Still learning and growing

Hey Family!

It has been good to hear from you. It actually didn’t even faze me that this next Sunday is Mother’s Day until the other elders started calling me and asking me about phone cards and phone numbers and all that good stuff. I’m excited to talk to you. It will be weird though since it is the last time that I will talk to you until I actually see you again. Weird, right? I don’t like thinking about it. I almost feel afraid to finish the mission because I know that I still have so much to do.

Things in the areas are looking up. We had one of our investigators that we have been working with for a long while finally go to church this Sunday. We also pulled off a pretty sweet activity with some members and investigators in the home of a family in Monteros. The familia Orellana is so cool, they help us out in every way possible, not just with the work but they look after our health, make sure that we are eating good, and all in all just help raise the animo. The activity we did with their help was a lesson from the Teachings of the Prophet Joseph F. Smith manual. We talked about supporting leaders, both general and local, and for the investigators we spoke about the importance of the power of the priesthood in our lives and the effect that it has on us as we pay attention to the prophet and heed his words. I think that it turned out really well actually. Then afterwards we played a little game and did caramel corn for refreshments. I successfully burned my figure with boiling sugar, but luckily one of the daughters in the family is a nurse so she fixed it up. Don’t worry, it’s nothing. They also have a son/brother that is serving a mission in Chile.

As for Elder Castro and I, we are doing well. We have realized that we are running out of things to talk about a bit when we are in the street, so sometimes we walk in silence. That gives me some time to reflect and think about what I am doing and things that I need to improve on. I feel like I have learned a lot in the mission, but it is still my problem that I forget about things easily in the moment and don’t realize or remember until later. For example, every time I do something that I should do, in the moment I say to myself, “no, don’t worry about it” and then later I think about it again and say to myself “why did I do that if every time I do that I feel bad afterwards.” We are like that sometimes as humans, no? We are a bit slow on the learning curve. Things are good though, there are still things that I am working on improving and I have the goal to have dropped certain bad habits or developed certain attributes before the end of the mission. I guess that is why the thought of ending the mission scares me when I think to myself that maybe I won’t be able to meet those goals in the time I have. Six months really is nothing when it comes to life goals. I took a lot of the lessons that Mom and Dad taught me as a kid for granted and am coming back to learn them now only this time it is a little harder. I like that scripture though and I think that Mom and Dad did a spectacular job, the scripture in Proverbs 22:6 that says “Train up a child in that way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” I think about the future and say that I hope such and such a thing doesn’t happen or I hope I can do a certain thing in my future, but it all depends on now really.

There is no better time than the mission to improve your character as President Northcutt told me last conference. I want to take advantage of all the time that I have. I ask for your prayers on my behalf in being able to meet the goal that I have set for myself because I feel that it really will be the turning point in my life. I know that in the end it depends on me and my desire to fulfill my objective, but I know that your prayers have worked miracles in my missionary service and I know that they still will.

The talk that was given in conference about priesthood blessings was way good and I think the principle applies in this case; that the ordinance (let it be a priesthood blessing or a prayer on behalf of a person) may be performed with all the faith possessed by a person, but if the one on the receiving end of that ordinance does not have reciprocal faith or it is not the will of the Lord, the thing won’t be fulfilled. I know that the goal I have set is the will of the Lord for me because I have asked him and I want to do it. I ask for your help.

As for everything else going on here, things are just chipper! They are tearing down the place we live wall by wall and building it up again :) so that is fun and I am trying to keep the smile on. Every time I see that written in one of your emails I smile, it brings back memories from when Alyssa Dickson told dad that she would stop using flip flops in church if he would smile and many other fun memories. I Love you all. I miss you. I am doing well so don’t worry about me too much. Keep on praying and reading the scriptures. I never heard dad’s update to see if you ever finished the Book of Mormon. I’m sure you did. Well. Talk to you later.
Ciao
Elder Rose