Hello everyone, life is still going pretty good at the MTC for me, things can get discouraging sometimes with the language, but I have learned to just keep a positive attitude and move forward. I love being in the MTC, I can't believe it's only been three weeks, I have already learned so much and I love it. Spanish is starting to come along pretty good, on SAturday, me and my companion taught our first "real lesson" to some members who came over to volunteer at the mtc. It was basically a family home evening type of thing, or noche de hogar as they would say in spanish. It actually went really good, I was able to share my favorite scripture(Alma 37:6-7) and talk about how it has helped me find comfort and help throughout troubling times, it was so cool, the person who we taught was a returned missionary, she went to the Chile Concepcion mission and just got back 3 weeks ago when we taught. It was so awesome though, because she said that she was able to feel the spirit while me and my companion were sharing our testimonies with her, even though my spanish wasn't perfect, she could still feel the spirit. Feeling the spirit is the most important part of a lesson, if the listener/investigator can feel the spirit in your message, the language wont matter as much, although it is still definately really important to learn the language, but as long as I try my best, I know that the Lord will help me to learn the language so I can help to share the restored gospel with all the people of Mexico City. Here at the MTC during gym time, my district loves to go and play soccer, I mean futbol haha, anyways, I have found a new found love for this sport, it is quite fun and even though it canget competetive at times, it is still a good break from the stress that comes from learning a new language. The devotionals are always awesome, this week the devotional was about the song come come ye saints and pioneers, it was really cool how the speaker related us to pioneers, saying that each of us are pioneers to the people who we will teach, we have to have the courage that the pioneers had to just keep going, all the lyrics of that song when applied to missionary work fit just perfectly, it was so awesome! The temple reopened this week, so I was able to go, that was such an awesome experience! I think that I apppreciate the temple even more now that I am out in the mission field trying to bring others back to Christ and help them find that goal of going to the temple. I've also learned a pretty important lesson about food.... I need to stop eating so much, I'm not used to having a buffet every meal, so I've been working to try and get used to not having so much food, plus I've probably put on a couple of pounds haha, I need to eat healthier so that I will be able to perform missionary work to the best of my abilities. There is still so much to learn, but I have continued to learn to the best of my ability, I have also gotten completely used to being with my companion 24/7 it now seems weird to me to even think about being alone, I still have 6 more weeks here in the mtc, I feel ready for the field except for with spanish.... I have learned so much more about the gospel and about how to study and learn from teh scriptures more. One cool thing I learned this week was in Alma 47:18 or something like that, it was the scripture about if every man were like Moroni, the powers of hell would be shaken and would not have power over the hearts of man, that scripture was an answer to my prayers in a way, it helped me to realize that I need to become more like captain Moroni so that I can help others to come unto Christ in the most effective way I can. I know that there is a lot of stuff going on in the world right now like the Olympics and stuff, but I'm not going to lie, I don't miss it at all, I thought that I would miss it like crazy, but now I just want to go and serve the people of mexico and our Savior Jesus Christ, I still miss family and friends, but I know that I have to put all of my efforts into loving and serving the people, this has helped me a lot. The scriptures have definitely become one of my new best friends. I have found so many words of guidance and counsel this week, it has been awesome! I wish that I knew spanish now so that I could go out to the field. One other thing that I have been and still am trying to learn is how to be patient with myself and others,sometimes it's difficult when other missionaries in my district want to do something a different way than how I want to do it, but I have learned to listen and that everything doesn't have to be my way, that's one cool thing that has helped me. There is more than one way to teach a lesson and more than one way to do an activity or learn a new concept. It also builds a spirit of unity and togetherness when you learn how to talk about problems and resolve conflicts and do things in different ways( as long as you are doing the right thing). Missionary work is busy though, I wish that I had more personal study time, there is so much to learn about the gospel. I love getting letters, especially from www.dearelder.com it's always nice to get a pick me up of some kind from letters. Another thing that has been awesome has been seeing all my friends who I knew from high school and college and stuff here. I've seen Elder Taylor Brockbank and Elder Mossman, and many others. Seeing all my friends all working for the same cause to: "Invite others to come unto Christ by receiving the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the holy ghost,and enduring to the end" It just makes me appreciate all my friends that I have had even more. I also greatly love and appreciate my family for supporting me during the time of my mission and for all the prayers and support on my behalf. To answer one of your questions, we actually don't teach people from the Provo mission, we teach our teachers who act like "pretend investigators" it still feels so real and you can feel the spirit while you teach. They basically roleplay someone from they knew on their mission and act how they would act. The only real lesson we taught to members was for noche de hogar, we do that once a week. Other than that, we teach our teachers, which is kind of hard, but it really is the only way to practice, plus they can give feedback and advice on how to become better at teaching right after. I hope that all is well at home and that you guys are excited to go on trek, trek is so fun! Have a blast and enjoy every second. I miss you guys and pray for you every day, please don't forget to write every once in a while and keep the missionaries in your prayers, there is so much work that needs to be done and every little prayer helps to bring about this great and eternal cause. I know that I've repeated myself quite a bit, but there isn't much more I can tell you about the MTC,once I get into the mission field, my emails will get more interesting and entertaining, I promise, but still it is really important to tell you about the spirit that is here in the MTC, I now understand how missionaries area ble to learn languages so fast, it is a miracle from Heavenly Father, the challenge is still there, but you can really feel the help so much more. My time is almost gone, thanks so much for all the love and support and I hope to hear from you guys soon.

Love, Elder Limb

p.s. thanks for all the letters I have received, I appreciate them so much. Adios amigos

I'm doing great, definately trying my best to enjoy my time here and learn as much as I can, spanish is coming along better, I have gotten pretty good at praying in spanish, I can almost say all the things that I want to, it's getting there, I still have 7 weeks left though, so plenty of time to improve and learn. This week was really awesome, the two devotionals that they had, one on Sunday and the other one on Tuesday were awesome! Definately one of the most spiritual experiences I have had so far. On Sunday the speaker was Jenny Oaks Baker, she was so good, and she played her violin during the devotional, she played like 6 or 7 songs for us, it was pretty awesome. She said something that stuck out to me a lot, she said that we need to put all of our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, not in a particular event happening, like an investigator getting baptized, or something like that, this way, you're faith will never shatter. If you put so much faith in something happening and it doesn't happen, oftentimes this can cause people to stray away from the church and stop going, but if you put all your faith in Jesus Christ and our heavenly Father's will, then your faith will never be weakened. It was better how she said it, but you get the idea. this week hasn't been all positives though, there have been some downfalls, but me and my companion have learned a ton from them. This week, we had two investigators, our first investigator, me and my companion for some reason got so nervous and starting doubting our own abilities to speak and understand spanish, when you let feelings of doubt and inadequacy and negativity come into your mind, you can't teach by the spirit. We were both so nervous and we couldn't really teach, we just started teaching a lesson, not teaching the investigator, we just kept babbling on reading out of our missionary phrase book to try and make him understand, but this isn't how it is supposed to be. You are supposed to get to know the investigator so that you can teach through the spirit a lesson that they will be able to understand and accept. We did so bad that we actually didn't exactly get a new appointment with this investigator, but we learned a lot. Our teacher told us that we could start over with this investigator now that we have learned so much more about starting to teach and teaching people not lessons. However, with our other investigator, me and my companion did so much better teaching. We went in,. determined not to let any feelings of inadquacy or doubt come into our minds, ready to teach with confidence and power the truth of the restored gospel on this earth. It was an awesome lesson! We both taught by the spirit and were able to teach the lesson in a way that personally fit the needs of this investigator, and we got him to commit to read the book of mormon and pray about Joseph Smith, it felt so awesome, I know that the investigators aren't actual investigator's, but it is still such a real feeling to teach the gospel to them, that is exactly the way that it will be in the field. Also, on the tuesday devotional, the speaker spoke about how strong the spirit really is, he gave an example of where he heard about a man who stood up to bear his testimony but could not find any words to say, all he did was stand at the pulpit. However, tears were streaming down his face and you could just feel the spirit in his message, the language of the spirit speaks stronger than any spoken words can, it penetrates straight to the heart and soul of the listener and leaves them with feelings, which are a lot stronger than sounds. Everyone who was in that congregation listening to the story of this man sharing his "silent testimony" knew exactly what the man was feeling, he was expressing his faith and how he felt our Heavenly Father's Love in his life for him personally, it is comforting for me to know this. My spanish isn't exactly where I would like it to be, but the message of the gospel that I will be sharing with others is true, and the spirit will help me and bring the message of the gospel into the heart of the listeners as long as I stay obedient and listen to the promptings of the spirit and go and teach with the spirit. I am so excited to go and help bring happiness into the lives of the people of Mexico City, on Wednesday we had an awesome lesson about learning to listen to the spirit and teach. We had an hermana(sister) come and teach us instead of our regular teacher, she had us close our eyes for 20 minutes and imagine that we were missionaries on the street and that we saw a women crying with a 2 year old child next to her, it felt like such a real situation, the teacher was representitive of the lady in the street and I was able to feel the spirit to help me know what she needed to hear, I knew the words in english perfectly, but not quite in spanish, however, the spirit can help people to understand, no matter what language it is that they speak. The gospel blesses families and that's what that lady needed to hear. She told us that she believed that God was mad at her because she had lost her family and had had some trials. As a district, we were able to feel the spirit to help us know how to comfort her and help her find happiness, that is the kind of work that I'll be doing out in the field, finding people like her who are in need of the teachings of the gospel and the comfort that it can bring into our lives through any trial or tribulation. Afterwards our teacher told us that she could feel the spirit and our desire to help her, which is more important than our actualy spanish speaking ability, she could feel that we truly wanted to help her and that opened up her heart and made her more understanding and listening to our message. That is how I feel about the people in Mexico that i will get to serve. I want to help them in whateverway I can to bring them the restored gospel and help them find happiness, that short 20 minute scenario was so powerful and such a good learning experience for me, my testimony of the spirit being able to help teach and comfort was strengthened so much that day, this is the true church on the earth today, there is so much that I wish I could say , but my time for email is running low, I am so grateful for the oppurtunity and chance that I have to serve a mission, I hope that I can serve the people of Mexico City to the best of my capabilites, I want to make the world a better place, one person at a time, I hope that I will be able to help them feel the spirit and bring them back to our Savior Lord Jesus Christ, I know that I can't do this alone, but with the help of the spirit, I know that I will be able to help others in Mexico City, specifically, because I have been called of God to represent his son Jesus Christ and bring others back to the gospel. This is the place where I will be able to reach out to the most people because of my talents, my personality, my experiences, my testimony, my spirit. I was callled to this mission for that reason, and I know it is true. I can feel it right now that I will be able to find people who will accept the gospel and come back to Christ, I am so excited for that, and I wouldn't trade that feeling for anything in the world. The MTC is still awesome, I still love the food, don't forget to write, and you should use www.dearelder.com while I am here in the MTC it gets letters here quicker and is pretty awesome, I love letters, I will write back to all of them as soon as I get time, missionary work is busy but I love it so much! It is definitely preparing me for the journey of a lifetime, there are souls to save and people to help and I need to prepare myself to help them to the best of my ability. My companion is awesome and we are learning how to teach together, by the spirit and help strengthen the testimonies of others, I'm so thankful for the letters that I have received and you guys are so awesome and mean so much to me, thanks for everything you do, I wish I could say more, but my time is up, don't forget to write, I love you guys so much

Elder Limb

First email from MTC

there is so much that I would like to tell you about the mtc, it is so fun, yet so hard, there is so much that I have realized that I need to learn, like how to be patient with the language, learning spanish or any other language is tough, it takes a lot of commitment to keep up with it. I´ll tell you a little bit about my district next, my companion´´s name is Elder Baker, he went to Weber High School and is from liberty, utah. He and I have a lot in common, we both were in student government, both ran cross country, both were in choir, and both were really involved. I know that the Lord is over all, that everything happens for a reason, it is amazing to me how missionary work is organized, me and Elder Baker teach so good together, at least in english.... haha, anyways, we are both going to be going to the same mission, so who knows maybe we will be companions later on down the road, that would be pretty cool. In my room, there are 6 elders and only 4 closets, it´s pretty crazy, but it seems to work out okay, I am on the top bunk. In my district there are 10 elders, they are: me, Elder Baker, Elder Hogan-from West Jordan going to the colombia cali mission, Elder Chase from Orange county california going to the colombia cali mission, Elder Juarez from rosenburg texas going to the mexico merida yucatan area mission, Elder jaussi from Riverton Utah going to the mexico merida yucatan area mission, Elder elmer from Dallas area going to the Bogota South colombia mission, Elder White from colorodo springs going to the pere chiclya mission or something like that, Elder Doxey from Buena vista virginia going to the Edmonton canada spanish speaking mission, and Elder Oscarson from Chicago area going to the Tempe Arizona spanish speaking mission. As a district we have so much in common, we all get along pretty good, and everythingn seems to work out pretty good between us. The MTC is amazing, it is so cool for me to be a missionary, the missionaries have always been people who I have looked up to, they have always been my heroes, now to be here with over 2000 missionaries from all over the world, going to areas all over the world is just such a humbling and awesome experience for me, I am trying to enjoy every second I can to learn and grow as much as I can from this experience. Me and Elder Baker already have taught 3 lessons to one investigator(who actually turned out later to be our teacher we had yesterday, it was kind of funny) iot is so different, even though they are not real investigators(they're just people pretending and acting as investigators) you still are able to feel the real spirit behind the lessons. I knew exactly what i needed to say to Cesar(our first investigator) in english, I felt the spirit tell me those words, but I didn't completely know what to say in spanish. Here at the MTC they always tell us that we just need to learn to be in touch with the language of the spirit, the actual mission language will come as you put in hard work and learn from your mistakes. The gift of tongues is real, I know it is, but you just have to work hard to get it, the spirit will bring back all to your remembrance so that you can say the words that our savior Jesus Christ would say if he himself was there teaching the investigator, which he is, but not physically. The spirit is the one who needs to do the teaching, one thing that I have learned is to teach people, not lessons. This is pretty easy for me to do in english, but in spanish it is still kind of tough, I do know that if I work as hard as I can to learn the language, alwalys learning from my mistakes, that the language will come in time, and I will be able to personalize lessons based on the investigators needs as I will be able to get to know them. HOnestly though, the most important thing as a missionary is to have the spirit, the spirit knows all languages and the spirit can carry the heart or meaning of your message to the listener and they will be able to feel the sincerity in your words. Even though right now spanish is tough, I have learned how to understand a lot ofspanish, how to conjugate verbs, and how to pray in spanish. Even though I don't know how to say everything I want to say while I am praying in spanish, I have come to know that our heavenly father hears our hearts, he knows the words that I am struggling to say in spanish to pray to him, even though I struggle to say the words I want to while I pray, as a missionary I feel so much more power while I pray. I know how important prayer is, no matter how good someone is with spanish or how much they may know the lessons or memorized scripture, the spirit is what brings the message to the hearts of the listeners. This first week at the MTC has been different, I remember not being able to sleep the first night because there was too much on my mind, I was nervous, overhwhelmed, excited, kind of scared I'll admit, and I didn't know exactly what to expect. Now, I feel a lot more comfortable and I know that missionaries, are truly representatives of Jesus Christ himself. Our purpose is: Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and his Atonement, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the gift of the holy ghost, and enduring to the end. (Ps, that sounds so much cooler in spanish haha) I know that I have been called to Mexico City because there are certain people there that only I will be able to connect with to help them receive the gospel, to tell them about our heavenly father's love and plan for them, in a way that they will understand and be ready to receive it, I know that it will be hard, and even though I like to think that missionary work will be easy, I know it will be hard, but that is just a part of life. There are so many scriptures and confrerence talks that have helped me and can help anyone get through trials, one thing to remember and have it strongly planted in your mind is that the Lord is in charge. Everything, no matter what it is, happens for a reason, even if we don't understand why we have trials, our heavenly father does and they are for us to grow. Even in the one week I have been here, I have already grown so much spiritually, trials don't seem like a huge problem to me anymore. I truly want to bring happiness to other's lives by helping them receive the gospel so that they can have the blessings that I have. The food is awesome, most missionaries get sick of it, but not me, it;'s like a buffet every meal! I have already gained like 3 pounds.... but I've been working out everyday except on Sunday when there is devotionals and stuff like that, lots of study time to get acquainted with the gospel. I just love missionary work so much and am so glad to finally be a missionary and bring the world his truth, missionary work is busy though, I dont get much time to relax, only on p-days which is a nice break to help clear my head from all the frustration that comes from spanish haha, I hope that all things are going well at home and that you guys remember to write, you should use this link to write: www.dearelder.com it is so much easier to get letters that way, and it is free same day delivery, the address should be on the blog to loook for it. I love the MTC so much, I miss you guys so much, but I know that I have a resonsibility to fullfill my duty as a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ, I don't have much time to email, I wish I could tell you more, I'll tell you more facts and stuff about the MTC at a later date, I love you guys and my time for email is almost up so I'm just trying to put random thoughts on here haha, anyways the mtc is so cool, I know i've said it like 50 times, but it's so true, I feel like i have been here for like 3 months already, time goes by fast, yet slow, it is so weird it is something that can only be understood while you are here, the days seem long and short at the same time which is good because it makes it easier to forget the world and go to work by serving the Lord. I just love beeing a missionary, don't forget to write me, I love letters and will do my best to reply6 to every one as soon as I can with as much information as I can. remember www.dearelder.com and enjoy the rest of your day, My companions and district members all say hi

Elder Limb, peacing out for another week, please write

Got another letter from Elder Limb today.  He is struggling a little with the language, but knows it will come with patience and the spirit.  He has already taught a discussion in Spanish but did struggle with it.  He is realizing how hard missionary work is, but is getting it.  He is getting better every day.  Pday is Friday.  Alma37:6-7 is his favorite scripture.

Tuesday July 10,2012
    First letter from the MTC today!!  Elder Limb is doing great.  He is so excited to be there. They changed the words to The Army of Helaman song to" We are now the Lord's missionaries" it was awesome!
       Spanish is coming along.  He was able to bear his testominy in Spanish to his companion, Elder Baker, who is the district leader, so Elder Limb is the senior companion.  He understands Spanish and now understands the part of Preach My Gospel chapter 8 where it talks about learning a language, that the language of the Spirit is the same for everyone. However there is still some frustration in learning the language of Spanish,
        Many of the initial fears are gone and it sounds like he is learning to feel the Spirit .  There are 10 elders in his district,Elders Baker, himself, Jaussi, Juarez,Chase, Hogan, Elmer, Oscarson, Poxey, White.  They get along great.  The Spirit is so strong and it is awesome!!

      P.S. use www.dearelder.com because he said he gets letters faster that way.

MTC letter address:

Elder Daniel Ian Limb
MTC Mailbox # 359
MEX-MEXS 0903
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793


Letter inormation for the duration of my mission:
Letters can be sent by using pouch mail, or by the regular way, either way works, as long as you include your return address, I will write back as soon as I can.  Letters are pretty awesome, I would love to receive letters from you.   The regular way is probably easier to use, but I think it takes a little longer, either way, please write. 

Letter Mailing Instructions:

Send letters to the mission office until the address of my first assignment is posted:

Elder Daniel Ian Limb
México México City South Mission
Av. Progreso 106, 3° Piso
Barrio Santa Catarina, Coyoacán
04010 México, Distrito Federal
Mexico

Package Mailing Instructions:

Please use padded envelopes when sending CDs, thumb drives, or other small items.  These items when placed in a flat envelope, damage postal equipment and can be damaged during transit.

Elder Daniel Ian Limb
México México City South Mission
Av. Progreso 106, 3° Piso
Barrio Santa Catarina, Coyoacán
04010 México, Distrito Federal
Mexico


Pouch mail instructions
The Church provides pouch mail service to this mission.  Items sent by pouch mail use the United States Postal Service (USPS) from your location to Church Headquarters, where they are forwarded to the missionary by a private courier along with other Church mail.  Pouch mail leaves tChurch headquarters each Friday.  Items received after the pouch has been sent will be held for the next week.  Only postcards or one-page correspondences (no envelopes) written on one side of the page may be sent through th epouch.  Notebook or other light-weight paper will not process through the USPS machines.  Photographs are not acceptable.

You are invited to use pouch mail.  Items not complying with the following instructions will be returned to the sender or discarded, if the complete return address is not included.

Letter folding instructions:  Lay the letter blank side down.  Fold the bottom of the letter about one-third of the way up the page and crease.  Fold the top of the letter to the bottom of the first fold and crease.  Secure the long side with two pieces of tape about one inch in from each end, but do not seal the ends.  In the top left corner write your name and complete return address.  Affix first class postage in the top right corner.  In the middle write the missionary address as follows:

Elder Daniel Ian Limb
México México City South Mission
POB 30150
Salt Lake City UT 84130-0150

Hey guys, this will be my address while I am in the mtc(from July 5th until September 3rd) It would be awesome to hear from you guys

Elder Daniel Ian Limb
MTC Mailbox # 359
MEX-MEXS 0903
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793