Friday, December 14, 2012
Hello!
Why haven't I heard from my family? I would have thought that I would have had an email to read today? Oh well. I wrote you a letter last Saturday, but I don't know if you got it or not. Just so you know, I can receive mail every day, but I can only write back on Fridays, which will be my P-days.
The first week has been an adventure here at the MTC. There has been a lot of things happening. The days are super long. They keep you so busy all of the time. This is the first day that we have had any free time at all. Pretty much we wake up and eat, then we go to class. The only breaks that we have are to eat our meals. I am not really used to staying on task for such long periods of time. Our class blocks are three hours long. It is really funny, because Elders fall asleep during class all the time. I am happy to report that I have never fallen asleep in class.
Class is much different than I thought it would be. I thought they would just get up there and start speaking in Spanish the entire time. It seems like we spend a lot of time learning about gospel principles in English, which is a good thing. The only struggle with that is that I don't feel like I am learning Spanish very quickly. I know it will come over time. My companion (Elder Taylor) and I speak to each other in Spanish probably 75% of the time, which is helping a lot. We spend a lot of time teaching ourselves Spanish because we don't always have a teacher in the class room. I know how to pray in Spanish, teach a few parts of the first three lessons, and bear my testimony in Spanish. My companion and I are probably the worst in the class at speaking Spanish. There is an Elder Scott-Banks that is in our class and he tested out and is headed to Rancagua on Tuesday! How crazy is that?? He just sits there bored all the time because he understands everything that is going on. Lucky him
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We went to the temple at 6:30 today. It was really cool to be there with all of the guys from our district. At the temple we did an Endowment session and we ate in the cafeteria there. We have an AWESOME district. The funny thing is that only three of us are from Utah. Almost everyone in our district is going to Chile, so that is kind of cool. I still haven't met a single person going to Osorno. I know that there are 6 of them here, but I just don't know who or where there are. There aren't any in our zone. Everyone in our district is doing really well. We are growing together, which is awesome. We stay focused and we work together when we don't have a teacher. Elder Scott-Banks acts as the teacher most of the time when the teacher isn't there
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The spirit here at the MTC is really cool, but it isn't automatic. You have to prepare yourself to feel the spirit, or else you won't feel it. I pray so many times a day to have the spirit, because I know that is the only way I can do this. I can't do anything without the spirit. It is such a huge part of everything we do here. We listen to the spirit. We learn by the spirit. And we teach by the spirit. We have taught our investigator four times now, and we are teaching him again tonight. We asked him to pray about being baptized, and he said he would. We are inviting him to be baptized again tonight. I have a good feeling that he will say yes. I teach with my companion and with a sister, named Hermana Clay. It is kind of weird teaching with a sister missionary. She acts like our mothers!! She is like... 26 I think. Anyway, each lesson that we have taught has gotten better and better. The first couple of times we took notes in there with everything written down that we were going to say. Last time, I just took my notes in English and translated them into Spanish as I taught the investigator (Freddy). It isn't beautiful, but he is showing interest in what we are saying and he seems to understand everything. He is reading the Book of Mormon and praying every day.
My companion is a stud. We are really different, but that is okay. He is from Texas, and I think he firmly believes that Texas should be its own state. It is really funny when he starts talking about that. For the most part he is a quiet guy, though. I have to try and carrry on the conversation most of the time. He doesn't show a lot of emotion. The only time I ever see him get excited is when we are at gym doing p90x or when he is talking about batman. Even though we don't have a lot to say to each other all of the time, we teach really good lessons. That is the most important thing. We also are probably the best in the district at following all of the rules. I mean, we follow ALL of them! It is really sweet. We keep our side of the room spotless. Elder Gregor and Berrret never make their beds, but we still passed the cleaning inspection. Following the rules brings blessings. They say that obedience brings blessings, and exact obedience brings miracles. I know that it is true.
I am so grateful to be here! It is so awesome. Sometimes it is weird to think that I am not coming home for two years, but that is okay. This is my life now. I have committed myself to constant improvement here and developing the character of Christ. I am not on a mission, I am SERVING a mission. I am not teaching people, I am INVITING them to come unto Christ. I am grateful for all that I have learned so far, and I am excited to know that I will continue to learn. I love this gospel. I love serving with my fellow missionaries. Sometimes I feel like just another guy in a suit, but I know that Heavenly Father knows me and cares about me. He loves me. He loves me so much that He sent His son to atone for my sins. I am so grateful for the atonement. That is how we refine ourselves and become perfected.
I love you and hope you are all doing well! Especially Hazel!
Love, Elder Warren (by the end of this mission I might forget that my first name isn't Elder!!!)
P.S. I have seen Nick a few times. He always seems to spot me at the firesides and devotionals. I also saw Sister Jones on the day we had to have an immunization check! I have seen a lot of people, but I can't remember right now. I gotta go! My time is up!
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