English time! Woo! I like
writing to you guys en inglés.
Just got back from a
p-day activity in Chiclayo with the zone. This week's activity: talent show. My
first thought: what the heck kind of talents can we even share as
missionaries?! I dunno. There are no electric guitars here, so that
pretty much cancels out every talent I know of. Haha. Anyway I really had no
idea what I was gonna do, but this morning I remembered that there's a piano in
the church there, so I busted out two ol' classics from Yellowcard and Super
Mario 64. Uh, seriously. And I messed up quite a bit on both because I haven't
exactly been able to play much piano on my mish. But, it was kinda fun. I miss
playing piano a lot. We also did a silly skit as a district. Talent show was
pretty funny overall. A million times more fun with the missionaries than with
the members. I've been to like six "talent show" activities here in
Peru, and every single one of them is just a bunch of people getting up and
signing hymns poorly. Not too fun. Today was fun though. Like, a real talent
show. Kewl.
Anyway, last week I got a
haircut. I dunno if I told you that. But, I don't like it. Really getting
stoked to get my haircut by dad again in a few months. Although when I'm in
Rexburg I don't know what I'm gonna do... Cut it myself. Or, just do what I did
last time and let my hair grow out as long as I possibly can without breaking
the rules, but still getting in trouble every single time I walk into the
testing center. Yeah, I'll stick with that one I think. Anyway, I'm looking
forward to the day that I get a haircut that I actually like again.
Hmm, well, what happened
this week... Well, I got sick! Woohoo! Felt real bad on Saturday. Didn't get
much done. Went out for a bit, but had to come back and rest. Lotsa trips to
the bathroom. Not the funnest. Sunday I felt a little better. Today I feel
almost normal. Although, I never really feel normal in Peru. When my diet
switches from chicken and rice to Cheez-its, Goldfish, and Big Carls, I think I
will finally be healthy again.
I taught my district
class this week on how we can use the Book of Mormon more effectively as we
teach. Lots of the missionaries, myself included, have fallen into the habit of
teaching almost completely with the Bible. b'cause, y'know, people believe in
the Bible, right? But, that's not really what our message is all
about. Our unique message. We're not like all the other preachers
out there who go door to door with a Bible in hand. The keystone of our
religion, and, therefore, the keystone of our whole message, is The Book of
Mormon. Joseph Smith said that a man can get closer to God by reading and
applying the teachings found in The Book of Mormon than by any other book. So,
a personal goal of mine is to start using The Book of Mormon a lot more and a
lot better as I teach. No matter how good it feels to show these people that I
know my way around the Bible and can contradict the things that they tell me
using verses in their own Bibles. P.S.: I shouldn't feel good about that.
We had kind of a neat
visit this week too. One member was rushed to the hospital last week and got an
emergency operation. He's the only person in his family who's a member, and his
family is big. We stopped by his home this week and visited with two of his kids
(they're older. like 20 and 27...). We had a really spiritual lesson where we
talked about how Jesus Christ suffered not only for our sins, but also for our
temptations, pains, sicknesses, and every other trial we pass through, so that
He would know how to help us in any and every situation. We ended with a
kneeling prayer (something that we do way less often than we
should... almost never.) and there was just a real strong spirit in the room.
It was a cool experience for me.
Had another fun lesson with
a member named Teresa. Basically her entire family are all Adventists and she
was asking us tips on how she can share what she believes with her family. Good
question! At one point she specifically asked us about the scripture in John
10:16 where Christ says "And other sheep I have, which are not of this
fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be
one fold, and one shepherd." and she wanted to know how to explain
that one to her family, because they think Christ is talking about the Gentiles
or something. Well, something cool happened as I opened my mouth to start
explainin'. I wrote in my jern:
04/17/13
...So, I open my mouth
and start explaining it in a way I never have before, and never even thought
of. I went on to explain how when Jesus came He preached exclusively to the
Jews. His Apostles first started preaching the gospel to the Gentiles after
Christ's death and resurrection. Christ never preached His gospel to the
Gentiles during His lifetime. Christ specifically said that His "other
sheep" would hear His voice, which the Gentiles never did. They heard the
gospel through His Apostles. So, the scripture can't be referring to the
Gentiles. I had never explained it like that to anyone before, but as I was
saying it, it just made so much sense! It surprised me how smoothly and so
easily the explanation rolled off my tongue, considering it was not
pre-meditated in any way. So, then I opened to 3 Nephi 15:21, where Christ
tells the Nephites that they are the other sheep He was talking about, to help
get the point across more clearly. But, what I wasn't expecting was what the
following three verses said: basically the exact same thing that I
had just explained! I seriously had no idea that was there!! I thought it was something
I had just worked out in my head. I didn't know I was basically quoting
scripture! The lesson just went so smooth and worked out so well, and it wasn't
planned at all. Everything just conveniently fell right into place somehow.
Including opening right up to a scripture that I didn't even know existed that
perfectly supported everything I had just said a moment earlier. As we started
reading the scripture and I realized that I had just said exactly what we were
reading, I was shocked. Just one of those awesome "God working by the
Spirit to make me a tool in His hands to do His work" moments. Too cool!
That was one of my favorite experiences that I've had in a while. I hope God
will keep using me like that to help His children here in Picsi...
So, I thought that was
pretty neat.
Hmm, what else. Oh yeah!
Funny thing. Well, not really that funny. It's really bad actually. But...
still kinda funny. Can't help it. We were talking with this lady who is a
member who got married a long time ago but is now a single mother because her
husband left her. Her husband is a member too, and he didn't ever divorce her,
because here people don't like to get divorced because they don't want to spend
the money. Well, her husband met another woman and pulled some strings and
worked his way around the law and got married to her. Thus committing both
adultery, and polygamy at the same time (Ha! A Mormon practicing polygamy!
Ironic...). His second wife is also a member of the church, and somehow she was
okay with that. And the worst part: He went to the temple (lied in his
worthiness interview, obviously) and got sealed to his illegal
second wife!! Oooh man. That's bad. He's gonna go somewhere ugly. Weird
situation.
Yikes, more things
happened but I gotta get going. Yes Dad, I liked the part where the guy in
conference yelled "AMEN!" too. Almost as funny as that guy a couple
years ago who stuck his face right in the camera after conference had ended. I
watched that over and over again on Youtube. So dumb! So funny.
Yeah, k, gotta leave. I
miss you all! Until next week.
Hems
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