Hey Everyone!
This week has, once again, flown by! First off, I just want to start out by saying how difficult it is to learn a foreign language. I actually find that it would be easier to learn English than Spanish, as far as grammar is concerned. I know I'm here to speak Spanish because I'm supposed to grow and learn from it, in addition to being humbled by it. It's also funny how everyone here that is going foreign is extremely jealous of people going back to the States. It seems like the consensus is that going to the States is easier, but people quickly realize how much they take for granted. I am SO happy to be returning to the States in just a mere three weeks. Additionally, I feel like this week has been a real test, as far as learning how to teach; I will explain more about that during my weekly report.
Friday, August 23rd, 2013:
In the morning, we taught Fernando about the Plan of Salvation. However, due to his limited understanding, we only got through the Pre-Earth Life and the Fall of Adam. We committed him to reading the Book of Mormon, in addition to inviting his wife to join us in the next lesson (he said she would think about it, but she never ended up coming). The middle of the day was filled with our service project of cleaning the kitchen. It feels so great to get out of a shirt and tie every now and then! Tonight, however, was probably the most enlightening time that I've had here at the MTC. I was super nervous to teach the Law of Chastity to Andrea and Luis, but the lesson went perfectly! We finished that segment quickly, and then Luis began throwing numerous questions out at us. By the end of the lesson, Luis committed to reading the Book of Mormon, and Luis and Andrea both committed to attending Church on Sunday! I was super excited after the lesson because the Spirit was so strong. Hermana Powell, our evening teacher who also assumes the role of Andrea, dampered my hopes a little, though. She told my companions and I that we had pressured Luis too much into everything and that we weren't teaching to his needs enough. We were all in shock because the lesson had been so powerful. Apparently, we needed to step back and refocus on what Luis needed most. She also told us that the central message of every message from ''Preach My Gospel'' keys in on three main points: 1. Power of God on the Earth, 2. Redemption, and 3. Exaltation. It was a powerful experience to learn that the content isn't as important as the Spirit speaking to the need(s) of the investigator. Tonight, my district also read from Alma 42, which talks about the need for both justice and mercy to complete the infinite Atonement. I had a major lightbulb moment: Verse 24 isn't talking about justice and mercy; rather, it is talking about marriage! In English only, justice is personified as a man, and mercy is personified as a woman. (The personification is lost by translation in Spanish). Elder Low then pointed out that a marriage set on God is the only marriage that will truly work - and could you guess it? Justice and mercy can both only be fulfilled through God! Don't worry, though, I still have a while before I will be married haha.
Saturday, August 24th, 2013:
It was a rather average day, but it went by rather quickly. My P-Day sets up nicely because it splits the week in half nicely between P-Day and Sunday. Language study was much better today because my companions and I focused our efforts on practice teaching with each other, rather than aimlessly drilling vocabulary about the weather and family relationships at eachother. During TALL, I studied past-tense subjunctive, which I believe to be the most difficult piece of grammar used in all of Spanish. I still don't have a good grasp on it nearly a week later. I had the chance to talk to Brian Ridd in the hall today for a while! It's wonderful to see someone I know! I actually just saw him in the computer lab, and he is wearing the same pair of shorts I have! We must be twins or something... Also, I had the chance to meet Tanner Mangum in person, who will be the future QB at BYU and possibly go on to play in the NFL. Elder Dias, my zone leader, will also be a future football player at BYU, though he will play RB. On a more spiritual note, I gave my first Priesthood Blessing ever today - in Spanish! I haven't ever given one before, so I was so nervous to give it in Spanish. Hermana Barney was feeling under the weather, so she asked me to give the blessing (seeing that I was district leader). Elder Mask did the annointing, and then I did the sealing and blessing. I was prompted to bless her with comfort and the knowledge that God wants her to become the best missionary she can become, and she later told me that she had been feeling extremely anxious. It was exactly what she needed and I'm happy that the Spirit worked through me to bless her with what she needed.
Sunday, August 25th, 2013:
I felt like a veteran during Leadership Meeting, even though I have only been here for three weeks. I'm finally starting to not feel so much like the ''new guy'' all the time. And guess what, I got called as one of the new zone leaders today! Elder Metro and I are the new zone leaders, and Elder Mask is the new Executive Secretary for the branch. For the devotional, we had the opportunity to listen to a devotional that Jeffrey R. Holland gave in February of 2012 to the Provo MTC. I LOVE listening to Elder Holland. He talked about the importance of a life-long conversion after the mission ends, and that our time on the mission is to develop the habits needed to change our priorities. He said we must strive to focus our investigators (and ourselves) on the covenants beyond baptism; baptism is only the first covenant made in a life-long conversion in the Church. He then concluded by asking us why we would be in this spot as missionaries if our only goal was anything but the eternal salvation of other people. That is all that we are here to do. At night, for our Sunday movie night, we all watched ''The Testaments.'' I love the ending when Christ appears to a blind Helam, and Helam has enough faith to believe in the resurrected Savior of the world.
Monday, August 26th, 2013:
During the day, we talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon in a conversion. Hermano Montés let us watch Elder Holland's talk, ''Safety for the Soul.'' It is his testimony of the Book of Mormon, and I would encourage anyone and everyone to watch it. It is such a testimony-builder and only takes about 15 or 20 minutes to watch the whole thing. During our planning in preparation for teaching Andrea and Luis, my companions and I really butted heads and drew a major blank on what to talk about. We need to do a little better about having unity and not being so stubborn. Elder Mask and I are usually on the same page, but all three of us had different ideas about what we needed to teach. We finally decided to go in with a list of questions for Luis, which we hoped would enable us to focus more on his needs. Asking questions to him during the lesson got us NOWHERE. We testified of the truthfulness of our message, but Luis just wasn't being receptive to the Spirit. We concluded by helping him realize how much we want to help him and to help him succeed. We left the lesson still not knowing what essential doctrines he needs to learn about. My companions and I stayed in the classroom late to talk to Hermana Powell during the evening, and - once again - she had less than optimistic news to tell us. She told us that both her and Luis had the feeling during the lesson that we should have asked Luis to be baptized! We didnt even extend the baptismal invitation! She told us that, "most investigators dont even know they need anything; most will think their life is happy as it is, so it is your job to help them realize what theyre missing and why they need it." It was also very frustrating when she then told us that, "Maybe you all are focusing too much on the needs of your investigators. We, as teachers, also have needs." So, now we're supposed to teach four people at once? I'm so confused. Hopefully we can figure out this problem soon!
Tuesday, August 27th, 2013:
I feel like I say this almost everyday, but today was a rather routine day. We didn't have any lessons to teach, so the main day was rather uneventful. However, we got Costco Pizza for dinner! Every Tuesday, the MTC purchases like 400 boxes of Costco pizza and serves it to everyone! I had six pieces, two bowls of Frosted Flakes and two yellow apples! When there is good food to eat here, you have to take advantage of your opportunities haha. During the evening, we had a live broadcast from Provo for the Tuesday evening devotional. Elder Neil L. Andersen spoke about "First Love, Then Sacrifice." The premise of his talk was based around the principle that "We sacrifice for the things that we love, and we love the things that we sacrifice for." What really struck me most was when Elder Andersen said that the greatest sacrifice came from God (allowing Christ to die for us), and that the greatest love also came from God (allowing Christ to die for us). 1 John 4:19 reads: "We love Him [meaning God] because He loved us first." Through love and sacrifice, we can reach out and touch the greatest number of lives through our service.
Wednesday, August 28th, 2013:
Teaching lessons took up the majority of the day, and I love teaching! It was a great change from the usual drag of language study. I'm anxious to learn the language and all, but I would so much rather teach people than study language in the same classroom that we spend ten hours per day in. We first began by teaching Fernando more about the Plan of Salvation. Based off of what we heard from Hermana Powell, we decided to extend the baptismal invitation to him, but he respectfully declined. He said he needs to think about it first, so we challenged him to pray about it to receive an anwer from God. He did, however, reveal to us that he struggles with a smoking addiction and that he drinks a lot of coffee - looks like the Word of Wisdom is the topic for next lesson! We left him with the challenge to read 2 Nephi 31, and I feel like the lesson went well, but not great. Tonight, we had the opportunity to do TRC (I can't remember the acronym), which is where local members from Mexico City come to talk with us as missionaries. It gives us a feel for what talking with members will be like in the field. My companions and I had the opportunity to talk with three different individuals about the importance of enduring to the end for about 20 minutes per lesson. The native speakers are so hard to understand! I thought my Spanish was improving, but, just like they always say, real Spanish isn't like what we learn in the MTC. The natives talk much faster, don't annunciate and are rather quiet with their speaking. TRC has made me anxious to get into the field!
Today, I had the chance to go to the temple again! We went for the 9 AM session, and it took three hours to complete. It was such a wonderful experience, and I love having the opportunity to go through in a Spanish session. I'm now able to pick up most of what they are saying, even though the vocabulary is quite complex. Elder Mask, Elder Metro and I also all got our haircuts today! My hair is much shorter than I'm used to, but I didn't have a choice because the lady cutting hair cuts everyone exactly the same haha. Thank you all for all of your prayers, love and support! This is, without question, the Lord's work, and there is no place I would rather be. Well, maybe California, but this is to prepare me for that! I'm off to go play ping pong with Brian Ridd, so I hope everyone has a fantastic week!
I have attached a picture of my companions and I in front of the temple today. From left to right: Elder Metro, myself, Elder Mask.
Love,
Elder Gabriel Valley
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