December 6, 2016

Going to the temple!

I'll be in a meeting until 11am. I'll check in after your meeting.

Hope you enjoyed the temple :)

Love ya,

Mom

Hey I was just wondering how you're doing how's the MTC are you getting Spanish down? I miss you and I love you.

I'm doing good bro! Spanish is hard but coming along okay. Come es tu

castellano? And tell me all about school and everything! Good job on

your talk!

I have meetings today at 10am, 2pm, 430pm, 630pm, and 830pm.  I will be checking in when I can between one meeting ending and the other starting.

Well, how was your birthday?  What did you do?  Did you get everything?  "Thanks for the gifts, really great" isn't enough detail.  If you don't know by now, mom and dad want details about things.

Didn't do anything different. Just a normal Sunday as far as things we did. Taught a b of m lesson after church, ate dinner, then went to the Christmas devotional. I kind of fell asleep during that. But I did hear all of eyrings talk. I have a hard time staying awake in church and the temple as well. Every time we've gone to the temple I've fallen asleep. It's terrible. I try so hard too. 

But we ate the cake after the devotional which every loved. Even shared it with some people in our zone. Wore the birthday boy ribbon around too and got happy birthdays from a lot of people :)

We went to the Christmas devotional also.  Davey got 6 tickets and we all went. Davey took a date and we also took Katelynn.

You have been there 3 weeks now and have 3 weeks left - you are half way.  How are you feeling about it?

Pretty good, I can't wait to get out of the CCM but then I'm nervous to get to Argentina and not know Spanish haha. 

My teacher served in Mendoza Argentina and he said he ate beef all the time for super cheap prices. Also he said he ate pasta, pizza, and empanadas. (Argentina has a big European influence). He said he never ate beans and rice. Thanks heavens!

what is CCM?  

Don't worry about not knowing Spanish.  You just have to go there and jump in and do your best and then all of a sudden you will realize that it clicked and you will do fine.  Just keep trying to speak and ask as much as needed, "Que? No entiendo."  People will help and understand when you are new.  Even now, in fact yesterday, I talked to a person yesterday and I said, "Solo hablo un poco de Espanol, pero creo que podemos comunicarnos."  After saying that they laugh and say, "Si, habla bien."  Then we go on and they know if I don't understand something that I will ask and it is not awkward.  You will get to a point that you are so much more fluent than me that you won't have to worry about that at all - maybe six months - so just endure till then and, like you said, you really won't start learning until your down there, at least that is the way it was for me.  I thought I was so great at Spanish and then I arrived and felt like such a beginner but that is OK.

Thanks, that's hopeful. ccm is MTC in Spanish. Don't know how training translates to a word that starts with c though. 

I just learned a new word - capacitacion,  Centro de Capacitacion Misional - center of missionary training

Oh cool! 

I just sent this to Davey but I'll share it with you too.

We taught a lesson to our TRC and asked her at the beginning if she
read the Book of Mormon. She said she didn't because her dad said
there is only one bible. She showed us that verse in revelations. We
were prepared and told her that john was just talking about that book,
and not the Bible. She was convinced he was talking about the Bible
though. We explained the Bible was compiled after he wrote that, but
she wouldn't believe it. Then I showed her 2 nephi 29 verses 3 and 6
and 7. How it says that god wouldn't just have one Bible and all that.
But after we shared that, she said "I don't like that book". I think
we might have offended her with those verses. So we just testified
about the Book of Mormon to her. I'm still unsure about what to do
next lesson though. Don't know if we should bring it up again or just
teach her the next lesson ( the plan of salvation)

What about teaching out of the Bible, James 1:5 and then testifying that there is nothing wrong with believing in the bible - and we do - and Joseph Smith did and so he acted on that belief.  That led Joseph receiving an ancient record and through the power of God translating it.  

Also, In the bible we read in John 10:16 - other sheep I have which are not of this fold.

After translating the BOM Joseph Smith, and all of us, learned in 3 nephi 15:21 that the people who came over to the americas from the old world are the other sheep of which Christ was talking about.

Oh okay yeah that's cool. Thanks a bunch!

Just remember - you can't prove it to them.  Get them interested in knowing, testify, and invite them to find out for themselves.  Some will, some won't, but that is OK.  

Getting them interested can just be as simple as saying, "would you like to know if God communicates to all his children in all times?"  If they say yes, then testify that he does, has, and still does and invite them to find out for themselves.  If they say no, still testify that God loves them and does communicate and if they want to know they can and leave it at that.

So thanks so much for all the gifts. Really great. Taught a B of M lesson and found some cool quotes.

Ezra Taft Benson declared that “the whole Church [was] under condemnation” because Latter-day Saints were not studying the Book of Mormon enough or giving enough heed to its teachings. He said: “The Book of Mormon has not been, nor is it yet, the center of our personal study, family teaching, preaching, and missionary work. Of this we must repent.  We have not been using the Book of Mormon as we should. Our homes are not as strong unless we are using it to bring our children to Christ. Our families may be corrupted by worldly trends and teachings unless we know how to use the book to expose and combat falsehood

“I feel certain that if, in our homes, parents will read from the Book of Mormon prayerfully and regularly, both by themselves and with their children, the spirit of that great book will come to permeate our homes and all who dwell therein. The spirit of reverence will increase; mutual respect and consideration for each other will grow. The spirit of contention will depart. Parents will counsel their children in greater love and wisdom. Children will be more responsive and submissive to the counsel of their parents. Righteousness will increase. Faith, hope, and charity--the pure love of Christ--will abound in our homes and lives, bringing in their wake peace, joy, and happiness” (Ensign, May 1980, p. 67).

How is family scripture study going? You could tell me where you are studying and I could join you. Also share insights to. Love your thoughts mom.

I'll send a pic of my Spanish b of m compared to my other set. It's taller and just slightly wider. 

I was wondering about getting a brown sweater? One that has buttons down the middle or something so I can leave it open or close it.

Also I was wondering about a like slip to go over my ears. I don't always like wearing beanies because they mess up my locks so just like a slip that would cover my ears and not ruin my hair. :)

Also a pocket size b of Mormon in English and Spanish would be nice. Just b of m, not the other ones.

I just started reading the Book of Mormon with the kids in the morning we started were we left off 2 Nephi 6.

With the ear muffs do you want some like Davey? Or will you trust that I'll pick you some good ones that won't mess up your amazing wavy hair?

With the cover to your Spanish Scriptures... I've heard you can get a really nice cover when you get to Argentina. Do you want to wait or would you like us to still get you one? (I'm okay with whatever)

Mom

I can wait till Argentina. I don't care. It'd be cool to some cool looking ones. Some like daveys or just like a slip (like a workout headband thing, but to cover the ears.) whatever you think. You can send me pics too 

Had our first TRC (lesson with a member present) this last week.  Went all right.  We were told we would have 45 min, but then when we got there, we got cut down to 15 min.  That was super hard.  15 min is just not long enough to have a decent conversation about the Restoration.  Oh well, we made the best of it.  :)

Our second TRC was 25 min and we just talked about her (Ivette) concerns about the Book of Mormon.  She brought up that scripture in Revelations about not adding to the book.  So we just explained it all to her and read Ezekiel 37 and 2 Nephi 29 and the Intro to the Book of Mormon.  She's pretty stubborn though and by the end of all that discussion she just said she doesn't like the Book of Mormon and refused to read it.  When she said that, it felt like Satan was in that room with us.  But we testified of the Book of Mormon and that bad spirit immediately left and the Holy Ghost was with us.  Pretty cool.  The Book of Mormon is so powerful and I'm so grateful to have it in my life.

We taught a lesson on the book of Mormon in Priesthood on Sunday too.  It went good.  At the end, our Branch President shared his thoughts.  He said he as like 2 PhD's in English and Literature, and another one in Spanish Literature or something like that.  He said he's written books and read tens of thousands of books.  Then he explained that from a scholarly point of view, the Book of Mormon is 100% true.  There is no way that any human on earth could write such a book like it with all of its complex structure and everything.  That was pretty cool.

We had another Lesson with Angela and we asked her if she would read the Book of Mormon.  She said no, so then we testified of it and I shared my testimony of the Book of Mormon and the spirit was again super strong.  She committed after that.  :)

On Friday, we sang christmas songs to the Branch Presidents in the MTC.  It was pretty cool.  

And on Sunday it was my birthday!  Pretty great day.  I turned 19 on my 19th day in the MTC.  Haha super nice to have it on Sunday because we didn't have class all day.  Thanks family for all the decorations and gifts and candy!

1. and 2. outside with the pretty mountains

3. got bored in class

some old pics from my camera.

Thanks for the sd card reader!

Some of it is pretty boring, but here you go. I went off on a rant

about elder barmore on pages 10 and 11 haha he can still be annoying
and not motivated really very much. Oh well, he's doing a bit better.

 Any news on the basement?
Any bids for drywall?
How about my room? Did you clean it out? Is Brayden off the floor?

We haven't had time to work on the basement or your room. Brayden has done some cleaning and is sleeping in a bed, not the floor. We are trying to find time for the basement, but it will take time.

Did you get any pictures of your birthday cake and party?

Love ya, Mom 

Cool keep me updated. 

I didn't take any pictures other than what I shared but I think the hermanas did. I'll have to try and get them

Thanks Chase - sounds like you are having fun...love the Disney song, but it definitely needs work (haha).

Love ya,

Mom