11/25/2016
Thanksgiving Week

Hola otra vez mi familia! Only a little  more than a week left until I get sent out into the field to preach the gospel.  It's crazy to think that it's already been a month here!  It feels like the days are weeks and the weeks are days, cause it's really slow in the moment, but then when it's gone it's like it flew by.  Also I'm doing great, I haven't had too many problems since I've been out here and my Spanish is really improving everyday. 

I got to see all the pictures of Thanksgiving, and it looks like you guys are having lot of fun!  We also had a great Thanksgiving, because we got to have a Thanksgiving devotional from Neil L Anderson which was really good.  Also the comedor (cafeteria) fed us a Thanksgiving meal which I didn't think they were going to do because Thanksgiving is an American holiday!  Also if you guys don't tell anyone, one of the districts brought a football (which apparently isn't allowed) and we played some two hand touch, until one of the CCM workers got mad at us and we had to stop haha.  After we went to class and taught our "investigators" and had language study, until about 9:00.  Then we invited the whole zone into our district and had a potluck type thing where everyone brought food and drinks and we had a little fiesta.  Anyways it was really fun and we got to meet the other district members a little better.  We all had a good time, and it was a perfect end to the Thanksgiving holiday.  

Earlier in the week, my companion and I went to the ATM to withdraw some money, but when I put my debit card in it got stuck.  I tried to get it out, but I couldn't so I asked for some assistance.  They asked me if I had the information for the card, and I couldn't remember all of it, so they just had me call home like it wasn't even a big deal.  I thought that was probably the craziest thing that happened the whole week.  The card is still stuck, but the bank guys are coming today so I'm going to see if I can get it from them, so wish me luck haha.  

We have 2 new "investigators" this week, which is good, because it gives me a feel of what it's going to be like as a missionary with a lot of investigators.  It takes up a lot of time, and it is really hard to remember all the things you've taught and what still needs to be taught.  Although I think Elder Butcher and I are doing really well with each of them.  We've been working hard and studying, but also having lots of fun.  I just can't wait to get out there and help the people even though I will miss my district a lot.  They are all really fun, and they have taught me a lot since I've been here.

We have a certain time called Book Of Mormon study, and we just choose a good chapter in the Book of Mormon and read it/ comment about it. Anyways one of the Elders in our district shared his testimony during Book Of Mormon study.  We were reading about how when we die if we are faithful and are charitable we will have eternal happiness.  Anyways Elder Henry shared that while we are on this earth through the spirit we only feel a small sliver of an amount of happiness as we will obtain.  He said the spirit is like a Costco sample of happiness haha!  I just wanted to share that, and it's actually really true that if we are faithful and endure to the end we will have more happiness than we ever felt on Earth.

Anyways I love you guys all very much and I hope you are doing well too.  I can feel all your love and prayers everyday, and it gives me lots of strength and comfort.  I will talk to you guys again next Wednesday, because they are switching our P-day next week!  LES AMO! (someone who speaks Spanish tell me if that's correct haha)

  Con Amor (With Love), 

                                   Elder Hirschi

Answers:

How did your Thanksgiving go?  Did they do anything there at the MTC?  Did you get any letters or packages?

1. Thanksgiving was great one of the best days in the entire CCM, yeah they had turkey and pumpkin pie.  Also yes I did get all the letters and packages and I finally got the written letters that were sent the day before I left.

 What has the weather been like there?  Do you go to the temple every P-day or just some P-days?

2. The weather here doesn't really ever change is what they tell me, and it seems like everyday is freezing in the morning, then really warm in the day, and then cool in the night.  We only went to the temple twice, but we might go again

  Did you get your debit card figured out?  Do you need us to send you more socks?

3. Nope I haven't got my debit card figured out, but I'm going to try today and I think I got enough socks now.

Is your camera working ok?  Do they only let you use it on P-days?

4. My camera is great, I just forget to bring it with me a lot, and we can only use it on P-days

Do you sing the hymns there at the MTC in Spanish?  Did they give you a Spanish Hymn book?

5. Yeah we only sing hymns in Spanish, which is kind of annoying to me not to be mean.  It's just doesn't sound quite right when you switch from English to Spanish.  Although you can still really feel the spirit, and when we have live devotionals from the MTC in Provo we can sing them in English.  I bought a small Spanish Hymn book at the Tienda (store)

Have you been reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish yet?  If so, where have you gotten to?

6. Haha yeah right!  I've tried to read the Book of Mormon in Spanish.  Really though I try to read it a lot and it's surprising how much I can actually understand.

Do a lot of people that work at the MTC speak English? Have you met some new fun missionaries there?

7. Most of the workers here are Latinos, and many of them speak a little bit of English, but I have yet to find a person who works here (besides the presidency) whose first language is English.  Yeah all the missionaries in my district are awesome and the other districts in our zone are cool too.

11/17/2016



Hola otra vez familia!  I am doing great and feeling much better than last week, mi Español es mui bien (my Spanish is really good).  Today was my first full P-Day so I have a lot of time to do whatever I want!  I heard that I gave mom and dad my sickness. I'm sorry guys I hope you feel better soon. For the most part though it sounds like everyone is doing pretty good and having fun, we are working hard and having fun too.  We exercise everyday (except Sunday of course), and my favorite thing to do with the district is to play Ultimate Frisbee.  Also the language is pretty difficult at times but I guess I can't really complain because Justice had to learn Japanese haha.  We got a new district in our zone last Tuesday and they seem to be having a rough time adjusting to the schedule, and I just thought about how overwhelming my first day was for me, but I'm glad I'm here to serve the Lord!  Thanksgiving is coming up so I challenge you guys to be more thankful in your prayers this week.  Our zone is having a "pot luck" thing for Thanksgiving, and we're supposed to bring any food we have to share with everyone haha! I love all you guys and I miss you a lot, I guess I have a little over 23 more months left haha, and I know that they will be awesome!

Answers:

  What is your routine like every day there?

1. We wake up at 6:00 every morning get ready and have personal study then we eat breakfast, after we have language study and we teach our investigator; things like that.  Basically we are in the same classroom for like 12 hours... except for during meal time and gym time.  

Have you been writing in your journal?  

2. I write in my journal everyday, but last night I only wrote "I'm too tired to write in my journal today, but I had a great day."  Not because I was actually too tired, but because our district is trying to be exactly obedient and we have lights out at 10:30.  So I didn't really have too much time because we got back late after meeting the new district for the first time.

Do you have a favorite teacher there?  

3. I have had three different teachers, but now we only have 2 that switch off from the first part of the day to the second part of the day.  I really like both of them, their names are Hermana Gomez (Sister Gomez) and Hermano Swaste (Brother Swaste) but I like to call him Hermano Swave because it basically means Brother Cool in Spanish haha.  We had another teacher named Hermano Borgel but he got promoted so now we don't

Do you get to work out at the gym about every day?  What time do you get to go to the gym?

4. Yes we do work out everyday, the time is different depending on the day, but it's usually before or after lunch.

What kinds of things does your companion like?  Sports, hobbies, etc?

5. My companion likes to do all sports, but I would have to say his favorite is Football and a close second would be Golf.  He really likes sports a lot, and he likes to talk about political things with the other companions in our room.  

 Are many of the missionaries there American?  Do you think they will do anything for Thanksgiving?

6. It's about half and half American and Latino missionaries, but since the Latino missionaries already speak Spanish we don't see them as much as the American ones.  Actually last Tuseday we had a devotional from Elder Renlund (if that's how you spell it haha) from the twelve, and he said something like, "all of the missionaries who are in the Provo MTC will be celebrating Thanksgiving soon."  So I don't know if they will be celebrating Thanksgiving here or not.

Do you go outside much?  Have you played any board games there yet?

 7.  We are mostly stuck in our classroom the whole day.  Except during P-Day and gym time, we do go outside and we usually play Frisbee for most the time.  I started playing chess with Elder Schmid, but we only made like 3 moves and then we had to go.  I did solve my Rubix cube a few times.

11/11/2016
2nd email Mexico MTC

Hola familia!! I heard the bad news. I think that not too long from now there is going to be a wall separating us, and it's gonna be HUUUUGGGEEEE! Haha (that was a reference to Donald Trump for those who don't know).  I heard he is the new president and all the other missionaries have been doing Donald Trump impressions ever since.  That's crazy that he's president I still can't believe it, but luckily I will be in Chile for the next two years haha. I've been improving in Spanish daily, and I memorized all the different things we needed to.  My companion is also becoming much better at the language, and I can see the gift of tongues every day in our lessons.  I've stopped scripting out things I want to say and started relying on the Lord more and more and sometimes I will understand things I've never heard before. It's crazy!  Also we have this class called TALL (something like technology assisted language learning), but I don't think it's very fun atTALL haha. This week wasn't the best, I actually didn't go to sacrament meeting because I was feeling even worse on Sunday.  Although the district had sympathy on me and brought the sacrament to me while I was in bed like a mini sacrament for the shut ins haha.  Then I had the Elders give me a blessing and I felt a lot better like an hour after!  Everything is good here I'm doing great, thanks for all the letters and the packages, sorry if I can't respond to everyone P-days have been pretty short.  I traded in my money for peso's and the ratio is like 20 pesos for one dollar, but when I traded it in I didn't know that at first.  So I gave the guy a 20$ bill and he hands me like 400 pesos and I was like holy crap I think this guy gave me a little to much. I love you guys and I miss you so much. Thanks for everything you guys do for me!  Thanks tons for the prayers too it means a lot I can feel the blessings!  Talk to ya next week

  -With Love Elder Hirschi

Answers to your questions:

What is the food like?  Is it like a buffet?  Did you try a yogurt drink that one of the other missionaries said tasted good?

1.The food is different, although on Tuesday's we get to eat massive pizza :), but sometimes it tastes really bad like these soggy chip things we had yesterday...  (also the yogurt drink is good, it tastes like a Danimals thing.)

How are you feeling?  How are you sleeping? 

2. I'm doing a lot better like I said in my email, and I'm sleeping great because I'm exhausted from studying and memorizing so much Spanish

How was the temple last p-day? 

3. I didn't get to go last P-day since I was sick, so they ended up making me stay because they didn't want me to get anyone else sick, but I did get to go today and it was incredible.  Although it was a little difficult to do in Spanish haha

Are most of the missionaries in your district going to Antofagasta like you?

4. Only two other missionaries are going to Antofagasta with me, and one of them is my companion.

How is the language learning going?

5. Language is going good, but it's a little exhausting

What do you like most about the MTC?

6. I think I like the most that the MTC is really big and they have a track and a gym so I can work out and run during gym time.

Do you play any sports in the gym?

7. I think it just answered that haha, but yeah we do volleyball, Frisbee, and basketball.

Do you get time to play the piano at all?

8. I played the office theme once and one of the Hermanos (brothers) got mad haha, so I haven't played since.

I love you guys, now I got to go get my hair cut :(

11/5/2016
The first real email from the Mexico MTC from Elder Logan Hirschi

Hola Familia, 

Sorry I couldn't respond earlier but our P-day was on Friday and we don't get one on the first week so we had to wait longer than any other district of missionaries to write back.  So for mom I just want to say sorry if I made you nervous, but I'm doing great.  Yes I did get all the packages and letters so thank you very much, it's really helped me to know that you guys are looking out and praying for me.  This past week has been a really big struggle we had to teach a fake investigator (our teacher) in Spanish on our third day and that was really hard.  Although I have to admit thanks to Brandon and all the years of Spanish I took, I understood better than most of the other missionaries.  I have the best companion ever his name is Elder Butcher and he is the nicest guy you could ever meet.  My district (district 12 by the way (Hunger games)) is really great I love all the Elders and Sisters in it and our district leader is awesome.  We've gotten a little more used to the routine now, but at first it was really difficult, and now we all have fun together and study hard together.  The past two days I got a little cold but it's nothing a tough guy like me can't handle haha.  Anyways I love you guys so much and I'm so grateful for all the prayers and support you have given me.

  With love - Elder Hirschi 

P.S. Our first P-day is shorter because we're supposed to go to the temple so sorry if I don't have enough time to write back to all of you!

Questions: The people here are awesome they will help you with anything that you need.  My companion is Elder Butcher and he is awesome and he's from Las Vegas in fact he lives close to the temple.  The Food is different here one day it's really good and the next day it can be not very good, but I think I've grown to like it more and more.  I've slept ok, but I usually wake up pretty tired and cold so last night I decided to wear my jacket and sweatpants.  My hand is doing awesome!  I mean you can still see it but for the most part I can't even feel it and it should be almost completely healed soon.  Mexcio city is huuuuuge!  There's always fireworks going off that sound like a loud burst and some of us even think that we may have heard gun shots, but I think it's just from the fireworks.  I like all of my teachers they are really nice even though we can be a little bit obnoxious sometimes haha.  Yeah there's not a lot of people that were native English speaking that came down to teach, except some of the Mission President's counselors, but I know enough Spanish that I can usually get by if someone only speaks Spanish.  My room is a little more cramped than I thought it would be, it's four Elders packed into one room with two pairs of bunk beds and there's just a bathroom connected, but we're never usually in there anyway.  Everything is going good (except that I'm a little sick), but other than that it's great.  I'm sorry I couldn't send any pictures right now I couldn't even find the camera this morning but my companion got some so I will send them as soon as I can.  I LOVE YOU GUYS