Thursday, September 5, 2013

September 5, 2013 Hello Everyone!

Hello Everyone!


What a great week this has been down in good ole peru. where to start....well it has been pretty much the same schedule with the studies and teaching so i guess i will have to hit on the highlights these week. I did get to play the violin again on sunday with hermana cardon and an elder haacke! we were the trio violin group and it turned out really well. the spirit was felt and we got many compliements for our playing. im gonna say it again but i am so grateful for sticking with the violin. it truely brings the spirit and i really enjoy playing it. i just never have time for it! haha we have such a busy schedule here.

one thing that i want to share is my experience that i had on sunday. of course it was fast sunday and as i was thinking about what i would fast for i fasted for 1. how could i gain a stronger testimony of my savior jesus christ and 2. to help me have the gift of tongues and help me understand spanish quicker and 3. to have a spiritual day. so the day started out like normal and we had church and all our meetings and nothing that i had fasted for really had happened. i was content i guess thinking that it was up to me to learn spanish and gain a testimony and that the lord was holding off helping me until i had shown a little bit more work however...we got to watch a dvd of a talk given by elder david a bednar and he talked on exactly how someone should gain a stronger testimony of their savior and gave ways to do it!! i couldnt believe it. that talk is probably one of my most favorite talks i have ever heard. i really love listening to our prophets and apostles speak and i encourage you all to go and watch his talk! it was given dec. 25, 2011 by elder bednar in the provo mtc. such a powerful message and i really learned a lot from it. it also taught me how to be the kind of missionary the lord wants me to be. i felt the spirit so strong and i absoultely think that that talk was especially for me...even though the whole ccm probably thought it was for them too. anyways so numbers 1 answered. we went to dinnner following the dvd and afterwards had our fireside where i played the violin. all our firesides are in spnaish and they give the norte americanos headphones for translation but i felt that i shouldnt use it this time. i understood the whole meeting. i couldnt believe it. and they would ask questions and i would answer in spanish and it would be the right answers. the spirit was so strong in their too!! so number 2 answered! and then looking back on the day what a spiritual day...number 3 answered. the lord truely does answer our prayers and he knows our concerns and desires. i really felt the lords love for me and gained a testimony that the lord will help his missionaries and anyone who has a willing heart and wants to come unto their savior. i love my savior. he lives and wants us to come unto him through faith and repentence. i have been reading jesus the chirst and am half way through it! what a powerful book and i have learned more about my savior than i ever thought i would. i encourage all to read james e. talmages words for they testify of our savior. so that was my all time spiritual moment for the week!

We also had a fireside on tuesday which was excellent as well from the area president. Well we leave here on tuesday morning! holy cow this has gone by so fast! i have really enjoyed being here in the ccm and have made so many great friends and have learned so much. i will be really sad to leave here! i am really excited to get down to arequipa but very nervous as well because of the language. i can understand it most of the time but the peruvians speak very fast and very quiet which is somehting that i will have to get used to. but i trust in the lord and know that through him all things are possible. we actually get to go proselyting again on saturday which will be interesting because it is just elder ellsworth and i and no teacher this time! the two gringos get to go and try to preach the gospel. pray for us!

But today has been an excellent day! we got up and got our laundry done and had breakfeast and we had a little free time before our 10:30 temple session so yes, mom, i did finally get those nice new strings on! it sounds beautiful! i actually was just sitting on my top bunk playing for almost a half an hour today! the whole upstairs was poking their heads in, hahah even the janitors and complementing and all wish i would have done it more often. but i enjoyed it and it brought the spirit which put us all in the right mindset for the temple. we went to the temple and it was a great session. i love the lima temple down here. such great people work in it and it is so beautiful. so blessed to have been able to go and be in the house of the lord every pday. yes had some more crazy bus rides but we got to go shopping and pick up all the last minute things that we need before the field. and we have been taking lots of pics to remember everyone before we all go our seperate ways. its a good thing that almost all are going ot byu after the mission...so it wont be the last time we see each other! oh so i told you that we had an elder here from az who went to red mnt. and yeah we talk smack....but we got the new wave of elders and hermanas and one is from az, queen creek and she knows max nelson! she also knows basically all my friends so we have fun talking it up! and i also got to meet my seminary partner´s grandparents who are down here! haha such a small world!!

Till next week in Arequipa!

1-4-3


Elder Weston Birtcher

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