Hello, everyone! I hope everyone has been doing well! Sorry if this email is extremely long. No worries if you skip over this one! I'm basically fitting two emails into one since my P-day changed. Also, I kind of use my emails as my personal journal since my grandma, shout out to Grandma Laura, makes a book where it contains every email on my mission. Wednesdays are now my preparation days, since I'm here in San Jose.
Before I begin, I want to say I had such an incredible time at the MTC. It was such an amazing experience. Words can't explain how much fun it was. It was such a spiritually strengthening experience. With that, I also met and made some amazing friends, while also being able to see some of my best friends! (Elder Watson, Elder Black, Elder Bailey, Elder Xanthos, Elder Johnson, Elder Andrus, Elder Winger, Elder Kinkade, Elder Martin, Elder Tucker, Elder Larsen [My Comp], Elder Clayson, Elder Kellog, Elder Tucker, Elder Fernandez, Elder Mendenhall, Elder Gull, Elder Peterson, Elder Nelson, Elder Blackmun, Elder Tucker, Elder Wong, Elder Preece, etc.) Sorry if I forgot your name, it's a lot.
FRIDAY: Me and my companion left the MTC. We had to take Trax and Frontrunner to the airport, which was interesting. Upon arriving in San Jose, we met our Mission President, President Larsen, who is awesome! I met my trainers, Elder Thompson and Elder Hammet, who are also Zone Leaders. They're pretty cool, but pretty strict but that's OK. They're such good teachers and they speak amazing Spanish.
SATURDAY: After finishing our studies, we went contacting. We met a guy smoking weed and basically told us to [censored] off. He didn't want our "bible". After, we met a lady name Juana. She was super nice, and I was able to bear my testimony to her in Spanish. We ended up giving her a Book of Mormon and invited her to read 3 Nephi 11. Third Nephi 11 is such a great chapter for those who know and love Jesus Christ, but aren't LDS. After, we had dinner with a member for one of their kid's birthdays. The food was really good, but it was hard to talk with them since they spoke only in Spanish. After the party, we taught a recent convert named Nelson about baptism for the dead. After teaching Nelson, we ended up meeting a JW at his house. He was honestly trying to bash us, but he couldn't since we were being so nice to him. It was honestly a really cool experience to share our beliefs with one another.
SUNDAY: Today was my first Sunday in the mission. We had a combined lesson for first hour and testimony meeting for Sacrament. I was able to bear my testimony in Spanish, even though it was difficult. I never realized how hard it was to pronounce Spanish until my mission. We did personal study after church. After, we taught Eric and Stephanie in their apartment. We taught them about the importance of receiving personal revelation and praying to receive answers. We invited them to read Moroni 10: 3-5. In addition to this, we taught this one couple on the restoration, and I shared the first vision in Spanish. The idea of temples is really holding them back, which is hard to see. Also, they had a dog named Luna! I talked with them about how I also had a dog named Luna. We ended the night with a cottage meeting for those who weren't able to come to sacrament meeting during the day.MONDAY: After Zone Council, we went out contacting. We met some highschoolers and gave them a Book of Mormon. While my companions were teaching at a door, I hung out with one of their little kids. It was pretty fun. He wanted me to do push-ups and pull-ups which was pretty funny. Before leaving, we met a lady on the street named Paula. She was a Christian and seemed really interesting in the Book of Mormon. We gave her one and invited her to read 3 Nephi 11. After, we helped Irvine, someone who has agreed to be baptized, prepare for his baptism. After, we taught this super nice lady named Luz Marina. We taught her about the fall of Adam and Eve. To end the night, we had dinner at our Bishop's house with a family interested in getting baptized. We shared a powerful message about Jesus Christ with them.
TUESDAY: Before meeting one of our friends named Carolina, we ran into some lady at her house. She got really mad at us and told us she was the wrong person to be talking to, which was pretty funny. Carolina was having a really hard time because her friend had just recently been diagnosed with cancer. We shared a message about the Plan of Salvation and Jesus Christ with her. Later on in the day, we had dinner with Danita. Super nice old lady in our ward who fed us dinner. After dinner, we taught Irvine again and a recent convert named Gerado about the importance of the Word of Wisdom. After, we contacted this really cool guy named David. We ended up having a 40-minute conversation with him about Christianity and Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. I could only understand a few parts here and there, but his knowledge of the doctrine was so strong. He seemed super interested in the Book of Mormon.I'd be lying to you if I was saying my mission experience has been easy so far. I really miss the MTC, and especially my family and friends. When I got called to San Jose, California, I didn't realize I would actually be serving in San Jose, Mexico. Jokes aside, it's like living in a different country down here. Every single person speaks Spanish in San Jose. It's pretty frustrating not being able to teach and understand them since I know so little Spanish. In addition to this, my companions are pretty strict and are all over of me: which can be pretty frustrating in all honesty. Daily scripture study and teaching/serving others is what has helped me the most. My problems are nothing compared to what a lot of people experience down here. So many people experience poverty, homelessness, and loneliness. Families of 6-plus live in apartments the size of our bedrooms. The mission has already been such a humbling experience for me. I've become even more grateful for the things I've been blessed with in my life. Thanks, you all, for the support, and I'll write again next week!
-Elder Copeland-Scripture of the Week: Mosiah 2:17: "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."
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