July 9, 2010 Email
Hola, good to hear from you. No, I haven't got your long letter yet. I will probably get it in about 30 minutes when we go to lunch. We pick up mail twice a day here (actually the DL does, and Elder Tanner is now the DL). We get it after lunch and dinner. Normal mail comes at lunch and then all the dearelders come after dinner.
Spanish is going great. I almost know all the vocab for lesson one! The grammar part and conjugating verbs all the different ways is going ok, but I definitely need to work on that. This week we taught about 5 lessons in Spanish (each over 20 minutes). Most were teaching the first lesson. But tonight is what we have been practicing and preparing for. As you know, Friday is when we go to the TRC. Tonight we will be in a cafe setting, even though it is totally fake and the food will just be laminated pictures, and we have to contact the people we are eating with. So we have to know food vocab and verbs. I'm pretty comfortable with that. And pasta is la pasta, just so ya know. Then we have about 10 minutes to regroup and plan and then we will teach those people lesson 1 in Spanish! Yeah. I actually like teaching in Spanish way better than in English. Spanish is just so much cooler. I'm so excited to be fluent in a few months!
This has mostly been a really good and productive week. I haven't wasted much of the Lord's time at all. I am learning alot from the scriptures. It really helps to study them with a study journal. Just having a notebook open next to you with a pen sitting there shows the Lord that you are ready and willing to learn. Also, we had a sub this week (Hermana Ennor - served in NY and so she knows all the different types of Spanish accents and says Argentina is the prettiest, that's exciting) and she left us with a commitment, to carry around a 3x5 card and write down every impressino, nudging or prompting we receive from the Spirit. It was amazing. The Spirit is trying to speak with us all the time and we just don't realize it or take the time to listen. So doing that made me realize that the Spirit wants to help us and we just need to listen.
I found 2 other scriptures you could put on my plaque. Alma 56:44 or 2 Nephi 2:8 up until the word Messiah. I am learning what it really means to be a Missionary. My thoughts before the mission were whimsical and only partly accurate. It is not until one goes on a mission until he/she (Amanda! you're coming soon!) really understands what it means to be a Missionary. A true servant of the Most High God. This Gospel is so amazing. Jesus Christ is the ONLY way we can be saved. Jesucristo is the answer. It is so cool being here at the MTC (I can imagine Argentina will be better though). Everyone says there is an amazing spirit here, but to tell you the truth, we don't really feel it - we are living it and so it is just always with us I guess. But don't get me wrong, there are certainly times here where you feel like you will explode with joy. There are times when you KNOW the Lord is with you. For example, yesterday, or 2 days ago maybe, while we were teaching, I had maybe a 30 second rif where I was speaking Spanish, but I didn't even have to think about conjugating or anything. It just came. And I realize that is the Spirit and the Lord helping me. It was so cool to realize that He was helping me!
Wow time is flying! It really seems like just yesterday I was sitting here typing to you. At the same time . . . . 3 more weeks! Dang. Can't it just be one more week?
Tuesday we had an Awesome fireside. We had pretty good seats like normal. . . . and an Emeritus 70 spoke . . . Dellenbach. It was just the best, you have no idea. He talked about Joseph Smith and the translation of the Book of Mormon. Wow! It normally takes the church 5 years to translate the Book of Mormon into another language. But it took Joseph Smith, a man with next to no education, 70 or so days to translate a 531 page book of an unknown language. And on top of that, he still had a family to care for, a living to make. It was amazing. The Book of Mormon is a MILAGRO! I love it so much. It contains the fullness of Christ's Gospel and nobody can deny that. (Something awesome I learned is that Ammoron . . . well just look at his name - A Moron. That's sweet!)
Next p-day our Zone has the opportunity to help clean the temple. That's about all I know but we are all super excited for it! And also, we get our flight plans in about 2 weeks! Wow, will that just be the best day of my life or what!! Also, thanks for the Krispy Kremes. They were so so good. And I don't really care about sports at all so no need to send me updates on anything. And today I am mailing a letter home about the 4th of julio.
It is so beautiful here. I love these mountains so much. I marvel EVERY TIME I see them and I just love to look up into the heavens and think that a Loving God created all this for us. And He created US! So sweet.
No I am not dominating the Europeans in soccer. They are so good, but yesterday I played some basketball and absolutely owned. I mean I was faking people out and even draining three's.
It is great to be a missionary! Everyone should come on a mission!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have only been here one month and my missino already means the world to me. I wouldn't trade it for anything. If someone has the chance to serve a mission and doesn't take it, they are a fool. They just don't know what they are missing I guess. I love being a Missionary!!!!!
I love you all,
Thanks for all of your support,
Love Always,
Elder Ostler
12 years ago
