Que lo que mi hermano,
That’s how people from the Dominican
Republic say “what’s up?”! We just got two new roomies and one is from
the Dominican and he’s a baseball player.
I think he is pretty good! He wants to play ball in the states. It is
pretty hard to understand him, though.
This is the end of week 4 and I only
have two weeks left here! It is going to go by so fast. I will miss Mexico a
lot, but I am anxious to get to Vegas and start the work there!
This week has been one of the most
amazing so far! I feel in just one week I have changed more as a person then I
ever before! My teacher told us something really cool-
He said in one of our first lessons
we were truly teaching by the spirit and he could tell we had been preparing
really hard for it and he said that when I bore my testimony it was perfect Spanish
and there was not one mistake. It was all from the heart. When my comp bore his
testimony the spirit was so strong and his was flawless also. It just shows
that the Lord will give us the gifts of the spirit when we put the time and
effort into them.
Another cool thing our teacher shared this
week was in Alma 29. It is Alma talking about his desires and testimony. The
part that struck me the most were the last three verses 15-17. Alma has so much
joy for the success of his brethren, Ammon and the sons of Mosiah that he says,
"my soul is carried away, even to the separation of it from my body".
What kind of joy that must be?!! He desires the very best for his brethren. That
really made me think about how often I care about the successes of others and
to be honest, I felt that I didn’t really; especially with my comp and my
district. I had a more competitive spirit that I had to be the best, but that
is not Christ’s way. I began really to try and be happy for the successes of
those around me. When my comp knows something I don’t know, that can help us
and now I am joyful because we are one. He has learned a lot of Spanish in so
little time. It really just changed my whole perspective on life!!
Then Sunday hit and as always, it is
one of the best days of the week!! One elder in our district gave a talk and he
is fluent in American Sign Language and so when he didn’t know what to say in Spanish
he was using his arms and hands to express what he wanted to say. We were all
dying. He had his hands totally spread out - it was hilarious!
We listened to a talk by Elder Scott
about prayer and the power it can have in our lives. It was just awesome. He
talked about how, at times, God withholds an answer from us for a time so that
we can grow. I loved that. He said that most times we will not receive the
answer on our knees but when we are acting and acting in faith.
Our lesson on Monday morning was one
of the best that we have given so far. We had a new investigator and his name
was Antony (no H). He didn’t really believe in God, but a friend told him to
talk to us. So we just talked to him and got to know him a little more and then
taught him about the Book of Mormon. The spirit was so strong as I was bearing
testimony about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. My comp said something really
good also. He taught that we knew he didn’t believe in God now but as he works
with us his knowledge would grow. It was just a great lesson!
A couple cool stories to close:
September 15th is Mexican
Independence Day so all the decorations are going up and we have been
practicing the National Anthem for Mexico. It is so fast and we are so bad at
it. It is probably a disgrace to Mexicans to hear us try to sing it-haha!! So the celebration will be happening
just a couple of days before we leave and it is going to be a party all day! It
is going to be awesome and the city around us is going to be going nuts - I can’t
wait!!
Saturday night we lost power in the
CCM and our apartment complex erupted in total chaos! It was insane. My comp and I were
spraying people with water through the screen of our window and people were
freaking out - it was hilarious!!! We got in a water fight with the missionaries
who live next door. It turned out to be some good bonding time.
On Sunday night we made
a commitment to "Speak our Language". That is what they call the program to only speak Spanish. We have tried to do a lot of things before, but
we never followed through and so we decided to write a Constitution and
hold ourselves accountable.
We the Elders of XVI-E, do solemnly swear by the pain of sore
pectoralis majors, blood, sweat, and tears, that we shall not utter the
language of the Motherland of England lest it be deemed worthy by the
unanimous consent of Her blessed district.
Article I- The English language is only appropriate within the confine of the comedor or amidst the
perspiratory rigor of gym time.
Article II- The district seeth fit to allow communication in familiar tongues, unrestrained, after the
deemed hour of nine and thirty minutes in the PM.
Article III- We swear to bear each other burdens and support our fellow district members regardless
of the throes of iniquity we find ourselves enthralled therein.
Article IV- concerning punishments:
i. 20 push-ups inflicted per English outbreak
Let
our r´s roll, let our mouths be open, that we shaint shurk in silence,
but unite as the regal comrades of XVI-E. That this declaration may
reach the ears of many within and outside of the great walls of the CCM,
and that this day we bind our tongues together in one voice, one
language, and one message.
8-31-2014
That is it for now. Remember our Savior
loves each and every one of us. We need to follow Him in all we do and the
blessings will be so great we won’t even have room enough to receive
them.
I love you all,
Elder Clark
A few pictures he sent this week are below.
Logan said all these pictures were taken with those from last week, but he wasn't able to get them all sent.
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