Hola!
I
can't believe its already been a week! This whole week has been a blur!
I feel like a lot has happened... when in reality I haven't really done
all the much. Its the same every day. Up at 6:30. Study. Breakfast at
8. Gym till 9:20. Study spanish/ Book of Mormon for 3 hours. Lunch for
30 minutes. Spanish for 3 hours. Dinner for 30 minutes. Spanish/ lesson
training for three hours. Study. Bed at 10:30. Rise and repeat. (unless I
have to do service which has consisted of cleaning toilets at 6 AM for
over a hour twice a week)
Even
though my schedule can seem really monotonous at times, I do feel like
I'm getting a lot out of it! I had a really interesting experience a
couple of days ago. My companion and I were a little late to
class...(but its okay because I wouldn't have this experience without
being late... so it was kind of like a little blessing we were late?)
and a teacher came up to us and asked if we could teach a quick lesson
to an investigator. So we went with her and ended up teaching an 18ish
year old girl named Crissie. Crissie is from Florida and she came to
Provo to live with her Mormon brother for a couple of months. While she
was here she wanted to learn more about Mormon church... and the best
part is SHE SPEAKS ENGLISH! So my companion and I start getting to know
her and teaching her about Heavenly Father and the Book of Mormon, and
near the end of the lesson she starts getting teary eyed and asks if we
can get a Book of Mormon for her! It was such a cool experience! I can't
wait to get out into the field and have experiences like that in Costa
Rica!! I also have an investigator that I've been teaching named Raul.
Usually the investigators the the missionaries practice on are members
who are just acting to be nonmembers, but my companion and I agree that
Raul could very easily be an actual nonmember. Our lessons are not the
best since we can only teach in Spanish... but we try really hard and
they are getting better! He definitely is a tough cookie to crack
though... Hes a hardcore Catholic who reads the Bible every morning and
goes to church every saturday. We have been getting him to read the book
of mormon in addition to the Bible and he seems to be progressing.
Yesterday I asked him if baptism would be a possibility and he said that
he would think about it... so thats a good sign I guess! One thing I've
realized is how great all religions are... there is some truth in
almost all religions, my purpose as a missionary is to invite others to
come unto christ by accepting the gospel in its fullness. We dont ask
people to change their previous beliefs for the most part... just to add
to them.
I
dont really have any other major updates... my hair is getting long and
poofy but I'm scared to get it cut here because they only use clippers.
And I dont think I'm mentally prepared for a buzz cut.
Things
are good here, I love how I can totally forget about real life and
focus on growing my testimony of the gospel. The branch president
challenged out district to reread the whole book of mormon before we
leave the MTC... Im a little behind, but Im getting there! I forgot how
informative it is if you just start at the beginning and read through it
like a novel. There are so many truths in each chapter and I have found
so many scriptures that I can apply both to myself and my
investigators. I encourage you to read the last chapter of 2 Nephi... I
think its chapter 31? I dont have my scriptures with me. The testimony
that Nephi bears at the end of his writings is amazing. I really like it
because it isnt really any different that how ours should be! We can
come to know the truthfulness of the gospel just as much as Nephi did!
That had never really crossed my mind before... This week I have been
thinking about that a lot and have been striving to strengthen my
testimony of lots of different things before I leave for the field. Once
I'm out there I only have my testimony to rely on (well kind of... not
really) but you know what I mean.
I will send pictures later!
Les Quiero!
Chase sent this message to Elise and I thought it was funny; "Guess what? Im wearing my polka dot socks, a costa rica soccer jersey,
my running shoes and a ctr ring I found on the ground. I am quite the
stylish missionary. Oh and I also just got my hair cut. Its super short.
But I still look dope. And i just took a 30 min nap and finished the
book of jacob. Today is a good day."
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