July 23, 2009

Hello family,

I received your email and it looks great, luckily I don´t have to read it during my 30 alotted minutes and I can print it off to read later. I looked at your shorter email mom and I can´t open picture documents because our computers are too slow or something, we really just aren´t allowed to open pictures on these computers, so if you could send it through the mail along with Joe´s letter that would be great. I am also glad I have the rest of my 30 minutes, 25 minutes, to write to the people I love most... my family.

I have been thinking a lot about all of you recently and I think that I am really missing you now. I´m not dying to get back but I just would love having you to talk to for a little while, because I know all of you think about me and pray for me so much and I feel I don´t do justice to the explanation of details that you deserve. However, I will do my best.

I would love to get mail by the way, because I can only open my email once a week.

Well, where to start. I feel like I have been in this MTC forever. The days are like weeks and the weeks are like days. I can´t believe I already have been out a month. Every night here we at least teach one lesson or work on teaching a certain part of a lesson. Either way my companion and I are teaching in Spanish every night. This does two things for me. I love the practice and I feel like I am improving, but it also really humbles me because I really don´t know Spanish and I feel like I could contribute so much more to the lesson but I can´t say it in Spanish. My companion lived in Spain for 6 months four years ago and he is almost fluent again, because he forgot it all, and so that helps our lessons go well, but it also makes me more frustrated because we don´t transition as often as I would like. My Spanish classes are crazy too, because my teacher is sooooo fast at speaking and she basically only speaks Spanish. I really started off understanding about 40 percent of what she was saying. Now she either has slowed down or I have improved because I understand about 60 percent now. I think it is more of the first answer.

The meals were great to start with but lately it has been a roller coaster. You never know what to expect, except for breakfast, which you can always count on their being chocolate pebbles, plus the milk in the box IS cold. So that is nice. But the dinners and lunches have ranged from the good things of Fajitas and egg omelets without cheese, to the worst of them all... CAT burgers. It was good until I fathomed the idea that I was eating Cat. Gross. The thing I loved that was way out of the ordinary was when we got to go to that big famous park near the middle of MADRID to go contacting. I hope you got the picture that brother Sproul sent, because that experiences was way hard. The guy with the accordion that we talked to didn´t speak much Spanish and the next guy we talked to spoke English. We talked to him for about 45 minutes about how you can really know the gospel is true. He just didn´t understand why we know our church is true and how a Muslim thinks he receives revelation and thinks his church is true. I don´t think that he was ready to accept that Gospel, but we challenged him to pray about our church and said that he prays all the time but is trying another religion right now. I invited him to come hear all of the about 25 missionaries here sing in front of the temple on Sunday, but he didn´t come. That´s okay though. It was a big learning experience, and I wish that I could speak, and more importantly, understand Spanish so I could be more comfortable and confident around them. It is really hard to do that right now when I feel so out of place. Nevertheless, I press forward.

My other teacher is the son of Faustina Lopez, who is a friend of Uncle Paul, so tell him that, because he wanted me to look out for him. His sons name is Efrain Lopez. He is really nice and he speak a lot more English in class. I am learning a lot more Spanish here, in comparison to Provo, I think because everyone speaks it, even all of the teachers, and during the reunion de santa cena.

These last couple of days we had the privilege of having Brother Stephen B. Allen come to our CCM to evaluate and encourage us. He was great. He is the chief managing director of missionaries or something like that. Basically the highest position that is still paid in the church. So he came and I actually conducted a devotional where he spoke, luckily the mtc president had written it all out.

I have a poem for you that I wrote in Provo during sacrament meeting there and I wanted to share it with all of you. I am doing well and keep praying for me. Know that I love you and I am trying to put the Lord first in all that I do.

Title Because I know

Becasue I know Christ lives
Those without, I want to give.
Because I know he died for me
I know I´ll live again eternally.
Because I know, I strive to obey .
and when I fall, it is he who is loving to save.
Because I know, I lift those who have not yet the truth.
Because I know I love, as I am perfectly loved by HE.
Becuase I know, I am ,known,
By one who for the world, spilled his blood alone.
Because I know, I love those who seek.
Because I know I constantly feel peace.
Because i know i can be worthy to see the god of glory.

Because I know, I do.
BEcasue I do, I live.