MTC Christmas

December 25, 2019

In the days leading up to Christmas, I realized the truth of my father ́s words he told me last week, "Today is a holiday for everyone in the world- except missionaries." I really haven't been thinking about Christmas at all because there's no snow, it's like sixty degrees every day and the sun shines bright. However, it's been a really good Christmastime. I'm not going to say this has been my favorite week leading up to Christmas, but it's definitely been a good one. What with learning about the Savior every day, it's been neat to be focused on the real reason for the season. In fact, we had a devotional last night with Elder John C. Pingree, and I didn't realize that I missed a BYU football game until after. In fact, I realized that I rather would have gone to the devotional rather than watch the game (and that was before I knew that they lost x). But being in the CCM has been a really neat experience and I love it here :)

Speaking of devotionals with general authorities, Elder Pingree is fantastic! He visited us last Monday during that power packed devo, and he came again! He ́s sooooo good, I hope he speaks in General Conference soon. First his wife spoke, and she was really good too. She spoke about how "comparison is the thief of joy" which is actually a quote by Teddy Roosevelt. She shared about how it's been hard for her because Elder Pingree is the area presidency in Mexico and she has been trying to learn Spanish. It's been hard for her because she's not very good at memorizing and she compares herself to the Spanish speakers she meets. However, she has to stop herself and realize that Christ can help her get to where she needs to be and realize that she is where she needs to be right now. She also shared when Elder Pingree got called to be a 70 and they met with Elder Utchdorf. Afterwards, Elder Pingree asked Utchdorf for advice. He said "You'll meet a lot of really great general authorities in your travels. However, just be yourself. Remember that the Lord called you." I drew a lot of comfort from that.

And then Elder Pingree spoke, but first, since he had his kids with him (four of the five who have served missions and the fifth being in high school), they shared a few thoughts about missions. One of the best thoughts was Helaman 10:4, but insert your name for Nephi's. It was a great reminder to me that the gospel is personal and that the Lord is pleased with my effort as long as I'm doing my best.

And THEN Elder Pingree spoke. He reminded us about a challenge he made when he visited last week to read the scriptures with these questions: 1) What has Jesus Christ done for me? and 2) How can I demonstrate my gratitude? And he asked us to share what we had found and I was sitting on the stand (because I played for the choir ;) and I shared Ether 12:18 and said that I needed to learn to rely more on the Lord because He knows what to make of me better than I do. And Elder Pingree said it was very good and it was great :)

And then it was REALLY Elder Pingree, and it was fantastic! He talked about how he's been through the Panama Canal, and he can kinda tell us how cool it was but we need to experience it to really know how awesome it is. He said that was kind of like how we talk about the Atonement but how often do we feel about the Atonement in our lives? He shared so many good stories from when he was the mission president in Houston (before my brother Josh got there). 

One of the best stories was a missionary who had done every bad thing he could do, but still wanted to go on a mission. Once he got in the field, Elder Pingree asked him if he could just start with reading the Book of Mormon. The elder said he would try, but he didn't do it for about two months. And then he told Elder Pingree, "President, I can't read". That changed Elder Pingree's whole viewpoint, and he switched companion to one with a closer background to his and would help him learn how to read so he could read the Book of Mormon. After about five months, this missionary called Elder Pingree and asked him to read 3 Nephi 9:13-15. He said "President, that scripture was put in there for me. These past few months I've been teaching that the Atonement could work in other people's lives, but I didn't believe that Christ could make me clean from my sins- until I read that scripture." It was a really powerful testament to me that the Lord's Atonement is real, and we need to do our best to let it work in our lives every day. 

Ok, now that the devo stuff is out of the way, here's some of the other stuff that happened this week! We finally saw the red chicken in the comedor (cafeteria), and that was the one thing every missionary told us to avoid. But about four of our district tasted the chicken, with one eating several, and none of them died, so that was rather interesting. I, however, did not eat the red chicken and still got kinda sick. On Friday I was coughing and my nose was all stuffy and my throat hurt so that kinda sucked. My roommate said he had a dream where he got a flat tire but there was something moving and snuffling around in the woods, and then he woke up and said it was me x) Apparently I'm a loud sleeper. Although I haven't said anything in my sleep yet, but we'll see x)

We also had this thing called TRC where native Spanish speakers come and talk to us. Except we had skype appointments which kinda sucked because it's so hard to hear and it's a rough time. Anywho, we spoke with Danilo and Jorge. Danillo only spoke Spanish and talked very fast, so we shared things about ourselves and just kinda nodded and said "Sí" whenever he said anything. But Jorge spoke English, so he spoke English to us and we spoke Spanish to him. It was actually pretty fun, and helped me know how far I need to go in my Spanish.

Well, you get one more email from me in the CCM, and then I leave for the bottom of the world January 7th. Thanks for your emails and your prayers, I love all of you guys!!