Wow, what a week indeed! Has it really been a week already? I can distinctly remember my P-day last week...and it doesn't feel long ago at all!
So, first exciting news to put in...Elder Skousen and I have Patricio prepared for his baptism this Saturday! Wow! I cannot describe how excited and happy I am for him! To see the changes he has made in his life; from things like forgiving his wife, growing closer to his kids, giving up coffee, you can really see a change in him. He is happier, excited, and takes more time to enjoy life. Erick, well, he is a little tougher to get going. He keeps agreeing to meet with us and says that he feels good and peaceful during our meetings, but then we challenge him to do something and we always get the response that he "forgot." He is a college student and has a lot of homework, but it is always devastating to hear that he isn't praying because he keeps forgetting! So, I challenged him to put his scriptures and the reminder pictures that we give him in a very visible place, like his bed, to remind him that he needs to be doing these things. He is doing good though, he hasn't drank or smoked at parties with his friends for awhile now, and is beginning to gain a testimony.
Elder Skousen and I have had some great teaching experiences. We taught "Maggie" in 5 minutes and had to relate the commandments to a woman who loved to walk. It went fabulously! Another one was we had to teach Ian about how he can know that the Church is true without a doubt in 7 minutes using the First Lesson, and that also went over amazingly! Both of these people were played by my teacher, Hno. Hansen, and he gave us great feedback after each one. But, the best feedback was that, after we taught him as Ian, he told us that some things that we had said to him were actually answers to his prayers. And I felt so incredibly happy after he said that to me, I just wanted to jump up, catch a plane to Honduras, and begin teaching right there.
On Sunday we were instructed on table manners and Etiquette by Hna. Hacking. It was very informative and useful! And her husband, Presidente Hacking talked to us about love and how we must always love everyone by relating stories of love and unlove in his own personal life.
And, the biggest news, was on Tuesday Elder Richard G. Scott came and spoke to us! I was in the choir singing "This is The Christ" (which is an amazing song, everyone in the world so listen to it right now) and getting ready to sing when all the sudden everyone stands up as Richard G. Scott walks into the room. I could immediately feel Pure Love emanating from him. He spoke to us on the Spirit, how to recognize it, how to feel it, and that we HAVE to write down our spiritual promptings. If we don't and we just "think we will remember them," the Lord will feel that we don't truly care about receiving these promptings, and the Lord will begin to withdraw these promptings from us. We also had a big discussion where he asked us several questions and Elders and Sisters at the floor microphones answered. I didn't really listen to the answers of others a lot, but I would write down my own answers and impressions (or if Elder Scott answered, that was an answer from a prophet for Pete's sake!) And, he also told us that "hanging out" with sisters after our mission is "idleness in flocks" and it has no merit, and is a complete waste of time. So, basically he was telling us that marriage is extremely important and will bless us forever. He also talked about how sacred our calls are, and that a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles or the First Presidency has received spiritual confirmation about every single mission call here. That was an incredible blessing of comfort to me.
The Spirit is so strong here, and I cannot believe I have already been here for 7 weeks! Santa vaca! I love the MTC, I love being a missionary, and I LOVE teaching people in Spanish! It is second to none!
Until the next time, my friends and loved ones!
Vaya con Dios!
Elder Tinkham
