August 26, 2009

August 26, 2009

Hola familia,

So yesterday was awesome! I woke up around 5:40 and said goodbye to all of the missionaries that are going to Barcelona, because they had to leave early on a plane. There were about 11 of them going, I think. So then it was just me and the other three that are going to Madrid, and one Elder who would be going to Barcelona later that day because he hadn´t received his residency yet. Unfortunately, there has been a bunch of people sick in the CCM recently, within the last week, and one of the missionaries who was supposed enter the Madrid mission with us was sick too, so he couldn´t go yesterday so it was just me and two other Elders.

Actually it was the same trio that I was in in the Provo MTC. So that was exciting. The Three of us have been through a lot, and it has been a fun adventure. So we didn´t leave until about 10:30, because that is when the President and his wife, and the assistants came and picked us up, so we ate and studied until they came. We tried to go to a store close by but it was closed so we came back. President and Sister Watkins are sooo nice and I love them both already.

The three of us rode with the assistants in a big van to the mission home, which is about 20 minutes away in Alcobendas. It is a nice home, it´s actually a house and not a piso. I can´t imagine how expensive that would be. The whole afternoon was very nice, just talking with the president, us three. It was very personal and very fun. I asked President Watkins about Uncle Steve, and he was shocked and extremely happy that I was his nephew. He said that Uncle Steve was a huge mentor to him, in terms of professional career, and a huge help. I asked him if he knew an Elder Tucker in Mexico, and he said, YES! Stephen H. Tucker...Stephen Hall Tucker! He was so influential and a positive mentor to me, on my mission. So I thought that was neat. I thought it was so cool that he now had Uncle Steve´s nephew in his mission. And he said that he would shoot uncle Steve an email. It always feels good to have a connection. He also was happy about Brother Call, but we didn´t talk about him very much.

We ate really good burritos that Sister Watkins and the office couple made, and they were super good. We had a little meating, where I played the piano, and they were very excited that I did so, especially Sister Watkins.

A little sidenote: The piano has been so helpful on the mission so far. I have played fairly often. Not too much in the Provo MTC, though I did play once in our branch sacrament meetin, where the second counselor and his family attended, so that was neat. But I have played a lot in the CCM here in Spain, for devotionals, church meetings, etc. Now I have already played for President and Sister Watkins. They even mentioned how helpful it would be in the field, so I thank you Dad very much for encouraging me to learn it, and I think that I will forever be grateful for that gift and talent. Thank you, Thank you! You and Mom, are always right.

But back to yesterday. I had a great time, and I was interviewed by President Watkins, who said that he loved my profile, which had the letter that you had written to President Farnsworth, and he actually read it aloud to me. So that was very nice, and he just told me, ¨welcome to the mission, we are so glad that you are here.¨ He is very, very nice and I consider it a huge blessing that he is my mission president. In the meeting that we had, where I played the piano, we had the office couple, the three office assistants, the assistants, and the three trainers. We were not assigned yet. By the way, I am pretty sure that we were the first group that had entered the mission, so that was special, since they weren´t completely familiar with the process, but so kind, accepting, and accommodating. My prayers have been answered.

So in the meeting, we talked about the mission rules and legal work that needs to be done, like renewing residency and filling out reimbursements. After this we ate and then gathered around again to have the companionships announced. They had the first trainer stand up and then announce his area and what has been going on recently and then the assistant would announce the companion. The first elder was Elder Carr from Orem Utah, and he is working in Aranjuez, He said that he had just had a baptism and was really happy and excited for the work. After that they announced my name! So I am companions with Elder Anthony Skylar Carr from Orem, Utah and we are serving about an hour by train south East, I think of Madrid.

The other two Elders were elder Martin, from Boise Idaho, and Elder Trent Reid from Mesa Arizona. It was really cool, because at dinner I was sitting next to Elder Reid and, prior to that I had asked him if he knew any Driggs down there and then told him that I used to live there, so at dinner out of the blue he asks me, ¨Is your first name Robby?¨ I answered, really quizzically and said yes, and he said that his family had some family friends a long time ago that had the name of Driggs. So I guess this is the friend I used to go over and swim with, that´s what he remembered that I would go swimming at his house. All I remember is playing street fighter and mortal combat with his brother. I still remember his basement thing with the Nintendo. So he has a great memory and he said that he lived in a cult de sac, which we did too, so I think that is them. So that is way cool that however many years later, we meet and are both serving missions in the same mission in Spain, him a trainer, being out about 15 months, and me brand new. So that was really neat!

So my area, Aranjuez consists of about 8 pueblos, I think, but mainly 3 bigger ones right next to each other. We live in the last and smallest pueblo. We had to take a short distance train to get their. The first and biggest puebla was ValledeMoro, bad spelling and the one in between that and the one we live in is, something like, semplsuelos, I can´t spell them, sorry. But Aranjuez, that is right, is where we live, and it is very small of about 40-50,000 people.

We live on the second floor of a nonmember´s house and we share that with two other non members. So we have our own room and share the kitchen and the bathroom. It is sooo small. The room that we have is no bigger than the room with Cari´s toys and my stuff, hopefully it is still there :) , in the basement. And I am on the bottom bunk with about 3 feet of room between that and the top bunk. With the bunkbed and the two little desks, a mini keyboard, and a nightstand, it gets pretty cramped, especially right now because I haven´t fully unpacked yet.

Last night I went with Elder Carr and met the mission leader and saw the church. It is a very small capilla (chapel), with about 30 members. So it is a branch and the ward mission leader is also the second counselor in the presidency. The area is big but our pueblo is small, quiet and very quaint. I love it. The family of the mission leader is nice and I am excited to really work with him. Apparently President Watkins is pushing to have the missionaries be creative and find new ways to find people to teach, so my companion already has talked to people about English classes and wants to do guitar classes as well. The President already approved the idea and wants an outline.

Sorry this email is so jumbled, but I just get my ideas out. Last night we talked to a few people on the street and he keeps telling me how well I speak and understand Spanish, so I think I am okay for being new, but I have a loooong way to where I want to be and to be fluent.

I am excited to be here and hope that all went well with Lake Tahoe. That is so cool that you went there. It sounds like a place I would like to visit when I get back. Apparently the guy that won the Tour de France is from Pinto Spain which is the area right next to ours. So when I get back it would be fun to come and visit Spain to ride around. We have a palace here that used to be a summer home of the King, I think, a bunch of gardens and a nice fountain with a catholic cathedral. It is pretty here and I love it. However it is verry hot, but thankfully we have air conditioning in our apartment, which is a huge blessing. Because others don´t. I don´t think I could survive without it.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. I love you all and pray for you often. I read a little bit of Elder Eyering´s talk from this past General Conference about Adversity and I liked it a lot. So if you have time I recommend it.

I love you!

Elder Driggs,

P.S.

E.T. quote ¨Be Good¨

Short, Sweet, and to the point.

August 24, 2009

August 24, 2009

Dear family,

I am glad to here that everyone is doing well with all of their activities. I hope that Mom and Dad are having fun in Lake Tahoe. That sure sounds like a fun trip and in such a beautiful place.

Things really aren´t changing around here. Just the regular CCM schedule. This week at the park my companion and I did very well and met all of our goals except the last one. We were 6/6 in getting contacts in the metro to and from the park, which was tied for the most I have had while being here. In the park we were 16/16 with contacts, which is more than I had done the whole 6 weeks I have been there. The last goal was to get 5 references, which is a lot because the most I had received previous was, I think, 2, so that was stretching it but we did get three. This goal is tough to project because it is something that is almost out of our control, because they do have their agency.

However one of our contacts was a family that we had barely talked to for 2 minutes while we were leaving the park and then asked them if they wanted to learn more and the wife looked at her husband, who was holding their daughter, and he didn´t say anything and she said, "Sure", or ¨Si.¨ So that was a miracle, that they were so quick to accept the message. I have found, as it has been said, that the many Latin Americans that come from mainly Ecuador, Peru, Chile, etc, are much more receptive than the Spaniards. I have heard that most of the wards have more Latin Americans attending than actual Spaniards. I´m not sure that is true yet, soon, but I do believe that they are much more open-minded and receptive of the church. It makes me think and wonder why I was called here to Spain as it seems that it would certainly be easier and much more successful down in South America. It is definitely hard here in Spain and I can already tell that just from going to the Parque del Retiro every Saturday.

Hello again,

I have time to email you a little longer, but I wanted to congratulate Mark on his tennis game. It sounds like he is doing really well. Maybe, if he keeps practicing, he will be able to beat me when I get back. Just maybe, haha. Just teasing, I am sure you will be able to, especially since I will probably weigh 200 pounds when I get back and not be able to pick up a racket. I am happy for you and hope that you focus, focus, focus, and work hard to get what you want.

I have a quote that I want to leave all of you with. I hope that all is going well with you and that you keep your chins up and not let anything get in the way of what is most important. I recommend, if time is available in your every busy lives, to read President Uchtdorf´s talk in conference during the Priesthood Session. It was inspiring and taught about the importance of focusing on what is most important in life and not getting distracted. Our membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is most important along with preparing ourselves everyday to meet our Heavenly Father, when this life ends. This is what matters most, to us and our family, and it requires a great deal of focus, desire, determination, hard work, and perseverance.

Here is the quote that I memorized from Vaughn J. Featherstone:

When you want a thing bad enough to go out and fight for it, to work day and night for it, to give up your peace and your sleep and your time for it. If only the desire of it makes your aim strong enough never to tire of it. When life seems all empty and useless without it, and all that you dream and you scheme is about it; and gladly you´ll sweat for it, fret for it, plan for it, pray with all of your strength for it. If only you´ll simply go after the thing you want most with all your capacity; strength and sagacity; faith, hope, confidence; stern pertinacity. If neither poverty nor cold, nor famish nor gaunt, nor sickness nor pain, to body and brain will turn you away from the thing you want most...You´ll get it! Oh, You´ll get it!

I love this quote and it goes along with the ending quote of my talk from Eric. I hope that all of us can put off the natural man, or women, and do what the Lord expects us to do. I have found that it isn´t that we are doing bad things but that we are missing some of the little things, that rob us of a little extra light and blessings that we so desperately need in this dark and desperate world. It is so important that we are perfectly obedient in this life because we need all the help and all the blessings that we can scrounge for in this journey back to the presence of our Heavenly Father. It is so worth and luckily for us we are not in this alone. We are never alone. Christ is our Elder Brother and His merciful hand is outstretched still, and if we heed the call of Him, the Good Shepherd, He will gather us together and lead us safely home. What a miracle, what a blessing. We have a way to return to the home of our Heavenly Father, and we have the blessing of knowing the way. We know this perfect way! and the key is that this knowledge is only power when it is put into daily, hourly, momentary action. Step by step we can follow the Master home. I love my Savior and know that all of you do to. I pray that we will grab His hand and take His yoke upon us so that we can be together forever in the loving arms of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

I love you all,

May God bless us this week and forever,

Elder Driggs

P.S.

¨My Little Buttercup, has the sweetest smile...¨

August 19, 2009

August 19, 2009

Dear lovely, skinny Mother!

How are you!? Thank you Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much for the package! Holy cow, that was a ton of fruities and it hit the spot. And the cookies were delightful...a little crunchy and crumbly, but nonetheless, delightful. A little taste of home is always a wonderful and perfect treat. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You are way too nice. I received the package two days ago, I think, and the pictures were wonderful too. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you!

I believe that the Lord is involved in our lives and if we sincerely do His will with perfect obedience and real intent, then we can put hard times and trials in His hands, and He will be able to lift our burdens and make them light upon our backs. He is the Way and the Light of this world and His merciful hand is extended still towards us. What a blessing it is to have this knowledge that even though we have wonderful family and friends that help us in times like these, that we have another source of eternal power that is ever willing to help us. All we have to do is ask and be humble, giving up our natural desires and dropping our nets, if you will, and follow Him...I love this Gospel! Thank you so much for raising me up to love the Lord and to know where to look for a remission of my sins and strength in times of loneliness and distress. I love you mom!

I want you to do me a favor for me, please. Will you, one of these nights go up in that old rocking chair in your room and think about me and all of the fun times we had, while I was growing up: playing Nintendo, Pac man, Dr. Mario, Goof Troop, Indiana Jones,(you were always the best), and the times where we would tickle on your bed and play games on the dinning room table, and camping and cub scouts and skiing and so many other things, of you tucking me in at night and making a green lunch on St. Patrick’s Day, and waking me up on my birthday by quietly laying on my bed and singing the birthday song. Will you sit in that old rocking chair and think of all of these marvelous and beautiful memories that I had with you and picture me on your lap, but me singing to you:

I´ll love you forever

I´ll like you for always,

As long as I´m living,

My mommy you´ll be!

I love you mom! I hope that you do this and pray often, thanking the Lord for the good and the bad. I find that the more often I pray to know the will of our Father in Heaven for me, and for strength to recognize it and to do, that I feel more in tune with the Spirit. I love praying in gratitude for my multiple blessings. I hope and pray that after you do this that you will feel the love of our Heavenly Father for You and Dad as parents, doing all that you can to raise a family in righteousness. This time of struggle will surely be but a small moment as it says in Doctrine and Covenants section 121. Read it and pray about it and you will find strength and comfort as I have done. During times of struggle the more we pray and act on our faith in Christ the more God blesses us and gives us the things that we stand in need of.

Thank you for your love mom. I pray for you often and hope that you are feeling my love and the love of all of our family and of our Heavenly Parents as well. The family is one of the strongest parts and most sensitive parts of my testimony and that is partly because of your love for me and the love that we have for each other as a family. You and Dad are doing an amazing job and I am assured that the Lord is pleased with your love, service, and desire to selflessly serve our God and King. Do what is right and let the consequences follow and the blessings will flow into our family.

Thank you for your steadfastness in Christ Mom! You are a rock and immovable. You love big and I know that you are a choice daughter of God. Feel free to share all or none of this email and may God bless all of us, with his choicest blessings. I will be emailing you again on Monday as it is our last day here.

I love you all and may we pray more fervently,

Love, Rob

August 13, 2009

Mom,

Do not worry about me. All is well and I don´t know if I am portraying something that is very bad, because it is definitely not as bad as you think it is. I am doing fine. This week has gone a lot better, but even before that, it was just the downs of being a missionary. However, I am fine. I find renewed strength every day through prayer and others. Please don´t worry too much about me. You can worry a little but not too much. I am doing wonderful, in fact this week has been fantastic. The language seems to be going really well, until I talk to a native, then I get lost, but that is okay. I really love this place and I can´t believe that in 12 days I will be kicked out in the lone and dreary world. I can´t wait.

The food also seems to be getting better and better. I don´t know if it is my taste buds that are being deadened (I hope that makes sense) or the fact that the head chef is out of town and we have a excellent substitute. I hope that it is the latter. I do find myself on my knees a lot and in prayer more, and I find a lot of strength and peace from doing so. I really have gained a strong testimony of the power of prayer and I feel that that is something that everyone seriously needs. They obviously need the Gospel, but who doesn´t want a way to communicate with a todopoderoso Dios that knows us better than we know ourselves and who desperately wants to help us. I love it!

I have been trying to memorize all the articles of faith with my companion during the downtime that we have and we only have 3 left, that is if we remember the previous ones.

My spanish really is coming along, especially compared to the other class, the lower class, and even compared to the class that was, I think, 3 weeks ahead of us that left a week and a half ago. I felt like I spoke better than most of them. I also think that I speak better than the other three missionaries that are going to the Madrid mission. I don´t say this to brag but only to say that my discouragement that comes from the language is only that my companion is basically fluent and that all of my class, that are all going to Barcelona, can speak better than me, except for one that is basically equal with me. I really have no reason to complain, and I hope that I am not, because I definitely consider it a blessing to learn this beautiful language and I can´t wait to bear solemn testimony that perfectly reflects the way I feel. I surely can bear my testimony, but it is hard to articulate my feelings about something that is so prescious to me. I do think that I am progressing faster here not only because I am in a spanish speaking country but also because me class is so smart. I feel very blessed.

I am realizing everyday that the scriptures in section 121 of Doctrine and Covenants, I think the last couple, are very real to me and desperately needed. I have realized, as my teacher helped me understand, that in order for my confidence to wax strong in the presence of God and to have all of the other blessings said therein, that they are all directly related to obedience. The more obedient I am the more blessed I will be. I love the opportunity I have to be obedient and to know the commandments that I need to live by, not only as a member of the church but also as a missionary. It is hard to be obedient with exactness but one thing that my companion and I agree on is that we want to be exactly obedient.

Happy birthday Dad. I thought of you a lot that day and I hope that you had a great birthday. I am so proud of you that you are still on that sugar diet and I hope you keep going and don´t give up.

Never give up... Never surrender.

I am sending you, hopefully tomorrow, a package with a cd with all of my pictures thus far, about 200 of them, sorry not very many of them are very interesting, just a bunch of me and companions, and temple shots. Sorry mom you probably won´t like all of those. But I really love the temple! and I hope that someday you can go inside. It is so pretty!

But, I am sending you that and a special treat for Dad. I hope that it gets to you soon. I apologize for the tardiness of this Dad. If I had been planning better I would have sent it last week but I didn´t remember until the 8th of August, so I have to wish you a happy late birthday. Luckily, however, I will be able to see you before your 55 birthday...I hope that is right!

I love you all, and I pray for you very much. I trust all is well, and thank you for all of the prayers and love. Also, thank you Grandmother for your letters and uncle Paul. I´m sorry that I couldn´t write them back as well. I didn´t have very much time today with the temple, helping out in the baptismal font after the session, laundry, lunch, and then the Prado museum after that. It was really cool and I recommend it! haha. I love you all and my God bless you!

Love,

Elder Driggs

P.S.

Don´t worry... the Lord is on my side!

August Newletter Post

Each month I produce a newsletter for Rob and his friends. This is his post for August.

This has been a good month. I can´t say that I have any bad days because in the end, there is always something I can learn from them. The mission so far, is an awesome experience, and I am still in the MTC(the CCM here in Spain). I realize everyday that 10 percent of life is what happens to me and 90 percent of life is how I react to it. I have the complete ability to have a good day no matter what happens to me. No matter how my companion acts or how horrible my Spanish is, I have the gift of agency, and that agency is not conditional upon the agency of anyone else. It is our Heavenly Father´s gift to us, and that is really the only thing that is ours that we can give back to Him. Our happiness is conditional on how we use our agency, whether we follow Jesus Christ or Satan. There is no middle ground. We are constantly in motion, either we are drawing nearer or farther from God. When we align our agency with our Father in Heaven´s, He blesses us and gives us the strength and desire to serve Him more. This is a simple concept in principle, but very hard in daily application.

The CCM here in Spain is amazing for the most part. We basically have a Provo MTC but ten times better. For P-day we can go to Sol, the main Madrid dowtown where the royal palace is and a bunch of shopping malls are. For gym we go about a half a mile to a local cement soccer field that is in a pit with ampitheater seating, and we play soccer, a lot of times with some locals. It is really fun! We also have really nice showers with the detachable heads and are bathrooms are only shared by 6 or so other people.(there are two showers per bathroom). Our rooms have windows that overlook the temple, which is about 50 feet from the CCM, and its really picturesque. We definitely feel its presence in our lives here. For service we either garden or clean the temple grounds and our head gardener is a Spaniard that hardly speaks english, so that makes things difficult. I wish everyone could have the experience I am having here. There are only about 20 missionaries here and its really personal. We eat lunch everyday with the MTC president a couple tables a way. I can´t wait to get into the field in a couple of weeks and hopefully my spanish will be good enough to communicate with them my innermost feelings about the Gospel of Jesus Christ that I love.

August 6, 2009

Buenas Dias familia,

¿Como Estan? Ojalá ustedes estan felices y tienen mucho animo porque la Evangelio de Jesuscristo esta en la tierra hoy, con todo la autoridad y leyes y ordenanzas de la primitiva Iglesia de Jesucristo. Yo quiero intentar y escribir esta e-mail todo en español, pero pienso que los hijos, Cami, Mark, y Cari, estaría un poco enojados. Entonces, ahora escribiré solomente en Ingles.

Wahoo! that wasn´t that bad huh? I hope you understand me. It´s definitely easier to think about what your saying and then to write it and try to have good grammar, than it is to speak it on the spot and hope that all of the conjugation are correct. Hopefully, you can translate that for the kids mom. Gracias.

Before I forget, I wanted to put an end to that rumor about the lisp speaking King. It´s a good story but completely false. I had heard about it too, but that rumor was shot down the first week we were here, and their only answer was that that´s just how they speak it. It actually is way helpful because you only use the ¨lisp¨sound on z´s and ce´s or ci´s the rest of the c´s followed by anything thing else and all of the s´s are pronounced just like they are in Mexican Spanish.

Our park experience went really well this last Saturday and I hope that you got that picture that Elder Sproul, the counselor in the MTC presidency sent you. Let me know. CCM stands for Centro de Capacitacion Misional. So, for example on that phrase all of the c´s would be a ¨th¨ sound except for the beginning of Capacitacion. the S would still be an s. I will send you another email in a minute. By the way mail takes 5 days to get to the US. That is what the MTC president, President Hill said.

I am realizing more everyday that I am nothing and the Lord is everything in my life. Thank you for your prayers, concern, and love on my behalf. Keep smiling and I pray for you.

July 30, 2009

Dear family,

I am glad to here that all is well on the river run. I always loved being on the river, because it was so serene and fun. Plenty of time to think, laugh, play, and of course EAT!!! I have to say that I would love to be there right now, because the food isn't very good here. I love breakfast because there is a lot of cold cereal, but other than that, you never know what your going to get. I don´t really like their pasta, because it is cold, and they only have one sauce here in the CCM, and its a tomato sauce, which is actually very good. I love it here, but the food is not a plus, so far. I would have to say that 40 percent is really good, 40 percent ok, and 20 percent not good. I am not sure if those are accurate but none of them rank even close to Moms food. Of course, I did understand that this would be the case, being away from home and Celestial food for two years, but I thought that it would be better than this. Its not too bad, but sometimes it isn't good at all. But you would be proud of me, because I try most foods, including yesterdays rice with a mixture of secret treasure. The treasure was a mixture of sea shells, shrimp, and other stuff that you would rather just eat and not know what they really are. Another missionary gagged on what looked like a 4 inch long shrimp antennae, that was like a cherry stem, but really slimy and...gross. So we have a lot of interesting things to eat. I like most of the fish however, and that was surprising.

Today I had my first haircut in Spain. I had one at the Provo MTC, but this one was much different because we went to a salon that did not know Missionary standards. I tried to tell the guy cutting my hair what to do, but he didn't understand me hardly at all ( I could hardly understand him). He started out with one cut about my ear and let me look at the length, which was way too short, like a buzz, so luckily I told him, mas largo, and he made it longer and that one was better. My hair is still way short and when he put the product in at the end, my hair was really spiky. I didn't flatten my hair in fear that he would be offended so I left it and will switch it shortly.

I love the culture here. It is the same in many ways, but also very different. The metro is awesome, the pisos or apartment buildings are huge, and people generally really closed up. It is hard to find people that are open and say hi to you. I almost always say hola to everyone and rarely do they ever respond. I have had the finger waved to me a couple times and that is pretty cool. But I wish people would just say hi, because then I would be able to spread my happiness with them. Most haven't even given me a chance. Hopefully, when I learn the language better I will be able to be more bold in saying hi and inquiring about their days, etc. Right now I am still working on talking and getting across all of my real thoughts, and hopefully I can get better at understanding as well.

The temple was wonderful today. I really love the temple. While I was in the Celestial room I saw another missionary who is from Portugal, give a hug to one of his friends who is here with their stake, visiting the temple. The Spain temple boundaries are Portugal, Spain, and France, maybe Italy, but I am not sure. So it is pretty big. This missionary and I have gotten really close lately because he and I were together at the park this last Saturday trying to get contacts and trying to learn the language, hopefully that makes sense to you. However when I saw these two embrace, it was really touching, because they obviously were really good friends before my friend came out here, and now they are reunited in the best place in the world... the temple.

This sight made me wonder how we will embrace in the Celestial Kingdom with our eternal family and friends. I remember when I received my endowment and the way I felt walking into the Celestial room then, and I can´t wait for that day. I can´t wait to meet my Savior and to thank him for everything. Words can´t describe the way I feel for him. I love my Savio.

Well, five other missionaries and I just got back from Sol, a main downtown center place with millions of stores and lots of people. It is really neat and I bought 5 awesome ties for 3.95 euros each which if you do the math is about 30 dollars. So that was an awesome buy, but other then that we just developed all my pictures, about 198 of them and then had Mcdonalds for a snack. By the way you get ripped off over here too on the McFlurry´s. So that stinks but it was a great day. I still haven´t done my laundry and hopefully I can get that done soon.

I hope you are all having fun on the river and that you pack up and drive home safely. I love receiving emails and letters from all of you and they really uplift me and keep me going when it is easy to get distracted and slack off. I am trying hard to stay focused and to do the work as best as I can.

Before I left we met the actual coach of the highland rugby team in the airport. You´ll recall that they based the movie forever strong off him and his teams. He started the team and still coaches it. He is a member and he told us that he talked to President Worthlin one time and asked him what kind of advice he could give to missionaries. President Worthlin said, ¨First, honor your father and mother. Second Obey. Third, honor your mission President and companions. (While he was saying the fourth, the coach said he started to cry) and Fourth, honor our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I am trying to do this and it is surprisingly really hard. Because others don´t do what they are always supposed to and they are so many things that you need to focus on that it is hard to do it all the right way. Obviously, I am not perfect and I am finding out, more than ever now, how imperfect I really am. I am trying to honor you both as well as the other three things on the list. Tell all four grandparents that I love them very much and thank Grandmother for her letter that I received in the MTC. I feel all of your prayers and thank you for them. I need all the help I can get in this work and it is nothing I can do by myself. I learn every day that I am really nothing in this grand, divine work. The Spirit is absolutely the number one, the only important thing, and without it nothing will happen, lives won´t be changed. Having the Holy Ghost is absolutely critical and I am striving to do what I can so that I can be worthy of having that sacred gift with me always. To guide me and direct my paths.

I love you all and pray for you a lot. I trust that all is well at home and that you all are doing what the Lord wants you to do. Therein is found happiness.

I will leave you with this quote from Pres. Monson in this last general conference. He said,

This is not a time for fear, brethren (sisters), but rather a time for faith - a time for each of us who holds the priesthood (or all of us, sisters included) to be his (or her) best self.¨

I love you and may our Father in Heaven continue to bless us. I realize more everyday how blessed we are to have and to always have had the gospel in our lives. We are blessed and our Father in Heaven, and His Son Jesus Christ love us very much.

Until we talk again,

Perserverar Hasta el Fin