Week Two

To start off my email this week I would like to tell you all something that I find very aggravating but pleases me as well. It is really hard to write in English. I leave out random letters because the Spanish word is sometimes very closely spelled, and I think it is kind of annoying but cool. :)

We actually lost another elder, although he just got transferred to the Spain MTC. My district is now eight elders going to Reynosa, and one going to Irvine California (Elder B).

I still teach the lessons basically by myself, although my companions will: one, chime in if there is a pause and say "tiene preguntas por nosotros?" (Elder H) and the other one (Elder B) doesn't understand anything we are saying, so will jump in at random times and talk about things we have A) already discussed and the investigator refuses to do, or B) non sequitur in a huge way.

I have already started finding joy, and I am incredibly happy to be here. Like I said in my other letter, I am having no problems learning Spanish. It's like when there should be a wall somewhere, and you know there is a wall, but you can walk right through it with no difficulty. That is how I feel anyway. I have a lot of words down now, and know preterit and future conjugations of all normal verbs. I don't know future form of verbs that change though. I'm so grateful for the help of the spirit! I am doing really great here. I know that I have been blessed with the gift of tongues, and I am very grateful for that.

Mom, you asked me why my companion was having trouble with Spanish, and you might think this is very funny. Be prepared, Ready? Alright, here goes. He was born and raised in Montpelier Idaho. He spent his childhood working on a farm, and his summers working with potatoes. In high school, he ran track and wrestled. He is also the tallest person in his family, at a whopping 5'5. I thought that was funny, because a lot of the things about him match with Dad, although he isn't super smart, so Dad has him beat there. It's been interesting dealing with him, because it's like talking to a less mature version of Dad. He has an terrible accent, and listening to him butcher Spanish makes everyone's day better. He is getting better, though. We are trying to teach him that a 'r' sounds like a 'd', all vowels always sound the same, things like that to cut his accent. He is kind of a stick in the mud, though.

My other companion is a tall, skinny guy who is just hilarious. We have two new teachers, Hermano Z and Hermano C. Z is kind hard, and Elder H makes fun of sayings of his all the time. Z says things like "Elderes" "No siento para mi, Usted siento para Dios," and he has this scripture that he points at when we ask questions he thinks are stupid. It is Luke 22:42 [Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.]. C is really nice. He is our favorite teacher.

We had the opportunity to teach a member in TRC, which I think stands for Training Resource Center. Members who wish to have spiritual experiences come onto the campus and have small discussions with missionaries in their language in order to help missionaries get a feel for people. We taught Hermana A, and it was amazing. I felt the spirit so strongly while talking to her, and she was really a great person. Also, my companions actually helped me on that one.

In addition to TRC, we teach discussions every day to fake investigators. I do almost all of the talking still, but my companions are getting better.

I have received so many blessings here, and I am loving this experience so far. Our days are pretty jam packed, don't have any extra time. I get to visit the temple every week, which is just great. Last week was great, some of my friends got to participate in sealings for two hours.

Every week we get to attend two huge devotionals. I've had spiritual experiences at all of them. I think I've taught like twenty discussions now, and I really am very glad to be here.

Glad to hear everyone is getting back into the grooves of their lives. I love you all, have a nice week. Talk to you later everyone.

Sincerely,
Elder Scott