5th Email

22 November 2017

 

My time here at the MTC has been amazing and yes I am writing in my journal every night. I am also taking lots of pictures but I never get a chance to send them, maybe when I get in the field I will have a better chance to do that.

 

We are all wondering what Thanksgiving dinner will be tomorrow, we do have a special devotional tomorrow morning which means we might get lucky and have a real Thanksgiving dinner, we all are hoping for one.

 

I really miss, the rain, we had a few days where it rained in past weeks but none for a while, it is really disappointing. Speaking of weather and natural stuff we survived (by technicality) 2 natural disasters on Saturday, there was an earthquake but it was too small and too far away to feel and then on a nearby hill there was a wildfire which burned all the way up the side, it was cool to see and now there is a black outline of where the fire was. So technically we survived 2 natural disasters within about 5 hours of each other.

 

We got green dots on our name tag on Monday to signify that we are leaving next week and that is crazy to finally realize it is happening. We also get to sing in Sacrament meeting on Sunday since we are leaving on Monday, we are thinking of singing a medley of God be with you till we meet again and Ill go where you want me to go, it should be awesome.

 

Speaking of leaving I fly out Monday morning at 7 50 AM and get to Dallas Fort Worth at 10 50 and then we have a layover until 1 and we fly down to Mcallen and arrive by about 2. So by early afternoon on Monday I will officially be in the field. Rumor has it that we get to call home from the airport on Monday which would be a weird time for you guys because it would be around 3 in the morning but I will try to find out and let you know before then, I will probably just call the house phone so if you get a random number from Mexico calling on Monday morning that is probably me.

 

I got my first haircut today and it is not too bad, they just basically shortened what I already had so it is just a bit shorter, but not short enough, oh well.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

We have been having fun here and it is crazy to think that we are almost done, the Spanish is getting better day by day, I can now understand more of what Latinos are saying and I am able to not only say more but have what I say be grammatically correct for the most part.

 

I love you guys and I will email next week from the USA!!!

 

Love Jaden

4th Email

15 November 2017

I  ate 7 bowls of cereal this morning (trying to break the record which was 11) I feel awful, it was such a mistake. 

Yeah the CCM has flown by for me too. We are down to about a week and a half. I have gotten used to the schedule and the spanish is a work in progress. We are teaching with Latinos 2 days every week, which has really helped and I pick up more and more from them each time we teach. I feel like I know enough to carry on a basic conversation and teach a very basic lesson but that is about it so far. Everyone says that about 3 months in the field or so one day the Spanish just clicks so chances are that is what will happen for me.

The weather here has been very nice, it has only rained 3 or 4 times since we have been here but other than that it is always sunny but still cool and windy so it feels great. It is great weather to play basketball outdoors.

I did hear from Braden, that is crazy to hear, 20 stitches, I can assure you I will not be getting stitches while I am gone, no thank you!

It has been a very good week and I feel like I learn more and more everyday which is a nice feeling. Our district here is so great and we are like family.  I have gained like 6 sisters and around 25 brothers out here in the CCM. We have 4 sisters in our district and 12 elders (inculding me) then there is another district which we are really close to that has 4 elders and 2 sisters and then about 10 Latinos that we teach with who I mentioned earlier, everyone here is so fun and cool to be around. It has been a blast meeting people and hearing more about the experiences and lives of others it is really cool to hear how some people got to the point where they decided to serve a mission. Anyway long story short everyone here is amazing and my family has defininitely grown in size since I have been here.

That is about is for this week. I will talk tou guys next week, tell everyone I said hi.

Love you guys,

Elder Jaden Goodbaudy

CCM Picture - 11 November 2017

Elder Goodbaudy and his companion Elder Vakapuna sporting their Mexican Sock Ties! We love that the CCM posts so many pictures! Love the smile on Elder Goodbaudy's face!

3rd Email - 9 November 2017

The internet wasn't working yesterday so we couldn't email. We went to the temple again for P-Day. The temple architecture is Aztec looking, very cool. I bought a Mexican Sock Tie at a store next to the Temple. (Jaden has a thing for ties).
It is hard to pick a favorite food, everything is really good. I really like the mashed potatoes they serve sometimes. We can pick from 2 entrees at each meal or we can have cold cereal.I have been really good about trying everything they serve. The other day we had hamburgers, I ate 3 because I could.
Everyone says that the longer you have been at the CCM the older you look. The missioaries that came in this week think that my group looks 24!
We have been practicing teaching Latinos to help with our Spanish, they are really cool. Lots of learning, fun and joking around.
Hard to believe I only have a couple more weeks in the CCM.

2nd Email

3 November 2017 Email:

This week was more of the same classes for most of the day and 3 square meals. For church each district meets in a classroom, we have the sacrament and then they ask all the missionaries to write a 5 minute talk on the topic of the week and then they ask about 6 missionaries to speak.
We went to immigration today for all the people that had to get Visas to stay in Mexico so I got to sit and people watch.
The Spanish is going well and some words are starting to come more naturally to me but it is a work in progress.
We got to go to the temple which was cool. I got to be one of the many people that needed to have it translated so that was kind of cool. We all got to wear those headsets and translator devices so that was an experience.

Pictures from the CCM

Elder Jaden Goodbaudy, Elder Vakapuna, Sister Vakapuna (Elder Vakapuna's sister) and her companion.

First email

25 October 2017. First email:

First email from Elder Jaden Goodbaudy! He is doing great! My favorite lines:
"3 full meals a day and the food is all authentic Mexican it is delicious."
"My companion is AMAZING he is like a brother to me. His name is Elder Vakapuna he is TONGAN!!" He is from West Valley, Utah and he is super chill."
"We get 40 minutes of exercise a day except Sunday which is nice. Our district has been doing a bunch of stuff together like volleyball and knockout (can not lose my shooters touch while I am gone."
""The culture shock in Mexico City is CRAZY!!"

If you want to send an email Elder Jaden Goodbaudy's email address is: jaden.goodbaudy@myldsmail.net.

Jaden Group Photo at the CCM in Mexico City

17 October 2017, Jaden Arrives at the MTC in Mexico City.