Dear FAMILIA and Everyone Else,

I received this letter yesterday, dated 1/7/2013, so it's just over a month old. I love the way he writes.
(transcript follows)

1/7/13
Dear FAMILIA and Everyone Else,

¡Hola! Well here I am on my flight to Houston and then I'm finally on my way to Merida. Woohoo! I'm so excited! I can't wait to tell everybody all the awesome experiences I'm going to continue to have while helping others come unto Christ.

By the time you get this you will probably have read about some of them on my blog, but there's so much more stuff that I want to share about than what's on my blog. If I had more time I would pretty much copy down my journal, no joke.

I just wanted to write a little letter to tell everyone how much I have already learned during my short time in Chicago. Time passes by way too fast on a mission just because you learn and do so many things everyday and so when you think back to a certain time it seems like it was forever long ago. Does that make sense? It's kinda hard to explain.

In a nutshell the biggest thing I have learned and experienced so far is how awesome everybody is. In Chicago I really came to love my ward even though at first they seemed really closed off and didn't want a whole lot to do with me. After spending time in their homes and sharing spiritual experiences together I found out what makes them amazing and how Heavenly Father can love every single one of his billions and trillions of sons and daughters. He knows us more than we can imagine so He loves us more than we can imagine. What He wants more than anything is to have all of His children return to Him so we can have all that He has and be eternally happy.

I just can't wait to share this message with the people of Mexico and to see how my personal testimony will strengthen everyday. I also can't wait to see how all of you will grow and change for the better so keep writing me letters to let me know how you're doing. If you're thinking that you don't have anything exciting to share then you couldn't be more wrong. I'm always excited to see what's going on in the states, haha. It feels weird to say that. 

I love you all!
Elder Adam Shurtliff