Well I think that this has been such a great week. I definitely enjoyed watching conference and thankfully it was in Spanish, and I was able to understand everything that was said. Thank you mom and dad for the advice. I think that everything is slowly getting better here and people really do pay attention to what you are doing. If people have questions they will often come to me when it comes to scriptural or doctrinal idea. I forgot to mention that I am officially halfway done with the CCM.
We have been continuing to teach our investigator teachers and the lessons have slowly started to get better. I think that through these lessons I have been able to really see how much planning is needed to make sure that a lesson goes well. In one of our lessons yesterday, the teacher was amazed at how much better our Spanish has gotten and that we were able to teach pretty well. We also did a couple of activities about practicing teaching with other missionaries in the other distritos. Several of them complemented us for our Spanish and how we were able to teach. My compañero has improved a lot with his Spanish. In past lessons, he has had to read what he wants to say, but now he is starting to just talk. I think that the Lord truly does bless his missionaries as they are preparing to serve Him.
I had a few of my favorite speakers during General Conference which were President Packer about the Atonement, President Eyring about Personal Revelation, and President Uchtdorf in Priesthood Session about self-evaluation. I think one of the themes that I noticed during the Conference was the need of conversion and developing Christlike attributes and personal revelation.
I liked President Eyring’s talk because of how highly he spoke of his mother. That made ponder just how grateful for both of you mom and dad. I would never be here without you and your guidance. Thank for all that you do for me.
I think that all of these talks stood out to me because they were all answering questions I had about becoming more like Christ. The first step to that is finding out where you stand through self-evaluation. I also noticed how much we need to strive to understand the Atonement in order to understand Christ. He is always there for us and wants us to strive to be just like him. I was reading in Chapter 6 of PME about Christlike attributes. It stated that developing Christlike attributes is a life long process, but we need to focus on doing that all the time. And I think that we all have a long ways to reach that goal. I think that we all should study that chapter of PME to understand what we can do to be like Christ and know him personally. It truly is amazing how much the Lord will bless as you try to strive for this goal. I also started reading the Book of Mormon again. I am using a new copy only searching for ways that I can develop all of these attributes and become like Christ.
Everyday for gym time, I play volleyball and most of my district likes to do the same. But last p-day our district had decided to make a bet with another district over a volleyball game. They originally had decided on the winning team getting two dozens of donuts. I don't know about you guys, but that does not seem like something that missionaries would do. So instead, I was able to convince my distrito to not bet on donuts. Instead they decided to play for returning the trays of the opposite team at meals to the dish room. The game was a lot of fun to play, but we lost. I found it funny because we were winning for a long time and some of our district started to say we were the Nephites. And just like when the Nephites started to get prideful, bad things start to happen them because they are slow to remember their Lord. So like when the Nephites got prideful and lost battles to the Lamanites, so did our district. I found it quite funny to see that comparison.
You know what, I am also really missing singing hymns in Ingles rather than en Español. I just don’t get the same meaning out of them. One of the nights before leaving the classroom to go to our casas, we sang I Need Thee Every Hour in English. I think that music is truly one of the best ways to feel the spirit, since I could feel it so easy during that song. And the words of that song are so true. We need our God and Jesus Christ to do all things. Without them, we are hopeless and lost. I also think that some of the hymns are odd to sing in Español, such as singing Called to Serve. In Spanish it is Llamado a Servir and instead of having two verses it has four. I feel like we sing several of our funeral marches here because sometime we sing songs so slow. It is also funny because some of the hymns have more notes because there are more syllables for the Spanish version of the song.
Thanks for all of the emails you all send me. When Katee wrote me, I only responded to her in Spanish so you'll have to see what she has to say about. It looks like she is having a great time. Congratulations to Katie and Stuart on having the baby. She looks very cute and I am sad to not get to see her for a few years, but it is all worth it to be here. I am grateful for all of the support everyone gives me and their prayers and emails.
Thanks and love,
Elder Ferrin
