Great
to hear from you, and to hear how everything is going! Again, it is
really great to get pictures, I really enjoy seeing how things are
going! I have been really lucky with the weather here in Mexico so far!
It has been very mild and the combination of that and my short sleeve
shirts has been just dandy! :)
The
days are seriously flying by here and I don't know if I like that or
not. I think it is good because I am really antsy to get out and start
teaching, but at the same time, I really want to use every minute I have
to make sure I am as fully prepared as I can be! It's also pretty
difficult sometimes because I am pretty tired a lot, but I try not to
let that get in the way too much. I think I can blame that on the fact
that I really started my mission with only 2 hours of sleep. That was
probably my worst decision. haha but not to worry, everything is going
quite smoothly!
We got to go to the Temple today!! It was super cool, and you guys know how much I love seeing temples. Although it was kind of sad that we did not get to go through (because it is closed for renovations.) I really love temples...inside and out!
I still really appreciated the fact that we got to go to the visitors center! They also have a really cool visitors center here, so that was a plus! I think I like it a little better than Salt Lake's visitors centers?? Just maybe!
We
got a new district in our branch this week, so that was pretty
exciting. And also, three friends from BYU arrived on that same day, but
none of them are in my branch. Elder Brady, Elder Montierth, and Elder
Peery. But you probably wouldnt know them ;) Anyway, it was kind of fun
to be the older and wiser missionaries for our new district, and no
longer the ones that are the little babies! haha
But
on that same note, many people who I got kind of close with also left
this week. That includes the old district that was in our branch. We had
a really good last week and I really enjoyed helping them with Spanish.
Not only them, but I really got even closer with a few latinos! Elder
Sanchez was the one that I got closest with, because when I would wear
my sign that says "solo hablo español," he would always try to trick me
by speaking a little bit of english and seeing if I could understand
him. (I hope that wasn't confusing.) Basically, he would speak English
randomly with me in the comedor or something and if I seemed to
understand him, he would get all excited and say "cayo en mi trampa!"
which means that I fell into his trap. Anyway, I really got super close
to him, and it was kind of sad to say goodbye! The other latino that we
got close to was Elder Cruz. He would sit with us at all of our meals
and he would always play this game where you put something up for trade
that you don't want, and then you play rock. paper, scissors, and the
loser has to take it. A lot of times, he would put his tray of food up
for the game when he was finished and I lost a couple times, so I would
have to go put it away for him. haha they were two super great guys and
they gave us great opportunities to practice our Spanish.
Me with Elder Sanchez and Elder Cruz
Elder Sanchez, Elder Gates, me and Elder Cruz
Elder Cruz, me and Elder Romero
Speaking
of Spanish, I really am so happy with how well I have been learning and
how easy it seems to be! I love learning Spanish, and although
sometimes it is rather difficult to stay focused all day, I can really
see my progression every day. Along with that, I have really discovered
how helpful it was that I took Spanish in high school, because basically
all of the grammar concepts just come right back to me as I learn them
here! Along with that, teaching the gospel in Spanish is just becoming
so much more natural and it is super exciting.
That
being said, I did have a really discouraging day. We were doing a fake
teaching scenario, and I was just starting to say something but my
teacher stopped me and told me I shouldn't say that yet. This seemed to
happen at least three times, and honestly it was kind of discouraging
and made me feel a little less capable. But I got over it pretty quick,
because that morning we watched a video,as if our teacher knew we were
going to need it later that day, and I would like to share the
message...
It talked about
accepting criticism and letting it serve as a guide to build us up. It
showed a plant that was not producing fruit, so the gardener pruned it
down very low, and the plant seemed to be "crying"(bear with me). The
plant asked why the gardener had pruned it down so much, and the
gardener said that he wanted to help it to have another chance to
produce fruit. The plant then grew and produced fruit, and when the
gardener came out to check, the plant said "thank you for loving me
enough to hurt me." I had to say the same thing when I was starting to
feel discouraged. In our lives, Heavenly Father is the Gardener, and at
times he will cut us down, but it is only because He knows our true
potential and what we can really become and what we can produce. We need
to accept this criticism and tell God, " thank you for loving me enough
to hurt me."
I love you all so much and I hope you are all doing well!
Love
Elder Moser
Chokis are absolutely the best thing ever created in this life. Don't even ask about how they compare to Chips Ahoy, because they don't, they are so much better :)
Yes, it exists. Costco pizza at the Comedor! haha
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