Familia!
Much to say and not
much time. Of course, conference is a topic that I have to touch on.
It was so good! I don't think I've ever got as much out of
conference as I got this past weekend. I could spend a ton of time
talking about different things I learned, but I don't have a ton of time, so
I'll include a part of the letter I sent to President Porter about it:
Saturday Morning
Session:
Edward Dube of the 70
said something along these lines: "Every part of the gospel and its
teaching are only appendages to the Atonement of Christ". This is something that I can apply in my life.
There are many aspects of the gospel and many things that we are to
teach, but as I study and teach people these principles, I can and should
always keep in mind that all these things are only appendages to the Atonement
of our Savior.
Saturday Afternoon
Session:
S. Gifford Neilson
said: "This work won't move forward in the Lord's appointed way without
the members." We need to work on involving the members more in the
work in this area. This might entail strengthening their testimonies
first and helping them realize the importance of the work. This quote helped
me realize more that it is the will of the Lord to involve members in the work.
Priesthood Session:
President Monson said:
"Above all, be a sincere friend to those you teach; truly care about
them." This is something I have been working on over the past little
while, and it is something I will definitely continue to work on. I need
to continue to strive for charity and to have a pure, Christ-like love for all
people with whom I come in contact.
Sunday Morning
Session:
Elder Richard G. Scott
said: "As you fill your life with service to Heavenly Father's children,
Satan's influence will lose power over you." By truly consecrating
myself and fully losing myself in service to the people in this area, I will
have an even greater capacity to resist temptation and not yield to my own
selfish desires.
Sunday Afternoon
Session:
David M. McConkie
said: "You cannot expect the Spirit to help you remember the scriptures
and teachings if you have not studied." Don't get me wrong, I study.
I study a lot. But I really liked this quote. There are many
like it throughout Preach My Gospel, and it is always something I need to keep
in mind. As I seriously study, with real intent, and really try to
understand things for my investigators, the Spirit will be able to recall the
things I sincerely study to my remembrance when I need them.
There you go, there's
a few of my thoughts on the matter. I hope you all were able to get
something out of it too!
We were blessed to be
able to watch one of the conference sessions with A….. and D…... It was
an amazing experience. The session we watched with them focused on their
needs to an amazing degree, and it ended up being a very spiritual experience
for all of us. Afterwards, they both told us how the Spirit feels to
them, and that it has changed their lives as we've been meeting with them over
the past little while. That whole experience allowed me to gain a greater
testimony of our Heavenly Father's love for each and every one of us. He
loves us so much. He'll do anything He can to help us return to live with
Him. It's amazing to me.
On a lighter note, D…..
had never heard President Monson speak before, and he thinks that the Prophet
sounds like Batman...
This past week I took
over the area again. But this time, I took over to a whole new level.
One of the Zone Leaders came and did exchanges with me, which is awesome,
except for one small detail... he didn't speak Spanish! So not only was
it up to me to lead everything and know where everything was in the area, but
it was also up to me to do all of the speaking in every single lesson we had.
Well, not all of the talking I guess. He did say "Hola"
at the beginning of the lessons, and "Adios" at the end. But
other than that, it was all up to me. And I was pretty nervous. But
I prayed really hard, and with the Lord's help I was able to communicate
alright with everyone we taught, and we actually had some pretty good lessons.
All things are possible when the Lord is on your side!
I learned at futbol
this past week that I am a terrible goalie. I can't block a goal to save
my life. So just for future reference, if I'm ever on your soccer team,
don't put me in as goalie...
I had my definition of
hot salsa redefined this week. We were at a member's house eating, and
she brought out this tiny bottle of salsa that supposedly made full-grown
Hispanic men cry. I am still working on developing a respect for salsa,
and so I figured I'd try it just to see how bad it really was. I tried to
get some out, but the bottle was super small, so after a while of shaking it, I
just gave up. As I put the lid back on, a tiny bit of this salsa got on
my finger. I put this tiny amount in my mouth, and nothing happened.
For a few seconds. Then all of the sudden, it started to burn.
I could literally feel it spread over my tongue. I was lucky that I
had only tried a tiny bit, because I think I would have lost the ability to
taste if I had tried a lot... So yeah, my respect for salsa has grown
this past week.
That's about it.
Thanks for the conference package. It's just me and Elder Graf, so
I don't know how we'll eat all of that food, but we'll sure try... =)
Have a great week, and
apply something you learned in conference!
Love,
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| Elder Foote and Elder Garcia |
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| Mis tacos de futbol! |
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| Zone meeting on Thursday |
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| Elder Foote and Elder Graf and Senior Couple |