9-20-10
Dear family and friends,
Thank you so much for all of your warm heart-felt letters. It is such a wonderful opportunity to learn as I read all your great advice and encouraging words. Thank you thank you!
This week has been really, really good and I'm just loving the MTC more and more! Now that we're really getting into a rhythm of how things work, where we're supposed to be, how to prepare for it. Also our zone/district/companionship are all just getting that much closer, it really brings the spirit into all of our meetings. That's what is so cool about this place, no matter where I go or what part of the day it is, I can always feel the comforter and his influence on all of us. So on Tuesday we had the opportunity to hear from H. Bryan Richards, a member of the 2nd quorum of the 70, or at least he was. He gave a simple but great talk, and every time I hear from one of our leaders I get so much out of them! A reoccurring theme I'm sensing is the importance of obedience. Afterward our District had a meeting, and it was a great opportunity to review what we learned and a chance to bear our testimonies. That's also what I love about being here, there are never a lack of opportunities to practice bearing your testimony, whether in English or Spanish=) We spend about half our class time focusing on Spanish, and then the other half on learning how to be a missionary. We also get lots of study time; companion, personal, and language. I'm trying really hard to develop my Spanish enough that I can incorporate it into my religious study time, and that is a challenge, but really good. I loved how my teacher Hno. Jensen put it: "Spanish becomes your spiritual language. When you get home you'll do all your worldly activities in English, but when you pray, read scripture, or bear testimony, all of those you can do in Spanish and appreciate the beauty of that language. It remains pure and holy to you." How true that is! I love getting to have sacrament meeting in Spanish, hearing the sacrament prayers in Spanish helps me to refocus on the meaning of the words, and what we promise and the blessings we are promised when we partake of the bread and drink the water. How lucky are we to get to do that every week!
Today I also had the chance to attend the temple, my 3rd time, and it just gets better every time! My companion and I heard you could go get breakfast there and that we should try it someday, so we went there before our endowment session time, but apparently the cafeteria is closed on Mondays, which is sad since that means we'll never get to go, but it was a good opportunity to walk around the temple grounds, which are still beautiful with all the flowers in bloom, and once again appreciate our amazing Earth. I truly love mornings, everything seems so clean and fresh, like after it’s been raining. Another great thing about being a missionary; you get to enjoy each and every morning, every sunrise, every sunset=) On Sat we had the chance to go to the TRC where we practiced contacting people in Spanish, getting to know them, sharing a short message and scheduling an app. Afterward we then taught the First Lesson, but in English, so basically it was the best thing ever! I love practicing my Spanish, especially on native speakers since I really have to pay attention to their every word to understand them, and then teaching the gospel, nothing compares! You feel so full of energy afterward, and during! When you know it's true, I just want them to have it too! The message of the restoration is so great, what a blessing to live at this time. How did we get so blessed?! I also love talking about our Heavenly Father and his love for us. No matter who they are, or what their religious views are, getting to share a testimony of God and how they are his children and he wants to have a relationship with them is so spiritual. I can't even emphasize enough how much I've been told, that I can't do anything as a missionary without the spirit, and how true that is!! Being open to the influence of the spirit is so awesome, knowing you are a tool in his hands. I can't wait to get out in the mission field and teach real people that need the gospel, but I have to learn how first! A district from my zone leaves this week, and a bunch of my friends. It’s fun to get to talk to them and hear how excited they are to teach. A lot of them didn't get visas and are going to Ogden, or other places in Utah, but I love that they all still have positive attitudes and know that the Lord has prepared children even in those places for those missionaries.
Anyway, I love the MTC, getting to play Volleyball, running, etc. is fun, during Gym, and we also get to have one morning a week where we do service by cleaning our building. It was really cool how our person gave us a lesson on how important cleanliness is, especially once we are out in the field. All of our study time happens in our apartments, and we have to have the spirit with us if we want to make those times effective, but if our apartments aren't clean, how can the spirit reside there? I'd never thought of it that way, I love being clean anyway, but it was just another reason!!
Also, yesterday, the Sabbath, is awesome because we get to go to the temple to just go on a walk around it and enjoy the spirit there, and also we have another speaker come. Yesterday we had Bro. Brown and he gave a great talk on being a 100 watt missionary, putting all of our effort into it and not holding back anything. The one thing we never want to happen is come home with regrets, knowing we could have done more. He gave some great advice about learning from your companion, and just how to live up to your full potential. We have so much potential, if we could just utilize all the gifts God has given us, we don't want to be the unthankful or slothful servant!
Well I only have a minute left, so I'll just end with the classic but true: The Church is True!!! We may have a testimony of that, but unless we act on the knowledge we have, it is useless to us. Don't be af
(and that's where it cut off. I guess he ran out of time)
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