Buenas tardes familia!
Espero que ustedes aprendieron mucho para conferencia general esta semana. All of us Elders went to the other chapel here in Nogales to watch it in either English or Spanish. About half of us Elders speak English fluently so we watched it in our langauge. I thought it was super cool that they let some speakers speak in their native langauge! There were two talks in Spanish so we watched those ones without subtitles and (surprisingly haha) I understood just about everything they said. The language is definitely coming along a lot better for me and I feel really confident in teaching and talking about anything Gospel. As far as conference goes, I think that Elder Robbin's, Holland's, and Bednar's talks were my favorite ones this year. The one major theme that I caught this year from the talks was the importance of following and listening to the prophet. It seems like almost every talk either mentioned the importance of having a living prophet or thanked President Monson for his service. I feel like they all felt that following the prophet's counsel was something that we all needed to improve on and/or that something Church-related is going to change and that we need to have more trust in the prophet and what he's doing (end of the world coming soon?? haha). Regardless, I really enjoyed conference and I found some great inspiration for both me and my investigators.
Other than that for this week, the Elders and I took a trip up to the Mex-Amer border! It's about an hour's walking distance from our place and it was a way fun time for us. We took some pictures so I'll try and at least send one to you guys this week. Overall though, it made me think of life back in the States. I miss all the small things that we don't have here in Mexico (A.C., clean water, paved roads that aren't covered in trash, and a government that actually cares about the people haha). You guys are blessed with so much there and you should be grateful for all that you have. There are so many homeless and poor people in Mexico that can't even afford a $100/month rent. Regardless, I love the people and culture here. Although I don't want to admit it, there are actually a few things here that I like more than in the U.S. (more freedom law-wise, no sales tax, and almost everything is cheaper). Aaand littering has become one of my favorite hobbies because after all, it's legal here haha ;)
Anyways, I hope you guys have a great week and apply the things you learned at conference to your lives! I know that God is there for you and wants you to be happy, all you have to do is submit yourself to Him. I am so grateful for the Gospel and for the opportunity that I have to share it with others. Be happy and count your blessings :)
Love,
Elder Thayne
Espero que ustedes aprendieron mucho para conferencia general esta semana. All of us Elders went to the other chapel here in Nogales to watch it in either English or Spanish. About half of us Elders speak English fluently so we watched it in our langauge. I thought it was super cool that they let some speakers speak in their native langauge! There were two talks in Spanish so we watched those ones without subtitles and (surprisingly haha) I understood just about everything they said. The language is definitely coming along a lot better for me and I feel really confident in teaching and talking about anything Gospel. As far as conference goes, I think that Elder Robbin's, Holland's, and Bednar's talks were my favorite ones this year. The one major theme that I caught this year from the talks was the importance of following and listening to the prophet. It seems like almost every talk either mentioned the importance of having a living prophet or thanked President Monson for his service. I feel like they all felt that following the prophet's counsel was something that we all needed to improve on and/or that something Church-related is going to change and that we need to have more trust in the prophet and what he's doing (end of the world coming soon?? haha). Regardless, I really enjoyed conference and I found some great inspiration for both me and my investigators.
Other than that for this week, the Elders and I took a trip up to the Mex-Amer border! It's about an hour's walking distance from our place and it was a way fun time for us. We took some pictures so I'll try and at least send one to you guys this week. Overall though, it made me think of life back in the States. I miss all the small things that we don't have here in Mexico (A.C., clean water, paved roads that aren't covered in trash, and a government that actually cares about the people haha). You guys are blessed with so much there and you should be grateful for all that you have. There are so many homeless and poor people in Mexico that can't even afford a $100/month rent. Regardless, I love the people and culture here. Although I don't want to admit it, there are actually a few things here that I like more than in the U.S. (more freedom law-wise, no sales tax, and almost everything is cheaper). Aaand littering has become one of my favorite hobbies because after all, it's legal here haha ;)
Anyways, I hope you guys have a great week and apply the things you learned at conference to your lives! I know that God is there for you and wants you to be happy, all you have to do is submit yourself to Him. I am so grateful for the Gospel and for the opportunity that I have to share it with others. Be happy and count your blessings :)
Love,
Elder Thayne