Hello my faithful followers of the blog, it is wonderful to be able to write to you. So much has happened since we last spoke, so I'll do my best to inform you all of what has happened.
Well, tomorrow we're going to be in 2013...when did that happen??? How is it that another year has already passed us by? That's crazy! People here celebrate it pretty interestingly, the New Year and also Christmas Eve. For Christmas we got permission from President to stay with a member's family until passed midnight to celebrate La Navidad. It's weird, all the emphasis put into Christmas falls on Christmas Eve, exploding little "bombitas" and fireworks and what not, until midnight, and at midnight on Christmas Eve everyone goes crazy, opens presents then, and eats a ridiculous amount of food. Then when the actual Christmas DAY comes around, no one really does anything, it's basically just a normal day. Probably just because everyone is hungover from the parties, haha. So that's exactly what we did! Minus the drinking part of course. We stayed up, I helped cook an amazing lasagna and turkey and we went outside in the cool breeze and kept lighting little firecracker type things and making noise with all the other people.
Oh by the way we did that all with our new comps, Elder Clarke and I. We're both training new guys, mine is from Guatemala named Elder Carrillo who's really cool, speaks a bit of English as well which makes it more fun. Clarke's new kid is named Elder Aguirre from Ecuador. Those 2 are like completely different in personalities but they seem to get along quite well, because they're both starting out and came together in the same group. We had a lot of fun on Christmas, we also helped paint the other Peno elders' house on Christmas morning, and it turned out pretty well in my opinion.
What's cool about my comp, or any comp for that matter, is the slang that they bring to the mission from their own countries, and it's all different. In Guatemala, like Max in Honduras they talk a lot in a form called "vos", which is really easy to pick up and I talk to Carrillo in it all the time, like sentáte instead of siéntate, it's weird.
This week in the different scrpiture things I've been studying, like the Old Testament, I discovered the phrase "Be strong and of good courage" a lot, especially in Joshua, and it has really impacted me. I taught the lesson in a group night that we always have every Thursday night, after we had taught this little English class that we're trying to restart. In the group night I decided to talk about "como podemos llegar a ser valientes". Trying to train well, I've tried to take my new comp contacting quite a bit, just like my trainer Jarquin did with me, to help "quitar el temor". It's definitely something that is mind over matter going up to someone's house and trying to get in with the message you have to share. We all need to be valientes, or brave, in preaching as well as DEFENDING the Gospel. A lot of people say a lot of simply false things about the church, but what I've learned from all those lies is that the people who spread those lies have NEVER been to the church. How can you just make things up out of thin air? If they ever went to any sort of church function, they would realize that we don't practice witchcraft nor sacrifice children in our temples, or goats or any other animal. If you have a question about what Mormons do, what we believe in, ask the missionaries, ask a member, or just go to church yourself and see for yourself. I promise you that the second you walk into the church doors, or you let the missionaries walk into your own doors of your house, you'll realize who we really are and what we really do. We need to be brave everyone, like lions, and roar to defend the truth that we have. Plant your claws in the ground, flex your muscles, stand firmly placed, and roar into the wind.
My kid and I had a really funny experience this week. In our house, we don't really have much in respect to things like a refrigerator, microwave, stove, etc, none of that. We decided (after our dinner was cancelled) that we would make dinner ourselves...but how? Well we went and bought ingredients with just bread, refried beans, and a delicious cream to spread, and we made fake baleadas. We gathered sticks and dead leaves and made ourselves a bonfire and cooked the can of beans on the open flame, haha. It was great, and it tasted good as well. I only burned the hair off my fingers a little bit, haha, just kidding.
So everyone, we have a New Year upon us, time to set goals, make resolutions and fulfill them. I challenge you all back home and myself included to set something that you want to do this year, and carry out with what you decide. Don't just make a goal to make it, do it. Do all that you need to do in order to realize it. If the goal is you wanting to serve a mission, do it, I believe in you, I know you can do it. Start your papers now, get your life in order, and put your right foot forward. It's the best decision you will every make...until you choose to be married in the temple, but that's another story :).
I have for you 2 great scriptures about being brave, first in Alma 60:28, and the other is in 2 Nephi 7:8-9, really awesome scripture, check them out. Have a wonderful New Year's everyone, be safe :) Until next week, and next year.
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