Hello my people

Feliz Navidad. So yeah im not gonna lie it was super great to see you guys and you all look great. Im a little bit ticked that you waited until i left to remodel the basement and put a new tv and todo but ill get over it. Haha jk thats super awesome and i cant wait to see the pic. So this week was super awesome besides the fact that we had like no time to teach anybody because yeah we were in the offices but thats ok. No but the big news of the week is that yeah i had my first baptism. It was so awesome and i actually got the opportunity to baptize her. Her name is Fabiola and wow so we had been teaching her husband napoleon a while back and he was like a chosen golden investigator but then suddenly something with his health happened and he passed away. But now that she has been baptized in like a year she wants to have her husband baptized in the temple and yeah it was just really a cool expierience. Sadly the hna. Demetria is still in the hospital but hopefully all can work out there and we can visit her again. Also with Miguel we are going to set a baptismal date tomorrow so yeah things are looking good and we are pretty excited.

So on christmas we didn't do like anything but it was still a pretty chill but super weird day. So story time, actually christmas was super bizarre first thing is my companion and i were just walking down this street and all of the sudden this cat just comes darting towards one of the cars that was driving down the road and yeah we saw it get run over which was super gross and then the worst thing is that we were riding on this bus and on the floor of the bus was a coke bottle filled with this yellow stuff which i thought at first was just soda but no my comp notified me that it in fact was pee so yeah kind of a super weird week but all in all super great.

I love you all and hope that you all had a merry christmas and a happy new year.
Love
Cam

So here are two fotos from the baptism. the two little kids or one of them is going to be baptized here pretty soon and the other will be when he turns 8 years old. It was awesome

Hello people! 

So like literally dont have anytime today we will be working in the offices casi all day today and then tomorrow from 5-9 so yeah its been a super long week! But also has literally been like the best week of my mission so far so to begin with we will be having a baptism this week on sunday the 28th for Fabiola one of our investigators which i am super excited for. Also the nieces of the hna demetria got here so her baptism will be the next saturday like the day in january im not sure cual. Also we did another mini choir at one of the malls here and one of our investigators miguel came and watched and afterwards one of our leaders who is a really good friend with the family told us that he had asked his mom for permission to be baptized and she said yes so we are going to set a date today so yeah like literally a super sick week. Anyways i really dont have like any time this week but just know that i love you all and hope that you all have a wonderful christmas.

Love your elder
Cam

Hello All!!

So this was one of the longest weeks ever in the mission. So to start off, we had transfers on tuesday and i recieved elder Aguilar. He is a super cool guy from Puebla Mexico and has like 4 1/2 months here in the mission. he has like 2 more weeks than me in total and like 1 more transfer here in Juarez if you can understand that. haha. We dont have a ton in common but he is super chill and a really hard worker so im thinking all will work out just fine.

So something kind of scary happened this week. Hermana demetria had a heart attack and is doing better right now i think but we are gong to visit her today to double check but her baptism will be or should be happening here in 1 or 2 weeks. Im pretty excited and yeah. As far as other investigators go we have Miguel who is the brother of a member but the rest of the family are catholics anyways he has the desire to serve a mission but first he needs to be baptized and become a member haha. So we are teaching him right now and i will let you know how that all works out. We have a quite a few others as well but i just dont really want to exlain all of there stories haha sorry but yeah life is good here as far as the teaching goes but still 0 baptisms.

The choir thing happened on friday and it was super cool.  i got to see preston and also all of my buddies from the MTC which was really cool. The place we performed at was super like nice and totally reminded me ot the good ol USA haha. But sadly i totally forgot to bring my camera so i dont have any pics sorry. So like christmas here should be pretty cool. We get to skype you guys on the 24th so that will be awesome and then on the 25th or Christmas day im not totally sure whats going down haha.

Anyways so story time i think i told koby this last week but i forgot to say it in the general email. So like 10 days ago i was washing dishes and for some reason i thought that our sink could like move like the one we have at home so i tried to like move it and it wouldn't move and i thought it was stuck so i yanked on it and yeah it broke off haha. I am sending pics but yeah it was pretty funny. Anyways yes i have tried out the blanket and it works and is cool and also the people here do celebrate christmas just like the states but there aren't as many people with lights but yeah they aren't totally primitive. haha idk if that even makes sense. Anyways im doing good and hope you all have a great week. Stay Classy!

 

Love

Cam

 

So here are a couple pics one of them is of me and the comp and how we are gonna celebrate navidad y el otro es de mi and the broken sink haha.

 

Beloved followers of the missionary life of Elder Cameron Imlay......... haha jk

Whats up guys?? Life here in the Big J is really quite swell. So to start off this letter lets talk cambios or transfers i guess. SO  transfers were totally crazy. So the good news is that i will be staying in La cuesta and will get to see D be baptized in 2 or 3 weeks which i am so so excited for. Pero Elder Vilchis got transfered to a different area and hes pretty bummed because now he doesnt get to sing in the choir and i feel terrible for him because he really was super looking forward to it. My new comp will be Elder Aguilar or something likie that and i have absolutely no idea who he is but idk im still super pumped to meet him.

Also this week M that kid i took the picture with a while back or its the one that is the Mexican brad wade anyways yeah not important but we have started to teach him because he told his bro that he wanted to serve a mission and holy cow its just super cool because like before he didnt want anything to do with the church but i really think that he is going to get baptized and is going to join the church which is amazing. There is a lot of good stuff happening here in La cuesta and im super pumped for the future but yeah i don't have the time to write everything that is happening sorry not sorry haha.

Anyways story time so like yesterday we were riding a bus back from choir practice and the bus driver almost got in a crash with a car and so the driver of the car was like super ticked off so he like drove in front of the bus and would not let him pass and the bus driver was like super pissed and had major road rage and was swerving all over the road to try and pass him and yeah my companion and i were standing up because there were not that many seats but yeah luckily we are still alive but now i am terrified of all buses hahah jk.

ANyways to answer your question about the choir its that we are all singing in a choir or at least all the missionaries here in juarez so 142 missionaries not the missionaries in the other to areas here in the mission. But its super cool and is happening on friday the 12th and is gonna happen at this like super nice theater here so im super pumped. I also received all of your packages like all 5 of them thank you family, grandma, and Aunt lynne they are awesome. But dont worry mom i havent opened the 12 days yet even though my comp like begged me to haha. Anyways it looks like your all doing amazing and i hope your lives are wonderful. Keep it classy.

 

Love 

Cam

 

The first is of me with the new sweater yeah its pretty cool. The other is of the heater and it works like seriously y'all don't understand that thing saved our lives haha jk but yeah

 

Wazzup Family, Friends and yeah everybody else haha jk!

So this week was pretty solid. Demetria is super stoked for her baptism and will be baptized in december which is super exciting. We also have others that are making some really good progress and i really hope that i can stay here for the next transfer because i know that we will have at least 2 baptisms in the next one and i would really like to see them. But transfers are next week so we will just have to see what goes down haha its all good i know that whatever happens is what is supposed to happen.

As far as Thanksgiving goes yeah we didn't celebrate it at all but we did eat hot dogs for lunch that day which was pretty cool i guess haha. Actually something super cool and kind of weird happened this week. So we were walking down this one street and this guy calls to us to come over to his house so we do and he hands me a Book of Mormon...... yeah a Book of mormon like not a Libro de Mormon like English and begins to tell us that the letters are to small for him to read oh and this whole time he is talking in english which is super weird and never happens here anyways he tells us that he has a bigger one now and for that reason he returned this one to us. Anyways after i talked to him for a little bit he invited us back to his house and we will begin teaching him on Wednesday in English haha. So looks like the comp has got some studying to do haha. No but seriously it is going to be so weird to teach in english but i am super excited.

Also i was able to see the Big Man (Preston) if you dont know who the Big man is. Anyways it was great to talk to him and his strength and the way he is handling all of this is amazing. He is such an amazing example to me and i am so grateful for the opportunity to get to serve in the same mish as him. Also i think i will get to see him again because we are practicing for this choir thing that we will be doing on the 12th which should be pretty sick. Oh also thank you Aunt Sam for the tie i love it and just know that i am thinking about you and am so grateful for you. Anyways yes i did receive G-ma Pats package and yes also the meat thingy haha it was really nice so thanks grandma. As far as the sweaters go they are great and i love them de hecho i am wearing one right now haha. Also the contacts are holding up good and do not have an eye infection so yeah thats great haha. Anyways just know that all is well and im doing good and love you all.

 

Love, 

Cam

Hello People!

Well I don't really know what to say this week besides the fact that im super tired. Sadly The Guardea family we are probs gonna have to drop because we invite them to church everyweek but they never attend and it is sad but yeah idk. However on a happy note Demetria is still excited for her baptism when her nieces return and we have this new investigator that i think i told you about whose name is  Mary and she is super interested in the church and we invited her to  baptism last night and she accepted. I really feel like things are looking up here and in the next transfer i truly believe that we will have 3 or 4 baptisms and i really hope that i can be here to see it.

Also our heater got fixed this week and halelujah our boiler or water heater also works now so yeah i am very very happy right now. Nothing to crazy happened this week but i actually feel like i am starting to get in the flow of things and can pretty much understand casi everything that everyone says. Not to like prophesy or act like i know everything. But to you future missionaries i would just like to tell you that when you come out on a mission it truly is gonna be the hardest thing you have done in your life and you will struggle a ton. But if you can just understand that and go into the mission just trying to learn as much as you can knowing that you will make mistakes it will be much easier on you and i promise you that if you will work hard every day eventually it will get easier and you will come to love it. Anyways yeah thats my awesome missionary advice for the week haha jk.

Holy cow i can't bbelieve tama's farewell has already happened time is flying out here and at times i feel like a failure because i have 0 baptisms but there is a talk by Elder Bednar that really helped me to understand my purpose out here and that the mission isn't alll about the number of baptisms you have. Anyways just know that i am doing good oh and yes i received all of your packages and they were amazing y'all rock! Anyways gtg.

 

Love Cam

Hello All!

Well this week was good. We found some new investigators and demetria is still excited for her baptism but geez i hope her nieces return soon so i can be here to see it. haha. We also have another BD for dec 6 for another one of our investigators Napoleon. Sadly the guardeas are struggling and we are trying to work with them but who knows. I have faith in them and hope that they can overcome there challenges. We also have a new investigator mary whos father died recently and she is super interested in the church so hopefully things will workout there. But reallly things are looking good for the future here in La cuesta and im not to worried haha.

Well nothing to crazy happened this week, more dogs but no more drug dealers at least for this week so thats nice i guess haha. I sadly have not received the packages and really want them too because this week i literally froze. Ok actually something crazy did happen this week. So our heater in our house doesn't work and literally every morning and night we put on our jackets and our blankets to study and yeah so we can live. It is literally like the ice age in there. Like seriously i have no idea how but our house is colder than the outside and no its not air conditioning. I checked haha. Oh we also ran out of gas in our boiler so we didn't have hot showers for the last like 3 days so yeah other than that i am doing amazing but might have hypothermia haha. I did buy something at the Sorianna here. It was a scarf and yeah it was pretty easy to buy with the card. No different than back home pero be careful to check it because it was $99 pesos but who knows if that will transfer into dollars in USA so yeah just a heads up.

Thats crazy about rob and yeah i had no idea that preston returned home for a couple days. I hope they are doing well and if they read this just know that i am praying for you and love you so much. Oh today i also get to go on divisions again and will be heading to a different area with the zone leader Elder Birchett from Utah. I cant tell you how excited i am to get to speak english for the first time in like a month haha. Jk i love Elder vilchis even if he can't speak english hahah. Anyways just know that im doing good and love all of you.

 

Love your guy

Elder Imlay

So this was my get up for the week also what i wore in the house so i didnt freeze to death haha.

Hello People of America!

Well this week was an average week and kind of freaking confusing with our investigators. So with Demetria, she is still excited for her baptism but the problem is, is that her nieces may not return from El Pasto until December for christmas break. So to fix this we have been working with the mom or Hna. Rubio to try to see if there is a way that they could return back sooner so that both me and Elder Vilchis would be here to see it but the good thing is that i know she will be baptized, it may not be while i am here but that is not whats important, and i am ok with that. With the Gardeas, things are tough because they are somewhat improving with the cigarette issue but will not come to church for some reason. Every time we visit them they agree and say they are excited to come to church but for some reasonn they do not show up. However i do have faith that things are going to work out.

Ok so this week the cold finally arrived and the water heater in our house wigged out and didnt work for almost the whole week. So we took cold showers and i literraly at times thought i was gonna die haha jk. But i would like to thank cammy for her blanket it saved me from dying of frostbite during the nights also it was nice not to have to use the blankets that they provide in our house because im pretty sure they have diseases in them haha.

Ok So elder Vilchis is super sick aand super chill. He can speak literally no english well pretty much no english but i can say that my spanish has at least somewhat improved because we are actually able to communicate and survive, so thats nice. Something kind of cool is that him and Preston were companions right before i entered the MTC and yeah so thats cool. So with the phone i broke it the first day i got here and threw the battery in a dumpster so yeah nothing to cool.I have not been sick yet which is nice and i think that i have put on some weight which is nice. I am also eating more than i ever have in my whole life like literally yesterday i ate a whole pizza and then had a bowl of cereal afterward haha.

This week nothing to crazy happened except for at one of our investigators houses (Miguel) well they own a dog and it literally hates me and elder vilchis. So usually when we go visit them one of the members of the family has to hold him back while we run in the house haha. But this week when we were leaving the dog broke free and came chasing after me. Luckily i reached the gate in time before he killed me haha but other than that nada mas. Actually in some colonies here they do celebrate Thanksgiving haha. I think Juarez is like the most americanized mexican city ever haha so hopefully i will get to celebrate thanksgiving but Quien Sabe? To dad sadly we have not gotten to do any service projects yet but hopefully we will get too. Anyways just know that i am Doing good and love all of you.

 

Love

Cam

My new companion Elder Vilchis

My district right before Elder Beltran left

Hello All!

This week was a crazy week yet again. So to begin my new companion is Elder Vilchis. He is from De Jefe or Mexico City for you Americans haha. He has been out 7 months and is 19 years old. He's super chill but knows literally 12 words in english haha. So its time i start picking up my language game. This week we visited Demetria and she is still excited for her baptism. But the problem is, is that her neices live in El paso and wont be here until december but we are going to work with there mom and i think everything should be alright all i know is that she will be baptized one way or the other and thats whats important. The Guardea family is doing good, we met with them a couple times this week and last night we went and visited them with our bishop and it was amazing. So our bishop has only been a member of the church for 4 years and before he was a member he had problems with smoking and when we visited them last night, he bore a powerful testimony and helped them in a way that we couldn't. They commited to not buy cigars this week and if they can accomplish this they can be baptized in 2 weeks. So hopefully all goes well but all i know is that things are looking up here in La Cuesta and im really excited for the future.

Anyways on a different note a bunch of crazy things happened to me this week. So to begin we met another drug dealer guy and this one was insane. He tried to get us to come to his house and smoke marijuana with him and other stuff and yeah it was really scary haha. Also like 3 dogs almost killed us this week but i have officially learned how to defend myself against them so thats a nice thought i guess haha. Also we saw like 3 dead dogs on the side of the road and then we also saw a dead lamb on the sidewalk which was super weird because yeah there aren't lambs here haha so yeah. Halloween was kind of different here i mean yeah there are kids out trick or treating but also there are a bunch of cholos or gangsters who roam the streets and it was kind of freaky but fear not i am ok.

Mom and dad if you see Danny that would be so sick and if so tell him i say hi. haha. Oh i also saw the big man this week (Preston). We had like this meeting for all of the missionaries in Juarez on friday. It was super long but i got to talk to him for like 20 or 30 min and he seems to be doing pretty good. He is a little sad but he knows that this is where he should be and yeah it was just really nice to see a familiar face. Anyways just know that i love you all and love America. Hope y'all have a wonderful week.

Love

Elder Imlay 2.0

Hello people of America!!

Well this week was easily one of the craziest weeks in my mission as far as the work goes. So the guardea family is still struggling with smoking but have overcome coffee which is a miracle. But the big story is that Demetria is going to be baptized either this saturday or the next. We are not sure because she has comitted to baptism when her neices come back from el paso which will either be this weekend or the next. Its so amazing, we have been working with her for so long and things have been really up and down with her. But we had a lesson with her this week and talked about 3 nephi 27 and how baptism is a commandment of god and how it can bless our lives personally. After the lesson we prayed with her to know if baptism was what she should do and the lord answered her prayer. When she finished she had tears in her eyes and comitted to baptism and she is super excited.

Sadly for all you thrill seekers nothing too crazy happened to me this week. The only weird thing is seeing the police trucks driving around with border patrol in the back with there guns looking for people to hunt down. hahah jk but its kinda freaky. Transfers will happen tomorrow and sadly my boi Elder Beltran is getting transfered out of the area. He is being transferred to Del Valle and is going to be a Zone Leader there. He is kinda bummed because he will miss the baptism of Demetria but he knows that god knows whats best for him. As far as me i will be staying here in La Cuesta which is super amazing and im so stoked. My new comps name is Elder Aviche or algo asi. Who knows? But im excited to meet him tomorrow and get to work.

I haven't been sick yet but i did eat the skin of a pig this week which my comp told was just pork but it was super rubbery and chewy and yeah it was a rough time but i perservered. Anyways thats crazy that you get to go on a cruise this week or whenever you are going and that kob is gonna hold the fort down haha. Anyways just know that I am doing good here and love you all.

Love 

Cam

P.S. We both cook the same amount we switch off making bfast every morning and then at night we just do our own thing anyways peace out.

Beunos Dias Muchachos,

Well we had a pretty average week as far as the work goes. We had 1 investigator show up to church which was nice but a lot of our investigatorsare really struggling right now as far as progressing goes. But one thing that did happen this week was with our prime investigators the Guardea Family. They have problems with coffee and smoking but we visited them yesterday and have been going without coffee for the last 3 days. They now eat yogurt in the mornings instead of coffee and apparantly it is helping a ton. As far as the smoking goes, the wife doesn't really have a problem with it but the husband is struggling a little bit. But i have faith that they can quit and i know that as we keep working hard and do what the lord desires of us, we will see miracles. 

 

Ok now i have kind of a funny story that happened this week. So i met my first drug dealer this week and needless to say it was a little freaky. So my companion and i are walking down this street and all of the sudden this random guy starts talking to me in like half english half spanish and yeah it was crazy. Anyways he tells me that he has been a drug dealer for the past 10 years and feels terrible about his life and wants to change his life and then he started saying a bunch of other stuff. So i wanted to help him but my companion said it was a bad idea. Apparently stuff like that happens a lot here and the people don't really want to change they just want to rob you or stuff like that in private so that they don't get arrested. Hahah so i learned a very valuable lesson to say the least. 

 

My spanish is getting better but is still freaking hard. I understand majority of what people say but yeah its tough. But ehh i aint worried, i know with time it will come. The only problem i am having is that i think i might be getting transferred next week and i really don't want to because i really want to be here for the baptism of the Guardea's. But i know that whatever happens is God's will. Anyways i got your packages and oh my gosh thank you so much the treats are amazing and it was great to eat peanutbutter for the first time in 2 months. But i gotta be careful cuz people will rob me if they here i got that crap. Haha jk. But seriously it is so expensive here. As far as sickness goes, no ive been doing really good except for lately el cambio de clima has affected me a little but i am alright. We had a barbeque last night with a bunch of the members and of my gosh carne asada is the greatest thing in the world. Oh and i now am starting to hate tortillas because we litterally have them with every meal haha. 

 

Anyways just know that i am doing good and am thinking about all of you. Pray for preston and for uncle rob. I know that as we act on our faith and have trust in god that he will help us and we will see miracles. I love you all.

 

Love you tons

Elder Cam Imlay

The pic is me with one of our investigators, his name is miguel and he literally is the Mexiacan Brad Wade. haha.

Our barbeque the other night. the man in the pic is our mission leader in the ward. He is super sick and super cholo. Look it up haha.

Me with the stinker ball....thanks a lot bros (The boys have this game where the last one to touch the stinker ball is it so they thought it would be cool to mail it to Cameron....We guess he is it for a while!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello All! How are y'all doing?

Life here in the good old murder capital is going pretty slow. haha jk its really good. So this week went really good we were able to have a lot of lessons and we have 3 new investigators so hopefully all goes well there. The big story of this week is that we finally got some investigators to come to church. Halelujah! haha. No but seriously it is amazing. Their names are Patricio and Clara Guardea. They are really amazing, they accepted the baptism invitation or are preparing to be baptized on October 25. When we invited them they felt like it was to soon but we told them that it was a goal and if they weren't ready at that date it was ok but that we knew how much it would bless their lives. So they accepted. Im really excited because on the day that i was "Senior Comp" these were the investigators that we came and taught. Well me and Elder Salcido and its just cool to me because i just feel so close to these two and really love them so much. They struggle with Coffee and smoking and are trying to conquer it but it is hard. We fasted with them on sunday and we are meeting with them again tomorrow so ill keep you updated. We also have another investigator Demetria whose whole family is a member and she has a testimony that this church is true but i think she is just scared because she is catholic and has been her whole life. Hopefully all goes well there. The language sadly isn't getting much easier, i understand quite a bit of what is happening but my speaking as far as conjugation goes rather sucks. haha idk if i should say that but whatevs. No its ok and is getting better everyday.

To answer some of your questions and sorry that i haven't answered this one yet dad but yes, i do keep a journal and have ever since my first day in the mtc. Its pretty cool to go through it and see everything that has happened. As far as the voice recorder goes, you could send one that actually sounds pretty cool. I did see the Elder from Colombia haha. The first day we were here, we stayed in this hotel and i saw him there. We talked a little but couldnt really communicate that well haha. But he seems like a pretty chill guy haha. Not as crazy in real life as he is on Insta haha. Zone Mtg. is today from 4-7. 3 hrs of pure boring. haha jk it will be ok i hope. I havent received su packages yet but i am guessing they are here or in El Paso our person just hasnt gone to pick them up yet. But Quien Sabe? haha. As far as sundays go, its pretty chill. We go to the Same ward every week. The La Cuesta ward. They are super cool and i love the members. We don;t have callings in the ward but just help with whatever. I havent had to speak yet but i did bear my testimony in testimony mtg. yesterday. I hope they understood me. haha.

So this week while we were just walking in the street i heard this dog barking but couldn't see where it was. Yeah it was on the roof of a house and that wasn't just a coincidence like i have seen like 12 dogs on roofs since getting here. Its super funny. Also this week Elder beltran and i nearly got eaten by a devil dog. haha. We were just walking down this street and all of the sudden this demon black dog just comes running at us and so i just by instinct start to run but elder beltran just turns and trys to scare the dog which didn't work but right before the dog killed us its owner finally caught up and stopped it. It was one of the scariest things of my life but apparently when a dog is coming to attack you, you are not supposed to run because that just makes the dog angrier but Quien Sabe? All i know is that im glad to be alive. haha. Anyways that was pretty much my week. I hope that uncle rob is doing better. I will keep him in my prayers and will fast on thursday. I love you all and am so grateful for your support.

Love, Elder Imlay

Bueno!!!!

 

Thats the first thing people here say when they answer there phones its kind of funny haha. So I went from watching about 4 hours of conference back home and sleeping through half of it to watching all 10 hrs here. haha But holy cow this conference was amazing.Especially the saturday sessions, if you havent watched them i would challenge you to. Its big time. We got to watch all 3 saturday sessions at the Offices in english which was super nice. On sunday we only had 1 investigator show up to the Capilla to watch conference and some others flaked on us which was really sad. We are not doing to great right now but i'm not to worried about it. I think that things are about to take a turn for the better. I can feel it. haha or at least i hope. On sunday i watched like an hour in spanish and the other 3 hours in english which was nice but i feel bad because my companion didnt understand much haha. Im kinda super jealous of the missionary choir like what the heck. Why does all of the cool stuff happen like 3 weeks after i leave haha. No it was cool and i actually knew some of the kids who were in the choir. 

 

Thats freakin hilarious that kob and ka got in trouble with glen, tell the boss i say hi. As far as money goes im not really to worried. I havent tried to draw money out of the card yet but if i ever need to i will. The language is coming along very slowly but i can actually understand quite a lot of what happens, i just can't really speak it well. But its not bad i am able to participate in the lessons actually quite a bit and the people understand what i say its just not correct grammar but that will come with time. Im not gonna lie i am so grateful for conference, it really boosted my spirits and i am feeling actually really good about all of this. It is hard at times and yes it is hard living with the same person all of the time and having to be with them all of the time but its ok because i have an amazing companion and know that this is where i should be. 

 

Umm as far as what we eat..... we eat a lot of tortillas at members houses and obviously beans an tons of mexican food. Its actually really amazing. At our house we have lots of cereal, smoothies, yogurt, Quesidillas, fruit, and grilled cheese sandwiches, oh and Hot cakes. Oh my gosh hot cakes are amazing. hot cakes are pancakes btw if you didnt know hahah. We actually have gotten to eat at Wendys 3 times since i got here and 2 times were with members haha. Oh and we ordered pizza one day which was amazing. I have not had mac and cheese yet and Peanut butter is wayyy to expensive so sadly no PB & J's haha. I havent been sick again but i will never eat Menudo again. It did unspeakable things to my body. ahaha. 

 

Sadly no i cannot see El Paso. I don't know what El Peso is mom. hahah jk! But yeah i heard that preston is right on the border i am more inland which is cool i guess.Thats so awesome that we have a movie now. I hope that its good you will have to tell me about it in your next letter haha. Anyways I am doing great and am loving it here. Oh one more thing, tomorrow i get to be Senior Comp. for a day because my companion is the DL and one of the Areas in our district isnt doing very good so he has to go check it out so me and Elder Salcido will be here in La Cuesta for a day and i will get to be Sr. Companion which is gonna be freaking dope. haha idk if i should say that but whatevs haha. anyways i love all of you and good luck with your lives.

 

Love Elder Imlay #2

 

My version of a selfie!

Me and my companion right before General Conference

 

Hello Family and Friends!

Well this week was easily just as tough as the last one. The people are speaking as fast as ever but i at least have a general idea of what is happening. So thats good i guess. So to start off a few crazy things happened this week. First, Elder Beltran and I were at a members house this week, I cant remember what day but while we were sitting there talking, a fly was buzzing around one of the members so he slapped it away, but he slapped it right towards me and hit it into my mouth. It was disgusting but super funny. Second, this week i finally got sick because i ate something called Menudo. Which is cow stomach soup. It was the worst but i am feeling better now, so that is good.

To answer some of your questions. yes i do get to play sports on pday but no other days. Today we played basketball with a recent convert at the chapel which was awesome. His name is G. As far as investigators go we are not doing to well. We have quite a few but they just arent progressing. However, we do have one whose name is D who we have scheduled for a baptism on Oct. 11 so hopefully all works out. We have other investigators who havent showed up to church yet but we are hoping that they will come watch General conference with us this week. We have 2 that have said they could so far. Their names are P and C. I dont really know the other members in my district that well and next week is Zone conf. so i will know then if Preston is in my Zone. My area is in Ciudad Juarez not the colonies which is good for me becuase i will learn spanish so much faster. Apparently in the colonies there are tons of english speakers so in a way i am grateful to be where i am so that i can learn spanish faster.

My area is pretty modern but its nothing like the USA. We do have a laundromat which is nice. But we only wash our clothes and then bring them home to dry them by hanging them up. We get i think like $1200 pesos each month or transfer i cant remember, i think it should be enough but if not i will email you. With that money we buy our food, cleaning supplies and whatever else we need but if you could send a little money that would be great. We dont have dressers so yeah im pretty much just living out of my suitcase but its whatevs.

Thats crazy about all the stuff that is happening back home. Its so weird cuz i literrally have no idea whats going on about anything so thank you for the weekly updates. So Carters new companion Elder Pearce was friend of mine in the MTC and was in my zone, its cool to know that two of my amigos are serving together. Oh also somebody thought i was canadien this week while we were walking. It was funny, they yelled to us and asked me if i was canadien or what. It Also led to an appointment with one of them so that is really good. haha. Im so glad that all of you are doing good. I miss you and think about you every day. Love you Tons.

Con Amor

Elder Cameron Imlay

Oh one more thing. our mailing adress in El Paso got changed. It is now

Mission: (My name)

1410 Gail Borden Suit B-4

El Paso, Texas 79935

Eating Menudo

My rock

Hola Todos!

This has literally been the craziest week of my life. Like i said in my last email we arrived here on monday night and me and elder Medieros slept at this weird but super nice hotel here. Then in the morning we got our new companions which like i said before is Elder Beltran. He is super cool, Hes from Colombia and has been out here for 20 months. We get along really well and hes really into futbol so thats cool. We are both new to our area which is called La Cuesta. So we have spent a ton of time this week just trying to find out where everyone lives. The mission field is 10000 times different than the mtc. The lessons are cool but literally i have no idea whats going on 85% of the time. Pretty much Elder Beltran teaches the whole time and i just bare my testimony at the end but the spirit is strong and i can really feel it when we are in the lessons.

Our apartment is hard to explain, it is actually kinda big but there is nothing in it. Like literally no furnitiure no nada. There are these to tables in the corner where we do Personal, companion and Language study in the mornings. It has been raining cats and dogs here but has also been hotter than heck so the weather thing is just a total mystery. To dad yes i now do pushups in the morning. Every morning we get up at 6 30 and then have 30 mins to workout. But we have workout schedules which is lame. There are a ton of restrictions that i dont like but i know that we have them for a reason and they are just here to keep us safe. But now i dont get to wear some of my ties cuz they dont fit within the mission rules but thats ok i guess.

We have quite a few investigators. None are really progressing which is sad but i hope that in the coming week we can get some to come to church because i know that if they would they would feel the spirit. I havent gotten sick yet which is super nice. One of the hermanas from my district, Hermana steele is really sick which is sad i hope she will be ok. We literally live all on our own which is kind of sad because even though i love my companion it is nice to see other people sometimes. I am not gonna lie to y'all i have had some really hard times here. I literally understand like nothing that happens here and it can get really depressing but i know that this is where the lord wants me and knowing that as well as all of your support is what keeps me going. Plus the Mission pres. said the first month is gonna be the hardest month of your life so i was just preparing for it.

We shop at this store called Sorianna which is just a grocery store. We eat breakfast and cena at our house and then usually have lunch at a members house. But something super cool is that i have gotten to eat at wendy's 2 times since getting here and let me tell you, there is nothing better than a Baconator after living off of MTC food for 6 weeks. I get 2 hours to email now because my companion is the District leader so thats cool. Im the only new missionary in my district so thats kind of scary. That ticks me off that the Broncs lost to the Hawks but whatevs i guess. Anyways im doing really good and just know that i think about all of you daily.

Con amor,

Elder Cameron Imlay

Cameron and his cousin Preston (Both Elder Imlay's)

Hola!
Well i made it here, its crazy to see what juarez really looks like. Its not as scary as it sounds in all seriousness but it is pretty crazy. So we flew all day yesterday, it was super long but we finally got in around 6 30. We had dinner con la presidente de la mission. We had this chicken type thing and some potatoes they were actually really good. I spent the night con mi companion who was Elder Medeiros but only for the night. We all got to stay in this super nice hotel last night with all of the new missionaries. When we woke up this morning we went to one of the churchs here and got our new companions. My actual companion now is Elder Beltran. He is really cool he is from Colombia he is really into sports especially futbol. he is 20 years old and has been out here for 20 mes.

And guess what happened today??? I got to see preston, he is doing amazing and looks really good. It was awesome to see him because when i first got here everyone knew who he was and was telling me i looked nothing like him. I cant believe i got to see him so fast since getting here. Idk what area he is in now but i really hope that in the future we can be companions. Elder Beltran y mi esta in La cuesta (thats our area). Oh my gosh i just asked him in english where we were and he had no idea what i was saying haha. The field is so much different than the field pero i reallylike it and look forward to serving here. The people here are really nice or at least for the time i have been here. Hardly anyone speaks english but its awesome because i know that i will learn spanish that much faster. I am grateful tho that mi companero speaks a little spanish because at least i can ask him questions sometimes and he can answer me.

I hope that all y'all are doing great. It was great to talk to you and hear your voices. Sorry i was an emotional wreck idk what the heck was wrong with me haha. Oh i forgot to tell you while on the plane i met this woman who was super awesome. We talked a ton about the church and she really believed and had faith in what i was saying and i did it all in spanish or at least most of it. I offered her a BOM but she declined because it was my personal one and she didnt want to take it. But i did get her email address and i am going to email her next week to see how she is doing. Anyways just know that i am doing great here and love you tons. Good luck to all of you.

Con Amor

Elder Cameron Imlay 

Hello All!

Well this is the big week, i cant believe it is finally here. I think i told my family this but my flight plans got changed and now we get to have an hour long flight from Monterrey to Juarez instead of a 12 hour bus ride which is super nice. I would have gone insane.

My experience here at the MTC has been amazing. I have learned so much and look forward to going to the field. Its gonna be sick. This week was pretty chill we had class a lot but on Wednesday we did get to be hosts which means that i got to go pick up the New Missionaries and show them around. Its amazing how fast time flies because it litterally feels like i was just in their shoes last week and now i leave monday Morning at 5 am. On friday or yesterday i guess we had infield orientation for 10 hours straight... It was soooooo long but i did learn a lot. A mission definitely is not what i thought it was gonna be like but i have loved it. Some other people in my district leave Sunday night at 8 which is super sad! Its amazing how close we have become in such a short amount of time. We are like a family, i love each of them and know that they are all gonna be amazing missionaries.

Today we went to the temple for the last time here in the MTC. It was awesome we got to go with both of our teachers Hermano Ashby y Hermana Toleafoa. They are truly amazing and have given me some of the greatest advice. I will miss them dearly and am so grateful for them. Also at the temple today was the MTC president and his wife. They are so cool especially president Nally, we got to say hi to them and it was cool to actually talk to them instead of just seeing them sit on the stand for devotionals haha. Sadly we havent had any Apostles come speak to us but dont get me wrong the speakers we have had are amazing. Im so looking forward to Juarez im not gonna lie the Mtc is really starting to get super boring and all of us are just ready to get on out of here.

Thats crazy that y'all had to go on lockdown and be in school until 5 oclock why didnt anything cool like that happen when i was there. Haha jk i probs shouldnt say that. It was weird packing up today, it reminded me a lot of when i was packing to come here. I am super nervous, excited, anxious and any other emotion you can think of for juarez but i know that this is where the lord wants me and that he has prepared people there for me personally to teach. As far as calling goes i think im gonna call you in texas with the cell phone for sure maybe in Salt lake and I bought a call card from the MTC here that allows me to call you from Monterrey so i might do that to. Im so looking forward to hearing from you. Dad to answer your question about the pushups im not gonna lie to you i dont really do pushups. haha. but i do play soccer and basketball everyday so dont think that im just being a lazy bum. haha. When im out in the field tho theres no gym place so i will probably be doing a lot of push ups then if that makes you happy. Anyways theres not really anything i need right now if my patriarchal blessing is here. I just want to tell all of you thank you for all of your support it really means the world to me. I love you all. Next time i talk to ya it will be from Mexico. Viva Mexico!!!!!!

 

Con Amor tu hijo y amigo

Elder Cameron Imlay

 

 

Hello All! Holy cow, time is flying. I can't believe that i leave for Juarez in a week from Monday. So yes, I did get my travel plans. We meet at 2 30 am on the morning of September 15. We then travel up to Salt Lake City International, Our flight is at 6 am and we fly from SLC to Dallas, Fortworth Texas. We then have a layover from 9 40 am until 2 25 pm. Then we fly from Dallas to Monterrey, Mexico. Once we arrive in Monterrey we board a bus and ride it for 12 hrs up to Juarez. It is going to be rough so pray for me. haha. JK! There are 11 of us going to Juarez in provo, 6 of them are in my district so thats cool. Im not totally sure when i will get to call you but my guess would be probably during the layover in Dallas. So plan on that unless i tell you otherwise. Thank you for all of the letters and packages y'all have sent me. They mean so much and i love hearing from you and about your lives. Thats awesome that they are opening 13 new areas up. It will be crazy if that is true.

Everything here at the MTC is good, not much is really happening besides class and practicing teaching. Although while being here in the MTC, Me and Elder beck were assigned an "Investigator", his name is Adrian, We have been teaching him for the past 2 weeks. Some of the lessons have gone really good and others not so good. But i am truly grateful for the opportunity because i have learned so much from the expieriences we had with him and it's amazing how to see how fast we grew to love him. I know that as we love all those we come in contact with and put our faith in God that we can accomplish all things.

Thats crazy what happened to Ryan, he emailed me but didnt say anything about it. Kob I hope your toe or whatever happened to you is ok and that you can heal quickly. You better keep up your soccer skills because mine are getting quite amazing. haha. jk. Tell Kaler that im jealous that he's in powell and that i dont even get to swim for 2 years. Hope he is having fun. To both Kob and Kaler, I hope school is going well and that your doing good. I dont really need anything right now, Im doing really good. But I'm not gonna lie, the MTC is starting to get really boring and i am so excited to get out in the field. Mom and Dad thank you for everything and all that you have done for me in my life, I know that i say this a lot but i know that without your help and guidance throughout my life I would definitely not be where i am today. Anyways just know that i am doing great and am thinking about you always. I know that god loves all of us and as we humble ourselves and come unto him, he will be there to help and comfort us always. Love ya tons.

 

Con mucho Amor,

Elder Cameron Russell Imlay

P.S. we had barber night a few weeks ago. Its pretty much this Elder in our apartment has this sweet razor and he shaves us. Its super sick.

 

 

 

 Hey Everybody! Holy cow, I cant believe that this Wednesday will be the one month mark. Time is flying, it feels like yesterday i was getting dropped off and now in 2 weeks i will be headed on a plane to Juarez and then the real stuff begins. Thank you for the packages, seriously tho receiving mail here is like Christmas every time you get something. So keep sending letters. I love hearing from you. Also thank you for the mexico shirt that was sick as well as the Rice Krispies and Brownies they were amazing. Tell Fez good luck from and and that he will be an amazing missionary.

Thats crazy that our house got infested with scorpions. Why the freak does all the cool and crazy stuff happen after i leave. Also how the heck can Koby dunk it. Ive only been gone for a month and he's already got bigger hops than me. Anyways to answer some of your questions, Im not really sure if im gaining weight because there are no scales here, also like i've said before the food here does weird stuff to your body so its kind of hard to gain weight. if you know what im saying. I havent been sick yet which is really nice, my whole room pretty much got sick so tho so im feeling super blessed that i didn't. haha. I haven't seen austin yet but I have seen Jake Anderson, Taylor Houston, Gabe Suttner, Bridger Thurston, J-Allen, and Braxen Adams. I dont know if you know him but he's a friend from high school. So thats pretty cool. I really dont need anything right now but i would like getting more treats and food from you in packages. The food here is weird so outside food tastes amazing. Tell kaler that im super jealous that he gets to go to powell and also good luck this year with school Koby and Kaler.

I'm learning a ton here, my spanish is getting pretty good, I am actually able to teach lessons mostly in spanish and its truly amazing what you can accomplish with the power of the spirit on your side. Nothing to crazy happened this week except for BYU had a party the other night on our field that we play sport on and we could here the music from our room and im not gonna lie Justin Bieber never sounded so good. hahaha. Oh so our district is now the oldest in the zone and me and elder beck got called to be the zone Online Coordinators. Which is cool i guess. Anyways just know that i love all of you and think of you daily.

Mucho Amor

Elder Imlay

 

Hey Everybody!

Holy cow I cant believe i have been out here for almost 3 weeks, time flies.I love getting letters so keep writing me and tell others to as well! haha! I am doing great, my spanish is coming along and I really do love it here. I have been teaching tons of lessons and just preparing for the field the best I can. I didn't get your package today which i was sad about but i am wondering if you got my letter that i sent?

To answer some of your questions, Yes i am keeping warm at night and am actually able to fall asleep at 10:30 which is amazing. My companion is good, like i said we don't have really anything in common but he's a pretty good guy. I love my district, its amazing how close we have come in only 3 weeks. Its going to be really hard to say goodbye but i am grateful for the time i get to spend with them, we have pretty much become a family. My spanish is getting better, i still have a lot to learn but i can somewhat carry a conversation about the gospel! haha. We have a bookstore on campus that sells everything, so i have bought a few treats from there and some other stuff. Last week on P-day we went to Brighams Landing and ate at the burger place there as well as got a Jamba Juice which was amazing because the food here is good but it messes with your insides if you know what i'm saying! hahah. I hope shanda gets feeling better and fez and ian good luck on your farewells this sunday, you will be amazing.

This week has been pretty cool me and Elder Mclehaney (another elder in my district) had a few hand stand contests which was sick. But last night we were having one outside and it was raining really hard and i slipped and scraped up my arm and got blood stains on my sleeve. But don't worry i was able to get the stain out. So yeah you could pretty much say im a beast at laundry and stain removal. haha. Oh speaking of laundry we woke up at 4 am this morning to do laundry which was crazy but we got it done and now we have a ton of free time today. The days in the MTC are all very similar we wake up, eat breakfast, then class, then gym, then lunch, then class again, then dinner, then class again, then mail, then bed, repeat. But i love it im learning tons and actually having fun. We have been able to go to the temple 3 times which is awesome. Its really cool to see what different temples look like. oh and if you could get me that email list asap that would be great. So get this we got a new district last week and half of the elders in the district are heading to bahia blanca argentina haha. I told them to look out for elder taysom when they get out there. Its crazy because that district is in the same zone as us and we see them everyday.

Ive seen Taylor Houston, Gabe Suttner, and Jake Anderson while ive been here, those are the only ones from DHHS but it was great to see them and they are doing really well. We get to have gym everyday for an hour which is nice because if not i think i would go insane. Tell koby and kaler good luck with soccer and tell kob thanks for the tool pic. It was legendary. haha. Thanks for all that you have done for me and for helping me prepare. I know this gospel is true and that when we have the spirit to be with us anything is possible. I love you all so much! Keep writing me!

Love, Elder Imlay

Hey Everybody!

I cant believe ive been here 11 days!! Everyday is super long and it feels like a blur but i am learning tons. I am actually getting pretty good at Spanish, it's crazy what is possible when you have the Spirit with you. On Sunday we had church which was different than home but still amazing as ever. Mon-Wed were just normal days, we have class 10 hrs a day which is tedious but my teachers are amazing so its OK! Thursday was a little different, me and elder cox (another elder in my district) had to go to Salt Lake to get our visas or something official like that at the Mexican Consulate. I'm not gonna lie it was kind of weird seeing normal people and being out in the real world and not being with all of the missionaries at the CCM. Haha. But i had no idea that Kevin Love got traded or that Robin Williams died, thats crazy. Its weird how sheltered we are from all the worldly things here but i am grateful for it because it truly helps me be the best missionary I can be.

To answer some of your questions,my companions name is Elder Corwin Beck. He is from Centerville Utah. He is serving in the same mission as me along with 6 others in our district.I would love for you to send me a package with some treats in it especially a 54 pack of Rice Krispies. I love hearing from all of you so keep writing me letters. I wold like to thank you for all of your support and love. I know this church is true and that if we have faith and live worthily to have the Spirit with us anything is possible. Me and elder beck got our first baptism this week with one of the investigators here. Its not a real baptism but its still cool because we were able to have 4-5 lessons with an "investigator" here and she accepted our invitation when she asked. It was amazing. I truly am learning so much here and love it so much. Please if you can try to send me everyone's email addresses so that i can email them. But just know that i love you guys and think of you everyday. Cya Later!

Love Elder Imlay

                        

                                                           

                                                        

Hello everyone!!

Well actually i only know your account so will you email me all of the other accts of people who want to hear from me. Well where do i start?? When i first got here everything moved so fast. When i got in we immediately went and got my badge its in spanish which is awesome.We then just like everyone else said had class for 4 hours which actually turned out to be really good. Mi companeros nombre es Elder Beck. He seems like a pretty good guy, we don't really have anything in common but we get along really well and i think it will be a great companionship. On thursday we had class again and i am really learning a lot of spanish. It is amazing what you can accomplish when the spirit is with you.

Mi maestros nombre es hermano ashby he is great but only speaks in spanish which is really crazy. Yesterday we had 11 hours of class and me and Elder Beck gave our first lesson in espanol. It actually went really well i was able to remember a lot of words and did much better than i thought i would. We actually gave out our first book of mormon in the discussion but it turned out to be someone elses in out district so we had to go get it back but it was just role playing so it was fine! haha! Thank You for the letters they were amazing keep sending me them and ask others to as well i love hearing from you! My first days really haven't been that bad i didn't even cry haha sorry mom! It has been tough waking up in the mornings but i am always tired during the day and falling asleep at 10 30 es no problemo.

To koby and kaler i would like to say that going on a mission will be the best thing you do in your life and i cant wait until you get the opportunity to serve. You will learn so much and it will bless your life more than you could ever imagine. Mom and Dad i would like to thank you for your faithfulness and raising me in this gospel. You are truly my heroes and i definitely wouldn't be here without you. I got kneed in the calf playing b ball yesterday and it hurt so bad for the rest of the day but i am doing fine now. My district is amazing there are twelve of us 8 elders y 4 hermanas and that super pretty girl that Elder Imlay #1 was talking about is in our district haha. Most of the day is spent in class but we get fed 3 meals a day and the food really isnt that bad. I really like the CCM but cant wait to get out in the field. I know this church is true and that this gospel can and will bless the lives of everyone who want to know of it. Sorry i dont have much to say but ive only been here 3 1/2 days haha. Just know that i love each of you and am so grateful for all of your examples. I love you so much and am thinking of you always!!

Elder Imlay #2