LETTER #6 . . . last letter from Mexico MTC . . GOODBYE MTC!

September 15, 2018

Hello everyone!

Goodbye to the MTC and to this awesome district!

I miss you all and hope everyone is happy and healthy! The MTC is so humbling and has helped me so much to become disciplined but also i am going crazy just sitting here all day!!

I check into recepcion to leave this place at 3am Monday morning and have an 8 hour flight to Santiago. When we get to Santiago we have a 21 hour layover and i think will be sleeping in a hotel. After the layover we have a 1-2 hour flight to Osorno and i am not really sure what happens after that but i will keep you all updated.

Bobo with Anne and John Pingree from the Seventy . . . guest speakers at their devotional!

This week was by far one of the most boring weeks but i seriously still loved it so much and i am learning so much! A couple nights ago John and Anne Pingree from the Seventy came and spoke and made me feel so much peace about being out here and i learned that my success while i am out here isn't about how many investigators or baptisms or how good my Spanish is but it is about how well i consecrate myself in my 2 years to the Lord.

Da boys! :)

Ever since coming out here i have found so much joy in little things and the spirit has been so strong in the smallest things. Also i have become super close friends with this local latino named Melchezidek and he does the maintenance around the MTC and me and him sit and drink chocolate milk and eat bananas and talk about life every night after dinner. He has made me so very excited to get out and to start teaching and serving people beyond the fence, and has made me feel so confident about my Spanish!

CCHS boys!

Pray and read the scriptures and write in your journals. I will let you all know what Chile is like very soon.

I love you all.

Elder Townsend

PS. I (Britton's Mom) am adding a little bit from his letter to our family. He talked more about his experience with Anne and John Pingree coming to speak at their devotional . . . I asked him how he met up with them. (I went to high school with Anne and we had a little mini missionary experience together for a few months over in Wales.) In Britt's words . . . "As I was walking down the street last Tuesday, a car drove past us in the MTC and there are never ever cars in here and i looked and some little blonde lady waved and i thought i knew her from somewhere. Then later we were going to our Tuesday night devotional and they were talking about how we have special guest speakers and a member of the Seventy, John and Anne Pingree . . . and right then I totally recognized the names. So after they were shaking hands with everyone and i went up and Anne turned to me and was just like, 'Hello Elder Townsend' and then she looked super stunned and said, "Are your parents Matt and Mardi?' And she got all teary eyed and gave me a big hug and hugging here is a super big no no but our MTC president could not say anything cuz they are members of the Seventy haha and so me and 2 other boys she knew went into this back room and just talked for about 5 minutes and took pictures. It was superduper cool and such a breath of fresh air for all the missionaries here. They were funny and so real and they didn't feel rehearsed and it was just super cool! . . . John walked up to me and gave me a big hug and said, 'I don't know your name but I do know you are a Preece.' haha Please tell them this and that people are still talking about it here. It made this week go by so much faster! I bet it is so hard for them to live in Mexico City! . . . The Pingrees honestly helped me a lot!"

PSS. And here's a funny little video that he sent this week . . . and the rest of the photos!