We learned
preterit and imperfect so we could talk about Jesus' ministry, the apostasy,
and the first vision. We learned future so that we could invite people to come
unto Christ by making commitments.
August 3, 2011 Provo MTC
Dear Familia,
I love getting your letters
and emails. They really make my day. Last Wednesday I think I got
about 7 letters! Here are a few comments I want to be sure to include.
Grandma: Thank you so much for
your letters and the poem. I wrote you a note today, and hopefully you
will get it on Friday or Saturday. I love you!
Mom: It sounds like tutoring
is really fulfilling. I'm glad that Jason is learning how to blend.
It's hard to learn, and I'm sure that with practice he will be able to sound
out lots of decodable words faster.
Dad: I love getting letters
from you. It sounds like the stake is doing great. I'm excited for
your Stake Conference. Tell Elder Nelson Hi for me. haha. But
really. Do. It sounds like miracles are happening in Minot. I
think it's great that the stake is responding so well - that the turnout is so
high, and that everyone is enjoying the blessings of service. :) I hope you enjoy going there
as well.
Kevin: I love getting your
letters and Kanani and Tanner's too. Thank you! Also, I am so
excited that your paper got accepted! I hope your presentation goes well
and that you feel good about the work you have done.
Blog: If you want to set up a
private blog, that's fine. I would like that, actually. So, thank
you. Also, if you don't mind saving the letters I send, I would like to
have copies of them as well. But, whatever. Thanks for your
thoughts.
Kyle: You never fail to
inspire me. I laughed so hard at your letter. It's definitely a
keeper. I'm sorry your hamstring got messed up, and I hope that you enjoy
spending time in Gillette and D.C. If you do end up riding across the country,
please take many pictures and send some to me. That would be
awesome.
Well, I am still alive. Today
we took some pictures of ourselves trying to escape from the MTC. We were
shaking metal bars with looks of despair on our faces and my companions acted
like they were trying to escape out a window. Classic! We don't
just mess around. We study a lot. The past couple of days, our
companionship study has gone really well because they taught us how planning,
personal study, comp study, language study, and teaching all go together.
They all connect to Our purpose. Which is to invite others to come unto Christ
by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and
his restored Gospel, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost
and enduring to the end. So, we plan what an investigator needs to
hear. Then we study the subject in personal study, in English - in
PMG, the scriptures. etc. Then we share our thoughts and study more in
comp study. We also practice teaching. In lang study, we figure out
how to do it in Spanish. Then we teach it. It's all about the
person we are teaching. It's all focused on them. It's really, really
great. We practiced meeting people (tracting) introducing ourselves,
telling them about our message, getting to know them and their needs, ( asking
about family, their experiences with religion) and then we tell them about our
message and how it will bless their lives. Then we give a message and ask
lots of questions. That's the theory, anyway. It's a lot harder to
balance speaking and figuring out how to say it in Spanish. I know a lot
more Spanish than my companions, so sometimes there is awkward silence and I
feel like I have to talk. But they are both learning a lot, and so am I,
and I hope our lesson tonight goes a little better. We teach our
teachers. Rigoberto ended up being our second teacher. I can't
remember if I told you that or not. He came into class one day in a white
shirt and tie and a white name tag. Now we call him Hermano Rigoberto, but
his real name is Hermano Staples. He is going to be a new investigator
tonight, and we are going to knock on his door, just as if we were
tracting. Hopefully he will let us in and we will have 20 minutes to get
to know him, figure out what he needs, and maybe teach him a little of the
gospel. One really good thing our companionship did was go through the
first lesson and everyone had to say one sentence about each (there are 8)
points. In Spanish, of course. We all did it! We all could
think of one sentence that taught an important truth. On Monday we taught
Hermano Regehr for the first time. He is playing an investigator named
Jorge. He is very lonely and busy and wants to feel God's love. So
he’s ready for the first lesson and how to learn to pray. We don't know
what Hermano Staples' investigator is like, but we will find out tonight.
It might seem dumb or unreal to you that we teach our teachers, but it's so
good. They speak in Spanish and they don't help us with words we don't know how
to say, unless they think the investigator would. This program is the
progressing investigator program - I guess??? It doesn’t have a name as
far as I know. But, we teach our investigator until they are ready to get
baptized. We invite them to keep commitments and we follow up.
We've learned preterit, imperfect, stem-changer, and future. We learned
preterit and imperfect so we could talk about Jesus' ministry, the apostasy,
and the first vision. We learned future so that we could invite people to come
unto Christ by making commitments.
I am making friends
with my district. I am going to miss them a lot. Yesterday I went
to choir with Elder Hansen and Elder Young because my companions didn't want to
go. It was awesome!!! You can be escorted places with Elders.
We practiced, ate dinner, sang and listened to the Devotional by Gerald N. Lund
about faith, and then went back to our cell, I mean classroom, to discuss the
devotional as a district. AHH 1 minute left!!! The devotional was
awesome. In order to have faith we must hear the word and have a
softened heart. Then we hope, act, and receive a witness.
Cheryl: thank you for your
notes. I love hearing from you
mom: you don't need to send me
anything else. Pineapple sounds great. Okay bye!
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
Hermana Tew
Dani thanks for your note too!
I 'm excited to get a letter :) Love
you all!
TRAVEL PLANS: I'm going to be
leaving the MTC on Tuesday at 6:30. So, you can send me a Dear Elder up
to Tuesday at noon. After that, no bueno. I fly through
Los Angeles, I think??? And I get to Guatemala at 6:30 in the morning on
Wednesday. So, that should be an exciting day. I hear that you go
do contacting the first day there. Woo hoo!
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