Life is wonderful here in the good ole MTC. This week has been pretty darn fantastic.
I hope my BYU Cougars did well yesterday, I could hear some cheering in the stadium, which was pretty cool, but I wasn't able to interpret how we were doing.
I met my other teachers this week. Hermano Litzenburger y Hermano Barnard. They are pretty awesome. I got to teach each of them a discussion plus I had a few extra discussions with my other teacher, Hermano Miller. It's really fun but also a bit frustrating to teach in Spanish. I've gotten a lot better at it though. For the most part I don't translate what I'm going to say in my head anymore I just say it. That's not to say I'm anywhere near fluent though, my vocabulary is pretty limited and I still have to think about how to conjugate the verbs. El don de lenguas is true though, I'm really learning fast. One of the best parts about teaching in a foreign language is how much we have to rely on the Spirit to help us. In reality nobody can be a successful teacher without it, but its a little easier to be humble enough to recieve it when you know you can't adequately explain what you want to. Sometimes I even say to my investigators something like, "I know I can't speak Spanish very well, but I know this gospel is true and I know that you can know it too."...at least I think that's what I'm saying... haha. It's amazing how the Spirit is working through us. I love feeling it testify to the meager message I'm sharing in Spanish and making my words powerful, I know it's real.
I'm also loving all the sweet talks and lessons I get to hear. All three of my teachers are amazing. They have taught me so much about our purpose as missionaries and how to share the gospel effectively. I would love to teach here when I come back but that's a long way off. This Tuesday Elder Perkins of the Seventy came to speak to us. He talked about how to have power as missionaries and it has really been helping me out. I got to sing in the choir at that devotional, we sang "Jesus Once of Humble Birth" it's a winner. The highlight of my week though was listening to a talk Elder Bednar gave on Christmas day last year in the MTC. It's called "The Character of Christ." I hope you are able to watch it because it is amazing!
(Note from Wendy: I wasn't able to find a link to the video, but I was able to find this link to the talk)
(If you ever feel the need to be humbled it's a good one haha. He talked about waiting patiently on the Lord, because this isn't our work, it's His. He also told some stories of some Christlike people who when the natural man would have them turn in and take time to themselves they turned outward to help others. One of them was a Relief Society president in Elder Bednar's stake in Arkansas who on the day of her teenage daughter's funeral got a call from an entitled feeling sister with a cold chewing her out because no one had brought her any meals. This Relief Society president humbly apologized, and on the way to the funeral service dropped of some homemade soup at the house of this sister. I was pretty impressed, I've got a long way to go...
Sorry, I'm running out of time.
I've been trying to think of a spiritual thought for you this week. Here is what I've got: umm...read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. I don't care if you've read it 100 times or 0 times. Every time we read that book our minds are opened to the truthfulness of the gospel. I know its true. It changes lives.
I love you all! Keep on truckin'!
Elder Clark Roth
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