Sent: Monday, December 08, 2014 8:53 AM

So this week went pretty quick and uneventful. Our teaching pool is pretty tiny still because we are had those baptisms a few weeks back so just about all our efforts are going into finding new people to teach. It's hard to because no one is outside anymore because it is getting cold so it's definitely a little harder to find people to talk to. But all is going well so it's all OK!

 

The other day we helped a member to dig a super long trench. It was great fun. 500ft long and 6 inches deep. We finished it in about 2 hours which I thought was pretty good because it was just Elder Spencer and I doing the digging. The member we were helping has cerebral palsy so he wasn't able to do any digging at all. He's an awesome guy though. And we got some good exercise so that is just a bonus.

 

There's a scripture I read this week that has been on my mind a lot lately. Its Jacob 3:1 which says "But behold, I, Jacob, would speak unto you that are pure in heart. Look unto God with firmness of mind, and pray unto him with exceeding faith, and he will console you in your afflictions,and he will plead your cause, and send down justice upon those who seek your destruction." The parts that I put in bold are the parts that really interest me. There is a promise made to us from God that if we do two things 1) Look to God 2) Pray in faith then he will do two things for us 1) Console us 2) Plead our cause. There's a lot that you can take from that but for me I think it's super important to recognize that every time we do something for God he blesses us in return. Every single time. No exceptions. I love that we have a loving God who wants to do everything for us but allows us to grow by letting us stumble through our trials until we truly rely on him for strength.

 

Mom asked about speaking Spanish. I speak Spanish about once a week here. We visit a recent convert, Marco Cruz, and cook lunch with him every Tuesday and then share a message with him. So I get a nice 1.5-2 hours of Spanish in every week. Not much but at least it keeps me from forgetting it completely. And we get good authentic Mexican food as well so you can't beat that. I know how to make Horchata from scratch now too. Marco is teaching me well :)

 

That's about it for the week. Like I said, it wasn't super exciting at all. This week we have a mission-wide conference on Wednesday so that'll be super fun. Every missionary in the mission will be there and each zone will sing a Christmas song and all that good stuff. Should be a blast so I'm looking forward to it.

 

Well I love you all! Have a great week!

 

     -Elder Nyholm