I have enjoyed this past week. It has been full of learning experiences and fun. I have been working a lot with Elder Chapdelaine on teaching lessons by myself in spanish just so i can learn how to say certain things and when to say them and how to communicate with people more. I found our studies together very productive. He always amazes me in his teaching capability as well as his ability to comfort in his words when he can obviously tell something is getting to me. Even after a crazy lesson that didnt go well, he always knows what to say and how to explain things to me in a way that i let go of what happened or forget about my terrible execution and keep trying. He's a boss!
The biggest part of this week was our 1/2 mission conference. Elder Brent H. Nielson, First Quorum of the twelve, and another recently called Elder visited our mission. There were so many great talks and a lot said that all of us have been considering. Elder Nielson began his talk by telling us that the leaders of the church love us. They love missionaries. They pray for us, they care for us. I thought about everything he said and one of my favorite things he mentioned was, " Missions arent easy. They are hard. you've been called by a prophet. You are the select. But that doesn't make your mission easy." Then speaking of the atonement, "It wasnt easy for the savior. So why do you think it should be easy for you?" I thought about that for a minute. As ive mentioned before, The atonement has been a central topic in my studies. And I realized that things are hard. Life is hard. Things happen. People get angry. Simply put, its HARD. But the savior knows what its like. It was hard for him as well. I thought of not only the mission, but others. investigators, family, friends. A lot of people wonder why life isnt easy. Because if it were easy what would we gain? What would we appreciate? How would we grow? There wouldnt be discouraging times. All we would know would be easy. Now i know this may sound kinda silly and crazy for me to talk about. But as i thought of our investigators i thought of how i could help them through these hard times. And i understood why we have hard things happen so i could explain to them why and help them through them. They all have doubts, questions and concerns. But through the simple principles of the gospel things are made easier. The Atonement is wonderful.
Now I appologize if that paragraph does not make sense or is nuts. I find it difficult to explain my spiritual thoughts. I figure after 2 years of practice ill get pretty good :D
I also taught my first english class this week. there was a family that came in and wanted to know how to pronounce words and stuff. Lets say... I think i learned a lot more about spanish then they did about how to pronounce things. HAHA also have sympathy now for anyone trying to learn english because it is hard... And doesnt even make sense to me. HAHA I think ill just stick to spanish now...
So cool thing that happened this week! After the mission conference we went to a place called "Lamberts" It is a really good restaurant... They make like fried stuff, BBQ stuff and are known for their "Throwed Rolls" Yes they really do throw them! It was kinda fun cause you have you meal and all and then every 5-10 min someone comes to a general area in the restaurant and if you want a role you raise your hand, and they throw you a Hot role!!! And they have pretty good aim too. Its very fun and entertaining. But today we all feel sick from all the rolls. HAHA I turned to my companion and said, "I think i need to repent for defiling my body by eating too many rolls..." HAHA we enjoyed that dinner experience:D
So to end, I want to express my appreciation for this week. Its been one to remember and one to think about. Maybe next week ill have a lot more to mention. HAHA I love you all! Look forward to serving even more and doing the lords work:D
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| Beautiful sunset after a day at the beach |
Elder Stonely
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| AAHH!!! He's getting eaten by a shark!! |
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| Totally awesome sand castle! |
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| WOW! Visitors from the Book of Mormon! |
