Hey Guys!
i cant believe how fast this week went by! i honestly feel like i just was
here writing you guys just a moment ago! Well this week has been a busy one. we
have been studying hard and learning so much! the teachers here are fantastic
and will help you with anything! haha so much for taking spanish in school...i
already have learned more than i did in those 2 years of spanish classes. hahaha
oh well. well to start....thank you to all those who wrote me dear elder
letters! i think i was the most envied elder here in the ccm! hahaha they were
so awesome! so keep them coming because i can actually have those on hard paper
instead of just looking for an hour on the internet! well lets see...everything
has been going great here in peru! it is so good to hear that everything back
home is going so great! Well the violin opp...(i guess that is what it is being
called now)...went awesome! haha hermana cardon and i practiced like only 2
times prior and she didnt give me the music to practice....not like i have any
time to practice anyways....so i was a little nervous to begin with. we started
out playing prelude music and idk i was kinda nervous...you know the branch
presidency and the area presidency and 150 missionaries looking at you. idk i
was nervous but prelude went well. after the opening hymn and prayer we did our
special muscial number. i said a prayer asking heavenly father to please calm my
heart and allow my fingers to play so that i could bear my testimony through my
music. we stood up and all my nervousness went away and we played. it was so
beautiful and it truely brought the spirit. our accompianist cried while playing
and it just was a fantastic moment on the violin. Mom and dad, i want to thank
you with everything that my heart posses that i am grateful to the both of you
for making me play the violin. i am so sorry for all the hard times i gave you
to practice and all the grief that i gave you saying that i hated it and wanted
to quit. i know that the lord has blessed me with the ability to play so that i
can touch the hearts of the people here through my music. dad you were absoutely
right...the violin truely does bring the spirit. i am so grateful and honored
that i can play the violin. Faith and jacob....You dont ever quit playing. in
highschool i sometimes thought it to be a burden and that it got in the way of
my sports. it never did though. i loved playing in the symphony and i love
playing it now. i wish i had time to practice here! so thank you mom and dad.
you guys are awesome! well anyways i did get to meet Elder and hermana johnson
for the first time! they brought me some contraband chocolate chip cookies! haah
they are so good! idk i instantley recognized them when i saw them and we hit it
off so great! i know it was the first time that i have ever meet them but i love
them! they work in the next building over from the ccm and we arent allow out of
the walls so idk if i will get to see them again. but they are so awesome! idk
it was just nice to talk to someone about my family and they obviously knew
grandma and grandpa birtcher and it was really comforting just to be with family
here. i loved it so much! umm...what else happened this week? oh our district
did an all day spanish marathon! no inglés! haha it was so good! i was able to
express everything that i wanted to say to people and i learned so much! the
spanish is getting really good actually...however...when i think i am getting
good, i talk to the latino elders here and then feel bad again. haaha so much
work still to come but i am excited to get out into the field and share this
gospel. on tuesday elder grow of the 70 came and spoke to us. it was an amazing
talk and i truely felt the spirit in what he was saying was true! he talked a
lot about investigator and reactivating converts. i dont have time to give all
the details but it was an amazing talk! and guess who is going to be here on
Sunday??? Elder cook of the quorum of the 12! haha we are so excited around here
because it is just going to be us small group of missionaries and him! so
excited to hear what he has to say to us! Well i love being a missionary! I just
eat up personal study time and have learned so much in this short time. i am
learning about so many new things in the book of mormon that i cant believe i
didnt see in reading it before the mission. i love reading about the missionary
work among the lamanites becasue that is what my duty and role is now. to go and
preach and bring the restoration of the gospel of jesus christ back to the
lamanites! i am so honored to be a representative of jesus christ. i testify
that the book of mormon is true. it is the most correct of any book on the face
of this earth and if you sincerely read it you will come closer to your savior
jesus christ faster than any other way! i know it is true with everything that
my heart possess. i have truely been learning a lot on how to adhere to the
spirits promptings. idk. i get these thoughts or impressions to bear my
testimony or share experiences that i have had either with missionaries or
investigators and it is exactly what they needed to hear! open your mouths and
the lord with fill it! may we all open our mouths and preach the precious truths
of this gospel to everyone we see and meet! this place is truely a spiritual
place. i have felt it so strongly and just yearn for more and more every day!
haha i just love being a missionary....if you couldnt already tell.
and that is pretty much it for this week! classes going good, soccer skills
improving, feeling the spirit so strongly....couldnt ask for anything more! We
are about to leave here for the temple and then get to go mess around in the
city for a couple of hours! hahaah it is so fun!
I love you all so much! i miss you and can wait to hear from you!
Till next week!
1-4-3
Elder Birtcher
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