13 July 2025
VOLUME 13 – NUMBER 617
Elders Hill and Larson on Cozumel ferry
Okay y’all, this is my first email to you guys from the mission field! On Wednesday at 3:00am, we said goodbye to the CCM and headed to the airport. There were six of us going to Cancún, and before we knew it, we were on a plane bound for Cancún! I was pretty much passed out for the entire flight.
Stepping off the plane in Cancún was absolutely wild. After a full month in the CCM, I had finally made it. Once we got our luggage, we made our way to the exit. The wave of heat that hit us as we left the air-conditioned airport was Insane!
At the mission home, we were welcomed by some missionaries and got to know President and Hermana Witt a little better. Then we had interviews with President Witt so he could decide which trainers we’d be assigned to and what area we’d be serving in. I was assigned to Elder Larson in the Cozumel 1 area!
Monte with other missionaries
We didn’t waste any time—we headed straight to work. We took a bus to the beach, bought tickets for a ferry, and then took the ferry to the island of Cozumel, where I’ll be living for at least the next six weeks.
Elder Larson is absolutely amazing. I will say it was a bit hard saying goodbye to Elder Lemon. He was such a great first companion, and I’m so grateful for everything he did to help me start my mission. How lucky am I that I got two great companions in a row?
Elder Larson and I got to our little blue house, dropped off my stuff, and hit the road. Lucky for me, Elder Larson and his old companion had two baptisms planned for Saturday. Their names are Dulce and Jesús. They are such amazing kids. We’re also teaching a sister named America. In my first lesson with her, we extended the invitation for her to be baptized on the 29th of this month, and she agreed!
Monte with other missionaries
We also spent the day teaching with Jared and William. They are both 18. William has been a member for about a year, and he just submitted his mission papers. Jared is also planning on serving and is currently the ward mission leader. They are both awesome and spent the whole day trying to help me with my Spanish.
Finally, we met a family of six, and I’d like to share this cool experience. As we were walking, we talked about listening to the first prompting that comes into our head. A few minutes later, we passed a house, and I felt impressed to stop. When I turned to tell Elder Larson, he had already stopped too.
We talked with five children named Caleb, Catherine, Katia, Carlos, and Iver. We asked if we could come back another day when their mom was there. Since then, we hadn’t been able to connect with her, but yesterday we finally met Lesli. We shared a short video about how we can be forgiven through Jesus, and she seemed really excited to meet with us again.
It’s been a great start to the mission, and Elder Larson is teaching me so much. I love you all, and I hope you have a great week!
Gloria and Taylor Danielson
Last week on Monday, I worked a 12-hour shift. I’m trying to get as many hours as I can for the upcoming trips, like the river trip and girls camp. I’m still deciding if I want to go to girls camp.
On Tuesday, Taylor wanted to do my nails for the Fourth of July. She did a really good job on them. I’ve also been trying to figure out a time for Isaac and me to have lunch with Vanessa.
On Thursday, I spent the day with Ashton. I rode FrontRunner down by myself. I’d never gone alone before, so I was a little nervous, but I made it safely, and it wasn’t too bad.
Ashton and I got some Cupbop, and after eating, we went bowling. I did pretty bad in some of the rounds, but most of the time we just messed around and tried different ways to play. After bowling, we picked up Caleb.
Gloria and Ashton in Provo
On the way home, Monte called and taught us a lesson. His Spanish is getting really good. Later that night, we played fugitive. Most of the time I was a seeker with Ashton and Caleb.
On the Fourth of July, I took Joanna and Troy to the ward breakfast—Mom and Dad came a little later. I had a good time. For lunch, I went with the Danielsons, and they always have Wienerschnitzel for the Fourth of July.
On Saturday, Isaac and I had lunch with Vanessa. At first, it felt a little weird, but I started to warm up after a while. We went to Fashion Place Mall. Isaac and I ate since Vanessa had already eaten. Afterward, we walked around the mall, did some shopping, and looked at a few things.
Owen
Kai, Troy, and I drove down to SLC for a Jazz summer league game. They won! It’s been a while since I’ve done anything related to the Jazz. I’m not even sure if I’ve really watched a whole game since being back from my mission.
I’m excited for this next season, even though they probably still won’t be that great. After the game, we got some Frostys at Wendy’s.
The boys also came down to Provo Friday night. We grabbed more Frostys, played some bocce ball, and watched Superman at the theater. Afterwards, Isaac, Kai, and Troy came back to my place and slept in my room.
Boys before the Spartan race
The next morning was the Spartan Race. I dropped the boys off on BYU campus, then Ashton and I drove up to meet Braden, Selvin, and Cougar. From there, we all headed to Bluffdale for the race, where we met up with Keaton.
It was a 5K, but about 50% of it was straight up a mountainside. Along the way, there were 20 obstacles. These included climbing or jumping over walls and barriers, carrying sandbags or buckets of dirt up and down the mountain, a 15–20 foot rope climb—which I’d never done before but managed to finish—monkey bars, army crawling 75–100 yards under barbed wire, and going through muddy mounds and pools.
It was tough, but I loved it. The whole race was a ton of fun. After getting back to Provo, Ashton, Cougar, and I picked up Isaac, Troy, and Kai from their “exile” on BYU campus. We got cleaned up, then spent the evening at my apartment’s clubhouse. We played ping pong, ate pizza and ice cream, watched funny YouTube videos, teased each other, and just enjoyed ourselves.
This definitely turned out to be a week of brothers! I loved it, and I love my brothers. I hope they always know that. They’re a bunch of cool guys, and I hope we’ll always stay close, keep learning about each other, and continue to strengthen our bonds while creating new memories.
Boys on the Spartan race
I'm a Spartan! HU-AH! HU-AH! HU-AH!
We ran the Spartan race on Saturday, and it was awesome. They got us hyped at the beginning with that chant. I think I will definitely be participating again. My goal next year is to complete all of the obstacles.
If you mess up on any of them, they make you run a penalty loop. I’d love to be able to nail them all in the future.
On Friday night, the boys came down to Provo, and we played some bocce ball before going to watch the new Superman movie. It was really good! You could definitely tell the director was the same one who did the Guardians of the Galaxy movie.
Afterward, we played spikeball, and with the sun completely down, it made being outside way easier. Summer has been great so far, and it’s just beginning in terms of trips and plans.
Ashton at MTC with Tommy (cousin)
This weekend Troy, Isaac, and I went down to Provo to hang out with Caleb and Ashton. We went to Wendy’s because Caleb wanted to try out the new Frostys. We all ended up getting the same one—it was something like brownie batter, I think. It was a decent milkshake, nothing too fancy.
The plan was to watch Superman at 7:30pm with Ashton, so we drove down to his apartment to pick him up. Since we had time to kill, we went to a park and played bocce ball. I ended up winning, and we did a few races before heading to the theater.
The movie was great. There were some cheesy parts, but overall it was pretty funny and cool. We talked and laughed about it for a while before heading to a field by Caleb’s apartment to play spikeball. It was super fun, as always.
Boys at the end of the Spartan race
The next morning, Ashton and Caleb had to leave for the Spartan Race. That left Isaac, Troy, and me alone at BYU campus. For lunch, we ate at Chick-fil-A, then walked around campus for a while before finding a nice spot to sit at the Wilkinson Center.
We played Bloons together, which was pretty funny because we were doing horrible. After that, we played a version of Risk—called Secret Assassins. Each person is assigned a different target to eliminate, and the first person to eliminate their target wins. I ended up winning that game by killing Isaac, and winning the second round as well.
After the games, we found a nice field and decided to race each other. Isaac and I raced a few times—we tied some, but Isaac actually won the majority. I was very humbled because most of our lives I’ve been faster than him, but out of the blue, he beat me.
This weekend was the bomb. I had so much fun laughing and joking with Ashton and Caleb. Thanks for this awesome weekend, guys!
Gloria and Joanna
This week at Natalie’s has been fun, crazy, and full of hard work. We have been digging holes to set up the sprinklers. It was really hot and tiring, but it was satisfying to see all our work get done. Looking at the yard now, it’s amazing to see everything completed. In the next couple of weeks, we’ll help put in grass so we can play in the backyard without getting so dirty.
When I have to stay inside and watch the kids, we clean first, then watch a show, and later we do Just Dance or karaoke. We have so much fun together. We also went to the splash pad, which was really nice. It had both a splash area and a regular park all in one. It was big and really cool. On the weekends, we went up to the lake to paddleboard, swim, and have food. It was amazing.
I’ve also been helping with the puppies. They are so cute, and it takes a lot of work, but it’s worth it. I love watching them grow every day. Their eyes and ears are now open, and they are starting to walk. Sometimes they fall, but I love how they just keep going no matter what.
We painted rocks, and me, Emma, and Itzel have been going on morning runs and evening walks. I love morning runs because they get me going and help wake me up. Evening walks help me relax and get ready for bed.
Veidi’s painted rocks
On Friday, Isaac, Kai, and I went up to Provo to hang out with Caleb and Ashton. We took Red Line up to FrontRunner, then rode FrontRunner to Provo, where Caleb picked us up. I had never been on FrontRunner before, so it was my first time, and it was faster than I expected.
When we got there, Caleb picked us up, and we got Frostys from Wendy’s. Afterward, we went to the store to get treats because we were planning to watch Superman. After Walmart, we went to a park and played bocce ball with Caleb and Ashton. Then we went to watch Superman, which was really good—and also very funny.
After the movie, we played Spikeball. It was super fun because everyone put up a fight, and the games were close. When we finished, we went to Caleb’s apartment to sleep.
Troy at playground
On Saturday morning, once everyone got dressed, Caleb dropped Isaac, Kai, and me off at BYU campus. I had never been there before. Caleb dropped us off because he, Ashton, Cougar, Keaton, Selvin, and Braden were doing the Spartan Race.
We walked around campus for a while, but all the stores were still closed. Eventually, we sat down at the Wilkinson Center and played Bloons. By the time the stores started opening, it was lunchtime, so we looked around for food and decided on Chick-fil-A. I got a chicken sandwich with a brownie, which was really good.
After lunch, we went back to our spot and played Risk. When we finished, we went outside because Isaac and Kai wanted to race. After a couple of races, Isaac won every time they didn’t tie. We laid on the grass for a while before heading back to the Wilkinson Center, where Kai and I took naps.
Later, Caleb, Ashton, and Cougar came back to pick us up. We went to Caleb’s house so Caleb and Cougar could shower, then headed to the rec center to play ping pong for a bit. Afterward, we watched Studio C and “Try Not to Laugh” videos. Finally, we headed home the same way we had come. This trip was so much fun.
Boys in Spartan race
I went to Mom’s work and played with the magnets. It had this spinning piece you could add to the magnets, and it was really cool. I also finished Vader Immortal III on the VR.
On Friday, we got Slurpees at 7-Eleven, and Mom and Dad went to get Chick-fil-A. When they got back, we had a picnic and watched Modern Family.
Saturday morning was very busy because a client was coming soon and all the dogs were whining and barking. Once we got them settled down and quiet, we watched Jumanji.
I went to Mom’s work. I did some school while Quinn played with the magnets.
Later, I went on a hike with my friends Emmy and Natalie, along with Sutton, Sister Ball, Sister Pettit, and Sister Oaks. Sutton and I built boats, then we tested them to see if they would float.
We had a lot of fun while we ate our snacks.
Joanna playing with magnet toys
I finally had surgery this week to remove my kidney stone. Since I’ve had pain pretty consistently since January, I was ready to get it out. The doctors told me there was a chance it wasn’t causing my pain, but since they had no other explanation, I felt it would be worth it.
Well, the surgery went nothing like I expected. First of all, they never even found the stone, and they scraped me up pretty badly trying to look inside my kidney.
The rest of the week has been pretty awful. I have a stent in because of the bleeding that started during the surgery, and the pain has been just as intense as passing a kidney stone. I ended up in the ER the day after surgery because the pain meds weren’t cutting it.
The past couple of days have been a little better, but the pain has still fluctuated from being dull to absolutely excruciating. I’m beyond ready to get this stent out and hopefully not be in this much pain anymore. I’m not very hopeful about figuring out the original problem, but I guess we’ll see what happens.
Joanna on the monkey bars