November 19, 2018

Fam, 

In the very beginning of my mission I taught a lesson with Elder Guerrero with a drunk guy who turned out to be speaking the equivalent of spanglish only with Mam (A Mayan dialect pronounced mum) and Spanish. I remember not understanding anything and thinking I had a long way to go before I would be self-sufficient until I was told that he hardly was speaking Spanish. Something similar happened this week. One of the people we are teaching referred us someone from Puerto Rico. We had a decent visit but I was glad the people we already were teaching came because the referral spoke in so much slang that it was difficult to follow what he was saying. I felt like a brand new missionary all over again but this time Elder Wiseman was in my place and noted how he could hardly understand our new friend. It was good our investigators came. First because it's hard to teach when you don't understand what the other person is even saying and second it allowed them to teach what they knew and we could see their level of understanding. It was also fun to watch them share their feelings about the Restoration. 

Fridays we have our weekly volleyball night. It is SO FUN. I won't say it's competitive but it is super lively. After a few weeks the members have gotten significantly more capable. We have yet to go a week without someone getting nailed in the face but sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven. The activity has brought certain people who never come to church out of the woodwork and into an activity that really is a blast. One of those people even came to church. 

Sunday we had the primary program which was a surprisingly great success. The big theme was, "I am a child of God." Later that afternoon we had a lesson with an active member and taught the Plan of Salvation. Reflecting on those two events I thought of the power of two short statements. The first is, "I am a child of God." The second comes from Moses 1:39 when the Eternal Father says to Moses, "For behold, this is my work and my glory - to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." Greater understanding of these eternal truths brings direction to life that is not found anywhere else. (see also Romans 8:16-17 and Philippians 2:6) 

We taught seminary on Wednesday. We arrived on time! Surprisingly it's super easy to arrive (even early) if you go to sleep on time. For some reason that never clicked in High-school.