Decisions Determine Destiny

Howdy y'all!

 

Hope everyones doing well.  We're going to the big city market tomorrow so I'm emailing Monday instead of Tuesday.  Apparently it's pretty awesome and like out of a movie just cause it's so busy and what not. 

 

I've basically been here a month now.  Pretty nuts.  I already feel like I've learned so many lessons and I still have 23 more months to go!

 

So it's only been like 4 days since my last email cause of the weird scheduling but a few funny stories from this week... One was I was by the front desk and President Cox (the MTC president) was right there.  This Sister missionary came up to the front desk to ask for 2 envelopes and for whatever reason she thought "cervezas" was envelopes.  "Dos cervesas por favor"... she asked for 2 beers right in front of president and he kinda just laughed.  She's super ditsy which made it funnier jaja

 

Another one was while talking to the Latinos in our room we were talking about money and I said "Tiene un dalor de Honduras", asking him if he had money from Honduras but I really said "Did you bring the pain of Honduras" because dalor is pain not dollar.... so they just looked at me super weird until we figured it out lol.

 

We also had people on the street outside walking by with torches and shooting guns in the air.. like 40 of them so that was 'interesting'  as well as people riding out of the windows and on top of cars.  Apparently it's a tradition when they graduate high school and completely normal... jaja

 

These last two weeks have absolutely flown by, so much faster than the first two and in two weeks I'm going to be out of here with a Latino companion who doesn't speak any English and trying to teach the gospel in a language I still don't know very well, though I have to say I know way more in 4 weeks than I ever thought I would. 

 

I'm also constantly tired from lack of sleep and have been sick basically the whole time I've been here and although I have made some awesome friends it's still very lonely a lot of the time being so far away from my family.  But no matter how sad or lonely I feel, I know there is one that has been much lonelier than I.  I've been thinking so much about The Atonement and crucifiction of Jesus Christ lately.  How lonely must he have felt in his last moments?  One of his apostles betrayed him with a kiss on the cheek.  One of his most beloved apostles, Peter, denied him three times.  While his apostles were all suppose to be watching his back while he bled from every pore and suffered so much pain that it's incomprehensible to the human mind, they all fell asleep.  And as he is carrying his cross through the streets on his back, he even felt as his father had forgotten him. "O God, Why hast thou forsaken me?"  How lonely he must have been... My trials and tribulations are different from anyone else's but I know that there is one who has suffered for me and my sins and knows exactly to the T how I am feeling.  So who am I to complain?  He is always there to listen to my prayers and help me through those trials.  I try to think about Christ and his sacrifice now every time before I commit a sin and if I commit that sin I'm contributing to the pain he felt in Gethsemane.  I know that Jesus is my Savior and I love him with all of my heart.  And I know that he is there for all of us whenever we need him.  How great a blessing that is...

 

Anyways, didn't have much to write this week but hopefully next week I'll have some cool stuff to write about since we're going to the market and a few other cool things this week.

 

"Decisions Determine Destiny" Thomas S. Monson.

 

Elder Gurksnis