Plan of Salvation

Hola,

This week has been busy for sure. This week I have been thinking a lot about the amount of Spanish I have learned since I have been here. It is crazy. I have learned a ton being here. I still have a lot more to learn that is for sure! 

Last week I had the opportunity to go to the temple for the second time. It was awesome because it was all in Spanish and I understood most of it. Today is my first full Pday, it is awesome! Feels so nice to have a full Pday. 

This week I have definitely learned so much. It has been so cool because I have gained even a greater knowledge of my Savior and this gospel. We have had several devotionals on how to be a successful missionary. I have definitely learned the importance of studying as I have gone through the CCM. It feels like I study 24 hours, it seriously does. I memorized D&C Section 4 in Spanish this week and read the whole book titled Our Search For Happiness. Elder Ballard explains this gospel perfectly and simply. One thing that I have gained a greater testimony on is the Plan Of Salvation or the Plan Of Happiness! It is truly a perfect plan. We had the opportunity to have President Bennett study with us Saturday night and it was so cool. Every time he talks I learn something new. He talked about the Premortal Life and how important it is. The Premortal Life literally shaped the choices we made in this life. Satan was trying to distract others from this other plan but it is such a perfect plan that it can not be beat. Satan likes to use discouragement and wants you to think that you are not as good as others. That is what he wants you to think. I have really learned to not compare myself to others and to have a vision. Everyone needs to have a vision and goals and stick to them. Don´t get discouraged, that is what Satan wants. The coolest thing that he said that hit me with the Spirit hard was when he quoted Brigham Young. He said, "After this life the most surprising thing will be how familiar the Savior and Heavenly Father look." That is so cool to think about because we become so close with our Savior and Father that they become familiar. We look to them for help. They give us so much more than we could ever give back to them. I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve as a full time missionary for the Lord, to build his army and to be an instrument in his hands. That is so cool to me and I want to be the best missionary I can so I can help others to have the opportunity to come unto him. it is so cool to think about especially as I get ready to head out into the field. 

This week has been pretty much the same everyday but we got to teach with our Latino companions. In fact they actually taught us this time. My companion´s name is Elder Pedroza. His spanish is amazingly fast and hard to understand sometimes. It was funny because we were teaching Elder McGinley, my actual companion, and he was talking so fast and McGinley´s jaw dropped as soon as he started talking. I could not help but laugh. It was so funny! He looked so lost. I love teaching with the Latinos though, they are so funny. 

Oh my okay, the funniest thing happened this week. So Elder McGinley was going through the stuff he didn´t unpack from his suitcase and he found a jacket. He was so excited because he thought he did not have a jacket. He puts it on all excited and it was so small. Oh my it was so funny, I thought he was going to rip it open. Turns out that he bought a kids XL instead of an adult. It was so funny! He was running around trying to rip it. Not only does he have a tiny umbrella, he has a tiny jacket haha. 

We started teaching each other in the district too this week. We have taught a lot but it makes me so excited for the field. Oh also, every Saturday we get to teach TRC. TRC is where we get to teach actual investigators, so we taught this grandma and hr grandson. It was so cool because we actually taught a real investigator and I could understand everything she said. Oh my it was so cool, I can not wait for the field. These people are awesome!!

This week was really good and I have learned a lot but still got a lot more Spanish to learn. There is so much grammar in Spanish I feel like and different tenses. The CCM is so nice but I keep looking out thinking how much I can´t wait to get out there. 

-Elder McCain