flights were terrible...  Guatemala City is pretty much a Hispanic Korea.  I don't have much time but I miss and love you guys.


Elder Tagg

We were so glad to hear this from him.  We had been tracking his flights and the one from Atlanta to Los Angeles was delayed several times.  He barely made his flight to Guatemala.  His comment about the Hispanic Korea made us laugh.  Our family lived in Seoul for 2 years when Evan was 10.  He must mean it's a big city.  We just returned from Sao Paulo where his older brother served his LDS mission and I remember feeing the same way when entering that city.  'It's like a Latin Seoul'  I said to my husband.  We compare things to what we know.  I hope his out-of-country experience will be helpful to him.  Adjusting to a new culture can be hard sometimes.  We have a lot of faith in this young man.  Though we miss him very much we know he is exactly where he needs to be.  I'm going to go sniff one of an unwashed Evan T-shirt now... 

Last Days (And Then He's Gone)

Dinner at Matchbox Pizza after family photos

Open house in the back yard
Flag Cake!

Signing the laundry bag



Last movie... Mission Impossible
Just set apart as an official missionary
Shirts drying out after spraying them with mosquito prevention spray
Elder Elder Tagg thinks this is way to much luggage!!!
Letters to open when they are apart



Goodbye to best friend

Last family photo

In goes the luggage

Good bye Abby!!

A hard goodbye

Selfie!

Our last look at him
A funny moment happened at this point.  Elder Tagg gave his older brother (who was standing there with us watching him), the signal from the Hunger Games movies where you kiss your hand and put three fingers up in the air.  His brother did it back to him and I mentioned that HE might want to volunteer as tribute right about now.  Older brother just got home from his mission to Brazil about 10 days before this and is really missing his mission.  He said he would go in his place in a heartbeat : )  We then laughed at the fact that the hand signal had something to do with sacrificing yourself for your people even to the death.  Hope that isn't some sort of foreshadowing there.... 



"He's gonna be ok"