So first things first, I've been really bad at keeping a journal. In this area it's been crazy every night, but I'm being transferred to Norwood-Cincinnati Spanish! I'll be attending the Norwood and Cincinnati wards. We covered that before, so I know some things down there, but I'll be exclusively down there! I'm also determined to do better at journal writing. So hopefully I'll be able to convey what I've learned lately with enough clarity.
Oh, and the siblings did end up writing me, it just didn't show up last week, I got a couple that came through today. We don't get our phones for a couple more weeks, but the rollout process is already started, so hopefully it happens soon! They are going to be really useful! I didn't get an SD card, but the replacement flash drive I got can actually plug into phones too! So that's really cool!
It's nice that you all finally got snow! It sounds like President Uchtdorf's talk was also amazing!
Did you get to watch the announcement of the Prophet and new first presidency? We actually did get to watch the whole thing! It was super cool, especially to see how President Nelson handled the questions so well!! I was extremely happy with it, and I'm so excited to testify that those men are prophets of God!
When you get snow, you said it was different than Utah, does it get heavy or powdery or what kind of snow? The snow here mostly just seems to fall different, but it actually is a bit heavier too I think. We haven't really gotten very much "dry" snow, it's all pretty wet. It's actually back almost up to the 60s again, so it's all gone now haha.
How often does it get as cold as you were talking about? This is the first winter in several years that it's been that cold here! It was like that for a little over a month I think? I'm not totally sure, but it's warm again. It would be pretty cold most mornings though!
Have you been able to do anything in Primary? Not in this area, in Kentucky I taught primary a couple times, and it was so fun! We taught the 10 commandments with using a trick to remember them by counting on your fingers. We taught them the trick for 7, but we just didn't explain it. It was a lot of fun, I really love the primary. In this branch they haven't asked for our help though.
Are you getting used to singing the Hymns in Spanish? I can sing them in Spanish, and it's not too weird for me, but I don't have a ton of them memorized in Spanish. In Kentucky I never sang because I played the piano, but I'm getting there out here. A few of the patterns are different, but it's been really fun! Our meetings in Norwood will be in English though.
This week was really cool. We did another 2 exchanges, both of which were really fun. We started with interviews on Tuesday, but President Welch has pneumonia so only Sister Welch came. It was still really great though! Between that, the broadcast, and district meeting, followed by exchanging, our day was eaten up pretty quick!
I was pretty sad about not getting an interview with President Welch, but I had a really cool experience with prayer because of it. I've been trying really hard to have more meaningful prayers, and I've realized that one big thing is how specific we are. We can't have answers without questions. So with the questions I had for President, I asked them to Heavenly Father. It was a really cool experience. I'm trying to do things like that more, especially praying about the scriptures and doctrine so I can understand better. It's a long process, but Preach My Gospel teaches us that how we act is determined by how we pray (page 102 I believe), so I'm working on that a lot. I've also been able to improve my studies tremendously! I now study the Book of Mormon in Spanish, followed by Preach My Gospel, and then the New Testament. I also want to go to the Doctrine and Covenants more. The idea is that because it's so hard to focus for an hour, changing it up with really help me study better. So far it's definitely worked! I'm also trying to really feast upon the words of Christ, the Book of Mormon has become so precious to me! The New Testament has also been really great, I need to make sure I know the life of Christ. It's a process as well, but as I study effectively, I am happier. I relish my study time now, it feels so good. This morning, I was really tempted to go back to bed, it's preparation day after all, but we have a short morning schedule for Mondays, which includes some study time. I had the distinct impression, that if I got up and read the Book of Mormon for 20 minutes, I would be wide awake, and I really should do that. So I did. I love that book so much, and it has blessed me in countless ways. When I read it, my mind isn't cloudy. It's like someone turns off the fog machine and brings out an industrial fan. It's amazing.
On a different note, Thursday morning we went and learned to make tortillas with a recent convert, and she also taught us how to make salsa in a mocajete! I don't know if that's spelled right, but it's those rock bowls that people would grind things in, and it makes really good salsa! ¡Se me enchiló! [I was hooked!] So that was nice. They also showed us how to make molitas, which are basically just a tortilla sandwich, and they had really good guacamole (which has started to grow on me, avocados and guac are pretty good!). I also learned how to make spaetzle on exchanges, that was pretty cool. It's pretty good stuff too! And nice and cheap :)
As far as teaching goes, this week a lot of things fell through, and life was weird as usual. However, a less active family we are working with came to church, and we also had a really nice lesson with them, as well as a family on Sunday that we ate with. We also read the Libro de Mormon with a viejita ciega [a blind elderly woman]. She is super sweet, and her son said he was going to leave, but he ended up staying, and she also wanted to sing hymns with us, which was super cool! I loved singing to her a lot, and she knew a lot of the words by memory. I believe that her son felt the Spirit, he isn't a member. That's a place in Norwood too, so I'll be back there I hope!
We had one potential totally reject us, but because of it I was able to learn a lot! We taught him the Restoration, but he had heard false things in the past, so he was pretty confused, I don't blame him. When you spend your whole life thinking one thing, I'm sure it's pretty hard to figure it back out, especially when you're speaking Spanish, your second language, with some americans who also are speaking Spanish as a second language. The reason I mention this is not because it was a trial, but because I learned a ton! He was a super quiet Guatemalan guy, but as we talked with him we totally got him to open up and talk to us! It got to the point where he didn't want to stop talking! It was really cool, and we also offered some service to him, so hopefully he calls us back sometime. Really the only reason for confusion I think was that he had heard a lot of false things from someone who said they were Mormon, so I think he wasn't quite ready. But it was so cool to see him open up more to us! He has an LDS Bible now too, that's how we met him. Now I'm making this paragraph way too long, but basically it was a really cool experience, though it didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. His house was the one with the lizard :) He's also in Norwood - I think I'm going to a good area!
Sunday was amazing as well. I am continually grateful for the sacrament. After all, that's how we fulfill our part in continuing to live the Doctrine of Christ! It's an amazing blessing and opportunity.
Oh, and Elder Puzey is going to be an assistant now, so that's cool. He got his smartphone yesterday because of that, and we've been enjoying it :)
I love you all so much!
Elder Liddle
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