¡Hola!
Wow, I can't quite believe it, but this will be the last email I write from the CCM. I leave bright and early Tuesday morning for the mission field. It seems like we've been here for a year, but at the same time it feels like we got here yesterday. It's so true that the days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days. I have loved the time in the CCM and I'm so grateful for all the opportunities and experiences I had while preparing here. I'm also incredibly grateful for my district. We work hard, but we also balance it out by having fun. Our two maestros are also awesome: Hermano Gonzales and Hermano Enciso. They are both great return missionaries and I hope to acquire some of the characteristics that both of them have. All in all, I'm going to miss my district so much...I'm pretty sure we will all cry when we sing Para Siempre Dios Esté con Vos this Sunday after the movie. I know that we'll be great missionaries in Nicaragua, El Salavador, Colorado, and Honduras. We all want to have a reunion when we get back, and we know it will probably be like Alma 17...
3 But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God.
4 And they had been teaching the word of God for the space of fourteen years (well, 18 or 24 months in our case) among the Lamanites (Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Honduras... yaaaa), having had much success in bringing many to the knowledge of the truth; yea, by the power of their words many were brought before the altar of God, to call on his name and confess their sins before him.
5 Now these are the circumstances which attended them in their journeyings, for they had many afflictions; they did suffer much, both in body and in mind, such as hunger, thirst and fatigue, and also much labor in the spirit.
...
7 Nevertheless they departed out of the land of Zarahemla, and took their swords, and their spears, and their bows, and their arrows, and their slings (don't forget the machetes); and this they did that they might provide food for themselves while in the wilderness.
8 And thus they departed into the wilderness with their numbers which they had selected, to go up to the land of Nephi, to preach the word of God (by the spirit) unto the Lamanites.
I really don't have much to say this week, or have time...this día de preparación will mostly be spent by packing and getting ready to leave. To sum it up, we just continued planning, studying, teaching, and learning the language. I'm confident in the language, but I know I still have a lot of work to do. During TRC last night, Elder Lau and I were investigators for some native Hermanas from Mexico and the Dominican Republic. I understood probably 70-80% of the lesson (well, it also helps that I know mas o menos what they are teaching me based on the lesson). Also, the hermana from Mexico was easy to understand, but I had to keep telling the DR Hermana to slow down. She talked super fast and didn't speak any English. I'm pretty sure I asked her otra vez at least ten times, but it was a good lesson and great language practice.
Also, our investigadores Calros and Francisco got "baptized" this week and we got to start teaching Daniel and Guillermo. They are just our teachers if you haven't read the previous emails, but they base their roles off of converts they had on their missions or friends that they have now.
President Octaviano Tenorio, once again, had an awesome MTC Presidency class this past Sunday. It was on using time wisely. He started out with a story that went something like this: Imagine that you have a bank account where $84,600 gets deposited daily, but at the end of the day that money is gone. What would you do? Take it out and use it the best way possible of course. Each day we have 86,400 seconds and at the end of the day it is gone forever. Take advantage of this time and use it wisely. He went on to talk about multiple experiences in his life where using his time wisely helped him professionally and spiritually. One of my favorite quotes that he used was by Ralph Waldo Emerson:Work every hour, paid or unpaid. See only that you work, and you cannot escape the reward. You truly reap what you sow (thanks dad). President Tenorio also talked a lot about vision and how powerful our imaginations are. He was given an opportunity to go to New York for his job once, but in order to get there, he had to learn English. He put in the work...he took a two week course and he studied literally 16 hours a day. Whenever it got tough, he imagined being in New York. Not only that, he imagined himself learning English in that time period. It reminded me of a Fireside from Bishop Husein (I think he shared it with us two or three times actually, so it must be important). He had us watch a documentary of a blind man and his miraculous feat of climbing Mount Everest. Bishop then talked about vision. Although the man couldn't physically see, he had the vision to accomplish the seemingly impossible task. We all need vision in our lives. We must be able to see where we want to go, but also be able to see the relevant steps to get there (then of course follow up and take those steps).
Our Sunday devotional was given by Elder Richard G. Scott this week. He talked about the importance of prayer. He urged us to improve the quality of our prayers and have them be like a son talking to their loving father. He also told us that we will have a lot of tough times on our missions and also throughout life. He said...you are never alone. You always have your Father in Heaven to talk to no matter what...Never complain about an experience. Ask the Lord what to do and grow from it. He also talked about the three ways our questions can be answered through prayers:
- Peace, comfort, and confidence
- This is the right thing to do...go ahead and do it
- Stupor of thought
- Don't do it...it's not the right thing to do
- No answer has come for a considerable amount of time
- assume accountability and take action based on gospel principles
- the Lord wants you to use your agency and learn how to make the right decisions on your own
- you will grow and develop through this method
Sunday night, we also watched a movie on John Tanner and the movie on Jesus Christ with Pilot in it from the 1970s or 1980s. I really enjoyed both of them. From the John Tanner movie, I felt like I need to do a better job of leaving the world behind (we do a lot of movie quotes in our district)...put your hand to the plow and don't look back. From the second movie, I really liked the way Christ has set the example for us of how to act even when we're at our lowest. Even though he had just suffered for all the sins of the world and was physically, mentally, and spiritually drained, he always acted with love towards Pilot and those who tortured and crucified him. It's easy to do your best when everything is going well, but what are your going to do when you're at your lowest. Even when the going gets tough in Honduras - fatigue, hot muggy climate, bad food, bad water, cholera, dysentery, etc etc etc etc - I know I still have to be at my best, and I sure hope I can rise to the occasion when those times come.
Well, that's all I have. I will leave with my testimony in Spanish (probably won't be grammatically correct, but whatever). Estoy muy agredecido por la oportunidad a venir al CCM. Estoy agredecido por mi Padre Celestial y Su Hijo Jesucristo. Yo sé que Él se murió para mis pecados y para los pecados de todo el mundo. Sé que por medio de su Expiación y viviendo los principios de Su Evangelio, podemos ser limpios de nuestros pecados, llegar a ser comó Él, y también regrasar otra vez a nuestro Padre Celestial. Sé que José Smith fue un profeta de Dios, y Dios resauró el Evangelio a través de José Smith. Sé que El Libro de Mormon es la palabra de Dios y esté libro tiene la plentitud del Evangelio. He leído y orado sobre este libro, y sé que si ustedes quieren saber la verdad de estas cosas, pueden saber por medio de oración y el poder del Espíritu Santo. Si harán, Dios contestará. "Sí, he aquí, hablaré a tu mente y a tu corazón, por medio del Espíritu Santo, que vendrá sobre ti, y morará en tu corazón." (DyC 8:2). Estoy agredicido por la oportunidad a enseñar la gente de Honduras. No puedo compartir verdadamente mis sentimientos sobre mi amor que tengo para la gente, pero puedo sentir estés sentimientos para ellos. Sé que el don de lenguas es verdadero. Estaba estudiando muchas cosas de la idioma estas semanas pasadas. Podría hacer cuatro años en la escuela para aprender estas cosas, pero hemos aprendidolas en cinco semanas solamente. Sé que mi Padre Celestial y mi Salvador y Redentor Jesucristo viven, y les amo mucho. Digo estas cosas en el nombre de Jesucristo, nuestro Salvador, amen.
Elder Lund
CCM 1/23/14 - 1/30/14
Elder Lund--Ready to serve in Honduras!
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