Hello everyone!
I can't believe I've already been here for 2 weeks! Every day seems to take forever but by the end of it you can't believe how fast it has gone!
I can't express how grateful I am for all of your prayers and good wishes. I can definitely see The Hand of The Lord in my life as I learn to preach the Gospel in the Spanish language here at the CCM and I hope and pray that everything back home is going well.
The language continues to improve with my time here at the CCM. The first investigator we taught (Carlos) was pretty tough and my companion Elder Hartvigsen and I were pretty frustrated with the way things were going with him. The first lesson we taught him we both came out of it high on the Spirit and high on confidence. The second and third lessons were both extreme disappointments because he wasn't willing to do his part in being converted to the Gospel and we both felt like we hadn't done enough. In the fourth lesson, Elder Hartvigsen and I both prayed hard before we taught that we would have the Spirit with us and that we would be able to show Carlos the love that God has for him. Things went much better in that lesson. We focused more on bearing testimony of the things we taught, reading scriptures, and sharing experiences in our own lives that bore witness of the things we said. There was a moment in that lesson where I know I was blessed with the Gift of Tongues and I was able to share with Carlos the miracle which is my sister and how my father's Priesthood blessing revived a stillborn baby. In that lesson we committed him to baptism and to give up alcohol. We both came out of that lesson feeling fulfilled in what we had done and I know that my testimony was strengthened immensely because of it. The fifth lesson was more just a wrap-up because it was our last lesson with him so we taught him about the Plan of Salvation and how families can be together forever, and then committed him to sharing this message with his family and setting a goal with his family to get sealed in the Temple. The next day we walked into class and he was standing in the front dressed up in a suit and tie. So yeah, it ended up his name is really Hermano Francisco Perez, and he looks surprisingly identical to David Archuleta... So all the girls (and actually some of the guys) are totally hitting on him, which is comedy in and of itself. I'll have to send you a picture of him next week so you can see what I'm talking about. :D
So after Hermano Perez starting teaching us in the afternoon, we got 2 "new" investigators whose names are Jesus and Daniel. Jesus is our morning teacher Hermano Hortado, and Daniel is our afternoon teacher Hermano Perez. So more about them, they both got back from missions in South America in May of this year, Hermano Perez had English-speaking companions so that's how he learned English (WOW), and Hermano Hortado took an English class I believe and is already engaged! His spouse's name is Rosa and how they got together is an amazing story! They dated before his mission and he baptized her a couple weeks before he left. When he got back, she immediately dumped the boyfriend she was dating and they got engaged! It's basically the perfect story haha.
I've been dealing with a lot of homesickness lately, and I'd like to recognize an Elder here who is truly a great friend. His name is Elder Alder and he's from Salt Lake City, Utah. He's such a great guy and he has a genuine concern and friendliness toward everyone he meets. He's gotten me through some hard times here at the CCM.
So I found out last week that my companion is from the ward in Alpine that AJ Stosich and his family moved into! Kye is great friends with Elder Hartvigsen and they've exchanged quite a few emails while we've been here. Small world, huh?
That's too bad about Kristi. I will keep her in my prayers and I hope she has a speedy recovery and is able to make it back home soon.
A big shout-out to my awesome family, Grandma Lou, and Josh Smith. Thanks for sending me emails! :D
I hope everything is going great back home. I love you all and I wish you the best.
Con Amor,
Elder Spencer Layne Robertson
P.S. As with last week, I will be getting back onto my email around 4:30 today(3:30 your time) so feel free to message me within the next 5 hours! :)
I can't believe I've already been here for 2 weeks! Every day seems to take forever but by the end of it you can't believe how fast it has gone!
I can't express how grateful I am for all of your prayers and good wishes. I can definitely see The Hand of The Lord in my life as I learn to preach the Gospel in the Spanish language here at the CCM and I hope and pray that everything back home is going well.
The language continues to improve with my time here at the CCM. The first investigator we taught (Carlos) was pretty tough and my companion Elder Hartvigsen and I were pretty frustrated with the way things were going with him. The first lesson we taught him we both came out of it high on the Spirit and high on confidence. The second and third lessons were both extreme disappointments because he wasn't willing to do his part in being converted to the Gospel and we both felt like we hadn't done enough. In the fourth lesson, Elder Hartvigsen and I both prayed hard before we taught that we would have the Spirit with us and that we would be able to show Carlos the love that God has for him. Things went much better in that lesson. We focused more on bearing testimony of the things we taught, reading scriptures, and sharing experiences in our own lives that bore witness of the things we said. There was a moment in that lesson where I know I was blessed with the Gift of Tongues and I was able to share with Carlos the miracle which is my sister and how my father's Priesthood blessing revived a stillborn baby. In that lesson we committed him to baptism and to give up alcohol. We both came out of that lesson feeling fulfilled in what we had done and I know that my testimony was strengthened immensely because of it. The fifth lesson was more just a wrap-up because it was our last lesson with him so we taught him about the Plan of Salvation and how families can be together forever, and then committed him to sharing this message with his family and setting a goal with his family to get sealed in the Temple. The next day we walked into class and he was standing in the front dressed up in a suit and tie. So yeah, it ended up his name is really Hermano Francisco Perez, and he looks surprisingly identical to David Archuleta... So all the girls (and actually some of the guys) are totally hitting on him, which is comedy in and of itself. I'll have to send you a picture of him next week so you can see what I'm talking about. :D
So after Hermano Perez starting teaching us in the afternoon, we got 2 "new" investigators whose names are Jesus and Daniel. Jesus is our morning teacher Hermano Hortado, and Daniel is our afternoon teacher Hermano Perez. So more about them, they both got back from missions in South America in May of this year, Hermano Perez had English-speaking companions so that's how he learned English (WOW), and Hermano Hortado took an English class I believe and is already engaged! His spouse's name is Rosa and how they got together is an amazing story! They dated before his mission and he baptized her a couple weeks before he left. When he got back, she immediately dumped the boyfriend she was dating and they got engaged! It's basically the perfect story haha.
I've been dealing with a lot of homesickness lately, and I'd like to recognize an Elder here who is truly a great friend. His name is Elder Alder and he's from Salt Lake City, Utah. He's such a great guy and he has a genuine concern and friendliness toward everyone he meets. He's gotten me through some hard times here at the CCM.
So I found out last week that my companion is from the ward in Alpine that AJ Stosich and his family moved into! Kye is great friends with Elder Hartvigsen and they've exchanged quite a few emails while we've been here. Small world, huh?
That's too bad about Kristi. I will keep her in my prayers and I hope she has a speedy recovery and is able to make it back home soon.
A big shout-out to my awesome family, Grandma Lou, and Josh Smith. Thanks for sending me emails! :D
I hope everything is going great back home. I love you all and I wish you the best.
Con Amor,
Elder Spencer Layne Robertson
P.S. As with last week, I will be getting back onto my email around 4:30 today(3:30 your time) so feel free to message me within the next 5 hours! :)