Week 2!

So my email last week was really long and I apologize for that. I´m still getting used to things and I´ll try to be better this week so I can have some time for personal emails.

On Tuesday after I emailed we got back to our usually class schedule. That night Elder Rice and I taught The Restoration to David and it wasn´t too shabby! The best part of the day was when Elder Christensen stood up before we had District prayer. He just bore his testimony about how everyone here is special and we shouldn´t make fun of others when they do or say something goofy. It took a lot of courage to say that and I was instantly humbled. I´m finding a new found love for every person here because of him.

Wednesday was a pretty good day but I was beginning to get sick. Our lesson with Nimia went pretty well. She said we did a good job of teaching Nimia and not a lesson. We also went to the temple which was great but kinda rushed. I´m just glad the session was in English.

Thursday and Friday were pretty hard days. Friday I was sick and out of it because of a combination of dayquil and sickness. I was pretty positive in the morning but couldn´t understand anything in the first lesson. From there it went South, and the second lesson was even harder to understand. On top of all of that our investigator decided to drop a bomb on us about not wanting take the discussion anymore. I´m just thankful that Elder Rice was on his A game during that lesson. I finally found a quiet spot and said one of the most humble prayers I have ever given. Learning a language is certainly humbling. After I prayed, almost immediately my thoughts were cleared and all of these doubts that were in my head went out the window. I felt an overwhelming feeling of love from my Heavenly Father. Our last lesson that night couldn´t have gone much better and I am so thankful for that answer to my prayer and confidence booster. The power of prayer is real people!!!

View from my room. Santiago Temple

Saturday was a great day! I was finally starting to feel better and everything was just awesome. The only thing that made the day even was our "Christmas discussion" with Hermana Abarzua. We were going to read the account of Christ birth with her and go from there. In introducing our lesson I didn´t know how to say birth and Elder Rice looked to the chapter heading of Luke 2 for help. He saw the words "Jesus es..." and assumed the next word was born so he read it. Let´s just say that it was not birth or born and if you want to know what it is just check out the chapter heading for Luke 2 and in the English version it says "He is..." and then read the next word. Our teacher and I were laughing pretty hard for the next few minutes.

Sunday is certainly a day of rest. There is not much more to say about it other than that. It is a spiritual charge up and I love it! We talked about repentance all day and the atonement. I love talking about the atonement of our Savior. It´s such an amazing thing and it is real and it is the only way we can get back to our Heavenly Father. At night we had a fireside and Myself and a group of 5 other Elders sang "we´ll bring the world his truth." It went pretty well! I love singing! then the temple President spoke to us about the restoration. My favorite part of Sunday was the overwhelming confirmation from the spirit about why I am here. I know why I am here. I want to bring everyone the same joy the atonement of Jesus Christ brings to my life. I owe my Savior everything and 2 years is the least I can give to him.

Yesterday was a great day! The language was coming a long pretty well. I was speaking a lot more and really picking up on what our teachers were saying even though they were talking one hundred miles per hour. Elder Rice and I committed Carolin (the investigator that dropped the bomb on us) and Nimia to baptismal dates! WOOT WOOT!!! Pretty much everything about yesterday day made me happy until we had to say goodbye to the two weekers that left this morning! There are some really awesome Elders about to hit the field and I wish all of the the best of luck!

One thing I learned from this week is that I really need to work on being patient with myself and have faith. The great part is that in Preach My Gospel there is a section called Christ Like Attributes and it has scripture upon scriptures about all the attributes of Christ. I encourage all of you to study each of those attributes and pick on one every single day to try to improve on.

I just want to bare my testimony that I know that this Church is true! I know that this is where Heavenly Father wants me to be right now. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that through him Heavenly Father restored the gospel of Jesus Christ. The proper priesthood authority is on the earth today. We have a Savior that loves us and he atoned for our sins. Because of this we have the opportunity to repent and return to our Father in Heaven and that opportunity is AMAZING! I love this gospel and I know that it is true. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.