Elder Ty Koontz: Mexico Xalapa Mission : New Companion/Reunion with CCM District

Hi Family,

I didn’t really have any crazy stories this week. I’ll be honest that the first couple days with my companion were a little difficult. He´s pretty quiet so that meant that I needed to talk more. I´ve pretty much been the senior companion because I know what we need to do, where to go, who to talk to for information, and I have the most time in the area. Oh and he doesn’t speak any English which is fun. If I don’t know a word and I say it in English he doesn’t know what it is... It’s funny because when we’re talking with other people and they notice that I´m American (tall, white, American accent.. Go figure), they would ask my last companion how we communicate. He would say, "Spanglish". Now, I can say, “no we only talk in Spanish because it’s all he knows”.

I have the desire to work, be obedient, and do all I can to be a good missionary. Yesterday when I was in church, I started thinking about these things. How I was going to make this work with my companion. Then I decided that I needed to change my mentality. Rather than thinking I´m better than my companion, and I just need to do my own thing. I started thinking about this, "Why is my companion, my companion?" This opened up my mind to a lot of different things: How can I serve my companion? What can I do to strengthen my companionship? All of these things helped me to remember a personal prayer I had while Elder Herrera was my companion a few weeks ago. I was reading in my patriarchal blessing and it told me that I set an example to others. I asked for the opportunity after my companionship with Elder Herrera to be in a position where I can set an example. Well.... My prayer was answered.. I have been continually trying to serve him.

I started to talk to him yesterday about the mission, obedience, what we need to do, and what I wanted for my mission. I already know we are going to have more discussions like this in the future, and I am looking forward to them because they will only help with our companionship. He then started to try and change my mentality a bit. I was sharing some of Dads experiences and how I want my mission to be like his. Hard worker, dedicated, was well-known for his work. He tried to convince me that this is my mission and I can live it how I want to. I know that I´m not perfect and I always need to work to be better too. But, I feel like I need to help my companion realize the things he needs to work on too. I wish I could share all the things I want to do but that would take forever and it would get confusing. The information I can share right now with him is that I want to be the best missionary I can be, and even though I´m still in my training and I need to learn from my trainer, I still need to realize that not everyone is perfect, and the person I need to follow the example of the most, died for me and everyone in the world. Every night I try and reflect on the day, and what I can do better the next day. I know I need to enjoy my mission, but there’s a difference between enjoying the mission, and being disobedient.

Ok now for some happy stuff :) I got to go to Xalapa on Thursday for mid-training! And guess who was there.... My district from the CCM!!!!!! :D Hermana Bodily, Elders Heslop, Elder Coray, and Elder Jackson!!!! I was sooooo happy to see them, and we all had fun stories to share. My zone was the last to arrive to the meeting because we´re the farthest away. So I walked in and saw Elder Heslop talking to Hermana Bodily. They greeted me with an, "Elder Koontz!!!" and came over and gave me a hug. (Except for Hermana Bodily I shook her hand) Then we had breakfast and went into the meeting. I saw Elder Coray and Elder Jackson sitting more in front so I didn’t get to say hi to them right away. After the first part of the meeting, we all stood up and talked with each other. When Elder Coray got up, he turned around, saw me, got this big old grin on his face, did this funny little shuffle with his feet, and really excitedly jumped to give me a hug while saying, "Elder Koontz!!!" Elder Coray made me feel happy because that was probably the most excited anyone has ever been to see me!! It was a heartwarming experience :) When I saw Elder Jackson he got excited and we pretty much hung around with each other for the rest of the meeting. It’s really cool because Elder Jackson and I weren’t just companions, we became really good friends in the CCM. After we left it was pretty sad to say goodbye, but I get the feeling I’ll see them again. Other than that I don’t really have too much to share! I’ll talk to you next week. Love and miss you all.

Elder Koontz