Dear Family and Friends,
First off, thank you for the package. I love all the treats
and the luggage tags look great. And yes mom I got my hair cut the day after
Jake arrived and i would have sooner except I had to wait until P-Day. Also,
Elder Kjar and I have moved rooms. 4 missionaries in our district left for Peru
on Tuesday but Elder Bunker did not get his Visa. Elder Kjar and I are now in a
trio with him so we moved into his room but its right next door to the room we
used to have so it wasn't a big deal. Also, thank you to everyone who has been
sending me DearElders. I am in the process of writing everyone back but I dont
have a lot of time so it might take a while. I can't believe it has been three
weeks already because the days go by like weeks but the weeks go by like
days. I love it here but I am ready to be in Mexico. Estoy hablando español
perfectamente ahora y no puedo esperar a servir el pueblo de Mexico. Thats a
joke because obviously I am still a gringo and I cant say and understand much
unless I talk with white people.
Yesterday, my companions and I made a goal to only speak
spanish which I did for most of the day. At lunch I saw Elder Bramwell and was
talking to him in Spanglish about the temple and a Latino missionary approached
me because I was speaking spanish and he asked where I was serving and I said
Mexico and he is serving in northern Mexico. He is from Columbia. After that
short conversation, he started speaking in the spanish that I havent learned
meaning way fast and I told him I dont understand anything. He laughed and just
said hasta luego but at least I have the basics down already.
Yesterday I had another neat experience. We were teaching
Alberto about the Word of Wisdom and I had a thought to talk about something
else. I thought that it was just an idea and not the spirit so I didnt change
our lesson plan. Right after that I basically forgot all my parts and how to
speak Spanish. I talked with Hermano Peck (Alberto) after the lesson about this
experience and he told me that those thoughts are the spirit. He shared a
similar experience of being in Mexico and not following a prompting which
resulted in him forgetting spanish as well. I learned a few things from this.
First, don't ignore promptings of the spirit even if you don't know they are
from the spirit. Second, the gift of tongues is real but I have to put in my
part by working hard and teaching by the spirit. Later, we went to TRC which is
where we practice our spanish with member volunteers and we share a short
message. Our message was on prayer. As we were talking with our first
volunteer, I felt i should share the story of Enos so I did as best I could and
as I bore testimony that will faith in Christ God will answer our prayers, the
spirit poured into my heart and into the room. Then in our second visit with
another volunteer we talked with a man about his mission and then shared a
short message. As I shared my testimony of prayer, I felt the same spirit
again. My whole chest felt warm and tingly and I know without a doubt that the
spirit confirmed to me that I will be blessed when I follow the promptings of
the spirit and that Heavenly Father will help us if we just pray to him with
faith.
Last week, I worked with one of the teachers during
"coaching missionary study." During it, he told me to look ahead two
years and see the missionary I want to be at the end of my mission and the man
I want to become for the rest of my life. I realized I want to return home
where the gospel is by far the most important thing in my life with Jesus
Christ at the center of my life. I want my greatest desire to be to serve
others always and bring people the happiness of the gospel. I don't want to
look back and share stories about how great my mission was but I want to keep
doing missionary work when I get home. God loves everyone on this earth equally
and I want to bring people back to Him. I picture the smile on Christ's face
when someone repents and is baptized into this church. There is no greater
feeling than making my Savior happy since I have already caused Him so much
pain. Christ sees my potential and I know the mission will help put me on the
path to reach that potential because it has already started to.
If you have not watched the Mormon Message titled "A
Father Indeed" please do. That is a humble priesthood man. I hope someday
I can be like Bill.
The first week or so I never really saw much messing around
here, but now I have seen what Elder Remmington was talking about. He is right
that I should not judge others but it is sad to see people waste the Lord's
time. Furthermore, I am not doing anything for myself here in the MTC. Sure I
am learning a lot and my testimony has grown a ton, but I am studying and
learning for the people in Mexico. I want to enter the field ready so that I
don't miss out on any oppportunity to bring a child of God back into his fold.
I don't want any Mexican family to approach me after the resurrection and say,
"Elder Lythgoe, why didnt you try harder in the MTC. We were ready to hear
your message but you werent ready to share it" That would be awful, so I
am working hard every day so I can bless the lives of people in Mexico. I love
this gospel and I love this work. I want to share my testimony in spanish. If I
make mistakes I'm sorry but hopefully that doesnt matter and you feel the
spirit behind its message.
Yo se que Dios nos ama mucho y quiere ayudar nosotros. Dios
quiere oir de nosotros y podemose recibir revalacion por medio oriacione y el
Espiritu Santo. JesuCrist ha sufrido mucho por nuestros pecados y amo my Salvador.
Este evangelio es verdadero y estoy agredecido por la oportunidad a servir la
iglesia de JesuCristo. Siento fortaleza caundo pienso sobre mi Redentor.
I love you. Thank you for all the support and love.
Love,
Elder Lythgoe
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