Week 3: Improving

Hola mi familia

Wow that's a really cool story...thanks for sharing that with me [referring to an experience I (mom) had sent to him]. An instrument in the Lord's hands is something that I am striving to become, because that is the only way I will be truly effective on my mission. And I don't care how you address my letters, anyway is totally fine [we had asked him if we should address his letters to “Justin” or some variation:) or to “Elder Peacock”].

  Anyways, I had another good week in the MTC. Thanks to all those who sent me letters, I really enjoy them. Also, thank you Grandma Nancy for the giant package with the two bags of chips and queso. It was awesome, haha everyone loved it in the District. And salty food is just what I needed since I´m up to my waist in sweets haha.

 

 

[This is what Grandma Nancy sent last week…]

 

 

 

So, for our TRC this week, we picked our "investigator" up for church, walked with him to the bus station, and then on the "bus" we got to know about his family, and what he did during the week. Then we followed up on his commitment to read 3 Nephi Ch 11. All in Spanish. Then after that, we returned to his home and taught him Lesson 2, which is the Plan of Salvation. I think it went well, and my Spanish is getting better every single day....still can't really roll my R's though....hopefully that will come soon.

As for our progressive investigator, Hermano Milne, AKA "Julio," we taught him 2 or 3 times this past week. He is still struggling with faith in the atonement and he doesn’t think that he can repent of things that he has done because he doesn’t think that he is good enough. We have a lesson for him tomorrow focused on faith and how he can put his trust in the atonement, so hopefully that will work. It is focused on Ether 12...which is an amazing chapter on faith.

Yesterday, Elder Jacobs and I went to a Teaching Evaluation (TE), which is basically just a tutor you can sign up for. We sat down with the teacher and worked on getting to know people better in English, so that we can know and address their needs. We also worked on good ways to bring up Baptism in the first discussion, which is something I was struggling with. It went great and I learned a lot. Right After, we signed up for another appointment in 2 weeks (it's hard to schedule) because we liked it so much.

On a sadder note, the two Elders in our district that are going to Peru left yesterday for the MTC in Peru. They were also the other Elders in my room, so it's just me and Elder Jacobs now. It's so empty. To be honest, they were the two Elders I was the closest with. They were both really cool and just fun to hang out with. Their names are Elder Hunt and Elder McKeachnie. I miss them but I know that they will be great in Peru. They are both spiritual giants and great missionaries. The good news is Elder McKeachnie goes to Utah Valley University and Elder Hunt is thinking of going to BYU so I can definitely catch up with them after our missions. After they left, Elder Jacobs and I promptly claimed their desk and beds, since the desk is bigger and they are both not right next to the door...clearly a better situation haha.

Another thing that happened yesterday was that I got called into the doctors office. Apparently they thought from my mission papers that I had had knee surgery and they wanted to check up on it...I have definitely not had knee surgery I told them, just a bad knee. So, My 45 minute waste of time to the doctors office was just so they could lecture me on being careful with my knee. The doctor even advised me that i shouldn’t play ANY competitive sports....Please give me a break. I have been playing with this bad knee since 8th grade, I don't think anything that serious is going to happen to it while I am playing volleyball....where we don't even keep score. The total disorder in the doctor’s office reminded me of Dad and how he gets mad at how unorganized the streets are in Santa Clarita...haha Love you Dad. There was a positive that came out of this whole ordeal though, they weighed me and I found out that I have lost 2 lbs...which I just cannot figure out when I think about how much food I eat throughout the day and when I think about the fact that I only exercise for like 45 minutes 5 days a week...Oh well, I will take it, I'm definitely not complaining haha.

Ok I am running out of time...as usual

Yo sé que esta iglesia es verdadera.

Yo sé que nuestro Padre Celestiál envió su hijo Jesucristo y Jesucristo es nuestro Salvador.

A través la expiación de Jesucristo, podemos vivir con Dios por la eternidad.

Yo testifico que hay un profeta hoy. Su nombre es Thomas S. Monson. Yo sé que Thomas S. Monson es llamado por Dios.

Yo amo trabajo de misionero. Dijo estas cosas en el Nombre de Jesucristo, Amén.

Love and miss you all. Thanks for the support

And this is my joy. (Alma 29:9)

Love, Elder Peacock

[Editor’s note:  Whew!  I’m all caught up at last!  This one came just yesterday.  I don’t know that I’ll continue counting the weeks…that seems a little tedious, so I’ll need to come up with some new titles for his emails!]