6th week's P-Day email from the MTC

Mi familia amada, otra semana ha pasada, y tengo tres semanas mas aqui en Utah, estoy muy emocionado por mi mision para empezar realmente en el campo! Cada dia pasando me recuerde que estoy sirviendo una mision ahora, y es porque de usteded que estoy aqui, totalmente porque de ustedes. Ustedes me han apoyado tanto y me siento muy agradecido por esta oportunidad que tengo y yo tratare mi mejor para hacerles orgullos de mi y mis deseos para servir mi Padre Celestial.

This week we are thrown off a bit being that it's Thanksgiving today, Happy Thanksgiving everyone! This year is the year where I've never felt more thankful for all the bendigas I have in my life. Seriously, this year I really have been blessed more than I feel I ever have in my life. So many things have happened in this last year that I will be grateful, forever and always to my Lord. I am so grateful for each and every one of you individually, you all know that. I am grateful for my loving mom who has encouraged me all along the way to do my best and do what I want to do to make me most happy, and until now I wasn't sure exactly what that really was that would make me the happiest I've ever been, but I know now. This work, this crazy task that I've taken upon myself will bring me immeasurable happiness in these next 2 years to come. I am grateful for all of my family for the love and prayers they give me continually, and I will always be grateful for all of you. I am the person I am today because of you.

Anyway haha, this week as typical has gone by very fast, but it's been a great week for sure. I feel like I am able to carry on a normal and complete conversation in Spanish alot easier. Still talking to the native district of fluent Spanish speakers, and that's really helping, but they leave this coming week, so crazy. I feel like we've seen so many people come and go already. It's really coming down the wire now, 6 weeks into this, 3 left. We should be getting our travel plans in like a week and a half about, AHHH!!!!!

Spanish is going well then. It's funny, like I truly do understand the majority of what my teachers say in Spanish right away the first time, speaking fully in Spanish. And then with the natives I understand about 65% or so of what they say right away. But like when I hear a word I don't recognize, or when I'm reading el Libro de Mormon in Spanish and don't recognize a word, I'll write it down. So in the margins of my little pocket notebook that I use during our lessons, I have millions of verbs, words, vocab, etc that I've translated, and try to incorporate the words somehow into our lessons or just casually talking with Elders Goodson, Swasey, and Clark. I'm really excited for when Max and I are home and talk to each other in spanish, so stoked, it's gonna be awesome, and we can say things about you, Mama T and Mom that you won't understand ;)

This last Tuesday we were blessed again very fortunately to have another apostle come for our devotional, Elder D. Todd Christofferson! Pretty sweet, he's a really funny guy. He was saying that the original 12 apostles would laugh at our current ones for complaining about difficulties, he said that Paul would say "Oh you wimps. If I had all of the technology, texting, email, TV, and resources you had when I was an apostle, I'd have the whole world converted in 10 months!" haha he's a funny guy. A few things he said really stuck out to me, he said "Don't ever say when you come home from your mission 'Oh, the Lord owes me now, I served Him diligently for 2 years' what you should say is 'I owe Him even more now, and I will strive all my life to serve Him even more'" I thought that was really cool, that's why I will never understand missionaries who return and then just go inactive, it's like, what's the point? "We go into a mission in DEBT to the Lord, and come back in even GREATER debt to Him." He told us that Richard G. Scott was his mission president when he served in Argentina, and I thought that was awesome, 1.)That they are both apostles now, and 2.)That Elder Scott is the other apostle we've seen while being here! haha that's so funny and awesome. He said that when he got off the plane in Agentina, the guy at the bottom of the plane stepping off said something to him in Spanish and he had no idea what he said haha. He said "It was pathetic! Even DOGS responded to Spanish better than I did in the beginning!" hahaha. But to just keep enduring and the Lord WILL bless you will all the things that you stand in need of, and I really liked that.

For Thanksgiving today we're doing a service project where we're assembling like first-aid accident kits in the cafeteria and then packing them into these huge crates and sending them off. That service will go on for a while, and we're having a "Thanksgiving Dinner" at lunchtime and then sack dinner haha kinda weird. But we're having a devotional/fireside thing in the morning and apparently it's Elder Russel M. Nelson speaking, so oh yeah, totally having at least 3 apostles while being here at the MTC. That's 1/4 of the apostles! Yeah, ustedes esten celosos ;)

So I've seen Grant a bunch of times now, taken 1 picture with him so far, but I will definitely try to get some more. He wants you guys to write him, he says he hasn't gotten like any letters or emails, and I feel bad for him. He's District Leader of 12 guys, mostly all going to Hawaii, and his companion is also 23, going to Hawaii, which is like the coolest thing. He seems to be enjoying it. Last Sunday after the fireside when we have our movies, I was able to sit next to him and talk to him for like an hour and that was incredible, I love my brother so much, really glad we're both here. He and I are actually leaving like the same time now, because of the holidays, I'm leaving the 12th and he's on the 13th. That's why we didn't get any new missionaries this week, because we got double the amount last week, crazy getting 700 new missionaries on a single day!

I love you all so much. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Give thanks to your Father in Heaven for all your many blessings. I promise you, miracles do happen everyday, you just need to open your eyes and see them, and be a part of those miracles in peoples' lives. I've felt the Spirit alot this week, because it's really hitting me how soon I'm gonna be in Panama, knocking on strangers' doors, and bringing that same Spirit into their homes in a language that I am far from perfect in. But I am positive that I will always be protected, provided for, and I will NEVER be alone. Everyone, enjoy your Thanksgiving, and eat an extra helping of my mom's stuffing for me please :)

Love, Gregg
P.S. The scripture of the week for you all is about gratitude, since it is Thanksgiving. It is 3 Nephi 19: 20-21, 28. Read up, it's great, even the Savior is grateful. Also Alma 34:38 is good about Thanksgiving, leanlos mi familia y mis amigos :)